A Checklist for Buying a Family Car

A car is an essential investment for your family. Careful planning and research into the market will ensure that you get a car which will meet your present and future needs. Sometimes it is easy to get bogged down by countless plush car adverts, which are all trying to sell you your dream car. However, a plan and a simple checklist can keep you on the straight and narrow to help you find your perfect family car.

Value for money
Remind yourself that you are buying the car for the whole family which will be used by yourself and your partner. This means extra school runs, more weekly trips to the shops and travelling to work. All of this plus more can mount up in petrol costs. Therefore it is important to assess the cars fuel consumption and running costs before purchase. Look for low rate, low fee car deals on sites such as www.carfinance247.co.uk to find an affordable price for you and your family.

Size
A good car is a long term investment so it is wise to plan ahead. A growing family will need adequate seating as well as storage space. Imagine yourself using the car for trips and hobbies. Will your golf clubs fit in the back of the boot? Is there enough room for all of your holiday suitcases? Is there enough leg room in the front as well as the back?

Insurance
The insurance category of your new car will determine how much road tax and insurance you will need to pay. Motor insurers divide cars into 50 separate groups which are governed by a large number of factors including security and performance, cost of repairs and value. It is important to note that the higher the group a car is in, the more it will cost to insure.

Assess the extras
Many new cars now come with ‘free offers’ and packages to entice savvy buyers. However, you should assess these perks carefully as premiums are still factored into the overall price. The commission a dealer earns on the sale can increase the premium so do not take any offer at face value.

Maintenance and repairs
If you are planning to buy a standard family car, maintenance and repair costs are usually cheap and quick to fix. However, costs can build if you stray into different markets such as sports cars and classic cars. These car parts are more rare therefore are more expensive to replace and can sometime take a long time to find. Therefore you should use these repair costs as an overall gauge to determine how practical the car is as a family vehicle.

Pre-owned
It is also worth factoring second hand cars into your quest for the perfect family car as many new cars drop in value as soon as they are used anyway. Look for a pre-owned car which still has its warranty in place with an age of 1 to 2 years old.