Family Car: How to Choose the Right Vehicle

*Disclosure: This post has been sponsored by Cars.com. All honest opinions are my own. For more information about sponsored posts please click here.

Family Car

With all of our recent bus drama, I’ve been thinking a lot about cars lately. My husband recently purchased a new car, but I’ve had mine for almost 6 years. If something went wrong with it, or there was an accident, would we be prepared to find the next family car that would be right for us?

It’s such a huge decision, where do you even start? New or used? SUV or minivan? Private sale or car lot? Financing or bank loan?

Today, I’m sharing how we made the decision about my husband’s vehicle, and how we will find the right family car the next time around.

How many Cars do you need?

Are you a one or two car family? Does your teenager need their own car too?

Every family is different. My husband works in real estate, so a car is a necessity for his job. I also work part-time, and needed a car during the day when the boys were home. Now that they are in school, it’s not as big of a necessity. However,  if we were only a one car family, I would have had to rely on family or friends to get them to school the first couple weeks when the bus missed us.

Often times, my husband also has to work when I have to work, so we are definitely a two-car family right now.

We have many years until the boys will be driving, but even then, we will still be a two-car family. I didn’t get a car until I was a junior in college. Unless they buy it themselves, my boys will have to wait on their first set of wheels.

New or Used

This was a hard decision for our family. I currently have a used car, while my husband bought a new car. Luckily, both have turned out to be the right choice.

Before buying either car, we did a lot of research. A great place to do that research is Cars.com.

Not only can you look up information about different types of vehicles, but you can do comparisons, read driver reviews, and even look at cars for sale. In addition, you can research service costs for your vehicle, should you ever need a repair. It’s so awesome to have all that information in one spot.

Size of Car

As a single person, I always drove a compact car. I had a Toyota Corsica and a Toyota Echo. My husband used to drive a Volkswagen Jetta. Compact cars are great on gas mileage, easy to park, and usually a lot cheaper to buy.

Now that we have a big family, we need room for all three boys and their car seats. Those three car seats were a big part of our decision on what type of car we needed to buy. Comfort and safety for our boys was at the top of the list.

We needed a vehicle that would fit all three, and one that made taking them in and out easy too. Car seats can be difficult to install, and since we don’t have 6 car seats, we need to be pros at switching them between cars.

When we bought our cars, and when we buy our next car, we need to make sure the car seats are capable of being safely and securely installed. Cars.com conducts their own car seat checks to make sure each vehicle it sells is safe for your family. That’s the kind of assurance that is a must for me.

Our Next Family Car

Even though we’re not quite ready for our next car, I like being prepared. Cars.com has made me feel like I have enough information to make a smart decision when it comes to our next vehicle.

Have you purchased a new vehicle recently? How do you choose your next family car?