Your family is growing. It’s time to upgrade your car and find something more suitable to safely move around. A family car needs to be first and foremost safe. The safety features in a car will determine whether you will feel confident driving around with your kids in the back seat.
The car you settle for must be spacious enough to accommodate your family for both long and short distance travels without feeling cramped. Of course, finances play a major role when it comes to selecting a family car. However, it’s never a bad idea to save some money while shopping for the perfect family car.
Here are some tips to help you achieve this goal.
1. Choose a car depending on the size of your family
Depending on the size of your family, you need to select a car that can fit your family perfectly. It is ill-advised to buy a huge car while you have a small family or a really small car while you have a bigger family. If your family is small and you buy a big car, you will be spending too much money as opposed to saving it.
On the other hand, if you buy a small car and your family is big, you may need to buy more cars and this is also pretty expensive. Take your time while shopping around to look at the features in the car, available space for passengers and cargo and compare to other cars in the same range.
2. Research on the cost of maintenance
A car is generally expensive to buy and maintain. A family car needs to be in tip-top shape at all times because you do not want your family stranded in the middle of nowhere. Before you buy a car, conduct in-depth research on how much it costs to run and maintain the car, how many services it needs per year and find out if the spare parts are locally available.
It is a plus on your side if the car is familiar enough such that you can conduct some maintenance services on your own. In the long run, you will end up saving a lot of money if you spend less on servicing your car or importing spare parts.
3. Consider smaller car types
Most people in Kenya are moving towards buying SUVs and MPV as family cars. However, most of these cars tend to be very expensive to buy or even maintain. When shopping for a family car and you have a small to medium-sized family, consider other car types such as a sedan.
Sedans can carry the same capacity as SUVs and can serve well as an everyday car and also a family car. Whenever you are car shopping, try and compare prices between different car types before settling on the one that suits your family needs. In the end, you may end up saving a lot of money in the long run.
4. Consider buying a fuel-efficient car
Before buying a car, conduct as much research as possible on different car models and their fuel consumptions. Read reviews on all the cars that interest you and settle for a fuel-efficient car. The fuel consumption of a car can increase the running costs of the car. At the end of the day, it becomes more beneficial to avoid fuel guzzlers no matter how prestigious they look.
5. Shop within your budget
It is essential to have a budget in place before you start your car shopping. A budget will prevent you from overspending and also guide you on how much you can save. With a budget in hand, you will avoid picking out cars that are above your price limit thus saving money in the process. Additionally, your budget will guide you on the type of car you can buy thus making your work easier as you shop.
Conclusion
There are other things such as after-sale car accessories that are added to a car that makes the car more expensive. When shopping for a family car, ask about the features that may have been added to the car and if they are necessary. If not, you can consider other options and save more money. We hope these tips will be helpful as you shop for your next car. Share some of your tips in the comment section.