As your family grows, your vehicle needs to accommodate accordingly. With children come car seats, strollers, diaper bags, play pens, and more. However, if you’re carefully budgeting like every family, you may find you can only afford a used vehicle—and that’s okay! Our used car dealer in Winston-Salem has a huge selection of reliable, high-quality used cars, vans, and SUVs that will offer plenty of peace of mind when your most precious cargo is inside.
Do you know which safety features to look out for? When taking children into consideration, your needs change. Check for automatic door locks, child safety locks, auto-reverse windows, a full airbag suite that accounts for front- and side-impacts, interior trunk release, easy-to-use child safety seat lower anchors (LATCH), and of course: seat belts (be sure that the upper belts in the rear seats are adjustable to a child’s height). Something that puts families off of buying a used car is the lack of modern safety amenities, such as a rearview camera. However, purchasing a model from the last three years will likely offer the features you’re looking for.
The interior of a family vehicle must be functional, and incredibly versatile. Don’t just consider your infant’s current needs, such as enough space for rear-facing child safety seats (and enough room in the front for you to drive comfortably with the child seat in the back). Account for years down the line, when you may be taking a crowd of kids to soccer practice or loading up the vehicle with band equipment. Is there a parabolic mirror to keep an eye on them while you drive? Are the climate controls sufficient to keep everyone cool (and complaint-free) on a summer road trip? Is there enough space between the front seats and back seats to prevent longer legs from kicking the back of your chair? A high-quality family vehicle is always one step ahead of your current needs.
If you see a busy and crowded future ahead for your family, it may be irresistible to consider a three-row SUV or van. However, you’ll also need plenty of cargo space, and a third row of seating can compromise that, and made even more difficult to access when you have child seats in the second row. Don’t simply look at the cargo volume figures: come test drive a vehicle and carefully consider the space inside, envisioning how well it can accommodate your needs.
Peace of mind is quintessential to a happy family life, and one way to get that is to make sure you have a quality car parked in the driveway, ready for the next adventure. If you think it’s about time to take a look at new-to-you vehicles, contact Frank Myers Auto Maxx! We’ll help you find the car, van, or SUV in our inventory that will keep you and your family happy for years to come.
