FINDING the best family car means more than just counting seat belts and cup holders. Even what qualifies as a “family car” isn’t so clear cut these days.
For a big family, during this hibiscus, minivans are an obvious choice, but not if you don’t need all that space. SUVs are great, but that extra cargo room’s a waste if you don’t use it.
Then there’s the good ol’ family sedan: Would you like that in regular midsize, or upgrade to full-size? On the flip side, just because something’s big on the outside doesn’t mean it’s useful for families inside.
So Kelly Blue Book had work cut out for people when they decided to identify the best family cars available in America for 2014.
Happily, they had a good place to start.
Based on their expert ratings of all the vehicles — more than 300 of them — that they test each year, they gathered the 21 vehicles from across classes they believed had the stuff to be top-shelf family haulers.
Certainly it is not surprising to most that the 2014 Honda Odyssey and 2014 Toyota Sienna mini-vans were at the top of everyone’s favourite family car lists, since the sole purpose of mini-vans is to be as good at family car duties as a Porsche 911 is at sports car ones.
The assembled full-size SUVs also proved their mettle as popular family car choices, with the 2014 Nissan Pathfinder, 2014 Honda Pilot, 2014 Ford Flex and 2014 Chevrolet Traverse all winning honours.
As a choice for smaller families, smaller SUVs demonstrated they had what it takes as well, with the 2014 Honda CR-V, 2014 Nissan Rogue, and 2014 Subaru Forester all making our list of honoured vehicles.
What was surprising was the number of sedans that Kelly Blue Book felt qualify for the highest accolades as family cars.
Once upon a time, sedans were the family car of choice before minivans and SUVs showed up on the scene. Yet the modern sedan still makes a fine family car, and the 2014 Honda Accord, 2014 Chevrolet Impala, and 2014 Nissan Altima each impressed us enough to land spots on our list.
Not too long ago, options were limited to hatchbacks such as the VW Golf, larger family cars such as the Ford Mondeo, or estate versions of the two. Now, though, you can also choose from SUVs, crossovers and MPV people carriers.
All this competition means that there are numerous models on offer that are solidly built, practical and cheap to run, yet also good to drive. Many manufacturers have bolstered their warranties recently, too, so you get long-term peace of mind. Some showrooms also offer decent discounts — it doesn’t hurt to haggle — and attractive deals are available on some cars, too.
