How To Choose A Car Perfect For Family Holidays

Christmas is round the corner, which means the February half-term isn’t far behind – and with it, the threatening spectre of the Spring term holidays, after which… The dreaded summer break. Far away as it is, it’s closer than ever, and already demanding your attention. Packing and organising a good old-fashioned British staycation is stressful enough as it is; you don’t need your old, cramped, beat-up hatchback making it any harder for you.

Remember the last time you had to play family-luggage Tetris with your diminutive boot? Even a car that feels spacious on the school run can shrink rapidly when faced with suitcases, a buggy, and a week’s worth of shopping. If you’re in the market for a new car, this is your opportunity, your clarion call to choose a vehicle based on its “worst-case scenario” capacity rather than just its daily commute efficiency. If you want a family-friendly holiday-built car, you’ve come to the right place.

Prioritising “The Squabble Gap”

Your family holiday is, like it or not, defined by your children. And your children, being children, don’t always get on in tight spaces. This is why such a small consideration as rear seat width is so important. If you have three children, you must check that the middle seat is actually usable; if you have two, you must make sure there’s enough space in that middle seat to keep them from flapping arms at one another.

A flat rear bench, often found in MPVs, can prevent the old “he’s touching me” refrain and other such sibling arguments that easily ruin long motorway journeys and your own patience; counterintuitively, SUVs can be worse for this. Many SUVs feature a raised transmission tunnel that makes the middle seat uncomfortable.

Comparing models side-by-side

This specific hurdle is as good a demonstration as any of the importance of comparing car models in person. Given dimensions and judgements from online pictures can only get you so far; you really need to get your kids in the back seat to see if anything’s viable, just as you need to physically sit in the driver’s seat and load the boot to understand the scale.

This is why you should consider travelling to a local dealership; if you’re in Peterborough used cars on a local lot can be a great testing-ground for you to test some shortlisted models back-to-back, giving you a direct comparison of the cabin space without driving miles between different private sellers.

Testing the tech with your own devices

As a final note, it’s more important than ever that you test the tech side of the equation with each potential purchase. This was never a priority back in the days of roll-down windows and cassette decks, but today’s switched-on kids are a different breed. You don’t want to just assume the USB ports work, then find out the worst mid-trip. To save you from tears, you should physically plug your tablets and phones into the rear charging points during the test drive.