Car Buying Tips: Top 10 Car Options And Accessories To Buy For those who have Kids!
When a family walks right into a car dealer, seldom do they realize the significance of the decisions they’re about to make. A family car is more than simply a means to range from point A to suggest B; it really is an associate from the family! Your loved ones vehicle is with you when you drive your kids to their thousand-and-one activities, it is along with you when you take a family vacation, and it (hopefully) will be along with you as your children become teenagers so that as your teenagers become teenagers.
If you are shopping for a new vehicle, you know there are many options, accessories and packages that are offered for you. To make sense of everything, you need to understand your…well…needs.
If you have children, you will know they are often along with a specific set of needs as well. You might be wondering which options, accessories or packages are perfect for them. We now have tried to group together a list that highlights what we feel ought to be put into your brand-new car in order to make it more child-friendly.
Enjoy!
1. Leather seats, the darker the greater.
As any parent knows, children occasionally often spill things. Nothing hurts your vehicle’s resale value greater than a large, smeary blue stain on beige fabric decorating your back seats. What usually happens is that your beautiful child will spill some sort of reddish or purple-ish concoction (that even today, we do not realise why we bought to begin with) about the seat. Our valiant yet foolhardy tries to correct the misdeed only serve to exaggerate the initial error, leaving us no choice but to camouflage the entire mess with an attractive beach towel.
Sound familiar? Not to a person with leather seats. Leather seats would be the ultimate selection for your brand-new car that each parent with young kids should absolutely select. Ideally you want to have graphite or black leather seats, but red and brown leather upholstery will also do. The good thing about leather is that it delays the absorption associated with a liquid splashed over it, giving the parent a significantly larger window of opportunity to clean up the mess. Ought to be fact, you can even go ahead and select pale colors such as tan or grey for the leather interior. The problem with light colors is you will, before long, start to see dark stains generated by wear (all those jeans that rub the seats day in and day trip), but that is about it. Stains from food or juice can be washed away as easily in a light interior like a darker one, provided it’s made from leather!
2. Fabric Protector
Ok, I understand some of you are well on a financial budget with regards to purchasing a new car, or maybe you just do not like leather. In that case, opt for the the second best thing to safeguard your brand-new car’s interior out of your kids: fabric protector. You can usually buy fabric protector in the finance and insurance manager’s office (F&I) and it is usually offered to you after you have decided to buy a particular new car while you complete your credit application.
Fabric protectors create a hidden protective film in your seats that prevents any liquid or food from penetrating the fabric. Your car’s interior thus remains as beautiful through the years as the first day you purchased it. Fabric protectors are not an enormous investment either. Most will retail within the 150 US$ range, and don’t hesitate to barter the cost by a minimum of 10%! Profit margin percentages on F&I products are higher than any other product within the dealership, included the new cars themselves. You may also opt to apply a protector to your leather seats but I wouldn’t recommend if you don’t pick a light color leather and also prevent stains that naturally occur from wear with time. On darker leather colors, there really is no have to protect it from punctures from stains.
3. All-wheel-drive
I understand a number of you’ll point out that this is a pretty big option! Others may wonder what it has to do with children. There are 2 reasons we include all-wheel-drive within our list of the top Ten best accessories for kids: 1) Safety and 2) Convenience. Let’s talk safety first. There isn’t any question that the all-wheel-drive vehicle, when driven appropriately of course, is safer than either front-wheel-drive or rear-wheel-drive vehicles. You will discover a reason of every available drive system within our article entitled Drivetrain Systems Explained and Compared: FWD, RWD, 4WD, AWD. The soundness and cornering abilities of an all-wheel-drive new car are superior and provide sure-footed driving in a weather, not just winter. We feel we’re not too far from the truth whenever we state that their children’s safety ought to be at the top of any parents list when looking for a new car.
The second reason has to do with all of the activities, outings, parties, school events, sports, and family vacations that (within the eyes of your children at least) are of life-or-death importance and absolutely can’t be canceled. Your child is unable to understand the potential issues of a January Nor’easter which means you might want to opt for an all-wheel-drive vehicle and kick those problems to the curb yourself. This can allow you to stay right on schedule no matter what the elements brings.
4. Rear-view Camera
Kids tend to wander; that isn’t a secret for anybody. Additionally they tend to leave their toys and bicycles in dangerous areas, like directly behind your vehicle. If you are like, oh, 99% from the population, you most likely do not have an optimum behind your vehicle before stepping in and backing out. Having a rear-view camera will allow you to see what is behind your vehicle before you accidently go beyond it potentially causing tons of dollars of damage.
More importantly, rear-view cameras may help prevent injuries or worse. A number of you might remember the Lexus advertisement that ran in gossip columns a couple of years back. The ad showed a young child on her behalf knees playing in the driveway. The look from the child was displayed via the rear-view camera along with a caption below the picture wrote “according for your rear-view mirror, she isn’t there”. We all know children don’t have exactly the same perception or recognition of dangerous situations. Thus, it’s a good idea to possess that extra set of eyes in case.
5. Rear Airbags
Increasingly more vehicles are in possession of side airbags that extent to the back. In the next couple of years, expect all vehicles to have this extra protection for all occupants. Unfortunately however, you may still find new cars currently available that only have 2 airbags, or which have side airbags that only protect the motive force and passenger.
Within our opinion, car shoppers should stay away from these vehicles, particularly if they’ve children. Why on earth would a parent or gaurdian not decide to have each and every available protection for their kids? Additionally, it ought to be mentioned that all new cars engineered previously 24 months almost all have rear passenger airbags. So if you’re shopping for a new vehicle and are available across one that does not have this increased protection, chances are that the vehicle is behind its competition in terms of technical and overall safety improvements. If that is case, we strongly recommend you shop elsewhere for your new car.
6. 4-zone heating and cooling
When a salesman wants to sell a vehicle with 4-zone heating and cooling, they usually have to worry towards the parents that it’ll be great for the children. Now some parents believe this can be a little an excessive amount of luxury to provide for their children (and yes, 4 zone heating and cooling is generally pricey or may come as part of the priciest options package) while others do not begin to see the benefits. For that first group, well, we certainly will not tell you how to do your job being a parent! For that second group, continue reading.
4-zone climate controls simply make reference to something that provides independent controls for heat and air-conditioning for that driver, the passenger and also the occupants in the back. In other words, it allows everybody in the vehicle to select their very own settings for temperature. If your family tends to use your car to take trips, you will know kids are either too cold or too hot, and they will undoubtedly let you know about it…again and again and also over. Having 4 zone climate controls allows everybody in the car to become happy. And when everyone’s happy, well, life is good.
7. Rear Seat DVD players
Similarly to 4-zone climate control mentioned previously, Rear Seat DVD players are controversial and extremely rely on your loved ones values. Something is for certain however, if you’d prefer nice relaxing drives surrounded by total silence; you will absolutely need to add Rear Seat DVD players to your new car’s option list.
Contrary to public opinion, almost all vehicles could be equipped with rear seat DVDs. If the manufacturer doesn’t offer them as new car options, the casino dealer often will provide an in-house installation. Obviously the price of rear-seat DVDs hover around 1500 US$ but for some parents, it is a small investment to enjoy the much-more-expensive yearly family vacation…or even the trip to grandma’s house.
8. Roof Box
It is a fact the more children you’ve, the more “stuff” you have. While you children grow and become teens, you’ll have much more “stuff”. Before long, you will likely have more “stuff” than your present vehicle’s cargo area can handle. In the event that becomes the situation, you’ll need a roof box (sometimes called cargo box) that will allow you to boost the amount of, well, “stuff’, you can haul around.
If you’re shopping for a new car, the roof box is something you should definitely ask to possess included at no extra charge. Of course, it might not be possible, but the roof box is often much more expensive for buy for the customer than to give away for the dealer (i.e. high markup) and you’ll be capable of getting the additional cargo space contained in the deal.
9. Heated Rear Seats
Heated rear seats are more right for families residing in the northern states and Canada. That said, even southern states have their cold streaks (right Florida!). Adding the heated rear seats option to your new car is a nice method to be sure that your children don’t freeze their butts off (literally) when you are nice toasty up front.
For those who have followed this article’s advice, well, firstly, good for you, and secondly, which means your next new car will have leather seats. The importance of heated rear seats whenever your new family vehicle is equipped with leather upholstery can’t be overemphasized. Leather tends to reflect the temperature outside; if it is freezing outside; your leather seats is going to be glacial. Heated rear seats alleviate this problem.
10. Rear window screen
We finish off our list with a small, inexpensive accessory that is often overlooked by parents when purchasing a new car. Your window screen includes a variety of uses and really can be good for young children as well as teens. The screen attaches to your rear car window, or windows (may as well get two) and blocks out not just the sun’s rays, but lights as well, reducing glare and making night time more relaxing for the kids.
Window screens allows your kids to keep cool and stop the sun from pummeling them. If you are driving overnight, the screen will lessen the quantity of light (from streetlights and stoplights) which comes in and will let your kids to go to sleep faster and stay asleep longer. The buying price of a rear window screen is below 100 US$ in most cases and, we feel, worth the investment. Better yet, they frequently clip off and on so you can transfer them in one car to the next.