Websites to help you choose your family car

Are you wanting to buy a new family car but not sure where to start? Well, you’re in luck because I’ve created a list of useful websites that helped me find my perfect match. Hopefully, my suggestions help you get revved up and ready to buy. Take a look.

CarsGuide.com.au

CarsGuide was created by News Corp Australia together with Australia’s largest automotive dealers. Their site averages over 25 million page views every month and provides super informative car reviews, guides and advice in a clear and simple way. You can even find helpful blogs that list features you might want in your family car to make your life easier. All in all, it’s a great place to start your research!

ANCAP Safety

ANCAP ratings indicate the level of safety a vehicle provides for occupants and pedestrians in the event of a crash, as well as its ability — through technology — to avoid or minimise the effects of a crash. The higher rating (1-5), the safer the vehicle, and the differences between makes and models are huge. So, if you’re after a safe family vehicle, then looking for a high ANCAP rating is a solid starting point.

WhichCar.com.au

WhichCar is a good site to use for comparing new family car makes and models. If you don’t know what you’re looking for, but you have an idea of the type of car you want, you can search by body type (e.g. SUV). If you know exactly what you’re looking for, you can just use the ‘quick search’ bar to find expert reviews and long-term performance testing reviews on the specific model you’re interested in. These are also the people behind Top Gear‘s car reviews, so you know the site is going to have lots of valuable information without putting you to sleep.

CarSales.com.au

No car search would be complete without visiting CarSales. It’s one of Australia’s most popular car websites and has over 200,000 new and used cars listed to buy and sell. CarSales has a lot of the same functions as CarsGuide and WhichCar but one of the best parts of this site is its ‘refine search’ tool, which lets you search for cars by lifestyle which is great for finding the perfect family car. You can also select what’s going in the car such as how many people, children, pets, prams and more. Plus, you can choose what’s important to you, from safety to fuel economy. They also have a reviews and advice page and videos, so you can find out the pros and cons of the family cars you’re interested in.

Australian Automobile Association (AAA)

Your state auto club website is a good place to look for unbiased information once you’ve put together a shortlist of family cars you’re considering. Currently, there are seven auto clubs and associations that are part of the AAA:

• RAA (SA)
• NRMA (NSW & ACT)
• RACV (VIC)
• RACQ (QLD)
• RAC (WA)
• RACT (TAS)
• AANT (NT)

You can check whether the family cars you’re interested in have won any yearly awards or see if they have outperformed others in their category in value for money, design and function, and road performance. Also check if the family cars you’re interested in have been compared to other makes and models in their body type. Plus, check out their reviews page to make sure you don’t need to rule out any from your shortlist.

Use a new car features guide

Know what safety and convenience features you want before you start looking for your new family car with our features guide. This guide includes:

• Detailed information and diagrams about the latest car safety and convenience features
• A rundown of the features you probably don’t need
• Tips on other important things to think about when buying a new car
• An editable/printable features checklist that you can take with you when shopping for your new car.

Download here