How to find the best new family car in 2021
It starts and ends with you. And you have to be honest with yourself.
It’s easy to buy the cheapest, or the prettiest, it’s not hard to give in to desires and great ideas. But ultimately your next new car is a tool - an expensive, complex mechanical device which needs to specifically do the job you require of it.
So, it’s crucial to know what that job actually is, and will be.
Are you actually, genuinely going to do those road trips and camping weekends away? Or is this just a fantasy? I’m not being facetious, it's a legitimate question, because that’s the image carmakers sell to you with their shiny, handsome SUVs, but seldom is it the reality.
Case in point: We deliberately bought a Subaru Outback two months before our baby was due, knowing we’ve historically been avid campers, we love going on little exploratory adventures, and towing our pop-top camper on the rare occasion wasn’t out of the question - plus, of course we’d need a big boot for all our affiliated child raising stuff like a pram, capsules, scooters and bags and backpacks and kitchen sinks.
But the reality has been somewhat different. We chose petrol knowing we wouldn’t be able to honour the regular driving routines for satisfying a diesel; so that worked out nicely. However, we haven’t pitched a tent in nearly three years. No wet, gravel roads. No big roadtrips. There's been only a couple of weekends away, which involved a Big4 cabin with running hot water. How extreme. So adventurous.
What has worked well is the boot space, and the height of the boot floor - we’re not an especially tall family, so a full-size SUV or 4WD would’ve been money wasted just for additional cabin height. But I do appreciate having a rock-solid mechanical all-wheel drive system underneath on trips to the beach house, in inclement weather or when we do visit a slightly dodgy road - which has happened. It’s also a much more comfortable vehicle to drive a couple of hours each way for day trips beyond the city limits.
I enjoy driving the rumbling of the Boxer engine, and my dearly beloved appreciates some suspension elevation for more dignified entry and exit. And knowing we’re unlikely to need to buy a new car again for many years, we’re pretty happy with our decision.
I am of course telling you all this because seldom do motoring journalists actually share with you their own purchasing decisions for new cars. And if they do, I’d be willing to bet that personal desires and ‘wants’ won over rational, objective decision-making. And this is not helpful to the mums and dads out there who don’t drive press cars for 49 weeks of the calendar year, the families like yours who deal with the real world like schooling kids, working real jobs and dealing with the actual crap life throws at you. That’s why BestFamilyCars.com.au exists - for you.
There are real, practical aspects you must think about when buying a new car, and I’m not going to feed you self-serving reviews and advice simply because it would give me brownie points with car brands.
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So, with that said, you need to ask yourself a big bunch of questions.
Can you actually financially afford to buy a big seven-seat SUV, or will a midsize or small SUV suffice? Or do you have a tiny garage and would be better suited to a normal car-based wagon?
Will you ever actually take that dream 4x4 off-road machine anywhere near a rocky slope, deep river or sand dunes? Will you ever actually engage low-range? Or should an all-wheel drive SUV serve you better? It’ll be a far more civilised vehicle to sit in, and significantly lighter because it doesn’t have 300-plus kilos of additional heavy duty drivetrain to lug around the suburbs (which means you’re not consuming extra fuel just to haul dead weight around).
The reason for asking these kinds of questions is not to be condescending, but to make sure you’re buying the right tool for the job. Lots of people buy a big heavy 4WD, but never use it to its potential when they could be significantly more comfortable with a higher-end SUV like a Mazda CX-9 or Kia Sorento.
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The same goes for SUVs; they are practical, but lots of people buy them as a status symbol and something they want, not necessarily need. Normal cars are lower, lighter, more frugal, drive nicer and often have pretty big boots. But they too are flawed. Mazda’s SUVs, which are arguably the best on sale at the moment, all have space-saver spare wheels, which is fine if you’re strictly a suburban househusband who lives, works and adventures no further than 10 minutes from a tyre shop. Mazda also has excellent petrol engines, they’re very safe, and have ample space. But they can be on the pricier side - if you’re a low-income earner, this could be a barrier for you.
If your budget is strict, you might need to either think of going second-hand, or find a value-focussed alternative, like the Mitsubishi Outlander which has three powetrains, seven or five seats, two-wheel drive or all-wheel drive, and is pretty reliable while also being safe and affordable. The compromise you take is polish; it’s not as nice as a CX-5. But it’s a damn-side cheaper.
Maybe your family is massive. Perhaps you’re even one of the 5000 or so people (annually) who just found out you’re having triplets. A people mover like the Kia Carnival is going to serve you best. No question. Save your back, get easy access to row three, get five ISOFIX points where you need them (row 2), not some half-arsed compromise. You just have to suck it up and grow beyond your insecurities about owning a people mover - accept the fact they’re brilliant and practical and make your life easier. (Hint: You can always sell it later when they’ve grown up.)
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Plenty dream of big ideas in their next new cars, but for many, that’s as far as they get. Myself included. We know we’re not having more than two kids. And if we do, in some unlikely scenario, we’ll cross that bridge when we get there.
On the other hand, if you are absolutely going to do the big things in your next new car, firstly, good luck taking your kids away for some peace and quiet, and also, equally, you need to think carefully about how the vehicle will be used. If you’re taking your babies up the Staircase Spur to Mount Bogong, you’re insane, and also, I can’t help you, except to advise you take a sat-phone and tell HeliMed and the police airwing where you’re going.
Be Realistic
An SUV is just a raised wagon or hatchback. And it’s heavier, slower, and sometimes has less cargo space than a regular sedan - but they are popular for a reason.
And there are strong cases for wagons against SUVs, too. We’ll get to that.
Additional ride height helps your forward vision, it gives you ground clearance on steep driveways, and it means easier entry and exit for the elderly or people with hip or back problems.
SUVs are also amazingly practical when you have babies because you can change a nappy, generally, on the boot floor with zero or minimal bending over. As kids grow, this benefit becomes even more profound as they get heavier, stronger and more (shall we say) ‘stubborn’, to put it mildly. Tikes can get changed out of wet togs in a raised boot floor rather than in the ajar door gaps bumping into the car next to you and chipping your/their paint.
Then there's carting of all your heavy cumbersome crap everywhere. Highchairs, strollers, nappy bags, food bags, eskis, toys, bikes. They’re also easier to stack, manipulate, thread and throw into an SUV than a sedan, hatch or arguably wagon. And counterintuitively, if you go for something enormous like a full-size LandCruiser, Pajero Sport or Nissan Patrol, if things go to the top of the boot, they can be hard for average height mums and dads to retrieve without climbing the back seats or scaling the boot itself.
This is where a conventional sedan or wagon can be better, particularly for tarmac-only driving which is generally the case for the wide majority of new cars.
In most families, driving on sealed roads is going to be your 99th percentile. So buy a vehicle which is awesome at that. Look for something which will take your one stroller and one baby capsule and one backpack with a backseat that accommodates your Jack Terrier and has a teeny tiny petrol engine driving the front wheels.
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Or look at a mid-size SUV if you’re stopping at 2.2 kids and the dog stays home while you visit the sealed beachside carpark a couple of times every summer as a break from the rainy metropolitan mediocrity.
Another aspect is the infrequent hauling potential of your next new car.
If you’re the DIY types whom are fully equipped with a 6x4 trailer, tools galore, maybe you live in the leafy outer suburbs and have your own trees to maintain. Maybe you have a couple of acres to mow with a ride-on, or perhaps you just prefer picking up your big new appliances and/or furniture rather than paying extra to have them delivered. This is me, by the way.
In this case, you’re going to want something pretty spacious. I managed to fit a treadmill in our Outback, but it was so tight I had to adjust the driver’s seat forward. If you’re regularly doing things like this, visiting stores and buying in bulk from warehouses and factory outlets - then that’s where a dual-cab ute might be the best option for your family. A moderately hard-working workhorse.
Something like a Mazda BT-50 could be a good compromise for outright comfort and practicality, without going too hardcore -but it is quite expensive. If budget comes first, you might want to consider the Mitsubishi Triton - it’s got plenty of the safety gear (if you’re into that), and has a great load space for the various heavy stuff you might need to bring home from Bunnings on occasion, while also having the benefit of hard top tether points, unlike the soft ones in the Mazda.
Then there’s the whole wagon situation. In so many ways they’re the perfect family car. Not too big, not too small, additional load space for big items, they’re safe, and they’re less expensive than an SUV while being just as comfortable. But the world is changing, and not necessarily for the better.
Some brands are holding onto a wagon platform, while many others have left the wagon behind in favour of SUVs because that’s what the masses are buying. So where does this leave the wagon faithful? Fortunately, there are still options such as the Mazda 6, which is not only a beautiful looking wagon, it’s got Mazda’s lovely cabin design and practicality rolled into one. I haven’t tested it yet, but Mazda is at the top of its game and it’s hard to imagine that car being anything less than good.
Subaru still does a wagon, called the Levorg. It’s essentially what the Liberty used to be, except minus that name. Levorg is quite good in the same regard as the Mazda; both with very good reputations for quality, reliability, safety and customer service. The wagon market is a bit like the people mover market; the ones still left are pretty good. Unfortunately, the future doesn’t look quite as rosy for wagons.
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Drivetrain
Lots of people in the current age of buying cars do not think through the aspect of selecting what engine, transmission and drive-type is going to best suit their needs.
Blokes looking at utes and four wheel drives will default to a turbo diesel, and not trying to stereotype here, a lot of women don’t care about what engine or gearbox they are going to need. I don’t say this with any disrespect; it’s entirely understandable because largely, modern engines are pretty reliable, generally. But there are factors you should take into account, even discuss with your significant other before buying.
If you buy a diesel, will you be able to get out on the highway once or twice a fortnight for a proper cruise, for about 20-30 minutes, to help maintain a healthy DPF system? Or, haphazardly enough, if you were to buy a diesel SUV, is there any likelihood you or your partner are going to accidentally tip the wrong fuel into it? If you put petrol into a diesel, that’s really, really bad. If you put diesel into a petrol, it’s slightly less catastrophic, but still really expensive to fix - but not nearly as expensive as putting petrol into a diesel.
Are you an inner city regular or a strict suburbanite? Perhaps you live in a regional city or small town - in which case a hybrid is going to be pointless because they’re best suited to stop-start traffic to reduce fuel consumption to get moving.
If you call one of the capital cities ‘the big smoke’, then a diesel should probably be high on your list, especially is you travel long distances routinely - because you’ll benefit from the fuel economy of a modern diesel.
Other considerations include what kind of driving you do 99 per cent of the time. Heavy stop-start traffic, which is perfect for hybrids, is going to put significant wear and tear on both your engine and transmission, and different engines and transmissions behave differently in thick traffic compared with more suburban or even regional driving.
Do you really need 4WD? Can you suffice without paddle shift? Probably; save a few quid.
If you do a lot of freeway driving, a modern CVT can be quite good for cruising on sealed roads and handles stop-start traffic reasonably well, but it isn’t perfect. CVTs can ‘drone's a bit if you’re very particular about this kinda thing, but they’re always working in the ‘power band', which is why they make that noise. I’d encourage you to get over it, because the CVT is quite good when done properly, like Subaru's.
Or there’s the normal epicyclic auto which shifts like it’s always striving for greatness and briefly reaching it. Revving higher and higher until it peaks, before starting all over again. A normal auto is good in stop-start traffic, short trips, and shifting driving conditions. But they’re always chasing the power band.
And a dual-clutch is not as refined at low-speed stop-start traffic. But it’s excellent in twisty driving, backroads and general suburban driving with occasional heavy traffic. DCTs are also better at fuel economy than a regular epicyclic auto, and they’re on par with CVTs.
If you do lots of city commuting for, let’s say, 80 per cent of your driving, then you’re probably going to appreciate a regular epicyclic automatic transmission over a CVT or dual-clutch.
Generally speaking, if you’re a more suburban and outer suburban driver, perhaps in a large provincial town or the outskirts of a capital city, a CVT is gonna be ideal. And it you do a bit of everything, and you are somewhat more enthusiastic about driving everywhere at 6 or 7 tenths, then a robust, reliable dual-clutch will be good for you.
Then there’s four-wheel drive. Unless you’re actually planning to head off-road in the first five years of having a kid (and I’d hazard a guess you’re probably not), then don’t bother buying a LandCruiser or Prado, or Pajero Sport or Nissan Patrol. Unless you actually live in regional Australia where 4-High or 4-Low might actually save your skin.
Do you really need all-wheel drive?
Some people living in outer suburbs of major capital cities, and those living in regional cities (what you might describe as ‘the country’) may benefit from all-wheel drive if they have friends or neighbours on farms or whom live on good quality dirt roads. Dirt roads in the wet, especially with moderate traffic levels but which have no yet received bitumen sealing, can be particularly dangerous. Not only can a sprinkle of rain turn dust into mud, but these roads are almost entirely lined by trees. The chances of losing control might be unlikely (but not impossible), the consequences for doing so can be extremely high. Trees always win.
Another aspect to considering all-wheel drive is places you visit regularly, or infrequently. Wineries are a good example. Often the good ones can be found at the end of long dirt roads, tucked behind the mountains where all the big, rich cellar doors dominate the tourist routes. I know this from experience. If you happen to come around a bend, tired and perhaps not anticipating a vehicle on the other side of the corner, things can turn ugly. Having a robust AWD system beneath you can be the difference between a near-miss and shitting your dacks, and face-butting a Massey Ferguson.
All-wheel drive, just to set the record straight, does not offer you ‘more traction’ or ‘more torque’ or any of that uniformed garbage many other car reviews will tell you. It’s completely wrong. All-wheel drive simply takes the engine’s power and divides it between four wheels, not the regular two wheel in other drivetrains. Splitting or dividing the power output between four wheels simply means you’re less likely to spin the wheels (lose traction) in slippery conditions. That it. That’s all it means. You don’t get some magical increase in stickiness between the road and the tyres. It simply lowers the likelihood of losing traction by means of overwhelming the tyre’s ability to generate grip with the road.= because 25 per cent of the power is going to one wheel, instead of 50 per cent going to each of the front or rear wheels.
There are two kinds of all-wheel drive, in SUVs. There’s the constant AWD system like in a Subaru which is always sending power to all four wheels. And then there’s on-demand AWD, which means a computer is forever listening to the driving wheels, and when it detects they are slipping (because you’ve, say, driven onto a slightly wet gravel driveway), the computer sends power electronically to the rear wheels, again to split the power and reduce the likelihood of further wheelspin.
The on-demand kind is okay for occasional use when you might happen across a slopey winery driveway one autumn afternoon as the weather changes. But if you live at that winery, and sometimes the front sprinkler system runs down the wheel ruts (which might get graded every two years), then I’d suggest a permanent AWD system is much better suited here. But you need to assess this for yourself. (Or ask me and I’ll give you a third perspective.)
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Practicality
What tasks do you need your new car to perform? The real ones.
If your kids are in primary school, then you need to think about how much luggage space you need for things like bikes, boards, school bags and what kind of travelling you’re most likely to do as they grow.
And where do you live in relation to the people you see most and the places you frequent? Do you take just the essentials, or half the house, like me?
You need to think about how tall your family is. Is anyone particularly tall or short? Extra wheelbase will offer more cabin space and legroom for taller people.
Short people need to be able to adequately see over the steering wheel and reach the pedals with bent elbows and knees. So an SUV too large can be counterproductive, like a Prado or CX-9 with long bonnets and hard-to-gauge corners; something like a midsize or small SUV might suit.
Do you need lots of cubby holes for knick knacks in your cabin, or do you travel with a minimalist mindset?
If you live in regional Australia, or travel there frequently, then you should mandate a full-size spare wheel.
Many people who buy a 4WD could probably suffice with a much comfier SUV. We’ve all heard the term ‘Toorak Tractor’. Don't pay for more than you need, and try to buy your new car with money you actually have; the worst thing (in my view) that anybody can do buying a car, is using credit or finance. In my eyes, if you don’t actually have the money, or in many cases such as the Toorak Tractor metaphor, the extra money for all the extra features, then don’t buy it).
And then there’s the off-roading crowd who actually do need a 4WD. Or those who simply own a farm or small acreage where a weekend of wet weather can drastically change the driveway and backroads you might use to drop the kids at the bus stop on Monday morning. Here, you probably do need a 4WD. But you don’t need some expedition-ready outback thrasher. Just long-range on occasion.
Think of it this way: How many people actually buy a brand new LandCruiser and drive into the harshest off-road conditions in Australia? Maybe one in ten? So 90 per cent stay on light gravel or bitumen at all times. And let’s presume about five in 10 actually tow something really heavy, like a big caravan - that’s still 50 per cent of LandCruiser owners who could’ve bought something cheaper, smaller, more frugal and easier to park than a five-metre-long, two-metre-wide teenager conveyance.
If you are in that minority who use your big 4WD ute or wagon to its potential, then a LandCruiser or Nissan Patrol are utterly brilliant and I envy you. They are extremely competent machines that make off-roading accessible and comfortable for a family. It was pretty shit when I was younger; because back then, ‘modern 4WD’ electrics failed in high humidity, there were minimal safety features (if any) so you were driving around in deathtraps just trying to reach the dirt roads, and even older 4WDs which did do the hard yards - they were as uncomfortable as piloting washing machines across minefields.
Whatever you do, prioritise safety for your kids when buying your next new car because they don’t have the power to protect themselves in the unfortunate situation of a crash. You do. Don’t accept anything other than the correct number of ISOFIX points you need, both for the vehicle and when buying your child restraints.
Then there’s the all-important boot and seating.
SUVs have their place as elevated family transport. They’re higher off the ground that conventional hatches or sedans, and that means tasks like changing nappies, lifting kids in and out of child restraints, and loading heavy items are all easier when the boot floor is raised and the cockpit is a few inches closer to your height than it used to be before the SUV boom.
But small SUVs can also be compromised for outright space - not always, but some - so it can be more beneficial to consider a regular hatch. Of course, if perhaps you’re elderly or have persistent back problems, or even just general mobility issues SUVs remain the more sensible option. Just remember that they generally cost more, as previously mentioned.
Now, onto packing and unpacking the boot. This is where so many people get the wrong impression about vehicle space, and in many cases, the various reviews you might read can contribute to the problem by citing only the quoted cubic volume as stated by the manufacturer brand. They don't make the effort to actually measure the load space, generally speaking. The actual dimensions are far more important than how many crates of milk you could hypothetically pack in the boot.
An i30 sedan has roughly the equivalent boot space of a midsize SUV, for example, and it’s a more secure compartment. And for many large objects, it also has a pretty good opening in order to fit the majority of items. Simply buying a small sedan could save you between $10,000 and $20,000.
You should think seriously about what your new car is going to be carrying in 99 per cent of your journeys. And for that remaining 1 per cent, fold the seats down, get a roof rack or tow a small trailer - there are other options besides buying a vehicle too big for your needs.
How many kids do you have now, and how many are you planning to have? A seven-seat SUV may seem like the best choice, but if you have one set of twins and a third (either planned or already walking), then you’re going to find access much easier in a people mover like the Kia Carnival. As well as actual room for big, bugger-off strollers, prams and sundry baggage.
For example, having measured myself, the Subaru Outback has a longer boot space than the Forester’s much wider boot cavity. So if you have a wide, bulky dual-pram, Forester will be better. If you have long eskis or long travel bags, or maybe a tent one day, Outback will take that item better. Or, if you’re onto your second in as many years, you’re gonna want to look at a large SUV like the Mazda CX-9, Kia Sorento, Hyundai Santa Fe or, if money’s tight, a Mitsubishi Outlander. These are just examples.
Don’t just look at the volume because it’s kinda meaningless, unless you know how many cubic litres your prams, porta-cots and push bikes take up (hint: nobody does). Visit a dealership and take a tape measure. Check how wide your equipment is. Take some of it with you to the dealership, if you can.
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Skewered Perspectives
My last, brief point on all of this is where you get the information about your potential next car. This matters because there are countless videos and reviews of the cars on your shortlist.
But you can easily burn hours and days looking at all the same cookie-cutter reviews, only to learn that the cup holders work and there’s headroom in the back seat. Like, whoop-di-doo. Well done: 95 per cent of all people can happily fit, physically, in a modern car. This is not helpful, it’s a complete waste of your time and it doesn’t tell you the stuff you really need to know about how that particular car will function or fail in the throws of trying to raise your kids and get them to school.
The majority of reviews don’t heavily criticise or even evaluate thoroughly enough how a vehicle is going to perform when you, say, have a sleeping toddler in the back and the power tailgate slams shut. Or whether perforated leather is a bad idea with small kids and chocolate.
They don’t assess how poorly placed the ISOFIX or top tether points might be. Or whether the lane-keeping features are badly designed. They don’t think about the real-world end user.
If you need to see what the car looks like driving around, and you wanna know what the brochure says, or what the brand’s website can also tell you, then most review sites are okay for this.
And I don’t mean this as a specific insult to them. If you want a once-over of the car, they're okay. Some are even quite good in this regard. Even I will use them to get a toe-in-the-water about a certain car.
But you have to have your bullshit detector on. Most websites and publications won’t highlight major problems with cars they review. And far too many publications spend way too much (or your) time talking about styling and aesthetics. It’s completely pointless because they’re talking about a subject which is entirely subjective. Mr. & Mrs. Smith who have been architects all their lives, or Eric the Excavator can all decide for themselves if the headlights look shit. Your wife will decide if she hates the back end or not.
Or they will miss things quite obvious to the real mums and dads of suburbia. Many publications have their own branded set of suitcases to give you a visual impression of the boot size. But they never tell you exactly how wide the bloody boot floor is; will your double pram fit where some 200 litre American Samsonite case can? Who knows? Very rarely does anybody actually carry something based on cubic volume.
This is why I specifically try to give you exact measurements, and if I can’t get them from a manufacturer brand, I’ll measure the damn thing myself.
This is why I started BestFamilyCars. To give families like yours an actual resource to ask me questions about the cars you might be interested in. So ask me.