Upgrading to a Family Vehicle

 

2014 Traverse- Great Family SUV

Before your family started growing, buying a new vehicle for yourself used to be a fairly straight forward process. See a truck, pick out the color and the trim level and sign on the dotted line in the finance office. Now that you have a growing family, buying a new vehicle can be an overwhelming task. Never fear, we’ve outlined a few things for you to consider when looking at a new car or truck.

Safety

You know your new vehicle is going to come with some standard safety features like air bags and seat belts, but what about those extra safety features that manufacturers are always going on about? Those extra features like OnStar’s Automatic Crash Response, Side Blind Zone Alert and Lane Departure Warnings are available on most new Chevys and really set Chevrolet apart from the pack in safety.

OnStar’s Automatic Crash Response will detect when your vehicle has been in a crash and will connect an adviser to your vehicle to see if you need any assistance. Side Blind Zone Alert uses radar sensors to keep an eye on those dreaded blind spots on the side of your new vehicle. When an object is in your Side Blind Spot, a LED light illuminates on your side mirror to alert you. Lane Departure Warning alerts you whenever your vehicle starts drifting from the lane that you are in without using the turn indicator.

The 2014 Impala received a 5-Star Overall Vehicle Score for Safety which is the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s (NHTSA) highest rating.

Comfort and Cargo

One of the biggest challenges of buying a family friendly vehicle is making sure that you don’t sacrifice comfort for cargo space and cargo space for comfort. Finding a happy median is key! Thankfully, the 2014 Traverse and the 2015 Tahoe have all of the cargo space your family will need without being skimpy on the creature comforts!

The 2014 Traverse boasts a class-leading 116.3 cubic feet of cargo space behind the third row and the Traverse makes it easier to access all of your goodies with its power remote lift gate. The Traverse also uses Smart Slide second row seating, making it easier than ever to load the little league team without mud getting all over the upholstery.

The 2015 Tahoe offers the convenience of power folding, flat folding, third row seats giving the Tahoe plenty of room to haul fishing gear to the lake. The Tahoe LTZ models have standard heated and cooled leather front seats and with multiple seating configurations, it’s easier than ever to customize your seating to fit your family’s personal needs.

Seating Arrangements and Car Seats

If you have little ones in tow the last things you want to hear on your daily drive is “Mom, she’s touching my arm!” or “Dad, he’s breathing my air.” or even “Stop looking out my window!!”. These are all things that have been said in our car this week. Right now, our little ones are stuck in their car seats so they don’t have many options when it comes to where to sit to get away from their brother, but soon enough they will be out of car seats and free to roam the cabin until the seat belt sign comes on. If that day is here for you, bring the kids along when you look at new vehicle options and have them sit where they would normally sit. Are they a little too close to each other for comfort or do they have enough room for all of their stuffed animals pals?

With car seat requirements changing as often as your child outgrows a new pair of shoes, it’s incredibly important to make sure that your car seats will fit into your new vehicle. Don’t just look at the interior and assume that your 3 car seats will fit in the back seat of an Impala. Depending on the size of the seat, they might fit, but the time to figure out the car seat logistics is in the dealership parking lot, not in your driveway while you are running later for preschool. For the record, we DID get 3 seats (two toddler seats and an infant carrier) in the back seat of an Impala safely, but it would have been MUCH easier in a larger vehicle like a Traverse or Tahoe. Don’t be afraid to test out your car seats in the new vehicle before you sign any papers, your back will thank us later.

Stop by our showroom and let us know that you are looking for a family friendly vehicle that will be able to last your family through it’s growing years! Our sales team is full of guys with families of their own, so they know where you’re coming from when you say family friendly!