What is the safest used car you can buy as a new parent?
A child-friendly safe set of wheels is something on many a young couple’s list of things to buy in the lead up to the big day – but babies are expensive, and it’s not always feasible to go out and choose from the very newest cars to keep your new arrival safe.
Co-op Insurance in association with Thatcham Research has thus taken the liberty of collating the safest used cars for young families, based on a specific set of criteria.
A five-star NCAP rating is a given, with a specific focus put on child occupant safety. Front and side protection, as well as how easy and safe it is to fit child restraints in the rear seats, were factored in.
An additional essential feature was Autonomous Emergency Braking.
And the five safest used cars for young families are..?
5: Toyota RAV4
Proof that taller and bigger isn’t necessarily better. The RAV4 is alone in being anywhere close to what you might call a ‘proper’ SUV on the list. It’s also one of the safest used SUVs young families can buy. But other more compact machines still do it better…
4: Nissan Qashqai
Proof that most popular isn’t necessarily quite best. That’s not to discredit the Nissan’s smash hit best-seller. While it’s fourth on this list of five here, it’s still among the very safest bets for a young family looking to get moving.
3: BMW 2 Series Active Tourer
A first foray into this segment for the premium German manufacturer. BMW’s engineering fetishism extends beyond performance and technology, with the big 2er being one of the safest and easiest to operate used family cars on the market.
2: Volkswagen Touran
A safe buy in terms of actual safety, reliability and residuals. You can’t go far wrong with Volkswagen – the Touran will last, it’ll hold its value better than most contemporary offerings and if you do have a prang, you can rest assured you’re in one of the best used cars for new families out there.
1: Mazda CX-5
Mazda will forgive us for referring to it as something of a dark horse in the new car market. Never a sales leviathan like Ford or VW, but always with near-top class products. The CX-5 is no different (after all, it was shortlisted in the 2018 World Car Awards final) and its place heading this list comes as no surprise to us whatsoever.