8 Best Used Family Cars

October 31, 2022
2:03 pm

What makes the best used family car? You want something reliable, for sure (you experience enough breakdowns inside the car during a morning school run). Ideally, your family car will have a spacious interior too- all while being affordable.

We’ve put together this list of the best used family car models in America to help you narrow down your options when you’re searching through all of the used cars for sale that you come across. From spacious SUVs to fuel-efficient sedans and hatchbacks, there is a reliable used car for every family on this list!

Volkswagen Golf

The Volkswagen Golf is a compact family car, promising great fuel efficiency without compromising too much on passenger space. The Golf has five seats and an entry-level 1.4-liter turbocharged 4-cylinder engine that produces 170 horsepower.

A 6-speed manual transmission is standard if you want more control over your driving experience.

However, most folks will opt for the automatic transmission or a DSG (dual-clutch) gearbox, making voice texting and chatting on video calls while driving a little easier.

Inside, you’ve got a basic touchscreen infotainment system with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto compatibility available.

The cons of this car are that passenger space in the backseat suffers due to its lower roofline, but headroom shouldn’t be a problem for kids of any size (or adults who aren’t too tall!)

Average miles per gallon come out at 26 mpg in the city and 34 mpg on the highway depending on transmission choice. Stick shift and DSG versions get slightly better mileage.

Driver assistance safety features such as blind spot monitoring are also available on all versions except base models, where these features are optional. Engine performance ratings include acceleration times from 0-60 mph in around 9 seconds flat. Remember, when buying a used family car, be sure to ask these questions.

Kia Sportage

The Kia Sportage is an excellent used family car. It has a sound infotainment system and offers great value for money.

The Sportage also has impressive safety features such as ‘lane-keeping assist’ and ‘Blind-Spot collision warning’, which can be reassuring when you’ve got such precious cargo traveling with you!

In fact, the Kia Sportage has a perfect five-star rating from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).

This vehicle’s engine and fuel economy are also excellent. Gas mileage for most KIA Sportage SUVs is up to 23 mpg in the city and 30 mpg on the highway.

If your Sportage is well maintained and you drive conservatively, you can generally expect it to last 13 – 17 years.

Audi Q4 e-tron

Leaving gas-powered used family cars aside for a moment, the Audi Q4 e-tron is a fully electric, luxury SUV — and a great choice for those who want an SUV with decent range, fast charging, and lots of interior space.

The Q4 e-tron promises up to 300 miles on one charge and can be charged in five hours using a Level 2 charger or just over an hour using a DC fast charger.

It’s a safe car for families because of its innovative tech features — the intuitive virtual display provides real-time vehicle information on your windshield, for example. You can expect a number of other nice-to-haves, including leather seats, two USB ports in the backseat, and three different zones of climate control. If you’re looking for a future-facing family car and are ready to embrace the world of EVs, then this is a great choice. The only thing to note is that what you gain in next-gen tech, you lose a little in cargo space.

BMW 5 Series Touring

The BMW 5 Series is at the top of the luxury used family car class. It boasts a 2.0-liter turbocharged engine in the base model and a choice of three trim levels. It has a choice of three engines and four transmissions, giving plenty of flexibility in terms of performance and efficiency.

The interior is incredibly comfortable and spacious — the cargo area is large enough to hold four pieces of luggage and all your groceries with room to spare.

But it’s not all looks. The BMW 5 Series Touring has an average miles per gallon rating of 24 mpg in urban areas, which may be improved by pairing it with the more efficient eight-speed automatic transmission. The engine performance is impressive, as you’d expect: 0-60 mph times are about 6 seconds for all variants except for the base model, which takes about 10 seconds to reach 60 mph from rest.

This car’s safety features include automatic emergency braking, a blind-spot monitoring system, and rain-sensing wipers among others.

Volvo XC90

The Volvo XC90 is a mid-size luxury SUV that’s earned top safety ratings from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) as well as five stars from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).

As for fuel efficiency, this model gives us 21 mpg with front-wheel drive or 19 mpg with all-wheel drive.

There’s plenty of room inside for all five passengers, as well as cargo space behind the rear seats that can hold up to 44 cubic feet when folded flat against the floor panel (that’s more than twice what you get in most mid-size sedans). The third row folds flat into its storage area on each side of the vehicle, offering an additional 10 cubic feet available for storage when needed.

Toyota Highlander

The Toyota Highlander mid-size crossover SUV has been on the market since 2000 and is still one of the best family vehicles on the market.

It has a V6 engine, 5-star safety rating, and 3,500 pounds towing capacity. And despite offering seats for 7 passengers it still gets an average of 20 miles per gallon on the highway and 17 miles per gallon in the city driving conditions.

Toyota’s Highlander also comes with plenty of modern features including keyless entry, a DVD entertainment system with wireless headphones for all passengers in the back seat (a blessing for long journeys with the kids!), and roof rails so you can carry extra cargo up top.

For parents, the driver seat memory function allows you to save a setting for each individual driver and the power liftgate window makes loading/unloading easy.

Honda Odyssey

Another mainstay in the family car market, the Honda Odyssey has been in production for over 25 years and the latest model was released in 2017. The Odyssey is a popular used family vehicle thanks to its generous seating capacity for 8 people. What’s more, the Odyssey’s three rows of seats can be folded down to create an enormous amount of space inside the cabin, freeing up room for large items such as bikes or camping gear.

The latest model gets an average mileage of 22 mpg (19 city/28 highway).

Chrysler Pacifica

The Chrysler Pacifica is an exceptionally versatile minivan. Besides being roomy, it offers good fuel efficiency and has space for 8 people comfortably.

You can expect the mileage to be around 18 mpg in the city and up to 26 mpg on highway roads, depending on which engine option you choose.

Speaking of which, there are two available engines: a V6 Pentastar 3.6L engine or a 3.6L V6 24V DOHC Engine. Both produce 287 horsepower at 6500 rpm and 262 lb-ft torque at 4500 rpm, respectively.

Get the Best Used Car for Your Family at Motobyo

That’s our rundown of the best used family cars available to buy on the used car market in the USA. Have you made your pick?

Check out all of the cars we have available at Motobyo! Our buying process is smooth and hassle free, which is exactly what you need when making a large purchase like this. No matter if you’re shopping for a car or looking to sell your car online, Motobyo is here to help!