Have Small Children? 4 Features To Look For On Your Next Car

If you have young children, you are going to want to make sure that the new-to-you vehicle that your purchase will help keep your children both safe and entertained.

#1 Easy Access for Car Seats

Vehicles are now required to have LATCH systems, which stands for "Lower Anchors and Tethers for Children", that allow you to secure your child's car seat. However, these systems are not all required to be made the same way. Take your child's car seat with you, and practice putting it into place to make sure that it works and fits well with the vehicle that you are interested in purchasing. When you have a young kid, keeping your kid safe in their car seat should be at the top of your list of priorities when looking at used cars. 

#2 Extra Row of Seats

If you have more than one child, you may want to invest in a vehicle that has a third row of seats. That way, if you are transporting people other than your children, they will have a place to sit. Also, kids like to travel in groups, so if you are ever responsible for transporting your child and their friends, a vehicle with a third row of seats will give you the room to transport multiple children safely.

#3 Child Lock

You don't want your child just opening up the door or rolling the window down all the way. Make sure that your vehicle has child locks that you can engage or disengage. This will help you keep a curious child safe when you are driving and will allow you to disengage the child locks when your children get older and can handle the responsibility of when to open their door and when to roll down their windows.

#4 Back-Up Camera

You can tell your child many times to stay away from your vehicle when you are inside of it. However, that still doesn't guarantee that your child will stay away from your vehicle when you are moving it. A back-up camera is one of the best ways to make sure that your child is not behind you when you back up. A back-up camera is just another line of defense to help keep your child safe.

When looking at used cars, make sure that you can get your child's car seat into and out of the car easily, consider a vehicle with an extra row of seats, make sure the vehicle has a child-lock feature for the doors and windows, and look for a vehicle with a back-up camera for an extra layer of protection. 

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