These Family Vehicles Offer Great Value

The family vehicle is important. It needs to provide space for children, their friends, their pets and their things. It also needs to be there as they grow. But beyond size, a family vehicle needs to provide protection for all occupants. This means trying to keep them out of accidents, but if something goes wrong, protecting them as well as possible. 

Finding a great family vehicle isn’t too hard. Almost every automaker knows the importance of making a quality family car. However, finding one that offers you great value can be trickier. Vehicle pricing can sometimes feel like it’s out of control. Base prices off you an idea of where a vehicle should be, but the three to six trim levels that every car seems to have can get prices rising really quickly. The following are some of the best family vehicles and offer good value. That doesn’t mean they are cheap vehicles, it means that the price you pay provides more features and vehicle than it should.  

1 - Subaru Forester

The Forester is a great crossover for a family. The cabin is large and the ride and handling are comfortable, but responsive. Subaru is known for their build quality and the Forester is no different. Reliability means you won’t have your vehicle break down when you need it the most. The Forester starts at around $25,000 which is great. However, the base model is a little sparse. Even going for Sport or Limited trim level should still run under $34,000, which is a good price for all of the add ons. If there’s a downside to Forester, it’s not particularly quick. Also, it’s not exactly going to set the world on fire with its outward appearance. 

2 - Honda Odyssey

Quite simply, the Honda Odyssey probably isn’t the very best minivan. It’s great, but the Chrysler Pacifica probably takes down the championship belt when only considering the vehicles on their own. However, once you take into account price, the Odyssey becomes the clear pound for pound value winner. The Odyssey tends to start around $3,000 less than the Pacifica and the pricing distance increases while going higher in the trim levels. Driver assistance is well integrated into the vehicle as long as you get the EX model or higher. The Odyssey has aced every crash test it ever has been placed under and continues to receive 5 star ratings. 

 3 - Ford Expedition

The Expedition is what’s known as a “mega hauler” due to the extreme size of it. The Expedition has three rows, and could probably fit another two rows in there if it really wanted to. The Expedition is not cheap. It starts around $53,000, but it provides a huge cabin and a huge engine to keep it moving along. The expedition is safe, with a 5 star crash test rating. It also has blind spot monitoring, lane departure warning, lane assist, adaptive cruise control and rear cross traffic alert. Safety abounds. If you have a family that needs 7 or 8 seats and doesn’t want a minivan, the Expedition could be perfect for you. 

4 - Toyota Avalon

The Avalon is quietly one of the best cars that Toyota has ever made. While most of the attention in the Toyota lineup goes to the Camry, Corolla or RAV-4, the full size Avalon provides a solid dose of luxury at a quality price. The Avalon starts around $36,000 and is the only sedan on this list. Standard safety is included with automatic emergency braking, lane assist and adaptive cruise control all included on the Avalon. If you’re looking to save money, the Avalon offers a very efficient hybrid that gets fuel economy well above 40 miles per gallon. The interior is big and spacious with room for the family as they grow up. The styling of the exterior can be a bit hit or miss for people, with the large grille being the most prominent feature. If you like that, you’ll like the rest of the car though.