You’re likely to crave space and practicality from your vehicle, as well as all the latest driver assistance and safety technology to keep you and your loved ones protected.

And you can have all of that with a modern - and stylish - lease deal.

Why Choose Leasing?

When you lease a car, you get behind the wheel of a state-of-the-art, modern vehicle loaded with all of the latest safety systems. Lease contracts typically last between 2-4 years, which means you can update your car regularly, ensuring you’re always driving the most sophisticated vehicle available to you.

When you lease, as opposed to buying outright, you can enjoy a low initial fee followed by affordable monthly payments - enabling you to keep your savings in your back account, where they can be used for other things, like those all-important family holidays..

What Models Fit Best With Family Life?

Families have plenty of leasing options, from medium-sized hatchbacks, to SUVs, estates, saloons and MPVs.

Your choice will be dictated by how large your family is, what sort of activities and hobbies you do, and also whether or not you have pets to transport.

Here at Select Car Leasing you’ll find spacious, affordable seven-seaters such as the Skoda Kodiaq or the Dacia Jogger, as well as more premium SUVs such as the BMW X3 and the Volvo XC60.

The Nissan Qashqai is one of the best-selling cars in the UK - and for good reason - as it’s both low-cost and supremely stylish. Two ever-present rivals for the Qashqai SUV are the Kia Sportage and the Hyundai Tucson.

There are also plenty of cars with cutting-edge electrified powertrains, including the Nissan Ariya, Audi Q4 e-tron, and the Skoda Enyaq iV.

What are Best Features and Tech for Family Cars?

Each lease car will have different attributes. And the technology and features that families should look for are those which make life that little bit easier.

Some of the family-friendly features that will appeal to mums and dads includes:

Keyless entry, allowing for easy and safe vehicle access from a radius of 1.5 metres
Rear cameras enabling better visibility and safety when reversing
A second rear or ‘conversation’ mirror allowing you to keep an eye on the kids in the back
A powered tailgate with ‘kick sensor’ gives access to your boot with a swing of your leg - perfect for when you emerge from the supermarket clutching umpteen bags
Seven seats: You might not have that many children, but those extra seats always come in handy when picking up family and friends.
A full five star rating from car safety testing group Euro NCAP.

What are The Most Popular Car Body Types for Families?

The five main vehicle type choices for families tend to be MPVs, SUVs, hatchbacks, estates and saloons. Here’s our cheat-sheet low-down on how they differ on space, height and storage:

MPVs, aka ‘Multi-Purpose Vehicles’, excel when it comes to offering space, practicality and versatility to families on a budget.

They’re often available with either five or seven seats, and the key feature of many MPVs is a sliding rear door set-up, which results in maximum ease-of-access for rear passengers.

Great examples of MPVs include the Volkswagen Caddy, Vauxhall Combo Life, and the Ford Tourneo Connect.

Sport Utility Vehicles offer plenty of interior space and a high driving and passenger position providing excellent visibility.

You’ll find compact SUV-crossovers like the Kia Niro, medium-sized SUVs like the Nissan Qashqai, as well as large, premium, seven-seat vehicles like the Audi Q7.

There’s also an abundance of electric powertrains to keep your fuel costs down.

Don’t underestimate the practicality of having a hatchback-opening at the rear of your car, rather than a lift-up boot like you see with a saloon.

A hatchback not only provides immediate access to load or unload your cargo, it will often also boast flat-folding rear seats, giving you a van-like load bed when you’re not ferrying people around.

If you want maximum boot space, an estate lease might be your best option. In this category you’ll find leasing stalwarts like the BMW 3 Series Touring, Audi A4 Avant and the Mercedes-Benz C-Class Estate.

Estates also don’t need to be dull - just look at the affordable, sporty Skoda Octavia vRS. You’ll also find electric estates, like the MG 5 EV Long Range.

If you can sacrifice the practicality of a hatchback, a saloon promises a sumptuous, smooth way to eat-up the motorway miles with your family.

The electric Tesla Model 3 is a fine example, a car that’s packed with features to amuse the kids - including a prank ‘fart’ noises!

The tried-and-trusted BMW 3 Series will likely be on your list. And if luxury is what you need, you can lease the Audi A8 or Mercedes-Benz S-Class Saloon.

Don’t Underestimate the Small Details!

Whilst microphones designed to help parents be heard in the back seat, and on-board vacuum cleaners (yes really!) are, as yet, only seen in a few lease vehicles, there’s a whole host of other useful features readily available in many new models.

When you've found a car with enough room and practicality to keep you going, its easy to overlook the smaller details of your lease.

However, make sure you're taking the time to really think about the features that work to improve your family's comfort and enjoyment, especially if trips are a regular occurrence.

This list will differ from family to family, and not only include big features (e.g. UV tinted rear windows) but also the small ones (e.g. cupholders for the whole family).

Make an ‘essentials’ list along with a ‘nice to have’ and keep these to hand when reading the car specs you’re choosing between.

Some of the main features you might want to consider for your family car include:

Integrated sun-blinds
UV filtering tinted windows
Lower window lines (kids can get frustrated and bored if they can’t see out)
Panoramic sunroofs
Rear seat A/C and climate control
Folding tables
Cup holders (large enough to hold larger cups)
Storage of all shapes/sizes (for nick-knacks through to large books/magazines)
Seat-back or roof-mounted DVD screens
Multiple USB points
Connectors for DVD players and game consoles
Multiple 12-volt sockets
Easy to clean interiors

Key Things to Consider When Selecting Your Family Lease Car:

1 Car or 2?

When you're considering a lease its important to consider if you're asking too much of your car. If you're needing to safely handle your large gaggle of kids before zipping you to work in the City where parking is tight, you may need to consider a second car, especially if the compromises you’ll need to make in a one-size-fits all vehicle will result in something that makes no one truly enjoys being in. Consider family size, terrain, the number of drivers, and your average daily routine when considering how many cars you ned as a family unit.

How Much Space Do I Need?

Consider how frequently you're likely to have others in your car-whether that's a partner, kids, parents or friends, you need to think about how often its a shared space. If it's only an occasional occurrence- such as the odd school run or lift- you may be able to get away with something smaller, perhaps with collapsible boot seat to allow for the option to have large groups. Alternatively, if the cars primary use is for the whole family, then you might want to consider how many seats you could need, and getting a larger vehicle to allow everyone to comfortably sit without treading on each others toes.

What Features are Key For You?

While not always essential, ergonomic features of a car can improve how smoothly your daily routine runs exponentially. You'll need to consider how the car is built when choosing your perfect lease. One such example of this may be sliding doors, which can take the effort and stress out of getting babies and small children, along with anyone with mobility issues such as aging parents, in and out of the car. Similarly, full width and height boot doors (think SUVs and MPVs) can ease the process of packing and unpacking prams and bulky sports equipment.

What is The Fuel Economy Like?

Along with leasing fees, you'll cover your fuel, which therefore makes it essential to consider the kind of driving you'll be doing. Different engines handle various terrains differently, so think about whether your car will primarily deal with town roads on the school run, or a mixture of more rural locations as this will heavily impact the type of fuel and engine you choose. Moreover, we all have a budget, and some of us will need to prioritise this over some of our nice to have comforts and wish-list options. To find out more about what fuel type is best for you, read through our fuel guide linked below.

What Fuel Type Suits Me?

If you’re confused or unsure about any aspect of leasing a car, give the Select Car Leasing team a call: 0118 920 5130