As a Mother, you’re soon going to find out that you’re more than likely going to have to tow around more than just yourself.  As you drive around in your four door sedan, you’re probably thinking that you’re going to want to upgrade to something that’s just a tad roomier.

The question today is, “What are the best cars for Moms?”  Well, to answer this, there are quite a few of them out there that you can choose from.  I was able to list 6 that you would want to take a close look at.  I factored in price, gas mileage, and more.

Volvo V70: This is more of a souped up station wagon.  Long gone are those ugly station wagons that everyone loved to tow around in the 1970s.  This has an upbeat style and it comes equipped with a ton of space!

Volkswagen Jetta SportWagen: This is another one that I really enjoy.  Its another wagon that has class.  It has 32.8 cubic feet of cargo space and when you fold the seats down, you’re going to get more than enough room!

Scion xB: This is a great, fuel efficient car that you may be interested in.  It has the newer look of what other cars in today’s modern era has, as well as a great starting base price of $16,000!

Buick LaCrosse CXS: A little on the pricey side, but if you’re going to want a bigger 4 door sedan, this is the selection for you.  Gets around 27 MPG on the highway.

Audi A4 Avant: Another great looking station wagon that’s going to serve you and your family a lot of room.  The base price is around $35,000 and is going to get you around 27 MPG on the highway.

Kia Sorrento: If you want something that’s not going to break the bank, I would heavily consider this Sorrento.  The starting base price is fairly lo around $20,000 and is going to give you plenty of storage.

GMC Yukon: Do you want all the space in the world?  If so, you may want to consider this Yukon.  Equipped with tons of space, as well as great gas mileage around 22 highway with the hybrid edition.

As you can see, the list is pretty selective.  You can get a car that’s going to give you great gas mileage, or if you wish, you can get a car that’s reasonably priced.  Whatever you want, be sure to do your homework and find a car that’s going to best suit you!

Credit: Flickr

Whether you love SUVs or you’re just looking for an alternative, you’re going to find that going another route may save you a lot of money, or you may find that is going to save you a lot on gasoline.  Regardless of what it may be, I wanted to show you some alternatives that you may want to choose from.

You’re going to realize that a lot of these cars mentioned below work in the way of SUVs, but they are going to cost less and get better gas mileage, making it a win-win situation!

#1 Scion xB – This car almost looks like a SUV from the outside, but when you start to crunch the numbers, you’re soon going to realize that it isn’t.  They run around $16,000 and get 28 MPG on the highway.

#2 Kia Rondo – I love the look of this car.  It’s going to run you around $16,000, as well as get 26 MPG on the highway, making it a great sell.  It doesn’t look all that fancy, but I think that’s what makes it so appealing to me.

#3 Ford Escape — The Ford Escape is an amazing car.  It has a low base price and the MPG is going to blow you away.  You can get close to 35 MPG with this vehicle.  You can also get this same car in a Hybrid form.

#4 Subaru Forester – This Subaru branded car gets around 27 MPG.  It’s going to run you around $20,000 at a base price.  Its going to turn heads because it has a great exterior, as well as a lot of options to choose from!

#5 Hyundai Elantra Touring – I’m not a big fan of the outside of this car, but I could see how other people would like it.  Its a rather newer SUV, so you may want to dig deeper into it.

#6 Subaru Outback — This is one of the most fuel efficient larger sized cars that Subaru makes, making it a great choice.  Its spacious and you just can’t beat the quality that you get with this brand!

#7 Kia Soul — This is the second Kia on my list.  They have a great selection of cars and you just can’t beat the price!  This Kia in particular has a base price of about 14,000.

There has been a time when you go out to your car on a hot day, pick up the bucket full of water and you start to wash your car.  You take out just about every cleaning product imaginable and think to yourself, “How much would this cost for a pro to do it?”

Honestly, it really isn’t that expensive to do car detailing yourself, or to have a professional do it either.  Lets take a look at both the pros and cons both when it comes down to detailing a car.

If you want to do it on your own, its probably going to cost you around $20 to gather up all the supplies.  This isn’t a bad price if you really ask me.   A few months back, I wrote up an article on all the car detailing supplies that you’re going to need.

To make it short and simple, you’re really only going to need a few things such as wax, some shampoo, as well as your vacuum cleaner.  You will be surprised at how much you’re going to have lounging around your house.

Now, if you’re going to go the professional route, you’re going to find that all of them are going to vary in terms of pricing.  Every detailer is going to offer their own package.  What you’re going to find out is that the prices are going to vary anywhere from $50 to $300 depending on what you get.

If you get the full out gold package, you’re going to pay $200+ easily.  If you want something simple such as a clean, vacuum, and more, you’re probably only going to pay about $50.

When you decide to find a professional detailer in your are, you’re going to want to get at least a handful of quotes.  Like any business out there, they are all going to vary.  By getting different quotes, you should be able to find a price point thats going to work for you.

If you have had your car detailed in the past, let us know how much it cost you!

When purchasing a new / used car, or maybe you have a car already, you may have already heard about the term, “Gap Insurance.”  You’re probably now wondering if its even worth it.

First off, what is GAP insurance?

GAP insurance is going to protect your vehicle if it were ever totaled by an accident, theft, fire, vandalism, and more.  Basically, if anything happens to it, the GAP insurance is going to cover the difference between the value of your car, as well as your outstanding loan or lease.

To make things simple, lets take a look at the scenario and you can be the judge on if its worth it.

Lets say that you go out and purchase a car for $20,000 and your loan is going to be for that $20,000 over 1 year.

Now, lets say that down the road you get into an accident and the car is wrecked.  The auto company decides that your car is going to be worth $16,000 and you owe $18,000 still.  Now, you’re going to be out that $2,000.  This is where your GAP insurance is going to come into play.

Now, remember that your car’s value is going to dwindle right when you take it off the new car lot.  This is why many might tell you to buy used, rather than new.

Who should get GAP insurance?

I would recommend that those that are going to purchase a new car, finance for more than 60 months, or you’re going to get into a car that’s going to lose its value rather quickly.

How much is this coverage going to cost?

You will find that some insurance companies won’t even offer something like this.  If this is the case, you may have to find someone that’s going to be able to add a rider to your insurance policy.

One thing that you’re going to want to avoid is those dealers that are going to push it onto you yourself.  Call up  your insurance company first, before signing anything over at the dealer to insure that you’re getting something that’s going to work for you.  You don’t want to be scammed here.

When you’re ready to make a purchase such as a car, one of the main factors that you’re going to most likely look into are the safety ratings.  This is important, especially if you’re going to be toting around some children.

Now, every year, the safety ratings are going to change, so this post my be a little outdated by the time you read this.  I went ahead and looked at some of the top cars online.  I was able to sort them by large, small, as well as midsized, and SUVs.

All ratings are based on the IIHS, which is the Inurance Institute for Highway Safety.

SMALL CARS

• Honda Civic
• Kia Forte
• Nissan Cube
• Scion xB
• Toyota Corolla

MIDSIZE CARS

• Audi A3
• Chevrolet Malibu
• Dodge Avenger
• Subaru LEgacy
• VW Jetta

LARGE CARS

• Buick LaCrosse
• Ford Taurus
• Hyundai Genesis
• Mercedes E Class
• Toyota Avalon

MIDSIZE SUVs

• Dodge Journey
• Lexus RX
• Subaru Tribeca
• Volvo XC60
• Volvo XC90

SMALL SUVs

• Honda Element
• Jeep Patriot
• Subaru Forester
• VW Tiguran

How are these safety ratings decided?

The IIHS will conduct particular tests on all makes and models of cars.

The first test that they will conduct is a offset crash test, having the car drive speeds of 40 MPH.  This will test the structural design of the vehicle.

The second test they will conduct is via the side crash test.  This will show how protection the car is going to have, if there are other passengers inside the vehicle.

After these 2 tests are conducted, they will proceed to have a rollover crash to test the roof strength for protection during rollover crashes.

The IIHS will test rear crash restraint ratings.  This will primarily focus on how well the seats are places to prevent whiplash type injuries.

After these type of evaluations, they are going to finally test the ESC.  This reduces crash risk, as well as help drivers maintain the control of their cars during emergency based situations.

The IIHS has been conducting these studies for years now.  To get more information on these specific tests, as well as more information on each car, you can find it all here.