{"id":6234,"date":"2015-04-08T12:39:05","date_gmt":"2015-04-08T11:39:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.wheelsforwomen.ie\/?p=6234"},"modified":"2015-04-08T15:40:54","modified_gmt":"2015-04-08T14:40:54","slug":"family-cars-and-sheep","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.wheelsforwomen.ie\/index.php\/family-cars-and-sheep\/","title":{"rendered":"Family Cars and Sheep"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"sheep\"<\/a>We asked Sinead Canny-Ruddy, ‘Young’ mother of Annie, wife of Dickie, rally driver, car mad with a bag and shoe obsession to give us her Top 10 Unconventional Tips\u00a0when it comes to buying a family car…..<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

When it comes to buying a family car, why do we all act like sheep? Why do we suddenly lose the ability to think of nothing else but this car MUST fit the big expensive designer buggy that we bought when Little Jimmy was born and will have to fit all the children that we will give birth to after Little Jimmy…<\/p>\n

Here’s\u00a0my<\/i>\u00a0Top 10 Unconventional Tips<\/b>\u00a0when it comes to buying a family car. Sit up, take note and try not to bleat.<\/p>\n

1.\u00a0Do not Google ‘Top Ten Family Cars’<\/b>. It’s confusing for a start and above all depressing if you are a cool car lover like me. When a list suggests car models that I have never heard of or can’t pronounce, I know I shouldn’t be looking at it. Above all it will probably be written by someone paid to promote a particular model or worst still, someone who doesn’t have a family.<\/p>\n

2.\u00a0Space<\/b>. “But I neeeeeeed lots of space”. Why? The average Irish \u00a0family has 1.4 children per household. Taking children from A to B on school runs, violin practice, ballet and whatever else Little Johnny and Little Mary go to does not require lots of space. Space leads to clutter. Your car is not a garage. For those longer journeys, borrow or buy a roof box. To fill with clutter…..<\/p>\n

3.\u00a0Safety<\/b>. Unless you own a very old and used car, all modern cars, small, medium or large are safe. Don’t feel pressurised into buying a car because of its safety record. Remember, it is the person behind the wheel of the car that needs to be safe when driving. Don’t rely on a car to be your safety net.<\/p>\n

4.\u00a0What you think you need versus what you actually need<\/b>. One motor journalist wrote in a recent family car article, “You may need an MPV’. I may need to a new handbag and a bigger house would be my answer to that.<\/p>\n

5.\u00a0The car must have 5 doors.<\/b>\u00a0Another great useless piece of advice. Cars with 3 doors can be as accessible as 5. \u00a0If you are ferrying around elderly parents, buy a 5 door…… on second thoughts maybe as a rule of thumb until they are old enough to toddle into their own car seat the number of back doors is purely a personal choice!<\/p>\n

6.\u00a0Sports cars are family cars!<\/b>\u00a0In the same article the same journalist remarks “it’s no use buying a sports car if you are about to start a family”. A two seater sports car maybe not, but there are lots of sports cars on the market that will cater for you and your brood.<\/p>\n

7.\u00a0You don’t need a car<\/b>. I actually don’t have a car myself. There are two reasons for this. Firstly, I love cars and would need several to satisfy my car obsession. Cars to be are like designer handbags. You can never have enough. \u00a0Secondly I am fortunate to live in a City with amazing transport links so I can do without a car as most people can – they just don’t realise it. Regardless of where you live, consider the reason why you need a car for your family. You will be very surprised that for a lot of you it is a luxury that you can do without. Add up the yearly cost of running a car and if you don’t need one all the time, weigh this cost up against hiring one when you need it either from a hire car company or hourly car hire clubs such as \u00a0GoCar.<\/p>\n

8.\u00a0Taking advice from your friends with kids<\/b>. DON’T. \u00a0They will probably be sheep. Unless of course they’ve bought a Porsche 911 having taken heed of my top tips. Then you have my full permission to hang on every word they say and copy every thing they do.<\/p>\n

9.\u00a0Don’t think new all the time!\u00a0<\/b>Remember, in general cars are not investments. \u00a0In fact they are de-investments. New cars depreciate at an average of 20% as soon as you take ownership of them. So think second hand.\u00a0There are fantastic bargains to be had out there and a very wide range to chose from. There isn’t a car you can’t get on the second hand market for a good price these days.<\/p>\n

10.\u00a0Lastly…have fun!<\/b>\u00a0Having a family is a great excuse to change your car. But have fun with it. Style over substance I say. Turn some heads with your new motor. \u00a0Make your neighbours and friends jealous.<\/p>\n

\u00a0So, there you are. Tips you won’t find when it comes to buying a family car. I don’t expect you will all agree with me but then I wouldn’t expect you to. So stop bleating and get going with your search. \u00a0Baaaaaaah.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Sinead Canny-Ruddy<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

20th August, 2013<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We asked Sinead Canny-Ruddy, ‘Young’ mother of Annie, wife of Dickie, rally driver, car mad with a bag and shoe obsession to give us her Top 10 Unconventional Tips\u00a0when it comes to buying a family car….. When it comes to buying a family car, why do we all act like sheep? Why do we suddenly […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":11197,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[17,2163,2161,117],"tags":[801,1396,671,503,1395],"yoast_head":"\nFamily Cars and Sheep - wheelsforwomen.ie<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"We asked Sinead Canny-Ruddy to give us her Top 10 Unconventional Tips when it comes to buying a family car.....\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.wheelsforwomen.ie\/index.php\/family-cars-and-sheep\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Family Cars and Sheep - wheelsforwomen.ie\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"We asked Sinead Canny-Ruddy to give us her Top 10 Unconventional Tips when it comes to buying a family car.....\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.wheelsforwomen.ie\/index.php\/family-cars-and-sheep\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"wheelsforwomen.ie\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/wheelsforwomen\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-04-08T11:39:05+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2015-04-08T14:40:54+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.wheelsforwomen.ie\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/sheep2.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1350\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"400\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Sinead Canny\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Sinead Canny\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.wheelsforwomen.ie\/index.php\/family-cars-and-sheep\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.wheelsforwomen.ie\/index.php\/family-cars-and-sheep\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Sinead Canny\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.wheelsforwomen.ie\/#\/schema\/person\/bc7d1ec398461eadf5e353911bde89e0\"},\"headline\":\"Family Cars and Sheep\",\"datePublished\":\"2015-04-08T11:39:05+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2015-04-08T14:40:54+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.wheelsforwomen.ie\/index.php\/family-cars-and-sheep\/\"},\"wordCount\":836,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.wheelsforwomen.ie\/#organization\"},\"keywords\":[\"car seats\",\"choice\",\"Family Cars\",\"Featured\",\"Sinead Canny-Ruddy\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Features\",\"I want to buy a new car\",\"I want to buy a used car\",\"Latest\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.wheelsforwomen.ie\/index.php\/family-cars-and-sheep\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.wheelsforwomen.ie\/index.php\/family-cars-and-sheep\/\",\"name\":\"Family Cars and Sheep - 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