The best premium car for families
Seeing as a family car’s primary mission is to cart around those people who are most important to you, it should be selected based on safety, comfort, and the space and practicality on offer. But, while most mainstream brands now offer similar features to the premium manufacturers, there’s no denying the added allure of an upmarket badge on the grille. Let’s see which premium car is the best for families.
Choosing a premium family car bring about some entirely different questions, however: which brand do you prefer, how much room do you need, and which one gives you the most bang for your buck? Does your proposed family car really need to be car, for that matter, or would an SUV or a bakkie serve your needs even better?
Due to the recent model proliferation among the premium brands, buyers have never before enjoyed such a wide selection of options. There are sedans and hatchbacks in various sizes, and SUVs and crossovers by the dozen, and they all can be had with different trim levels and powertrain options. For this reason, we decided to order this list of recommendations by body type.
Premium Sedan
This is the traditional body style for family cars, but its presence in the market has been eroded by the rise of the SUVs. Putting it simply, the versatility of the SUV has largely ended the dominance of the sedan body shape, to the point where only some premium manufacturers still bother offering more than one model in this configuration.
But the selection of sedans are still very enticing, with models that range from compact (Mercedes A-Class and Audi A3) to gigantic (BMW 7 Series and Mercedes S-Class). You’ll really want to start looking from the mid-level, however, because those smallest premium models are really not the best options for family use.
If you want a compact sedan, you won’t go wrong with an Audi A4 or a BMW 3 Series. These models have grown large enough over the years to comfortably accommodate families, but their larger siblings (A6 or 5 Series) are even better for this job. We’d recommend you consider a Mercedes-Benz E-Class (if having a three-pointed star tickles your fancy) or a Volvo S90 (if you want something opulent that’s a bit out of the ordinary).
But, if you really want the ultimate blend of comfort, space and value for money in a premium family sedan, you can’t go wrong with a Lexus ES. Its cabin is cavernous and extremely well-equipped, it has a huge boot, and it really rides as smoothly and quietly as a top-end limousine. With power outputs between 150- and 160 kW, the Lexus ES won’t thrill you with its speed, but your family will be very happy in this premium-branded bargain luxo-barge.
Lexus ES range prices start from R 703 600
Related: Shop for new and used Lexus ES cars for sale here.
Premium SUV or Crossover
As with their sedan counterparts, the smaller premium options with an SUV body type are really too small to comfortably cart around a family, but moving up a size class or two will give you plenty of cabin- and utility space. Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Audi all offer very desirable SUVs in all sizes, but the best premium family-SUV option comes from elsewhere in Europe...
Volvo knows how to make a great SUV/crossover, because they’ve been at it for decades. They have SUVs in all three main sizes (four, if you include the wannabe V90 Cross Country), but their best work can be found in either the XC60 (5-seater) or larger XC90 (7-seater). With a nice selection of engine- and trim options, you can have a luxury SUV that will serve your family extremely well, and there are even some hybrid options in the range.
Volvo XC60 prices start from R 872 200
Volvo XC90 prices start from R 1 213 000
Related: Shop for new and used Volvo XC60 cars for sale here.
Premium bakkie
Apart from Mercedes-Benz, which briefly (and unsuccessfully) marketed their Nissan-derived X-Class for a while, none of the premium brands offer a double cab of any kind. But, with prices getting close to a million Rand these days, along with available equipment levels and leather-clad cabins to equal some luxury cars, the mainstream bakkie manufacturers will satisfy the itch for a premium utility vehicle.
Most of the new double-cabs in our market will do quite well as premium family cars, but two contenders stand out from the crowd. The first one is the Ford Ranger, which features a multitude of upper-class gadgets in high-level Wildtrak/Thunder or Raptor guises. Going on this model’s popularity, even near the end of its decade-long production run, many buyers agree with this assessment.
The other premium bakkie alternative carries a Volkswagen badge, and warrants consideration for its powertrain as well as its upmarket styling and solid quality: the Volkswagen Amarok has an available 3.0-litre V6 TDI engine with 190 kW and 580 Nm to make this big bakkie go like stink. Its interior appointments aren’t really up to Wildtrak level, but that monstrous engine certainly more than compensates for some missing gadgets...
Ford Ranger Wildtrak double-cab prices start from R 725 800
Volkswagen Amarok V6 double-cab prices start from R 936 700
Related: Shop for new and used Ford Ranger bakkies for sale here.
