Car buying can be a stressful process. Other than buying a home, it is often the largest ticket item for any household. Instead of driving from dealership to dealership, and dealing with the “hard sell” environment, I highly recommend checking out a car show.
Scotty Reiss from SheBuysCars.com provides an introduction before we hit the auto show floor.
Last week, a group of local bloggers and I were invited to check out the New England International Auto Show at the Boston Convention Center. The lovely gals from SheBuysCars.com and the folks from Chevrolet sponsored our visit.
What I loved about chatting with the reps from Chevy is the love for their brand. Kim Carpenter, a group manager for GM Communications said, “We are so confident in our product line that we want you to try other vehicles from other brands and come back to Chevy as a favorite.”
We walked the floor before it was open to the public to check out what many brands have to offer this year. Here are a few tidbits of what we learned and some of my favorite picks for 2016.
2016 is the year of the family
Nearly all brands are focused on the family in some way for 2016. Many, like Mazda and Kia want to get a teen driver started in a smaller car and then move the family up to other vehicles in their lines.
photo credit: Nissan.com
The Nissan Juke is a new small SUV with big power. I love the design. I think my son would love this one. Too bad he’s only 13.
Buick has a great program where you can try one of their cars for 24 hours. What a great way to try a car before making a purchasing decision.
photo credit: Chervrolet.com
GMC is promoting vehicles that are both family-friendly and able to go off road. The GMC Acadia is one of my favorites.
photo credit: Chevrolet.com
The Chevy Spark is just adorable (can I call a car adorable?) It’s great for the new driver with excellent safety features like 10 airbags. It’s also good for empty-nesters who want to downsize.
The new Chevy Volt hybrid runs on electricity with a range of about 53 miles. Most people can drive back and forth to work on one electric charge. Converting to gas, the Volt can go about 430 miles before needing a refill. It’s a great car for folks who want to be “green” and get some tax rebates too!
Great Safety Features
2016 models in the Buick, Cadillac, Chevy and GMC fleets will have a combined 22 active safety technologies. These include both passive systems like curb- and rear-view mirror cameras to active ones which tell the driver they’re about to hit something — or just stop the cars automatically.
Rolled it out in the Chevy Malibu, the Teen Driver safety feature provides parents with a tool to help encourage safe driving habits for their kids, even when they are not in the car with them.
My final pick!
Of all the cars I tried, I was most impressed by the Chevy Traverse. It is more spacious than the Honda Pilot or Toyota Highlander. My kids will LOVE the built in WiFi too. I hear that once you have this car you’ll quickly become the most popular carpool mom in town.
So, if you want to check out the latest and greatest for 2016, check out an auto show in your area.
Thank you for the help. My wife and I are about to start shopping for our first new car. I had not thought about going to a car show, but that would be such a great way to hear from professionals each company in a timely manner. I agree that the Chevy Traverse looks like a great option. But, I would love to hear for myself how it compares to it’s competition.
I have been thinking about an electric car. Love the look of the Volt.
The Chevy line of cars does look great. I like the safety features.
What a cool idea. My husband and I are looking for a car this year.