Best Family Sedans of 2018

There’s no doubting each of the SUVs and minivans named to our list of 12 Best Family Cars of 2018 offers greater cargo flexibility than any of the sedans below. But five seats and a trunk have served millions of families well, and there remain many compelling reasons to choose a sedan today. Generally speaking, sedans offer a smoother ride, better handling, superior fuel economy and more bang for your buck from a features perspective. In short, if a sedan is enough car for your family, we highly recommend considering one.

Here are four standouts, listed in order of starting price.
 

You’ll find the Sonata on our most recent lists of 10 Best Sedans Under $25,000 and 10 Most Comfortable Cars Under $30,000, but Hyundai’s midsize sedan has been made even better since. Behind the bold new grille, the 2018 Hyundai Sonata also features several interior and feature upgrades that help it keep step with this ever-evolving segment. And it still boasts the lowest starting price in its class.

Safety, roominess and value are the three key elements that qualify any sedan as a family car, and the 2018 Hyundai Sonata delivers in spades. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration gives the Sonata a 5-Star Overall Safety Rating, rear-seat legroom and cargo capacity are among the tops in the segment, and the Sonata’s low starting price is further enhanced by the long list of standard equipment included. Features like USB and Bluetooth connectivity, a 7-inch touchscreen and automatic headlights come standard with every Sonata, as do Apple CarPlay and Android Auto connectivity, a rearview camera, BlueLink safety telematics and seven airbags. There’s also a long list of available options, including cutting-edge driver-assist and safety technologies.

Combined with some of the best coverage in the business — 5-year/60,000-mile bumper to bumper and 10-year/100,000-mile powertrain warranties — the well-rounded 2018 Hyundai Sonata can keep families happy for a long time. 

The radically redesigned 2018 Toyota Camry is sportier and more stylish than ever, but remains an excellent choice for families. While the midsize sedan segment grows collectively roomier, more comfortable and more efficient, the Camry’s decades-deep reputation for providing years of trouble-free transportation remains an ace up its sleeve.

And only the new Honda Accord offers a similarly comprehensive suite of standard safety technologies. In addition to watching the car ahead and adjusting vehicle speed via dynamic radar cruise control, Toyota Safety Sense P (TSS-P) can detect pedestrians or objects and apply the brakes, keep the vehicle from drifting in lanes, and automatically adjust the high beams.

There’s no shortage of comfort and convenience upgrades, either. Driving- or style-oriented buyers can opt for a Camry SE model with sportier exterior aesthetics, 18-inch wheels, paddle shifters, sport front seats and sport-tuned suspension. Camry XSE and XLE models have dual-zone climate control, 7-inch configurable instrument display and 8-inch central touch screen, leather seats, selectable drive modes (Eco, Normal, Sport), blind-spot monitoring, panoramic glass roof with moonroof, and an electric parking brake. Among the various options are a JBL premium audio system with navigation, bird’s-eye camera, Qi-compatible wireless phone-charging cradle, and head-up display. And while the Camry is not among the increasing number of midsize sedans to offer Apple CarPlay or Android Auto compatibility, it does offer Siri Eyes Free and Google voice control.

The Toyota Camry remains a famously smart choice, it’s just more appealing now.

The Honda Accord has also been totally redesigned for 2018, and right off the bat it took home our Midsize Car Best Buy Award, as well as its first-ever Overall Best Buy Award. Our praise for the tenth-generation Accord has been effusive, and we’ve gone so far as to deem it “the most sophisticated, most advanced, most impressive automobile not wearing a luxury badge.”

So yeah, this is a pretty good family sedan. Arguably the best.

Even at its starting price of $24,445 with destination fees, the 2018 Honda Accord includes dual-zone climate control, push-button start, a 7-inch LCD screen, Bluetooth and USB connectivity, LED headlights, and a turbocharged 4-cylinder engine that combines above-average power with class-leading fuel economy. The Honda Sensing suite of driver-assist and safety technologies has also been made standard across the line. Our favorite Honda Sensing features are the adaptive cruise control with low-speed follow and lane-keeping assist functionalities, but more safety-oriented features like collision mitigation braking and road departure mitigation are particularly valuable to families.

Additional driver supports include blind-spot monitoring, cross-traffic alert, front and rear parking sensors, and a new driver-attention monitor that can sense when a driver might be getting fatigued and suggest a break.

Other cool features include an outstanding new infotainment system, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto compatibility and available built-in 4G LTE Wi-Fi, to name a few. And we haven’t even touched on the Accord’s renowned reputation for providing years of trouble-free, cost-efficient ownership, qualities that are particularly important to busy, expense-laden families.

More than just a top pick for families, the 2018 Chevrolet Impala is this year’s Full-Size Car Best Buy. The Impala is also the reigning champion in the Full-Size Car division of our annual 5-Year Cost to Own Awards. And you’ll find it at the very top of our most recent list of 10 Most Comfortable Cars Under $30,000. But there’s much more to Impala than a roomy interior and excellent value.

In addition to exceptional comfort and quiet, the spacious sedan offers an impressive array of forward-thinking tech that’ll appeal to passengers of all ages: in-car Wi-Fi connectivity, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto connectivity, and wireless phone charging. Driver assist and safety tech includes OnStar communication, forward collision warning with automatic emergency braking, lane-departure warning, adaptive cruise control and blind-spot monitoring.

The Chevrolet Impala is among the country’s most storied family cars. And by augmenting its legendary roominess and comfort with some of today’s most valuable technologies, it remains one of the very best.