The 16 best family cars for 2016

Honda

Buying a new car is a major decision for any family. To make things easier, the editors at Kelley Blue Book took it upon themselves to test out two dozen of what they consider to be the best family cars on sale today in the US. The automotive publication announced the results of their evaluation in the form of their latest "Best Family Cars of the Year" list.

The cars were selected for more detailed testing from the pool of more than 300 the publication tests every year. These cars were deemed superior to others in the market based on evaluations made by the editorial team along with Kelley Blue Book data on each respective model.

"For two weeks' time we drove, lived-with, folded-down-seats-of, paired-phones-to and installed-baby-seats-in each and every one of the contenders," Jack R. Nerad, Kelley Blue Book's KBB.com executive editorial director and executive market analyst, said in a statement.

He said: "We loaded cargo, contorted ourselves into third rows, watched movies on rear-seat screens, toted rowing teams to marinas — in short, we did everything that you and your family might do with a vehicle day-to-day."

The publication's editors evaluated each vehicle with a focus on safety, comfort, convenience, spaciousness, and child-safety-seat fit. In total, 16 vehicles — six sedans, three minivans, and seven crossover/SUVs — made the final list. The biggest winner was Honda, with six of its models on the top list. Chevrolet also showed well with three cars on the list.

According to Kelley Blue Book, the runners-up include the Toyota Camry, Ford F-150, Ford Explorer, RAM 1500, Hyundai Tucson, Kia Soul, Toyota Avalon, and Subaru Crosstrek. Here is a closer at the Kelley Blue Book's 16 best family cars for 2016:

The first car on the list is Honda's redesigned 2016 Civic. The compact sedan is KBB.com's Overall Best Buy of 2016. The publication praised the car for its loads of standard equipment, safety features, and cool new styling.

Honda

The Civic was joined by its big brother, the 2016 Honda Accord. KBB praised the Accord for its roomy, high-quality interior and rock-solid powertrain.

Honda

The Kia Optima makes the list as KBB.com's Midsize Car Best Buy of 2016. The publication lauded the Korean sedan for its stylish, family-friendly design, as well as its high feature content.

Kia

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