Safest, least expensive mom-friendly cars

Quality, safety, and value are the top factors for new-car buyers and are certainly not lost on moms looking to buy the right family car. Hitting all these attributes in a vehicle that is also kid friendly can be a challenge, but our experts have found 25 of the best, least-expensive mom-friendly cars that are appealing to moms with children of varying ages.

For this list, we started with those models that meet Consumer Reports' stringent criteria to be recommended, based on reliability, safety, and overall test scores. Then we filtered further with a close look at crash-test scores and predicted owner costs. In addition we looked at how the vehicles fare for families with small children, school-age kids, and for teen drivers making our list some of the best mom-mobiles.

Check out the list below and click through to our model pages for more details including Ratings, reliability scores, and pricing. (For advice on the car buying process, see our new car buying guide.)

To determine which models made the cut, we looked at the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety's (IIHS) Top Safety Picks and Top Safety Pick + awards for 2013. To qualify for the Top Safety Pick award, vehicles must earn Good ratings in the moderate-overlap frontal crash test, side impact, rollover, and rear tests, regardless of their rating in the new small-overlap frontal test. The + award goes to vehicles that earn Good ratings for occupant protection in at least four out of five Institute evaluations and no less than acceptable in the fifth test. In addition, our own tests measure dynamic safety, with wet/dry braking and accidence avoidance, and factor into our overall test score.

For the value perspective, we used our ownership cost data to find the least expensive models to own in their class. These estimates include depreciation, fuel, interest on financing, insurance, sales tax, and average maintenance and repair costs. The chart above lists the cost per year over five years. (Other time period breakdowns, including cost per mile, are available on the model pages.)

For the family-friendly angle, we looked at how well the vehicles fit car seats, how much visibility for school-aged kids and space for their gear, and which cars are best for new drivers.