When my partner told me we were expecting, one of my first thoughts was probably a little selfish.

The GTV is going to have to go.

And, to be fair, I was right.

I loved that Alfa. Proper V6, teledial wheels, a car I had spent months looking for and one I genuinely enjoyed owning.

But then you start looking at it through completely different eyes.

Would the pram fit in the boot?

Not really.

Could you comfortably get into the back to strap a child into a child seat?

Again, not really.

Could you make it work if you really wanted to?

Probably.

Would it be a complete pain every single day?

Absolutely.

That’s the bit nobody really tells you when your life changes.

Sometimes the car you love just stops fitting the life you’ve got.

And that doesn’t necessarily mean there’s anything wrong with the car.

The GTV was still brilliant.

It just wasn’t brilliant for carrying a baby.

So yes, it had to go.

But becoming a dad didn’t mean I suddenly had to start driving something that looked like it should have a box of wet wipes permanently attached to the dashboard.

I still wanted a car I liked.

I still wanted something that felt like mine.

I didn’t want something massive either. I didn’t need seven seats, enough boot space for a washing machine and a roof box permanently fitted because we might one day go camping.

What I needed was something somewhere in the middle.

And for me, that became a Mercedes C200.

Not too big.

Not too small.

Still stylish.

Big enough boot for the pram and all the usual things that somehow come with a baby.

And probably the single greatest invention for a new parent:

four doors.

You don’t really appreciate four doors until you’ve tried putting a child into a car seat in the back of a coupe.

Suddenly four doors feel like the height of luxury.

And that’s really the point.

Your lifestyle absolutely should influence the car you buy, especially when you’ve got a young family.

But it doesn’t have to completely dictate it.

You don’t have to stop caring about what the car looks like.

You don’t have to buy something you hate just because it has a big boot.

You just have to be a bit more realistic about what the car needs to do.

Can you get the child seat in easily?

Can you get the pram in the boot without dismantling it into seventeen pieces?

Is there enough room in the back when the front seats are where you actually want them?

Can everyone get in and out without turning every journey into a small military operation?

Those things matter.

And as the kids get older, the brief changes again.

The pram disappears.

Child seats eventually disappear.

They need more legroom.

Then suddenly they’re learning to drive and you’re looking at the car thinking, am I really putting them on the insurance for this?

Your life changes.

So does what you need from a car.

That’s why at National Car Finder, we’d rather understand what’s actually happening in your life than just ask what model you fancy.

Maybe you’ve just had your first child.

Maybe the kids are getting bigger.

Maybe you’ve got elderly parents who need something easier to get in and out of.

Maybe you’ve got a dog that seems to require more boot space than the rest of the family combined.

The right car changes with you.

And becoming a parent doesn’t mean you have to give up having a car you actually like.

You might just have to give up the coupe.

At least for a while.