The best family cars – driven, rated and ranked

Best for: Driving dynamics

The BMW 3 Series Touring estate is the one to take if you’re adamant that family life and enjoying driving don’t have to be mutually exclusive.

BMW’s one-time default-choice executive car is now as recommendable as a 330e as ever it was as a 320d. We may miss the diesels, but at least we needn't mourn them too hard.

Matt Saunders, Road test editor

If the budget allows, you can get yourself behind the wheel of the beguiling BMW M3 Touring, but fear not, because the regular four-cylinder 320i model will still give drivers the sense of feedback and control that makes a routine journey less of a chore. 

If a four-cylinder lump won't cut it, the M340i is a standout performance estate car that hits the family car brief while also being fun to drive. 

The plug-in hybrid 330e will appeal to company car drivers and fleets alike and has neatly filled the void left by the diesel 320d, which is no longer sold in the UK. Its blend of performance and economy is still segment-leading. 

Its low roofline does limit its ultimate carrying capacity, but 500 litres is still enough for several carry-on suitcases. 

Best for: Value
 
Those who regard cars as status symbols assume that people will buy the dearest car they can afford — with the associated perception that choosing a cheaper model equates to having less disposable income.

It’s an ugly, outdated attitude that needs to change, because, as the Dacia Jogger proves, a great family car needn’t be expensive at all. 

The Jogger’s handling is well matched to its role as a seven-seater with a slightly elevated ride height, so it’s tidy and predictable if you stay within its easily identifiable limits.

Richard Lane, Deputy road test editor

This estate-cum-MPV is almost half the price of the Skoda Kodiaq yet can seat seven, easily ply scores of motorway driving miles, offers hybrid power and gets Apple CarPlay and an effective air-con system. In other words, much of what most of us need is there. 

It’s also a pleasure on long journeys, with softer-than-average suspension and a long wheelbase that helps it to deftly deal with nasty road surfaces.  

The Jogger isn't a luxury car by any means, but it’s put together well with robust materials and the engines, while coarse at times, are capable and reliable with reasonable economy.

Best for: Fans of smaller cars

Whether it’s a genuine benchmark and an icon based on decades of excellence, for many, the Volkswagen Golf hatchback is still the ‘just right’ family car.

I'm normally on team manual gearbox, but the automatic just suits the Golf better. Six-speed devotees should try a Mazda 3.

Illya Verpraet, Road Tester

With five decades of honing and evolution behind it, the latest Mk8.5 Golf continues to offer family-sized motoring to suit a variety of budget and performance requirements, even in this SUV-dominated age. 

Those less costly Golfs are far more affordable than you might assume, given the prevalence of budget-branded alternatives, yet even the entry-level versions still manage to feel a cut above the mainstream when you’re sitting inside.

One family-friendly trait that’s often overlooked about the Golf is how well-packaged it is, feeling indulgently roomy considering that its shorter than most direct rivals and, at 4282mm bumper to bumper, barely any lengthier than most small hatchbacks.

Sure, that results in a boot that’s lacking a bit of capacity, although it’s hardly small. Plus, if you really need more space, Volkswagen will gladly sell you a Golf Estate.

Best for: All-round utility 

When upscale family SUVs break £50,000 with little effort expended on the options list, many short of a mechanical link between front and rear axles, the £60,000 entry-point of Land Rover Defender 110 ownership suddenly doesn’t feel unreasonable.

Ask engineers what their choice version is and they will often go for the lightest variant with the simplest mechanicals. With the Defender, more seem to pick a 110 with air springs over anything else.

Matt Saunders, Road test editor

Factor-in the lack of on-road refinement of its few rivals that can be considered viable alternatives. 

It’s such an extraordinarily capable and practical car, yet it also feels satisfyingly special. Not ‘you’re not coming in here with food or drink’ luxurious but in a well-crafted, fit-for-purpose sense.

It’s a shame that Land Rover sullies that by charging a further £2000 for a third row of seats in the Defender 110. That's a pricey option but one that does give the Landie an added dimension of versatility to what is an already flexible package. 

There's impressive performance for its size, the six-cylinder diesel particularly so, but its thirst for fuel and niggling doubts about whether Land Rover is finally on top of its reliability woes will be on the mind of a Defender driver. 

Best for: Daily driving

With SUVs being the preference of most of Britain’s new car buyers, Skoda – long-time master of blending value for money with quality – occupies a lofty position in the family car rankings with its Kodiaq.

The DCC Plus adaptive dampers are the same as those that are being introduced on various Volkswagens. They have separate valves for bump and rebound for finer control. In the UK, they come packaged with the Progressive Steering and are an option on SE L trim.

Illya Verpraet, Road Tester

Prices start below £40,000 with petrol and diesel models offering seven comfy seats or five plus a cavernous 910-litre load space.  

Plug-in hybrid versions are restricted to five seats but compensate with a long electric-only driving range courtesy of a battery that’s a similar capacity of many full EVs from a decade ago. 

If you want four-wheel drive, the 2.0-litre diesel in SE L or Sportline trim is the answer – or you can go for the punchier Kodiaq vRS, with 265bhp of petrol power and a performance focus, to momentarily regress to those pre-kids sports car days. 

Ticking the boxes of comfort and value alongside the desirable SUV format and optional 4x4, the Kodiaq fits the needs of the majority of families with consummate ease. 

Best for: Commuting

Using the Volkswagen Golf as a starting point before then making it both bigger and cheaper has been key to the success of the Skoda Octavia this past 30 years, yet rather than the hatchback, it’s the estate version we’ve always felt a greater affinity with. 

The appeal of the Octavia continues to centre on its outstanding versatility, rather than its driving dynamics.

James Attwood, Associate editor

Don’t mistake ‘no nonsense’ for ‘no frills’ when it comes to the Octavia Estate, because it’s packed with technology and clever features that just make life feel that bit easier, regardless of whether your family is in the car with you or not.

There’s a lot to be said about how unstressed you feel driving something that’s patently enormous inside yet doesn’t take up a massive amount of bay space or cause you to duck your head in multi-storey car parks. 

Choosing the Octavia Estate over an SUV saves a useful amount of money both in terms of purchase price and by virtue of its lower running costs. It can be driven so efficiently that the staff at your usual filling station will assume you’ve taken your custom elsewhere. 

Best for: Economy 

For an eminently sensible family car, the Toyota Corolla Touring Sports has one of the silliest-sounding euphemisms for ‘estate’ we’ve seen — and yes, we do remember the Mazda 323 Stretchback.

In terms of depreciation, the Corolla is tipped to do well compared with rivals from Ford and Skoda, holding half its value after three years and 36,000 miles.

Richard Lane, Deputy road test editor

That aside, most people keep their car to the end of the warranty or finance agreement, then move on. For kids who got attached to the family car and adventures it created, that can be tough.

But wait! Toyota’s 10-year warranty means the thoroughly dependable Corolla Touring Sports can be part of your life so long as you might be ferrying your grandkids around in it.  

Almost entirely devoid of contrived personality, the Corolla is a blank sheet just waiting to be part of your family story, providing reliable, economical and practical transport without demanding much in return, beyond its annual service and routine maintenance. 

In a rational world, the Corolla Touring Sports’ fuel efficiency, large boot and enviable record for trouble-free running should put it at the top of everyone’s list, but the absence of character from the equipment list counts.

Best for: Space

Early in its UK presence, Kia occupied a strong position, offering British families seven-seater transport and solid peace of mind, but trends change and the spacious Sedona is almost forgotten.

It's primarily a soft, comfort-led set-up, so it doesn’t take much for its nose to veer away from the apex on damp roads, but it remains predictable and stable.

Matt Saunders, Road test editor

Instead, the Sportage SUV has taken on the role of large family car in the Korean brand's range, in the process losing some of its earlier off-roading ability. 

The emphasis is on the ‘some’ and not ‘all’, as the Sorento remains equipped with mechanical four-wheel drive but with the addition of sophisticated hybrid and plug-in hybrid options alongside the familiar 2.2-litre diesel.

Unlike the Skoda Kodiaq, the Sorento retains seven-seater capability and 4x4 grip even as a PHEV, although its electric-only range is less impressive. 

It’s good-looking, too, having evolved in 2024 to adopt some of the electric Kia EV9’s brutal futurist styling that suits the Sorento’s 4.8m-long bulk well.

Interior quality is such that its switchgear will likely be operating just fine long after the Sorento is a museum piece, let alone when its reassuring seven-year/100,000-mile warranty has finally lapsed. 

Best for: Home charging 

It’s barely related to the sports car brand that cloth-capped enthusiasts remember, yet various elements of car design and the marque’s history have been stitched together to create a modern MG brought to life with electricity.

MG was deemed the eighth least reliable brand by What Car? in 2023, but it offers the HS with an eight-year/80,000-mile warranty to ease your worries.

Jack Warrick, Staff Writer

Unlike Mary Shelley’s most infamous creation, there’s nothing monstrous about the budget-focused MG HS SUV, which appeared in its second generation during 2024. 

It may lack the glamour of the MG Cyberster, but the Mk2 HS is a thoroughly competent family-sized five-seater SUV that has more to its appeal than pure value for money.  

Much of that is down to the allure of the 295bhp grunt and 75-mile electric range of the plug-in hybrid version – tempting for company car drivers, with 5% BIK tax and a list price below £32,000.

It will also do 0-62mph in 6.8sec, although its handling isn’t up to making that feat enjoyable beyond mastering motorway slip roads. 

So, it’s a big, cheap, technically advanced family car with trade-offs in patchy material quality and overall finesse.