Best family cars to buy 2024
What are the best family cars on sale? Whether you're after an SUV or an affordable hatchback, our top 10 list reveals all…
The best family cars must meet the needs of their demanding owners each and every day. Fortunately, carmakers are up to the challenge, and buyers looking for their next family car are spoilt for choice.
These days, family car buyers have a variety of options at their disposal. You have conventional hatchbacks and estates but also SUVs and a growing group of models that attempt to merge the qualities of all three. Beyond that, there are petrol, diesel, hybrid, plug-in hybrid and electric powertrains to consider. Finding the best family car will depend very much on your own personal use patterns and requirements but the models in this list are a fantastic place to start.
The best family cars to buy now
- Skoda Octavia
- Dacia Jogger
- Skoda Superb
- Honda Civic
- Hyundai Tucson
- Hyundai Kona
- BMW i4
- Peugeot 408
- Toyota Corolla Touring Sports
- MG4
1. Skoda Octavia
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- Prices from £27,000
The Skoda Octavia is a brilliant all-rounder that delivers on the essentials: competitive pricing, plenty of space and practicality, useful on-board tech and a range of efficient powertrains.
Take a walk round Skoda's family car and you'll notice the classy, clean design, while the interior quality is a huge plus point, too, and easily a match for more premium rivals. Yet, with a starting price of around £27,000, the Octavia represents great value, while the 600-litre boot and huge passenger space make you feel that you're driving a car from the class above. The Skoda’s robust quality, along with the level of comfort on offer and how easy it is to drive on a daily basis, made it the obvious choice for our 2024 Family Car of the Year award.
2. Dacia Jogger
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- Prices from £18,500
- Best value for money
Simply put, the Dacia Jogger is cheap, big and efficient. It’s a simple recipe, but don’t go thinking this budget-focussed MPV skimps on interior quality or technology, though. The cabin feels well screwed together and while there’s some hard-touch plastics, we’re sure they’ll stand up to family life.
The Jogger really sits in a class of its own thanks to its bargain price tag, especially in entry-level Essential petrol form. There’s a hybrid version, too, which bumps up the already impressive fuel economy to an astounding 56.5mpg. It might sit on Renault Clio underpinnings, but the Jogger feels like a big, solid car that really settles down at speed, thanks to its comfortable ride.
The Jogger’s unconventional shape has been driven by function over form, but a recent facelift has given it a sharper look, while the brilliantly designed modular roof bars add to the car’s versatile appeal. Its boxy shape means the third-row seats are surprisingly spacious, too.
3. Skoda Superb
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- Prices from £35,000
Few car names are as bold as the Skoda Superb’s, and the Czech brand would certainly look a bit arrogant if its flagship car failed to live up to this moniker. Fortunately, the Skoda Superb is indeed a superb family car, with an enormous amount of space on offer in both the hatchback and estate models.
Passengers in the Superb’s back seats will enjoy so much space to stretch out that they’ll feel like they’re living in the lap of luxury, and the Skoda’s high-quality sustainable materials only help to enhance this sensation. There’s also the choice of petrol, diesel and plug-in hybrid power, all of which offer an appealing blend of performance and efficiency. With all this plushness, practicality and performance combined, the Skoda Superb is a great family-friendly mile-muncher.
4. Honda Civic
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- Prices from £35,000
Like the Toyota Corolla, the 11th-generation Honda Civic is available exclusively with a self-charging hybrid powertrain. It’s smooth, efficient and capable of returning over 50mpg without breaking a sweat. The Civic also has a cleaner look this time around, a larger glasshouse for better visibility and a longer, sleeker profile. There’s no two ways about it: this is a handsome family hatchback.
Meanwhile, the Japanese hatchback’s cabin is more spacious than ever, feels solidly built and features a infotainment system far better than those in previous Civics. The latest Civic trumps its Volkswagen Golf and Ford Focus rivals for luggage capacity too, with an impressive 410-litre boot.
5. Hyundai Tucson
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- Prices from £32,000
With the fourth-generation Tucson, Hyundai set its sights on some of the more premium offerings in the hugely competitive mid-size SUV market. A series of midlife upgrades saw the Tucson’s already striking and distinctive looks enhanced further, along with some updated technology and powertrains. All this, along with an overall sense of top-notch build quality and plenty of standard equipment, are just some of the features that have earned the Tucson the title of Mid-size SUV of the Year at our New Car Awards for four years in a row.
It’s a great choice for the family, too, because some clever engineering has resulted in plenty of space for both front and rear passengers. There’s also room for their luggage, with a vast 620 litre boot at your disposal.
Although Hyundai has worked to make the Tucson more appealing to those in the market for a more premium SUV, prices aren’t too steep. A petrol-powered Tucson in Advance trim starts from around £32,000.
6. Hyundai Kona
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- Prices from £26,000
The original Hyundai Kona was a very sensible small SUV, but it lacked the rear cabin space or luggage capacity to take on the best family cars on the market. That’s all changed with the all-new second-generation Kona, which is more spacious than its predecessor – especially in the back – and boasts a much more impressive 466-litre boot.
The rest of the cabin feels notably more upmarket than the previous Kona’s, with the dashboard in all models dominated by a pair of 12.3-inch displays. The Kona also gets the latest version of Hyundai’s infotainment software, with a cleaner interface that features larger and easier-to-prod ‘widgets’.
The second-generation Kona Electric is available with 48kWh or 65kWh batteries, the latter offering a claimed range of 305 miles. It’s comfortable, a cinch to drive around town and very refined, too. All excellent qualities for a family car.
7. BMW i4
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- Prices from £61,000
- Best driving experience
The electric executive car sector is a fiercely fought one, but the BMW i4 continues to sit towards the front of the pack. This electric saloon is well-built, packed with first-rate technology and, being a BMW, it’s great to drive, too.
The BMW i4 is also a top choice for family use. There’s 470 litres of boot space, and the cabin still offers enough space for four, although taller occupants may feel a bit snug in the back seats. You could even enjoy a caravan holiday as the i4 is rated to tow a maximum braked trailer capacity of 1,600kg.
8. Peugeot 408
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- Prices from £33,000
With the coupe-SUV segment booming right now, you’d be forgiven for thinking Peugeot has cashed in by creating the 408. As a matter of fact the 408 is more of a lifted fastback (that’s what the firm says at least) and it slots between the 308 and 508 in the French brand’s range.
Regardless, there’s much more to the 408 than its unique styling. The non-hybrid turbocharged petrol engine is our pick of the range, given how cheap it is compared with the plug-in hybrid’s list prices. That’s not to say the 178bhp and 222bhp plug-in versions are bad, however, because they deliver a decent range of up to 40 miles on electric power and have plenty of poke. Several leasing deals have popped up recently, meaning Peugeot’s distinctive family can be a potential bargain, too.
The 408’s interior is classy and surprisingly spacious, with screens aplenty and a very impressive 536-litre boot. All models have a smaller than average, slightly octagonal steering wheel and Peugeot's i-Cockpit digital driver’s display that you’re meant to look over the top of the wheel to read. This set-up isn’t for everyone, however, so we recommend giving it a try yourself before signing on the dotted line.
9. Toyota Corolla Touring Sports
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- Prices from £32,000
The Toyota Corolla Touring Sports’ midlife facelift included the usual styling tweaks but, more importantly, a number of upgrades were also made to its hybrid system and infotainment setup. These all add up to this practical family wagon better than ever.
Both the Corolla hatchback and Touring Sports estate are available with a 2.0-litre hybrid powertrain under the bonnet. However, we’d go for the 1.8-litre setup as it offers great performance, an official fuel economy figure of over 60mpg and a slightly larger boot.
The Toyota Corolla Touring Sports is surprisingly good to drive for an eco-focused car but this is an estate so practicality is key. Boot space measures up to 596 litres with all the seats in place, and the low, square load area makes it easy to carry even the bulkiest items.
10. MG4
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- Prices from £27,000
- Best for efficiency
We think the MG4 is one of the best electric cars to buy right now. Not only does it offer solid real world battery range and ample space for five passengers to sit comfortably, but this fully-electric hatchback is available for well under £30,000.
There are a few areas where MG’s cost-cutting is rather obvious, but for the most part the MG4 offers plenty for the money with up to 281 miles per charge and a surprisingly engaging driving experience. There’s a healthy amount of tech thrown in as standard, too.
How to choose the best family car
It's important for family car buyers to break down the role that a new family car needs to fill while considering their options, so below we answer the most common questions.
How many seats do you need? A four or five-seater might be enough for your family, but there are seven-seaters available if you need them. There are even eight or nine-seaters on the market, too. Take a look at our dedicated pages for the best seven and eight-seater cars to find out more.
How often would you use seven seats? It's worth considering how often you'll travel seven-up. If a car is available with seven seats or five seats and a bigger boot, the latter might be a better buy if you won't be using the third row that often.
How much room do the seats need to have? If you've got grown-up kids, it might not be enough to simply have a car with two extra seats in the boot. The smallest seven-seaters will only have room in the rearmost row for small kids, so teenagers could be cramped in the back. And, of course, small kids grow, so if you're planning on keeping a car for a long period, that should also be factored in.
How often would the family car be used? If you don't use the car during the week and only need a family car at weekends, then you could go for something that has higher running costs than average just so you get the extra space you need. Likewise, if you're using a family car for the school run, then you're probably better off with something that's a bit smaller, while kit such as parking sensors and cameras will be a bonus.
How much boot space do you need? A conventional hatchback might be big enough, but if not, estate versions of hatches offer more room. The same goes for larger family cars that are available as estates, while crossovers and SUVs have similar space, but their raised ride height mean they might be harder to load.
What about extras? If you go out and do activities, do you need to carry extra items such as bikes, skis or a canoe? If so, does the car you're looking at have roof rails? If it does, is the roof low enough that you can lift items up there easily?
This is all worth considering, and once you have an idea of what kind of family car you want, take a look at our top 10 and see which ones we think are the best at the business of being family transport.
Need to transport a big family? Check out our list of the best seven-seater cars...
