Used Car Hunter: spacious, family-friendly MPVs for £15,000

“Dear Auto Express, I want a family MPV that can seat five people and still has room for luggage. What does £15,000 buy me?” - Jason Gardener, E-mail

Let’s face it, family life doesn’t come cheap. However, look hard enough and it’s not too difficult to find some bargain used cars that can take the school run and family holidays in their stride. They may have fallen out of favour compared to SUVs, but the traditional MPV (also known as people carriers) offer some of the highest levels of space and practicality that you’ll find in anything short of a van.

Many modern MPVs, such as the Volkswagen Sharan and Citroen Grand C4 SpaceTourer are comfortable and chock-full of useful kit. Alternatively, if you are a bit of a driving enthusiast, the Ford Galaxy offers a surprising amount of engagement for something of its size (and bulky appearance). 

Here's our expert pick of the three best used family-friendly MPVs available for a budget of £15,000, together with links to buy one through our Find a Car service…

Citroen Grand C4 SpaceTourer - the stylish choice

10

• For: Stylish looks and cabin, comfortable, good economy
• Against: So-so handling and fiddly infotainment

The Citroen Grand C4 SpaceTourer is set up for comfort, with its smooth ride making it suitable for relaxing journeys with the family.

This is achieved via soft suspension, but the trade-off for this is that the SpaceTourer doesn’t corner very sharply, while the Citroen’s steering isn’t hugely responsive. One advantage the SpaceTourer has is that its official fuel economy stands at between 43.6mpg and 60.1mpg, depending on engine. £13,500 gets an 18-plate car with 22,000-miles on the clock and the 1.6 BlueHDi engine up front.

The SpaceTourer’s seats are extremely comfortable, and the panoramic windscreen makes the cabin feel bright and spacious. Entry-level cars feature a monochrome display, while higher-spec Feel and Flair editions are equipped with a 12-inch colour display. Infotainment, meanwhile, comes from a slightly unintuitive seven-inch touchscreen that’s standard on all models. There’s only 165 litres of boot space with all seven seats in place, 793 with five up or 2,181 with just the two front seats in position.

See our used Citroen Grand C4 SpaceTourer deals

Ford Galaxy - the spacious choice

10

• For: Big boot, good handling, 4x4 model available
• Against: Not as upmarket as VW or as economical as C4

Despite being bigger than the Grand C4 SpaceTourer, the Ford Galaxy is a better car to drive. It offers decent ride comfort, but balances this with engaging handling, less body roll than the Citroen and more accurate steering.

The Galaxy officially returns between 40.4mpg and 46.3mpg – a fair bit behind the Citroen, but better than the Sharan. Another positive for the Galaxy is the availability of four-wheel drive, which gives added security. £14,500 secures a 66-plate Galaxy 2.0 TDCi Powershift Titanium X with sat-nav and cruise control.

With plenty of good-quality materials, the Galaxy’s interior is smart and sleek. An eight-inch central touchscreen allows for reduced clutter on the dash, while a 10.1-inch semi-digital instrument cluster is optional on entry-level models, and standard on higher grades. The Galaxy is the most spacious car here. It has 300 litres of boot space with all seven of its seats in position, and 1,301 litres when five seats are filled. Only have the front two seats up and you’ll have a massive 2,339 litres at your disposal.

See our used Ford Galaxy deals

Volkswagen Sharan - the refined choice

10

• For: Solid interior build quality, generally refined
• Against: Disappointing fuel economy, slightly dull

The Volkswagen Sharan’s steering sits between the Citroen and Ford, in that it inspires confidence, but doesn’t offer vast amounts of feedback. Yet there’s little body roll, and the engines are strong.

The Sharan is also pretty agile. It lacks the edge of the Ford, but it’s perfectly competent, and generally comfortable on rough surfaces. What’s not so good is its official economy, which stands at 31.7mpg to 44.8mpg, and is down on the competition here. You can get a 68-plate, 65,000-mile Sharan 1.4 petrol for £14,500 in SE Nav spec, which comes with sat-nav, a powered driver’s seat plus a leather steering wheel.

While the Sharan’s cabin is a bit dour to look at, in terms of quality it’s the best here – everything is well put together and should cope well with the wear and tear that comes from family use. The straightforward design continues with its touchscreen infotainment system, which works well whether you’re using its VW-based functions, Apple CarPlay or Android Auto. As with the Galaxy, the Sharan offers 300 litres of boot space when all seven seats are in place, but when you’re using five seats there’s only 711 litres on offer, which is the lowest figure here. With just the front seats up, there’s 2,297 litres available.

See our used Volkswagen Sharan deals

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