Skoda Octavia review – the most practical family hatchback
The top 10 best family cars 2024
There are family cars of all shapes, sizes and fuel types today – these are the best on the market
The best family cars need to be able to handle it all – school drop-offs, weekend getaways, and everything in between – all while keeping running costs low and performing reliably. A good family car should comfortably seat at least five people, offer a spacious boot for shopping, buggies, or suitcases, and prioritise safety with the latest tech to keep you on the road securely.
The best 7-seater cars to buy in 2024
The good news is that today’s family cars meet these needs better than ever, with plenty of choices that deliver impressive value. The usual names such as Volkswagen Golf and Ford Focus come to mind, but while these have long been staple choices, the market has evolved to include other bodystyles like SUVs and MPVs over the years. Don’t think you have to settle for something merely functional, either – there are many premium modern family cars that offer an air of upmarket appeal for parents that want to maintain their image.
Keep reading to discover our favourite family runarounds across the entirety of the new car market. However, if you’re looking for something a bit more specific, why not check out our lists of the best large family cars and the best electric family cars?
- Priced from around £27,000
If you don’t need space for seven, then the Skoda Octavia might just be the best family car on the market. Based on the tried-and-tested Volkswagen Golf platform, the Octavia is hugely practical, with class-leading cabin space and a vast boot – over 220 litres larger than the Golf’s. What’s more, you get loads of standard equipment in even the most affordable model, including a 13-inch infotainment touchscreen, dual-zone climate control and heated seats, meaning there’s not much need to upgrade to a pricier trim level. The Octavia Estate boosts practicality even further with a 640-litre boot.
Costing well under £30,000, the Skoda Octavia delivers great value-for-money. Running costs should be low, too, thanks to new mild hybrid tech for the petrol engine, while Skoda still offers a diesel model for those who cover long distances on the motorway – the latter will return up to 66mpg. The Octavia is further backed up by a five-star Euro NCAP safety rating, a string of decent Driver Power owner’s survey results, and the option of an even more practical estate version. It’s no surprise that it scooped our Best Family Car Award for 2025.
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- Priced from around £19,000
The Dacia Duster has always delivered astonishing value for money since it first arrived in 2013. Over a decade later, the latest model is better than ever, feeling more upmarket but still retaining a rugged, no-nonsense approach to family motoring. It’s spacious, has genuine off-road ability, and can be ordered with a hybrid engine for the first time to boost efficiency. Then there’s the price; the Duster starts from well under £20,000, with the most expensive models still costing under £27,000, making it far cheaper than its small SUV rivals.
Of course, the cost-cutting can be spotted in some areas. There are some scratchy plastics around the cabin, and the general refinement can’t match some pricier rivals, but it’s hard to argue against the Duster when you consider just how affordable it is. We’d recommend stepping up to the mid-tier Expression trim level, which brings a 10.1-inch infotainment screen and a few other interior niceties, while most buyers will be happy with the entry-level mild hybrid petrol engine. In truth, there’s little to dislike about the Duster, so it’s a worthy recipient of the Carbuyer Car of the Year 2025 award.
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- Priced from around £37,000
Renault’s decision to reinvent the Scenic as a trendy SUV rather than a traditional MPV may seem counterintuitive at first, but the new model remains just as family friendly as before. For starters, it’s electric only, keeping running costs low for those who can charge at home. A 379-mile range is one of the best in its class, beating the likes of the Tesla Model Y and Skoda Enyaq. If you’ll mainly be sticking to local journeys, you can opt for a smaller battery and a reduced range of 260 miles, knocking around £3,500 off the Scenic’s price tag.
Inside the Scenic, passengers have loads of room. A flat floor gives rear seat occupants lots of space to stretch their legs, while the high roofline provides plenty of headroom. The boot is bigger than that found in the rival Hyundai Ioniq 5, too. Up front, visibility is good and the choice of recycled materials feel high-quality. The infotainment system is a real highlight, with Google Maps built in and a clever EV route planning that will factor in charging stops along a journey. We think that few family EVs come close to the Scenic in terms of value for money, so it was duly crowned the Carbuyer Best Family Electric Car 2025.
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- Priced from around £37,000
Skoda is renowned for offering great value for money, and the seven-seater Kodiaq is no different. Sitting as the largest model in the Czech brand’s lineup, the Skoda Kodiaq comes well-equipped as standard with 18-inch alloy wheels, tri-zone climate control, a 13-inch infotainment display, cruise control and a rear-view camera. With all seven seats in place, the Kodiaq offers 340 litres in the rear – not far off what you’d find in a Volkswagen Golf. Fold down the third row and this increases to a cavernous 910 litres.
For such a large car, the Kodiaq is surprisingly good to drive, too. The Kodiaq’s powertrain selection has grown for the second-generation car, including mild hybrid tech for the petrol engines, and a new plug-in hybrid with over 60 miles of electric-only range. Those who regularly drive on the motorway or tow will appreciate the diesel engines, available with four-wheel drive.
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- Priced from around £65,000
We voted the Kia EV9 as the Best Large Electric Car at the Carbuyer Best Car Awards 2025, and for good reason. The seven-seater SUV takes everything that we love about the South Korean brand’s small EVs and scales it up to XL proportions, with a cavernous interior that’s as quiet as it is comfortable. Thanks to its boxy design and flat floor, passengers have acres of space to stretch out in the EV9, while the boot is one of the biggest in its class. There’s even a six-seater version with swivelling captain's chairs for a limo-like experience.
Even in 378bhp all-wheel drive guise, a car the size of the EV9 is never going to be sporty, but it handles itself with decent composure along a twisty road. The priority is clearly comfort, and we found little to complain about in this regard – there’s practically no road noise and the suspension irons out bumps excellently. We’d stick to the entry-level Air version as it has all the equipment you’d need, while its less powerful rear-motor setup results in a longer range of 349 miles.
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- Priced from around £32,000
The Hyundai Tucson clinched our prestigious Best Family Car award in 2023, and things have only improved with its recent mid-life facelift; the striking family SUV offers plenty of space, a comfortable ride and an interior to rival that of more premium rivals. As standard, all Tucson models get a pair of 10.25-inch displays – one for the driver and one for infotainment – which are crisp and easy to use. Thankfully, there are still some physical controls for important functions, like the climate and media volume, which are much easier to operate on the move than touchscreen controls.
Hyundai offers the Tucson with three different engine choices: petrol, hybrid and plug-in hybrid. We recommend opting for the middle-rung hybrid option as this is less expensive than the range-topping plug-in, but it offers plenty of punch when you put your foot down and still returns around 50mpg.
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- Priced from around £39,000
Skoda’s first electric car, the Enyaq, has long been a favourite of ours here at Carbuyer. It shares its capable EV technology with the Volkswagen ID.4 and Audi Q4 e-tron, but packages it into a much more practical family SUV body. It’s also the most affordable of the trio, but you’d be hard pressed to tell on the inside – the cabin looks sleek and is well-equipped and high quality.
On the move, the Enyaq is as refined as we’ve come to expect from an EV, with its compliant suspension complementing the silent cabin and planted driving experience. There are two battery sizes to pick from – 52kWh and 77kWh – with up to 348 miles of range achievable with the larger of the pair. That’s not quite as far as the Renault Scenic, which also benefits from a standard-fit heat pump, but the Enyaq is still worth considering if you want a practical family EV.
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- Priced from around £47,000
The latest Hyundai Santa Fe is an improvement over the old model in practically every way, and should be on your shortlist if you’re after an upmarket seven-seater family car. It’s big and bold, sporting chunky SUV styling and masses of interior space, and has the build quality to compete with rivals from more premium brands. It’s no longer a big SUV bargain, with all but the entry-level model costing over £50,000, but we think it really is good enough to warrant that price tag.
Hyundai’s interior quality has taken a giant leap forward in recent years, and none showcase this better than the Santa Fe. The dashboard is similar to that found in the Tucson, but the materials are of higher quality and there’s far more space on offer. It’s available as a six or seven-seater, with both variants accommodating adults in comfort and offering more adjustability than the Skoda Kodiaq. Overall, we think the Kodiaq offers better value for money in this segment, but the Santa Fe is just as capable and feels far more upmarket.
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- Priced from around £22,000
A full hybrid SUV for just £22,000? You’d think that must be a typo, but the MG ZS really does offer just that. The small SUV is one of the best value cars on sale today, using the same hybrid system found in the MG3 hatchback but with space for the whole family – a combination that landed it the Carbuyer Best Hybrid Award for 2025.
Despite the low price, the MG ZS is surprisingly well-equipped, with a 12.3-inch infotainment touchscreen, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto connectivity, plus a rear-view camera and bags of safety kit. The rear-seat room is decent, too, and the big windows help make the cabin feel light and airy, while boot space is roughly on par with rivals. There are a few areas that we’d like to see improved, including the rather intrusive road noise and lack of driver seat adjustability, but these can be easily forgiven when you consider just how affordable the ZS is. We think the hybrid Dacia Duster is still the better car, but given that the ZS is £2,000 cheaper, it’s still very easy to recommend.
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- Priced from around £18,000
The Dacia Jogger is quite simply one of the best-value cars currently on the market, picking up last year’s Carbuyer Best Family Car award. It takes the Sandero’s simple, but effective recipe as a cheap runabout but adds much more room, with space for seven passengers. As a result, the best thing about the Jogger is that it offers MPV-like space for the price of a supermini, making it the logical choice for a growing family.
In 2023, Dacia even expanded the Jogger’s simple engine range with a hybrid version, meaning the Jogger is a surprising new rival to established hybrids such as the Toyota Corolla, albeit costing around £7,000 less. The hybrid offers an impressive 58.9mpg fuel economy figure and is best suited to high-mileage drivers, or those who spend lots of time in traffic where its engine can switch off temporarily.
Safety should be a top priority for any family car buyer, so the Jogger’s one-star score could look off-putting at first. However, the Jogger was tested in 2021 when it wasn’t available with the latest safety tech; Dacia has since updated its range with new safety features, including lane-keeping assist and a more sophisticated automatic emergency braking system, so its one-star score isn’t fully reflective of the car currently on sale.
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What makes the best family car?
The number one rule for a family car is that it must be practical. Whether it be prams, suitcases or bicycles, a good family car should have a boot large enough to swallow almost anything you throw at it. Given there is likely more than one person in the vehicle on a regular basis, there should be plenty of space in the cabin, too – all the cars here offer decent legroom and headroom to ensure those travelling in both the front and rear are comfortable.
Family cars should also offer great fuel economy, as it’s often the case that it will be the only vehicle for a household and will tally up plenty of miles. Therefore, all of our picks are offered with economical engines; some are even available with plug-in hybrid tech or even fully-electric powertrains for rock-bottom running costs.
The third pillar of a great family car is safety. It goes without saying that you want your family to be protected in the event of a collision, but the best family cars today also offer advanced safety and driving assistance tech that should go some way to prevent an accident. Euro NCAP is the most widely recognised independent body for testing car safety and uses a five-star scoring system. Our in-depth reviews will usually mention whether a car has been tested by Euro NCAP and if it comes with the latest safety technology.
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