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Best family cars 2022
The best family cars have to be spacious enough to fit you, your other half, the kids and everyone’s luggage. It’s also got to be stylish enough for you to want to buy it and offer a level of technology that fits in with your lifestyle. You’ll want decent performance – without high running costs. Toughest of all – it needs to tick all these boxes, yet still offer great value. Thankfully, you’ll find this list offers a variety of different cars that deliver all of the above.
1. Volkswagen Golf
The new Volkswagen Golf is an excellent family car that’s easy to drive, spacious and well equipped. Its looks won’t appeal to everyone, though, and some features are tricky to use.
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2. Ford Focus
The Ford Focus is crammed with the latest technology, looks great and is brilliant to drive. It comes with a range of efficient engines and is competitively priced. The interior is the poshest yet for a Focus, albeit not quite as good as a Golf’s.
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3. Skoda Karoq
The keenly priced Skoda Karoq is the definition of a great all-rounder. It’s practical, comfortable and feels well made. Sure, it’s not the most exciting car and feels a bit drab inside.
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4. Mercedes A-class
The Mercedes A-Class is a sensible family car that’s also an aspirational purchase. It has smart styling and a lovely interior that’s packed full of technology. It’s not the most affordable small family car, though, nor is it the most fun to drive.
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5. Peugeot 3008
The Peugeot 3008 is a bold-looking, practical family car with a funky, well-designed denim-clad interior. There’s enough room in the back for three teenagers thanks to a flat floor and wide middle seat. You just might not like the dash layout and small steering wheel.
6. Skoda Scala
You want a spacious, well-built family car that comes with all the equipment you would want? Well, take a look at the Skoda Scala. It comes with a wide range of engines and is cheaper than some alternatives – don’t expect it to be fun to drive, though.
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7. BMW 1 Series
The new BMW 1 Series comes stacked with high-tech kit, a bit more space than the previous 1 Series. There is a decent range of engines to choose from even if the looks won’t be to everyone’s tastes.
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8. Volvo XC40
The Volvo XC40 is a spacious small SUV with smart styling and which is comfortable to drive. All the ingredients for a great family car, then. Some of the interior trim isn’t quite top quality though.
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9. BMW 3 Series
With a bit more class than your average family car, the BMW 3 Series has a high-tech, posh interior. It’s not the cheapest in this list and some desirable kit are optional extras rather than standard.
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10. Volkswagen Tiguan
The Volkswagen Tiguan is a spacious, comfortable and good-to-drive family car. Its raised driving position gives you a great view out but it’s a little bit more expensive than alternatives.
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Best large family cars
If you're running out of space in your family hatchback, or just need extra rear legroom to stop the kids kicking the back of your seat, you’re going to need a bigger car. Just because the cars on this list are large doesn’t mean they have to break the bank - all provide great value for money.
1. Skoda Kodiaq
The Skoda Kodiaq is a very practical and very large family car. And unlike some family cars, you get a decent sized boot even when all seven seats are being used. It comes packed with useful features such as umbrellas hidden away in the front doors on certain models and above and a removable magnetic torch in the boot.
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2. Audi A6 Avant
The Audi A6 Avant is a very practical, very high-tech family car that comes with a futuristic cabin and efficient hybrid engines as standard. There’s room for three teenagers in the back seats – and they will be pretty comfortable there too. To top it off, the boot is big enough to pack a week’s camping kit.
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3. Skoda Superb
The Skoda Superb estate is one of those rare cars, where there is very little to criticise. You want space, practicality and excellent value? The Superb gives you all of that, plus a fine drive as well. If you have got a crew of lanky teenagers and their kit to transport there are few cars that can do that job as well as the Superb Estate.
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4. Audi Q7
The Audi Q7 is a plush seven-seater family car that’s comfortable, surprisingly good to drive and packed full of tech. While the third row of seats is only really suitable for children, the seats in the middle would do the job in a luxury limo. All three recline individually, as well as sliding forwards and backwards independently.
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5. VW Tiguan
The Volkswagen Tiguan is spacious, comfortable and good to drive, while its raised driving position gives you a great view out. There are numerous useful storage areas throughout the interior and the roomy back seats can be reclined for more comfort, or slid forwards to increase the boot capacity.
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Best small family cars
The cars in the list below are all practical, comfortable to drive, should be economical and big enough to fit your family, without them rattling around like a few peas in a warehouse. In short, these are the carwow best small family cars.
1. VW Golf
The VW Golf is one of the best all-rounders that feels consistently good in almost every area. It’s spacious, has all the kit your family should need and is comfortable too. Just a shame some of the tech is not that easy to use.
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2. Ford Focus
The Ford Focus is a superb family hatchback that comes with lots of high-tech equipment, sharp looks, decent space and you’ll love it if you love driving. Interior quality isn’t as good as the Golf’s though.
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3. Peugeot 2008
The Peugeot 2008 is a small family car you can buy with your heart and your head. It looks cool, is cheap to run, easy to drive and has a big boot. But it’s a shame the back seats aren’t roomier.
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4. Mercedes A-class
The Mercedes A-Class has such a modern and stylish interior packed with high-tech kit it puts many more expensive cars to shame. You do pay extra for that premium badge though.
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5. BMW 1 Series
This latest BMW 1 Series is more practical than ever before thanks to increased boot and passenger space, and the infotainment system is one of the best in the business.
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Safest family cars
Nothing is as important as keeping your loved ones safe when you drive. According to Euro NCAP, the following are small and large family cars that have scored particularly well in the area of child occupant protection.
1. Volvo XC40
The Volvo XC40 is one of the safest family cars you can buy. Not only did it score a full five stars in the most stringent 2018 Euro NCAP crash tests, it scored 87% in the area of child occupant. It’s a small family car with funky styling that’s comfortable to drive.
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2. Ford Focus
The latest Ford Focus also scored an impressive five stars in the 2018 Euro NCAP crash tests – another one of the reasons it won our Family Award at the 2018 carwow Car of the Year Awards. Its five-star rating included getting an 87% child occupant score. It’s not just a safe car, though: it’s pretty much a great all-round family car.
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3. Subaru XV
One of the highest scoring cars in Euro NCAP crash tests, the Subaru XV is worth considering if you need a compact SUV that’s practical and not intimidating to drive, but also capable on slippery roads and muddy fields.
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4. VW Polo
Every Volkswagen Polo comes with a wide range of high-tech safety features as standard, and even the most basic S models come with automatic emergency braking that’ll apply the brakes if it senses an obstacle on the road.
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5. Volvo XC60
The Volvo XC60 does its best to look after you with a host of safety technology. These range from systems that automatically guide you around obstacles to seat bases that’ll absorb a vertical impact. It’s one of the safest cars around.
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Economical family cars
The cars in this list are all hybrid cars – so you should get good fuel economy. But just as important is that they are comfortable and spacious too.
1. Toyota Corolla
If you’re looking for an efficient car with low running costs the Corolla is the car to beat. You actually have a choice between two hybrid petrol engines, the car is enjoyable to drive and comes with a plush interior and a long warranty. Other hybrids are more spacious though.
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2. Volkswagen Passat
The VW Passat GTE has a spacious and interior and a car than can manage 34 miles on electric power alone. Shame it looks a bit dull.
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3. BMW 3 series
Choose the plug-in hybrid version of the BMW 3 Series – the 330e – and you get a stylish saloon car that can manage on average 150mpg. It has a smart infotainment system and a decent kit too.
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4. Toyota RAV4
The Toyota RAV4 hybrid is comfortable, has a practical interior and is well-equipped. The icing on the cake? You can expect around 50mpg, which is not bad for an SUV with a 2.5-litre petrol engine. The infotainment isn’t the easiest to use though.
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5. Volvo XC90
The plug-in hybrid version of the Volvo XC90 – called the T8 – can go on electricity only for nearly 20 miles, has an official mpg over 100 but amazingly can crack 0-60mph in under six seconds. All wrapped up in a well-equipped, sumptuous, practical and stylish SUV package. However, the third row of seats is a little cramped.
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Fastest Family Cars
You want a family car that has the practicality you need, but does it have to be that sensible too? Here, our experts pick out exciting, fast family cars for you to consider.
1. Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio
From a distance the Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio looks like any other smart, four-door saloon but as soon as you see those four-wheel clover decals (quadrifoglio means four leaf clover in Italian) on the side you know it’s something special. Performance is stunning but it’s has decent space in the back and in the boot, too.
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2. Audi RS4 Avant
The Audi RS 4 Avant is a practical car with ballistic-missile performance and its four-wheel drive means it’s quick in all weathers. It will comfortably take a couple of teenagers in the rear seats and the boot is big enough to pack for a week’s camping in the Pyrenees – and you’ll have an absolute blast getting there.
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3. Hyundai I30 N
The Hyundai i30 N is a great-to-drive, practical yet fast family car. The i30 N is roomy, with space for four tall adults and a boot that’s bigger than average for this size of car. Even when it’s fully loaded, the i30 N is not short on poke and fuel economy is OK, considering the oomph that you have available.
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4. Mercedes AMG C63 Estate
The Mercedes AMG C63 has a superb V8 petrol engine that brings big performance and raucous soundtrack. It’s well equipped and reasonably spacious for passengers and luggage.
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5. Audi SQ7
A seven-seat family car that can outrun a hot hatch? That’s the package you get if you opt for the Audi SQ7. Powered by a V8 diesel engine it has stunning performance but bearable fuel economy too. It has a beautifully built interior and enough space for your family.
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