Family cars with large boots in 2025

If you want a genuine seven-seater with enough space for seven adults to sit behind each other in three rows then the Kia Sorento will be for you. It’s one of the best cars you can find for space and the latest version is available with hybrid power alongside the diesel engine.

The diesel is Kia’s tried and tested 2.2 CRDi engine. This four-cylinder unit has been carried over from the older third-generation Sorento and develops roughly the same output as before, at  202PS and 440Nm. For caravan owners, it’s ideal with a max braked lugging capacity of 2500kg. 

The quality of the interior of the latest Kia Sorento is a big improvement over its predecessor. The fit and finish is high throughout, with lots of good quality, soft-touch materials. Plus of course, it comes with a seven-year warranty.

You only get 179 litres with the third row in place, but if you fold those seats down, there's a handy 813 litres available.

The Mercedes-Benz E-Class Estate sits among a group of excellent estates, with the slightly larger and less expensive Volvo V90 on one side and the practical, sporty BMW 5 Series Touring on the other. So, where does the E-Class Estate excel? With its pure comfort and luxury, as well as a huge boot.

The E-Class Estate is as luxurious as it is versatile, with an impressively massive 1820-litre boot (640 litres with the seats up) that’ll easily accommodate a couple of bikes with their front wheels removed. The boot’s a bit smaller than the Skoda Superb Estate, but the E-Class gets a whole lot of tech as standard, which makes it a strong investment.

The sensible petrol option is the E200, a 2.0-litre turbocharged four-cylinder engine providing 184PS. It’s fast but not frugal on fuel, so  if that's a necessity, we’d suggest the 2.0-litre diesel option with 190PS. It’s excellent at lugging a packed car without being too costly to run, but if you don’t cover regular 15-mile plus trips, stick with the petrol.

We should point out though that if you want the big boot, you'll need to go for a used Mercedes-Benz E-Class estate from the previous generation (pictured), because the new one has a notably smaller load space in the back.

The first-generation Skoda Kodiaq was impressive enough in terms of boot space, but the current one does even better, providing a whopping 910 litres in the five-seater version. Opt for the seven seater and fold the third row down, and there's still a highly impressive 845 litres back there.

Just bear in mind that you will lose a bit of further space if you opt for the plug-in hybrid, because the battery pack robs a bit of space. An excellent electric-only range of 62 miles means we're willing to let that slide. 

In any case, it's great to see that the new Kodiaq offers such a strong range of powertains, with several conventional petrol and diesel units offered alongside the PHEV. There's even the hot Kodiaq vRS, which shares an engine with the Volkswagen Golf GTI. 

As far as big estates go, the Skoda Superb Estate is as close to perfect as you’ll get. We were already pretty satisfied with the 660-litre boot of the previous-generation model, but the current get is even better with 690 litres offered. Curiously, though, the figure for when the rear seats are folded flat has dropped a little, but 1,920 litres is still a lot. 

This is another car that loses a bit of luggage space when a plug-in hybrid is specced - 510 litres with the rear seats in place, and 1,770 litres with them folded. We can't really single the Super Estate out for this - it's common for PHEV versions of cars to be slightly compromised in this regard. 

Whichever version you get, though, you should be able to get a couple of adult bikes back there once the rear bench is folded. But it's worth noting that the Superb Estate is more than just a load-lugger - this is a car that feels nearly as premium as the wares of Audi and BMW, but for a lot less money.

The Audi Q5 is a classy SUV that feels just as luxurious and refined as you’d expect. It’s a fantastic all-rounder that’ll feel effortless to drive and comfortable on long trips, as well as being easy to live with in daily life. The downsides are a stingy equipment list and relatively narrow engine range, but these won’t put all buyers off wanting one. And rightly so.

Modern diesels are still the most effective way to deliver strong performance while avoiding awful fuel economy in a car this big. That's why we think the Q5 is at its best in 40 TDI quattro guise. The 2.0-litre engine is impressively smooth, and quick enough to never feel strained, even fully loaded. It's not especially economical, but an official figure close to 40mpg gives it lower running costs than the petrols. 

The Q5 has 550-litre boot capacity. Fold the rear seats down and this expands to 1550 litres, although these figures fall in the plug-in hybrids because of battery space. As standard, the rear bench splits three ways, too. This allows you to carry awkward items like skis and two people at the same time.

The Citroen C5 Aircross doesn’t offer the best drive and it isn’t the most premium model on offer, but it sacrifices those things for one of the most comfortable rides in the class. It also gets a line-up of quiet, refined engines and large boot. The looks are subjective, but it definitely doesn’t look like any other SUV on the market and we'll leave it to you to decide if that's a good or bad thing.

With the rear seat bench slid forward, there’s room for 720 litres of luggage in the boot. This drops to 580 litres with the seat in its rearmost position, but it’s still considerably more than a Nissan Qashqai or Kia Sportage. The boot’s also a very handy shape, making it easy to load bulky items. If you're buying used, the one-time range-topping Flair Plus model has an electric tailgate, which it can be opened by shaking your foot under the rear bumper when your hands are full. However, this is only an option on newer models.

We don’t like the slow infotainment system and the C5 Aircross wallows more than other SUVs at higher speeds. But, in terms of practicality, it represents decent value for money on the used market.

With a comfortable cabin, economical engines and up to seven seats, you’d be hard-pressed to find a better value large family car than the last generation Honda CR-V. However, the infotainment isn’t as good as you’d find in a Volkswagen Tiguan, so that’s worth noting if you want a high-tech cabin. The CR-V also doesn’t come with a diesel engine option.

The seven-seater version hinders boot space, which is 497 litres with the seats up in the standard five-seat model. And we’d steer clear of the entry-level S model (it’s very basic), but the rest of the range is fairly well equipped. Safety equipment includes lane assist, autonomous emergency braking and Isofix child seat mounting points – all standard across the range, contributing to a five-star Euro NCAP safety rating.

The engine range includes a 1.5-litre petrol and a 2.0-litre petrol hybrid, which is only available as an auto. The hybrid is our pick as it’s refined and offers the better gearbox for this model. Being a Honda, you can also expect the CR-V to be more reliable than many of its rivals.

The previous-generation Peugeot 3008 was already pretty practical, but the new one has been improved further, with 588 litres of boot space (up from 520 litres) and 1633 with the back seats folded (up from 1,482 litres). The all-electric e-3008 (pictured about) does lose a bit of room due to the battery's under-floor location, but a 520-litre load space shouldn't leave you with any reason to grumble. 

Along with being more practical than ever, the new 3008 also looks stylish both on the outside and in the cabin, although on the subject of the latter, it loses points for an over abundance of scratchy piano black trim and for its sub-par infotainment system. 

We preferred the old 3008 when it had the economical diesel, but the new one does without such engines in the range at all. Instead, you can choose between hybrid and plug-in hybrid petrol models, or the electric e-3008.

You might wonder why the Volkswagen Tiguan is here and not the closely related Skoda Karoq. Well, there are a few reasons. For one, there's a range of well-equipped trim levels, and the engine line-up is more impressive. It comes with more badge kudos than the Skoda, and it's a newer car - an all-new version arrived in 2024, while the Karoq has been around since 2017. 

You don't get the Karoq's fancy Varioflex seats, but you do get plenty of boot space. Most version come with a 652-litre boot, expanding to 1,650 litres. And yes, once again, this is a car that loses space when a plug-in hybrid powertrain is specced, but the figure for the eHybrid models is still impressive at 490 litres, or 1,486 litres with the rear seats folded. 

Of all the powertrains, we'd probably go for the 2.0-litre TDI, as unfashionable as diesels are right now. It's smooth as far as diesel engines go, punchy in the mid-range and very economical. Or if you have an aversion to 'oil-burners', the 1.5-litre petrol is a strong engine that isn't far off as frugal.

If you want to transport seven people without spending lots of money, there's no better car than the Dacia Jogger. It has a massive boot, too, so on the occasions when the third row doesn't need to be occupied, there's a 699-litre load space to fill.

The caveat is you'll need to remove the rearmost seats to get that number, but they're light and easy to take out/put back in. In any case, the the 565-litre figure for when they're simply folded down is not to be sniffed at, and with them removed plus the second row folded, the figure jumps to a massive 2,085 litres. 

Granted, the 1.0-litre engine isn't the most refined, and it doesn't feel hugely plush inside, but as a practical proposition that's excellent value, the Jogger is excellent.