When your family grows, your lifestyle changes – whether you’re thinking of the number of seats, or room in the boot. So, if you’re thinking of a large saloon, hatchback, estate or SUV, there’s an almost unlimited number of options. Our winner, the Kia Sorento, manages to address all the needs of a large family, and do so at a decent price while still offering that world-famous Kia seven-year warranty.
If you’re looking for a large family car, we suspect space will be one of your main priorities, something the Kia Sorento delivers by the acre. For similar money to a Mercedes GLB or Land Rover Discovery Sport, you can get this vast seven-seat SUV with space for adults in all three rows. It’s well equipped, well built and should prove totally dependable with a seven-year warranty to back that up.
It’s easy to drive and comes with a choice of frugal engines, be it a traditional diesel, regular hybrid or a plug-in if you want to really lower running costs or company car tax bills. Impressively, all have the same boot an passenger space unlike the vast majority of big SUVs. Us? We’d stick to entry-level ‘2’ trim as it still gets plenty of kit and the normal hybrid to keep costs down. However, we can certainly see the temptation of one of the glitzier trims for more toys and a plusher interior.
If you think buying a seven-seat SUV will put an end to fun times behind the wheel, you clearly haven’t tried a SEAT Tarraco. Even the entry-level models are far sharper to drive than you’d expect while the suspension isn’t so firm as to be uncomfortable and should prevent any upset tummies.
The interior is well laid out and solidly screwed together with plenty of space up front and in the second row. Sure, the standard third row is best saved for kids and short journeys, but think of this as a generously proportioned five-seater with a couple of occasional seats and it makes an awful lot of sense before you’ve even considered SEAT’s generous finance deals.
Okay, the Defender isn’t the most wallet-friendly family car choice, but if you’ve got deep enough pockets it’s certainly one of the best. It goes without saying that it’s virtually unstoppable off-road, yet unlike its predecessor it doesn’t disgrace itself on tarmac. We’re huge fans of the gutsy and smooth six-cylinder diesel engines while standard air suspension on our favoured 110 models means a pretty comfortable ride, too.
It’s the Defender’s interior that really appeals, though. Not only is it a great place to be, there are tonnes of storage spots for a family’s clutter and loads of space up front and in the second row. You can even get a third row with seats big enough for a couple of average-sized adults.
