Compare the best 7-seater cars

The Dacia Jogger is currently the cheapest seven-seater on the market. Prices start comfortably below £20,000, although you will want to spend a bit more for a few modern essentials like an 8.0-inch infotainment system and keyless entry. That pushes you up to the mid- and high-spec models, which hover around that £20k mark.

The SEAT Tarraco is one of the cheapest large seven-seater SUVs, starting around £30k, but if you prefer an MPV, the Ford Grand Tourneo Connect is good value, priced from a little over £30k.

For the most passenger space in all three rows, the largest SUVs like the Land Rover Discovery, BMW X7 and Audi Q7 are the most spacious. The Dacia Jogger has a surprising amount of third-row space, too.

All modern 7-seater vehicles need to pass some stringent crash and safety tests before reaching the market. Even third-row passengers have full three-point seatbelts these days, and most luxury seven-seaters also offer airbags for every occupant.

Many of these cars are high-end luxury models, so their manufacturers fit them with the most sophisticated safety kit available.

If safety is your key concern, the Volvo XC90 is your best bet - Volvo crash tests it far beyond what regulations dictate, and so far not one person in the UK has died in one. That's a record to beat.

Additional seats on their own may not necessarily affect the insurance premium, however they will be considered together with the main rating factors such as the vehicle size, type, performance and its intended use.

Vehicle reliability is as much to do with maintenance and servicing (as well as a bit of luck) as it is with anything else, but the Kia Sorento and Skoda Kodiaq have a decent reputation fore dependability.  The Toyota Highlander is another good bet if you are looking for a trouble-free seven-seater.

To have seven seats a car naturally has to be relatively large, but the Mercedes GLB isn't vast, and the Dacia Jogger's estate (rather than SUV) design makes it seem less bulky than some models.

A diesel SEAT Tarraco should return strong economy, while the Volkswagen Multivan plug-in hybrid will also save you money at the pumps as long as you regularly charge it up.

This really depends on whether you're looking at when all seven seats are in place, when only five are up, or when all five rear chairs are folded down. The Volvo XC90 has between 316 and 1,856 litres depending on how many seats you have in place, which is pretty decent.

Yes, although most are plug-in hybrids rather than self-charging hybrids. The Volvo XC90 and Kia Sorento can both be had as PHEVs, while the Toyota Highlander is a seven-seat self-charging hybrid.

Yep, the Tesla Model X, although it's only available as a new car in left-hand drive form these days, and the Mercedes EQB is a seven-seater, but the rear two are rather cramped.

The smaller Tesla Model Y is also available as a seven-seater in America, but in the UK only the five-seat Model Y is available at the moment. The Kia EV9 is the best electric seven-seater at the moment, and it will be joined by the Volvo EX90 soon.