Compare the best 7-seater cars

High-quality 7-seater cars from rated and reviewed dealers

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Rated 4.5/5 from 61,589 reviews
A volkswagen 7-seater car

Best 7-seaters of 2024

The best seven-seater cars are true Swiss army knives. They're perfectly suited to every situation, with space inside not just for seven passengers but all the kit and clobber that surrounds family life.

If you’re in the market for a great seven-seat car then there are a number of fantastic vehicles out there to pick from. Some are luxurious, others sporty, while the best can pack in the extended family and all their luggage. There’s even an electric seven-seater in this list…

Even if the third row is a little tight, those extra seats are a fantastic resource. Seven-seaters are especially handy for parents, who can take their kids' friends home from school or on outings, earning brownie points from everyone involved.

And for parents with more than one child, having a third row in the back of a car can be a great way of resolving bickering sessions between offspring, or can give older kids a break from their younger siblings, or vice-versa.

Carwow’s expert reviews team has selected the very best seven-seater cars on the market today, with a mixture of MPVs and SUVs. What’s the difference? MPVs tend to focus more on space and practicality, where SUVs are typically more stylish and mimic the rugged look of old 4x4s, even though they won’t necessarily come with four-wheel drive…

Hyundai Santa Fe

1. Hyundai Santa Fe

Black Friday deal
10/10
Hyundai Santa Fe review
The new Santa Fe has transformed from fairly dowdy school run-mobile into one of the coolest-looking cars you can buy. It's like urban punk meets Ray Mears, and its angular design conceals a really practical interior with space for seven. All occupants get plenty of storage as well as somewhere to charge their phone, and with the rearmost row folded there's also a huge boot. Hybrid and plug-in hybrid engines are available, both providing pretty good economy. Crucially, though it's not exactly what you'd call 'cheap', it's around 2/3 the price of any alternative that's even close to as good an overall package.
Volkswagen Multivan
2024
Adventurer's Choice Award

2. Volkswagen Multivan

8/10
Volkswagen Multivan review
If you want practicality over all else, the Volkswagen Multivan is a fantastic choice. And despite its van-like proportions, it actually looks pretty cool, especially with a two-tone paint job. Inside it has five individual seats in the rear that can be completely removed when not needed, allowing you to fit big, bulky items such as bikes with little hassle. You can even get a plug-in hybrid engine that allows for really low running costs. It's so good we gave it the Adventurer's Choice award in the 2023 Carwow Car of the Year awards.
Land Rover Defender 110

3. Land Rover Defender

9/10
Land Rover Defender 110 review
The Land Rover Defender’s remit is simple: Be a big, comfy, practical family car while also being able to traverse wild terrains. Just in case you fancy taking on Ben Nevis on the way back from the school run. Accessing the third row isn’t the easiest, and there’s not a huge amount of space once you do, but the ‘stadium’ configuration means you can see over the seats in front so it doesn’t feel too claustrophobic. Still not enough seats? There’s room for eight in the Defender 130, which is the biggest Defender you can buy.
Dacia Jogger
2024
Smart Spender Award

4. Dacia Jogger

Black Friday deal
9/10
Dacia Jogger review
The Dacia Jogger SUV looks like a mix of an estate car and MPV which makes it a rather practical seven-seater. It’s functional rather than plush inside, and it isn’t very powerful, but it offers amazing value for money and higher trims have pretty much all the tech you really need. Plus, six-foot-tall adults can sit in the third row with decent knee and head room, which is hugely impressive. Do be aware that the Jogger isn't a quick car, though, and if you regularly travel seven-up, you'll need to rev the engine quite hard and change gear a fair bit when going up hills. The hybrid version improves things slightly, but whichever way you look at it, the Jogger's not much of a sprinter.
Kia EV9

5. Kia EV9

Black Friday deal
9/10
Kia EV9 review
Battery range up to 349 miles
If you need seven seats but want an electric car, the Kia EV9 is one of fairly few options. Fortunately, there’s little sacrifice required to own one – except from your salary, as the EV9 certainly ain’t cheap – because this is a really spacious SUV that will be able to tackle whatever family life throws its way. You also get super-fast charging so weekend road trips won’t require regular long stops to top up, and there’s a clever (optional) six-seat layout with chairs that rotate 180 degrees. Despite all these positives, the EV9 doesn’t feel quite as posh inside as its price tag suggests.

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BMW X7
2024
Family Values Award
Highly Commended

6. BMW X7

Black Friday deal
9/10
BMW X7 review
Much like the Land Rover Defender, the BMW X7 is a lovely upmarket SUV that also just so happens to be incredibly practical for big families. With seven seats as standard, the third row is shockingly spacious even for adults - and passengers back there even get their own sunroof. Keen drivers will be drawn to the X7 for the fact that it’s one of the best large SUVs to drive, particularly when tackling a twisty road.
Range Rover
2024
Comfortable Cruiser Award
Highly Commended

7. Range Rover

9/10
Range Rover review
The Range Rover is up there with the very best luxury SUVs. The interior is lovely and it drives with the refinement of a stately home. If a stately home could drive, obviously. Anyway, it’s not just posh, the Range Rover is also practical, with a third row available on long-wheelbase models. Unsurprisingly it’s not a cheap option, being comfortably above £100,000 and over £5,000 more than an equivalently specified short wheelbase version.
SEAT Tarraco

8. SEAT Tarraco

9/10
SEAT Tarraco review
If you need to maximise interior space and minimise spending, then the SEAT Tarraco should be high on your list. It has tonnes of passenger and boot space, with a sharp-looking interior. It's not the most tech-heavy cabin, though, while the suspension can be a bit bumpy at lower speeds. But above all, the Tarraco is cracking value. True, its interior may not be as posh as more expensive alternatives, but it's still a very nice place indeed, especially if you choose a higher trim level. The Tarraco also has a pleasingly commanding driving position, and there's a reason you see so many out and about on the roads: it's an absolutely brilliant, well-priced car.
Volvo XC90

9. Volvo XC90

7/10
Volvo XC90 review
Battery range up to 28 miles
High-tech, luxurious and imbued with that inimitable Scandinavian style, the XC90 stands out amongst big, practical SUVs. The third row is a bit cramped, and some alternatives are a bit more comfortable, but the boot is huge and you get a lot of safety equipment as standard. Interestingly, crash data research shows no XC90 occupants in the UK have ever died in a collision, and it is this impressive safety record that is likely to be a big selling point for families.
Nissan X-Trail
2024
Adventurer's Choice Award
Highly Commended

10. Nissan X-Trail

Black Friday deal
8/10
Nissan X-Trail review
The X-Trail is basically a seven-seat version of the Nissan Qashqai - one of the UK's best-selling cars and one of our favourite SUVs overall. There's a lot to like - a well-built, easy-to-use interior, good economy and a comfortable drive, especially if you opt for the hybrid E-Power model. The third row is quite cramped, so best to think of this as a 5-seater with occasional space for two extras when needed.

Have you considered getting GAP insurance for your new 7-seater car?

Carwow has partnered with MotorEasy to provide GAP insurance. GAP insurance covers the difference between the amount you paid for your car, or owe on your car if you have finance, and the amount an insurance company would give you if your car is declared a total loss or write-off. This can protect you financially from a shortfall of potentially thousands of pounds. MotorEasy is offering a 15% discount to all Carwow customers who take out GAP insurance with them.

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More advice about 7-seater cars

7-seater FAQs

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.