Best family SUVs you can buy in 2026
The family SUV genre is one of the most in-demand in the UK. It’s easy to see why: they offer the space, comfort, flexibility and practicality needed for families, while being much more trendy than a people carrier.
Thanks to the blueprint set by the original Nissan Qashqai, plenty of family SUVs are based on family hatchbacks. That means you get the low running costs of a smaller car but the raised driving position of a 4x4.
To understand what’s best for you, you’ll need to decide if you want five or seven seats. Seven-seat SUVs generally offer more flexibility and have enormous boots if the rearmost seats are folded down, but they’re bigger and heavier, making them less efficient. Similarly, if you don’t need the additional traction of four-wheel drive, you can avoid extra complexity and cost.
We’ve included petrol, hybrid and electric models here, with a variety of sizes and price points - after all, families come in all shapes and sizes. So if you're looking for the best family SUVs to buy in 2026, read on...
Best family SUVs |
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1. Hyundai Santa Fe
- Enormous, genuinely luxurious and endearingly ugly.
The latest Hyundai Santa Fe is is a million miles away from the Santa Fe of 20 years ago, a car about which the word "utilitarian" was used a lot. As in, "Mmy car isn’t a cheapy Korean SUV with awful interior plastics, it’s utilitarian."
Today’s Santa Fe is a genuine alternative to a Land Rover Discovery or a Volvo XC90. It’s may seem expensive for a Hyundai but compare it to those two and it looks a bargain. It also feels worth every pound of the £50,000-odd you’ve spent on it. The looks can be described as 'challenging' but the interior is fantastic, as is the general refinement. And it has seven seats as standard.
It comes as a plug-in hybrid, so it’s an ideal company car for tax purposes, albeit the cheapest one is a self-charging type. Both use a 1.6-litre turbo petrol engine, the hybrid producing 215PS and the PHEV 253PS with around 35 miles of electric-only range. Even the base Premium trim is well-equipped, coming with a 12-inch touchscreen, navigation, digital driver display, heated front seats, adaptive cruise control and wireless smartphone mirroring. Absolutely loads of car for the money.
2. Kia EV3
- Stunning inside and out, great battery range and lovely to drive.
If you remember the sort of stuff Kia used to make, you’ll look at the Kia EV3 and likely be blown away. Amazing, isn’t it? Thankfully it still does what Kias always do well: reasonable price, cost-effective to run, well-built and usefully practical. The spacious interior balances high-tech looks with ease-of-use, rather than being minimalistic for the sake of it and sacrificing intuitiveness in the process.
There are two battery options: Standard Range with a 58kWh battery and Long Range with 81kWh, the latter offering a claimed 375 miles, which in reality means you'll touch 300 miles (if you're careful). That's extremely useful, albeit £36,000 is the minimum you'll pay for that battery.
If you don't need that much range, a base car with the 54kWh unit is £3000 cheaper, does (up to) a very impressive 270 miles (claimed) and comes with loads of kit. Dual 12-inch displays, twin-zone air con, wireless phone connectivity and a heat pump for cold weather efficiency. It's probably all the EV3 you'll ever need, tbh.
3. BMW iX3
- Quite possibly the best electric car on sale today, all things considered.
Brand new for 2026, the latest BMW iX3 is more than just a model update - it’s the start of a whole new era of electric cars for the brand. Completely new from the ground up, the iX3 will basically underpin dozens of electric BMWs over the next few years. As we type this it's just been released, so we only have first drives to go on, but we already know that it’s a phenomenal piece of groundwork.
It has huge range (a claimed 500 miles), is stuffed with useful tech, comfy, and yet it's much better to drive than an SUV should be. It actually looks lovely too. That’s not a given for a modern BMW. Or an SUV, actually.
The iX3 represents a company absolutely on the right path. All this said, this level of quality and innnovation isn't cheap. The least you'll pay will be in the mid-£60,000 range, although if this is a company car you'll claw much of that back in running cost savings.
4. Nissan Qashqai
- Ideal if you wish to make a safe bet and remain absolutely anonymous...
Cars that looked like SUVs but actually weren’t existed before the Nissan Qashqai came along in 2007. But in the same way that Nirvana is credited with inventing the grunge movement, the Nissan Qashqai gets credit because it made its thing very popular and completely changed the game.
This third-generation model is the best ever (you’d expect that, but it’s good to know), blending manageable size with good interior space and a high-quality, easily fathomable cabin. It was never the cheapest car, and its £35k to £45k price range looks expensive these days for a car that feels so "common", but it is a cost-effective thing to run.
The mild hybrid petrol models at the base of the range should return 40mpg in real life, while the 62mpg claim of the 'e-Power' models is achievable. Just don't let the Nissan salesperson convince you it's "just like an electric car". It's not, really. It's a hybrid that uses a petrol motor as a generator, with the electric motor doing the driving.
Do get the salesperson to explain the Qashqai's baffling trim structure to you, though. Start by asking, "which is better, Acenta Premium, N-Connecta, N-Design, Tekna, or Tekna Plus?" Then watch them look up and to the left for a bit. Anyways, lovely car regardless.
5. MG IM6
- Perfect if you want something like a Tesla Model Y that’s not a Tesla Model Y
The MG IM6 looks like someone gave AI a picture of a Tesla Model Y and said "change this just enough that we don’t get sued." Aston Martin might have something to say about the rear end. And Porsche about the screen between the front seats. Still, it’s enormous, the interior feels properly plush, the Long Range version does almost 400 miles (claimed) and the Performance model is as quick as a Lamborghini Huracan. And all this for around £50,000.
It’s FAR from perfect: the body control makes a b-road feel like you’re crowd surfing and it bongs at you a lot, usually when you’re distracted by its confusing infotainment. The IM6 is charming enough to overcome all its flaws, though.
It's soft and comfy on the move and it has a genuinely staggering amount of standard equipment. The "basic" car comes with luxuries including heated rear seats, self-parking, ventilated high-speed wireless phone charging, and a 20-speaker stereo... but not adaptive suspension, which is reserved for the top-spec 'Launch Edition", for some reason.
6. MINI Countryman
- Will you ever tire of people saying “pfff…that’s not a Mini”?
Imagine being able to go back in time, find all the people who moaned about the first MINI Countryman being too big and show them this thing. They’d look at you like you’d spat on their Austin Allegro bodywarmer. But for those who don’t give a monkey’s about what the dimensions of a MINI are supposed to be, this Countryman (the biggest ever made) retains MINI’s je ne sais quoi while being a very capable day-to-day family runabout.
That's something the first MINI Countryman could never do - too small. This one, all family-friendly, is great to drive, cheap to run and still has loads of character.
Surprisingly, prices start below £30,000, which will get you a MINI Countyman Classic with all the kit you really need: alloys, Apple CarPlay, parking sensors all round, and MINI's now-standard circular OLED touchscreen. We'd probably spend a bit more on an S though, which for £35k looks better and adds a useful amount of power (218 PS), so it's that bit more 'MINI' to drive.
7. Land Rover Defender
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- Will you ever tire of people saying “pfff… has it broken down yet?”
Land Rover doesn’t enjoy a stellar reputation for reliability, we all know this, but a new and fully warranted up Land Rover Defender is one of the best do-it-all family cars on the planet. Somehow, it manages to eclipse the off-road ability of its predecessor by every metric, while driving near enough like a Range Rover in the comfort and refinement stakes.
It costs a fortune (£60 grand for a base model once you've added an option or two and painted it), it’s a nightmare to park (apart from the little three-door one) and you’ll look like a proper div at the drive-thru. But you won’t care because it makes you feel better than all the little people.
The trim levels are myriad and utterly baffling, but essentially, you'll need a higher-spec one and a trim pack or two for it to feel like a true luxury car. The Signature Interior Pack adds leather and heated/cooled seats, albeit that is an extra £3000. Which tells you how much you can actually spend on one of these. Fun fact: a Defender Octa with a twin-turbo V8 lists at £145,000. **something about a Premier League footballer**
8. Skoda Kodiaq
- Spacious, sensible and anonymously nice.
The Skoda Kodiaq is one of the most accomplished and all-encompassing family cars on the market. It’s available with five- or seven seats, with an engine range of frugal petrols and diesels, and even a high-performance, turbocharged vRS model. The latter is a hot hatch but taller and with 265PS it can cover 0-62mph in 6.4 seconds.
Two‑ and four‑wheel‑drive models are available and all versions are spacious, comfortable to ride in and drive with a sense of cultured refinement.
Main trims are SE, SE L, and Sportline, with £37k getting you a base car featuring a 12‑inch Virtual Cockpit, touchscreen infotainment, LED headlights, alloys and proper climate control. The plug‑in hybrid offers a claimed 60 miles of electric‑only range. It's expensive to buy (from £41,000) and nowhere near as efficient as the 188mpg WLTP figure suggests, but it makes a very tax‑efficient, high‑quality, almost entirely anonymous company car for an attention‑shy family buyer.
9. Peugeot 3008
- Top quality cabin and looks mint while the EV has an impressive range
Lots of space, lovely to drive and a cabin that’s both high quality and truly unique (well, apart from the other Peugeots, obvs), the Peugeot 3008 is possibly the best "non-premium" family SUV car on the market. Although that said, the Peugeot 5008 does basically the same thing but with a bigger boot and two additional seats… so maybe we should have chosen that?
Oh well, the Peugeot 3008 is cheaper but still available with petrol engines or as a proper electric car. The latter is the best one, because it will do 300 miles on a charge and it’s much quieter. Prices start from about £35,000 for the 1.2 Hybrid 136 in Allure trim, with GT versions costing around £38,000. The plug-in hybrid comes in around £41,000, offering electric range of around 50 miles, while the EVs start near £46,000 and go up towards £52,000 for Long-Range models.
Expensive, yes, but a long-range 3008 does a claimed 435 miles on a single charge, making it one of the most motorway-friendly EVs on sale today. There's a good chance you'll get from Newcastle to Big London in a single shot in one, which is quite remarkable. Assuming you actually want to do that, of course.
10. Dacia Duster
- Reason to buy? You value value because good value is valuable
The Dacia Duster is one of the most affordable SUVs on sale. That's a huge part of its charm, the other part being how practical and roomy it is. Trim levels are straightforward: the basic Essential version gets steel wheels and no touchscreen.
Most people avoid that one, though, because for not much more than its £19,000 price, a Journey car adds 18‑inch alloys, automatic air con, keyless entry, wireless phone charging, touchscreen navigation, and heated front seats. It feels like a 'proper' car, in other words. For a mere £2500 premium. Don't Stop Believin'.
Four-wheel-drive versions are available on certain petrol and diesel engines, if you need that sort of thing, but either way, the Dacia Duster’s appeal is straightforward utility, robust practicality and unbeatable starting prices for a new SUV. Or for not much more money, you could get the newer, bigger and ridiculously named Dacia Bigster.
Which SUV is best for families?
Space is generally what family SUV buyers are looking for, obviously. However, it’s not just about space on the inside – relatively compact dimensions on the outside make SUVs less of a headache when doing the shopping or the school run. This is where models such as the Nissan Qashqai excel. But if you need extra seating, then look towards bigger cars like the Skoda Kodiaq, SEAT Tarraco and Hyundai Santa Fe.
Which family SUV offers best value for money?
The bargain-priced Dacia Duster, the good-value Skoda Kodiaq or even the premium-priced Volkswagen Tiguan all offer great value for money in their own ways. The Kia Sorento and Hyundai Tucson are two more family SUVs that are great value for money, particularly when you take their long warranties into account. SImilarly MG, whose ZS and HS models offer loads of space and equipment for the cash.
Can you get a seven-seat family SUV?
Most family SUVs are offered with five seats. But some come with three rows of seats and space for seven. The SEAT Tarraco is a seven-seat alternative to the smaller Ateca, for example, while Volkswagen sells a seven-seat version of the Tiguan called the Allspace. The Skoda Kodiaq comes with five or seven seats, and the Kia Sorento has seven as standard. You can also get a seven-seat alternative to the Peugeot 3008, the 5008, which is identical to the 3008 from the rear seats forwards.
