Best Family Cars of 2013

Skoda Superb

Best family car less than £18,000

Climb inside a Skoda Superb and it's so vast you could be forgiven for thinking you're in a long-wheelbase luxury saloon.

The Superb could justify its modest price for this alone, but there's more to it than that. The boot is not only huge, with an impressive 565-litre capacity, but clever, too, with a bootlid that can be opened either like a saloon's or a hatchback's.

If a 1.4-litre turbocharged petrol engine sounds modest, don't worry; it pulls strongly from low revs and feels lively when you work it, yet fuel consumption and CO2 emissions are both creditably low.

The quality of the interior materials is impressive, too, and the excellent build means the car is always near the top of our JD Power satisfaction surveys. The Superb has also been awarded a five-star Euro NCAP crash test rating.

The only downside is the huge exterior dimensions. However, the fact you can have all this space and all-round quality for less than £18k is excellent news for family car buyers.

Read the full Skoda Superb review