Used Car of the Year Awards: 7-seaters
With living costs on the rise, getting a good deal on your next car is more important than ever. That's where our Used Car Awards come in. These are our favourite seven-seaters...
Peugeot 5008
Prices from £12,000 Our Pick 1.2 130 Puretech Allure
Fashion changes, but style is eternal. So said Coco Chanel, but she could have been talking about the Peugeot 5008 because, to us, this seven-seat SUV still looks as good today as it did when it was launched in 2017. We rate it for far more than just its looks, though. Indeed, it’s the ideal second-hand car for larger families.
The interior features a pleasing mixture of high-quality, tactile materials for a more upmarket ambience than you’ll find in a Seat Tarraco or a Skoda Kodiaq. What’s more, it provides a very civilised and flexible travelling environment for up to seven occupants.
The middle-row seats individually slide and recline; if you shove them all the way back, leg room is especially generous. Farther back, the rearmost pair are more usable than those in the Tarraco and Volkswagen Tiguan Allspace, with reasonable access.
The driver isn’t neglected, either. You sit up high, and even with Peugeot’s unusual layout of a high-set instrument panel that you view over the top of a small steering wheel, the driving position should work for people of any height.
No matter where the second-row seats are positioned, the boot is large and practical in five-seat mode. Folding down the middle-row seatbacks as well creates a huge space with a fully flat floor, and there’s even useful space behind the rearmost seats when they’re in use.
Our preferred 1.2-litre Puretech 130 petrol engine is not only smooth but also has enough oomph for most owners’ needs, even when the car is fully loaded. It’s capable of impressive fuel economy, so there’s really no need to go chasing the more expensive engine options. What’s more, the 5008 is a quiet motorway cruiser, so longer journeys will be stress-free.
We’d go for the second-rung Allure trim, which is one of the most prevalent in used car yards. It’s got plenty of kit, including front and rear parking sensors and a rear-view camera.
Used 5008s are slightly more affordable than Kodiaqs of the same age and much cheaper than Hyundai Santa Fes. If you can stretch to one, post-2020 cars are worth the extra; they added LED headlights, a bigger infotainment screen and a clearer instrument panel. A 2022 example for about £17,000 is a lot of very practical car for a reasonable outlay.
Also consider...
Best value buy
Dacia Jogger (2022-present)
Prices from £11,500 Our pick 1.0 TCe 110 Expression
The Dacia Jogger is the cheapest new seven-seater on sale today, so perhaps it’s not surprising that it’s our used pick for those on a tight budget too. Such is its robustness and reliability that there’s really no handicap in buying a secondhand example, and you’ll have an extremely capable seven-seater that’s much newer and more reliable than a comparably priced Volkswagen Touran.
The Jogger’s 1.0-litre petrol engine is smooth, punchy and pleasingly frugal, so it should be cheap to run. With a supple ride, the Jogger is comfortable to travel in, and it handles in a tidy and well-controlled manner.
The Jogger’s low price means its interior is rather more functional and plasticky than the 5008’s, and its rear seating isn’t as flexible. You can, though, remove the third-row seats for additional load space. The other thing to bear in mind is that the Jogger fared very poorly in its Euro NCAP safety test.
Read our full used Dacia Jogger review >>
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Best premium choice
BMW X7 (2019-present)
Prices from £40,000 Our pick xDrive40i M Sport
With its gargantuan proportions and huge front grille, the BMW X7 isn’t for shy and retiring types, but it is the last word in luxury in this class. This upmarket SUV features opulent seating for seven adults in supremely spacious and sumptuous surroundings. With first-class materials and build quality, as well as a particularly user-friendly dashboard layout, the X7’s interior shades that of the Audi Q7.
Few cars are as quiet as the X7, at any speed, and standard air suspension does an impeccable job of isolating you from the road. It’s much better in that regard than a Mercedes-Benz GLS.
While a new one will set you back at least £93k, you can get an early example for as little as £41k. Of course, that’s far more than you’d pay for a 5008, and it’ll be much costlier to run, but nothing else in this class can touch the opulence and comfort of the X7.
Find a used BMW X7 for sale >>
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