Best 7-seater cars for 2024

7-seater cars are great for large families, especially when you need to transport extra friends home from school – or perhaps grown-up friends to the airport. 

The best 7-seaters offer a comfortable experience whether you're riding up-front, in the second row or right at the back. When the extra seats in the boot aren't needed, they'll usually stow away neatly, freeing up a huge load space. 

But you do need to choose your car carefully. As well as listing our pick of the best 7-seaters, we've also identified some that are best left alone. These models make too many compromises to squeeze in two extra seats. Whether it's compromised practicality, poor safety - or other issues - these seven-seaters fail to get our recommendation.

Below are the best 7-seater cars you can buy. Scroll down to see which ones you should avoid. 

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Best new 7-seater cars

Don’t want to trade boot space for passenger room? The best 7-seaters will take your family and all their luggage in comfort and safety.

Looking to buy a car seat? Find out the best baby and child car seats we recommend. 

Best used 7-seater cars

If you're looking for your money to go further, buying used can be a great way to get the ideal 7-seater car you're looking for. There are sensational options to choose from too - our experts give you the lowdown.

What to avoid when buying a 7-seater

7-seater cars span a number of popular car classes, from MPVs to SUVs and even a small number of older estates. Regardless of type, adding two extra seats to a car can mean a loss of interior load space. Our testing has found some 7-seaters with barely any boot space unless you put the rear seats down. That’s no good if you’re going on a family holiday and you’re trying to squeeze seven people’s luggage into an inadequate boot.

Also, is a car a true 7-seater if adults can't comfortably use the rear seats? You don’t have to compromise on passenger space, and our new and used car reviews show you which models to look for if you want all 7 seats to be suitable for grown-ups.

4x4 models introduce their own problems. Choose the wrong model and you’ll be paying a fortune in fuel. 7-seat SUVs are some of the biggest and heaviest models in the class - while no one expects them to be as frugal as a Prius, there is still a significant difference between the most and least-efficient models.

The large number of options across multiple classes makes our expert advice even more important. Our guides can help you choose between a 4x4 or classic MPV 7-seater, and our in-depth testing shows you which models not to buy.

Our guide to the best large SUVs and 4x4s highlights the models we recommend in this class.

7-seat cars to avoid

We test cars more thoroughly than anyone else

Our tests go further than those carried out by other organisations, and because Which? is independent, you can trust our reviews to give you the full, honest and impartial truth about every car we test.

Every car we review is subjected to more than 300 individual tests in a lab, on a test track, and on real roads – and we really clock up the miles, driving around 500 miles in every car we test.

Testing in controlled lab conditions means the results we collect are directly comparable between different cars, helping us determine exactly which models are better and why, and helping you find the perfect car.

And so you know which cars are likely to prove reliable for years to come, we also gather feedback from thousands of UK car owners through the Which? Car Survey, using it to generate detailed reliability ratings for the cars we test.

To take the guesswork out of choosing your next car, join Which?. You'll receive access to all our expert car reviews.