The best estate cars are great alternatives to all-too-common family SUVs, with practicality and tech in spades.
Estate cars usually also have the lower running costs and slightly sportier driving experience of a hatchback or saloon. Often an estate car will be cheaper to buy than an SUV, too.
We've chosen our 10 favourite estate cars. Most are available to buy as used cars from Motorpoint with low mileage and warranty cover included. We’ve listed them alphabetically.
1. BMW 3 Series Touring
The BMW 3 Series Touring is the estate that’ll best suit keen drivers, with sharp steering and a sense it's been built to make you feel good. It’s fun on a winding B-road, but is also at home chomping up motorway miles – where it’s comfortable and quiet. All engines, whether you pick the lowest-powered ones or the fast range-toppers, have plenty of power to get up to motorway speeds without fuss.
A 500-litre boot has slightly more room than you get in the Audi A4 Avant, and the tailgate is powered for convenience. You can open the rear window separately from the rest of the tailgate too – handy for quickly chucking soft bags into the boot – and there’s room for three child seats or three adults across the rear seats. If you need a bit more rear-seat and boot space, the bigger 5 Series Touring offers a 570-litre boot.
Shop used BMW 3 Series cars or read our BMW 3 Series review
2. Citroen C5 X
Fancy something a little different? Citroen is taking on the likes of BMW and Audi with its C5 X estate, and it’s honed in on comfort – not sportiness. But sink into its sofa-like seats and you won’t feel the need to get home quickly. You can just enjoy its soothing nature, its refinement and its smart interior.
Further back, the big Citroen has rear seats fit for a president, and a 545-litre boot that’s fit for a president’s Bichon Frise. So the C5 X has a lot to like, even before we mention the arresting styling and excellent value for money.
Shop used Citroen C5 X cars or read our Citroen C5 X review
3. Ford Focus Estate
The old Ford Focus Estate was pretty cramped inside, but the current model is much more spacious. You’ll have no problem getting adults, dogs or bulky car seats into the rear seats, and your front passenger has plenty of room to stretch out as well. The 608-litre boot is not only massive, but clever too. There's a retractable loadbay cover that can be stashed under the boot floor when you need to load to the roof, and a hinged boot floor that works as a divider to keep items separate or stop things sliding around. Facelifted cars from late 2021 also introduce a wipe-clean 'wet zone' that’s useful for wetsuits or muddy shoes.
Like the BMWs above, the Ford will put a smile on your face when you take the scenic route. You don’t really notice the extra length that the estate has over the Focus hatchback, and the handling is just as direct and engaging. All Focus Estates are fairly well equipped, but high-spec cars get luxury features including a heated steering wheel, wireless phone charging and a digital driver's display.
Shop used Ford Focus cars for sale or read our Ford Focus review
4. Mercedes C-Class Estate
The C-Class has been a mainstay Mercedes' lineup for decades thanks to its long list of talents. It's sumptuously trimmed and packed with tech as you'd expect from a car bearing the three-pointed star. Plus, it's a useful size, being more than large enough for family car duties – especially in practical estate form – while not being so massive that urban driving feels like parking an oil tanker.
The 490-litre boot is on par with key rivals from BMW and Audi, but it's the shape of the space that's actually more useful than its outright capacity. This is because the estate body style unlocks more boot height, so you can load larger or taller items than you could in an equivalent saloon.
Shop used Mercedes C-Class Estate cars or read our Mercedes C-Class review
5. Peugeot 308 SW
Crikey, the new Peugeot 308 hatchback and 308 SW estate look bold, don’t they? The 308 estate packs a striking first impression, but it’s just like an onion – peel back the top layer and there’s more boldness within. This is Peugeot’s next-level iCockpit setup; the digital dials are still perched above the steering wheel but the touchscreen is bigger and gets its own separate touchscreen below.
This insistence on touchscreens isn’t as silly as it might sound, because the lower touchscreen can be configured to show the shortcuts you want – even your favourite radio stations. Want all that from a British brand? Buy the mechanically identical Vauxhall Astra Sports Tourer instead (even if it is made in Germany these days, not Cheshire).
Shop used Peugeot 308 cars or read our Peugeot 308 review
6. SEAT Leon Estate
Estate cars are wonderfully practical but they're not always the last word in style. That's something the SEAT Leon Estate hopes to disprove, however, with elegant, flowing bodywork that looks much more graceful than the sensible Volkswagen Golf Estate it's based on.
The upside of using the Golf's proven platform is that the Leon Estate has the same locked-in stability and light-footed handling as its German cousin. It also has the same smooth turbocharged engines, with effortless pulling power all the way up to motorway speeds. Plus, used Leon prices tend to undercut the Golf too, so this is a great-looking, great-value alternative.
Shop used SEAT Leon cars or read our SEAT Leon review
7. Skoda Octavia Estate
The Skoda Octavia Estate takes the engines and underpinnings from the Volkswagen Golf Estate, and wraps it all up in a slightly more practical, more user-friendly package. Petrol and diesel versions have a whopping 640-litre boot with the rear seats in place, expanding to around 1,700 litres when you fold the second row. But the boot space doesn’t come at the expense of passenger comfort – even tall adults will have room to stretch out in the Octavia’s spacious cabin.
Next to the Golf, the Octavia used to feel like a budget choice. That’s no longer the case – with a high-spec interior similar to what you’ll find in the Skoda Enyaq, the Octavia feels just as premium inside as a Golf. We think its infotainment system is a little easier to use, as well. The Octavia is available with a range of engines, including a plug-in hybrid, and there are sporty vRS versions with extra performance.
Shop used Skoda Octavia cars for sale or read our Skoda Octavia review
8. Toyota Corolla Touring Sports
We like the Toyota Corolla hatchback for its easy, refined driving experience, wallet-friendly fuel economy and sharp looks, but its boot is a little on the small side. Enter the Corolla Touring Sports estate, which fixes this with up to 596 litres of boot space. So, whether you’ve got a large dog, a materialistic family or an addiction to moving house, the Corolla estate is a great choice.
The big-booted Corolla only comes as a hybrid but, unlike its rivals, you don’t need to plug the car in to charge the battery. While that means you can’t travel long distances on electric power alone, it does mean it’s a viable option for people who can’t or don’t want to plug in. Its promise of 60mpg is better than what you’ll get from most petrol and diesel estates, too. Also check out the mostly identical but more affordable Suzuki Swace.
Shop used Toyota Corolla cars or read our Toyota Corolla review
9. Volkswagen Golf Estate
There's a reason the VW Golf has become the yardstick by which other family cars are compared. It's calm and composed out on the road, and the intuitive driving experience makes it easy to live with. Recent models might lean a little too hard on their infotainment system but, once you've familiarised yourself with its controls, you'll appreciate the clean, uncluttered dashboard design.
Estate models boast a vast 611-litre cargo area, which means you can sling bulky pushchairs or kiddy clobber in the boot without a second thought. There's a choice of petrol, diesel and plug-in-hybrid power depending on your budget and use case, plus super-sporty Golf R models if you want a thrill.
Shop used Volkswagen Golf cars or read our Volkswagen Golf review
10. Volkswagen Passat
Rather than Skoda piggybacking off Volkswagen, this time around the new Passat is based on the Skoda Superb above. As we know, the Superb really is phenomenally good – and the latest Passat is the best one yet. It’s even more practical than before, matching the Superb’s 690-litre boot, and excels at long-distance driving, even without a diesel engine.
Buyers who do mixed driving are impeccably served by the plug-in hybrid, which is said to be capable of over 700mpg. More important in the real world is its 50kW fast-charging capability – something most PHEVs don't offer – and its 60-mile electric range. For the UK’s average daily commute, you wouldn’t need to use a drop of fuel if you keep the battery topped up.
Shop used Volkswagen Passat estate cars for sale or read our Volkswagen Passat review
