While SUVs are the flavour of the decade, the MPV is still the top choice for outright practicality.
And there are still a good few to choose from. Many are based on vans, which isn’t a bad thing – vans are built to be durable, cheap to maintain and be as practical as possible. And most van-based MPVs get sliding doors for easy rear-seat access in tight car parks.
As a whole, MPVs are typically more practical than SUVs, and generally much cheaper, too. They’re perfect for family life or for taxi duty – and you can pick most of these up from Motorpoint with the benefits of warranty cover and unbeatable prices guaranteed.
Best small MPV – Ford Tourneo Courier
- Seats: 5
- Boot space (seats up/down): 570 litres/ 2,162 litres
Ford is the people’s champion for people carriers, offering more MPVs than some brands’ entire ranges. Most are van-based, including the smallest in the lineup, the Tourneo Courier. The Tourneo is tarted up a bit over the commercial version, with alloy wheels, LED daytime running lights and the option of a white contrast roof, but offers versatility in spades. Fold down the rear seats and you’ve got more than 2,100 litres to fill, and yet it’s shorter than a Focus, so easy to park as well.
Best family MPV – Volkswagen Touran
- Seats: 7
- Boot space (7 seats up/ 5 seats/ 2 seats): 137 litres/ 633 litres/ 1,857 litres
The VW Touran is almost old enough to go to university itself, but it’s still a top choice for family buyers. Especially if you’ve got young kids, because all five of the Touran’s rear seats have Isofix points. They’re all individual, too, making it easy to set up the Touran’s interior to your specific space requirements. And for when you’ve got to transport long things, the front passenger seat can fold completely flat.
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Best electric MPV – Volkswagen ID. Buzz
- Seats: 5/7
- Boot space (7 seats up/ 5 seats/ 2 seats): 306 litres/ 1,121 litres/ 2,205 litres
A much newer and much cooler VW MPV, the ID. Buzz has all the peace-and-love vibes of the classic VW bus but with none of the toxic exhaust fumes. It can manage between 250 and 300 miles on a full charge, it’s quiet on the move and has nippy acceleration. The seven-seat Buzz LWB isn’t much extra, but adds much more flexibility and outright interior space.
Read our Volkswagen ID. Buzz review or shop used Volkswagen MPVs for sale
Best affordable MPV – Dacia Jogger
- Seats: 7
- Boot space (7 seats up/ 5 seats/ 2 seats): 160 litres/ 565 litres/ 2,085 litres
The Jogger might be peak Dacia – it’s full of sensible and thoughtful touches, yet inexpensive and, to our eyes, even a bit stylish. You can even get a Sleep Pack for it that turns the Jogger into a camper. Petrol and hybrid engines are available; seven seats come as standard, and the middle row has three individual seats. The Jogger is delightfully cheap to buy and affordable to run, giving you more money for family fun.
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Most economical MPV – Volkswagen Caddy Maxi
- Seats: 7
- Boot space (7 seats up/ 5 seats/ 2 seats): 446 litres/ 1,720 litres / 3,105 litres
Despite having seven seats and a massive boot even with them all in place, the vast VW Caddy Maxi still manages 51mpg. You won’t get anywhere quickly so settle back to a more sedate pace and slow your heart rate down. An added bonus of the Caddy Maxi’s 2.0-litre diesel engine is surprisingly low insurance groups – we’re not suggesting it’s a good choice for first-time drivers but it’ll save families a packet versus something fancier.
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Best automatic MPV – Ford S-Max
- Seats: 7
- Boot space (7 seats up/ 5 seats/ 2 seats): 285 litres/ 700 litres/ 2,020 litres
With diesel popularity dwindling, Ford gifted its S-Max and Galaxy MPVs a hybrid petrol engine from the Kuga SUV. This can’t be plugged in and doesn’t give a meaningful battery-power range, but the electric motor can power the wheels at low speeds and help the petrol engine be more frugal. The S-Max uses a CVT automatic gearbox, which is very quiet and responsive the majority of the time. Like all CVTs, it becomes noisy if you rev it hard, so just don’t.
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Best 4x4 MPV – BMW 2 Series Active Tourer
- Seats: 5
- Boot space (seats up/down): 406 litres/ 1,370 litres
Four-wheel-drive MPVs aren’t a common combination – MPVs are bought to shuttle people around, not to go greenlaning, and four-wheel drive can reduce boot space. The BMW 2 Series Active Tourer, though, comes with all-wheel drive if you pick the 225xe plug-in hybrid model. Despite having a battery on board and two driven axles, the boot space only drops nine litres versus a petrol version, and its 406-litre space is more useful than the number suggests. A fully charged battery enables a 53-mile electric range – plenty for dropping the kids off at their various extracurricular activities.
Shop used BMW 2 Series Active Tourer cars for sale or read our BMW 2 Series Active Tourer review
Best used people carrier – Citroen Grand C4 SpaceTourer
- Seats: 7
- Boot space (7 seats up/ 5 seats/ 2 seats): 165 litres/ 645 litres/ 2,181 litres
Citroen’s seven-seat C4 SpaceTourer showed some ingenious thinking that we’d love to see more of. Managing to make a car so incredibly useful was one thing – with more storage cubbies than an advent calendar – but Citroen also managed to make the SpaceTourer look good!? More importantly, the three middle seats all move individually and have Isofix points.
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Most reliable people carrier – Citroen Berlingo
- Seats: 5/7
- Boot space (7 seats up/ 5 seats/ 2 seats): 209 litres/ 775-1,050 litres/ 3,500-4,000 litres
The British-built Citroen Berlingo comes with a fully electric option that promises to be very reliable indeed – it has far fewer moving parts than a petrol or diesel engine. So you can spend more time enjoying its quirky features and the vast amount of space that you’ll struggle to fill. M or XL versions are available with five or seven seats, with three Isofix points across the middle row, and there are twin versions if you don’t like the Citroen badges – such as the Vauxhall Combo Life, Peugeot Rifter and Toyota Proace City Verso.
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Best luxury MPV – Mercedes V-Class
- Seats: 6-8
- Boot space (8 seats up/ 2 seats): 1,030 litres/ 4,630 litres (Extra Long)
Most Mercedes V-Class models will never be used for family haulage duties – they’re more likely to have celebrities on the plushly upholstered seats than toddlers with a half-eaten packet of Quavers. Even so, if you’re a well-heeled MPV buyer, the V-Class (and the electric EQV) are the best luxury MPVs. They still do the practical stuff immensely well, as you can see from the boot space figures above.
Shop all our used MPVs for sale at Motorpoint
