10 best cars with sliding doors
November 30, 2022 by carwow staff
Cars with sliding doors are a bit of a rarity, but they’re worth considering if you often have to fit and remove child seats, carry awkward loads or park in tight spaces.
These practical family cars are usually based on vans, meaning you get a taller driving position and great all-around visibility. Sliding doors are more expensive to develop and fit to a car than traditional ones, so you may see a slight premium in price for this added practicality.
Not all cars with sliding doors are created equal, here’s our pick of the top five:
- Volkswagen Multivan
- Volkswagen ID Buzz
- Citroen e-SpaceTourer
- Citroen Berlingo
- Peugeot Rifter
- Mercedes V-Class
- Ford Tourneo Connect
- Toyota Proace Verso
- SEAT Alhambra
- Ford B-Max
1. Volkswagen Multivan
- Number of seats: 5-7
- Boot capacity: 469-4,005 litres
- Starting price: £43,720
A van-based MPV that’s cool? Only VW could pull that off with its practical, modern homage to VW vans of old.
Available with a 1.5-litre or 2.0-litre petrol engine plus 2.0-litre diesel engines, there’s also a plug-in hybrid powertrain. This Caravelle replacement can also be had in a range of fun colours as well as the normal blacks, whites and silvers – although the eye-catching two-tone paint job is a £2,700 option.
2. Volkswagen ID Buzz
- Number of seats: 5
- Boot capacity: 1,121 litres
- Starting price: £57,115
As well as recently launching the Multivan, VW has also released the ID Buzz, which draws inspiration from VW vans of old, but adds a thoroughly modern twist in that it’s an electric vehicle with around 260 miles of range.
3. Citroen e-SpaceTourer
- Number of seats: 5-9
- Boot capacity: 1,121 litres
- Starting price: £37,795
Another electric people carrier with sliding doors, the Citroen e-SpaceTourer can’t go quite as far as the ID Buzz on a single charge thanks to its official range of 143 miles, but it’s a fair bit cheaper to make up for this.
Available in a range of seating configurations, as well as in long-wheelbase format, the e-SpaceTourer is a large, family-friendly EV that’s relaxing and easy to drive.
4. Citroen Berlingo
- Number of seats: 5-7
- Boot capacity: 775 litres
- Starting price: only available used
The Citroen Berlingo has been around for over 20 years now and offers a lot of versatility for a bargain price. Whether you go for the five-seat M version or seven-seat XL, you’ll get acres of space inside.
On top of this, the Berlingo is comfortable to travel in and well equipped. Feel models get automatic headlights, air conditioning, cruise control and an 8.0-inch infotainment system with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.
5. Peugeot Rifter
- Number of seats: 5-7
- Boot capacity: 775 litres
- Starting price: only available used
The Peugeot Rifter is based on the same platform as the Citroen Berlingo and Vauxhall Combo, so it offers the same levels of practicality, just with a slightly different face. The interior sets the Rifter apart with Peugeot’s trademark small steering wheel.
Opt for the 110hp 1.5-litre diesel and it will be nippy enough for most people’s needs, while also being pretty economical. It’s comfortable on the motorway as well, thanks to a smooth ride and quiet cabin. If you want a new Rifter today you’ll have to switch to electric and go for the e-Rifter, which is essentially the same car as the e-Berlingo. But there are still plenty of diesel Rifters out there on the used market.
6. Mercedes V-Class
- Number of seats: 8
- Boot capacity: 610 litres
- Starting price: £67,825
The V-Class is a premium MPV with room for up to eight. It seeks to distance itself from the Vito van through plush interior features, a larger chrome grille and smartly designed headlights at the front. It can’t hide its boxy origins completely, though.
Nevertheless, the V-Class makes the most of its tall body and van-like shape, offering a huge amount of interior space – which you can easily get to through the big sliding doors. It will comfortably seat six with its flexible layout and there’s the added option of going for the longer wheelbase eight-seater model.
There’s also an all-electric EQV, which starts from a little over £80,000 and can officially cover 213 miles on a charge.
7. Ford Tourneo Connect
- Number of seats: 5-7
- Boot capacity: up to 3,100 litres
- Starting price: £28,409
TheFord Tourneo Connect is a cheaper alternative to the more compact, elegantly proportioned MPVs on the market but it provides plenty of space, with the added extra of useful sliding doors to access the second and third rows of seats.
The roomy, well put together and practical interior will feel familiar to Ford Focus drivers and it handles surprisingly well for a car based on the Ford Transit van. The main draw to the Grand Tourneo Connect, though, is its vast amount of space. It’ll comfortably seat seven.
8. Toyota Proace Verso
- Number of seats: 7-9
- Boot capacity: 224 litres
- Starting price: £32,045
If you have a rather large family and therefore need a lot of seats, take a look at the Toyota Proace Verso. It’s based on the Proace van, offers seating for nine and, if you remove the seats, there’s easily enough space for the odd house move.
The raised driving position and great forward visibility make it surprisingly easy to drive for something this size. If you need more assistance, you can also opt for a 180-degree parking camera and autonomous emergency braking.
9. SEAT Alhambra
- Number of seats: 7
- Boot capacity: 267-2,297 litres
- Starting price: only available used
Although it was withdrawn from sale a couple of years ago and not replaced, there’s a lot to like about the SEAT Alhambra. As a full-size people carrier with sliding rear doors and seven seats, it’s about as practical a car as you can buy, while also being sensibly laid out inside and relatively affordable to run.
It’s also pretty car-like to drive, while if you can find a sporty FR model with the limited-slip differential, you might just find yourself having more fun from behind the wheel than you expected to in a car such as this.
10. Ford B-Max
- Number of seats: 5
- Boot capacity: 318 litres
- Starting price: only available used
While the Alhambra came off sale in 2020, you’ll have to look a couple of years further back than that to find a time when Ford was selling the B-Max new, which makes it a little older than the cars we’d normally recommend.
So what’s it doing on this list? Well, with cars featuring sliding rear doors are pretty thin on the ground from new, naturally we had to turn to the used market, but the B-Max is also worth including because while all of the cars so far have been large, this one is actually rather small, being based on the same platform as the Fiesta at the time, meaning it’s easy and fun to drive, and should also be affordable to run.
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