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Best estate cars in the UK of 2024

Estates arguably make for the best cars. You get the same (more or less) driving enjoyment as a saloon or hatch, but with much more space for luggage and/or pets without the extra running costs that come with SUVs.

And gone are the boxy shapes of old. Nowadays, we have estates with sleek, swooping lines that have all the style of their saloon equivalents despite the capacious boot out back. Our team of reviewers have put each of the cars in this list to the test and have brought together the best estates you can buy today.

So whether you’re looking for something big and cheap or more premium practicality, there’s something for you here. Here are the best estate cars in the business.

Skoda Superb Estate (2019-2023)

1. Skoda Superb Estate

9/10
Skoda Superb Estate (2019-2023) review
Battery range up to 44 miles
The Superb is basically unbeatable when it comes to affordable practicality, but it’s got more than space on its side. It’s also comfortable, well-built, reliable, and refined. The Superb might not be a ball of fire to drive, and the cabin’s a bit dowdy, but that’s the limit of the criticisms.
BMW 3 Series Touring

2. BMW 3 Series Touring

9/10
BMW 3 Series Touring review
The BMW 3 Series Touring has all of the cornering prowess of the fleet-footed saloon, but with a 500-litre boot and a rear window that opens separately to the tailgate. Certain versions can be a bit firm, but this is a tough car to beat.

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Audi A6 Avant

3. Audi A6 Avant

7/10
Audi A6 Avant review
The A6 Avant is gorgeous and practical, albeit not as fun to drive as the BMW 5 Series, nor with quite so nice a cabin as the Merc E-Class. But it’s still a very slick operator, and ticks a lot of boxes.
MG MG 5 EV

4. MG 5

6/10
MG MG 5 EV review
Battery range up to 250 miles
The MG 5 has truly wowed us, because while it’s easy to dismiss as nothing more than a value option, there’s far more to it than that. For a start, it’s one of just two electric estates on sale in the UK at the time of writing, and while it’s not the most stylish thing to look at, inside or out, it has everything you need. Touchscreen infotainment system with Android Auto and Apple CarPlay? Check. Practical 580-litre boot? Check. Decent range? A similarly priced Leaf returns 177 miles, compared with the MG 5’s 250 miles. Check.
Volvo V60

5. Volvo V60

8/10
Volvo V60 review
Battery range up to 31 miles
The handsome V60 makes a good fist of taking on the mighty 3 Series, and it’s much more engaging to drive than you’d expect. Updated plug-in hybrid version gets an impressive electric-only range, and the boot is only slightly smaller than that of the bigger, more expensive V90. Fiddly infotainment disappoints, though, and it’s not cheap.
BMW 5 Series Touring (2020-2024)

6. BMW 5 Series Touring

9/10
BMW 5 Series Touring (2020-2024) review
Battery range up to 29 miles
All of the qualities of the 3 Series Touring, but just a bit bigger - the 5 Series maximises your driving pleasure but still gives you enough space out back for a Great Dane to squeeze in. Its cabin feels a bit tight compared to alternatives from Mercedes and Audi, though.
Mercedes-Benz E-Class Estate (2020-2023)

7. Mercedes E-Class Estate

8/10
Mercedes-Benz E-Class Estate (2020-2023) review
The Mercedes E-Class Estate focuses on comfort, rather than dynamics (unless you buy one of the nutty AMG versions) and the cabin is just gorgeous. Plug-in hybrid diesel 300de is clever and frugal but sacrifices boot space for batteries.
Skoda Octavia Estate

8. Skoda Octavia Estate

9/10
Skoda Octavia Estate review
Battery range up to 46 miles
The Octavia almost nudges the bigger Superb off its perch, with a massive boot, lots of space in the cabin, and a dashboard design that looks and feels a little more upmarket than that of its larger brother. Not thrilling to drive nor look at (unless you nab a sporty vRS model) but a near-perfect family car.
Citroen C5 X
2024
Comfortable Cruiser Award
Highly Commended

9. Citroen C5 X

9/10
Citroen C5 X review
Is it an estate? Is it an SUV? Or is it a big hatchback? It’s hard to say, but the new C5 X looks handsome, drives pleasantly, is hugely comfy, and has copious space inside. Its automatic transmission can be a bit clunky, though.
Toyota Corolla Touring Sports

10. Toyota Corolla Touring Sports

8/10
Toyota Corolla Touring Sports review
Once upon a time, a Corolla estate would have been the dullest car on the road. No longer — the current Corolla looks sharp, and is much more fun to drive than you might imagine. It’s hybrid-only too, so it’s also super frugal. The petrol engine can be a bit thrashy at times, though.

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More advice about estate cars

Estate cars FAQs

Generally, an estate car is one that takes an existing saloon or hatchback design and extends the rear bodywork upward and outward to create a bigger and more versatile boot. Generally they’ll have fold-flat rear seats, and many will have boot floors that adjust to allow you to carry larger, or heavier, loads. They’re the practical cars we bought before SUVs took over…

The primary benefit is space — estates almost always have bigger boots than their saloon or hatchback cousins. For instance, a BMW 3 Series Touring has a 500-litre boot, compared to the 3 Series saloon’s 480-litres, and when you fold the back seats flat and load it to the roof, there’s 1,510-litres to play with. The other benefit is running costs — a lower, sleeker estate will, for a similar (sometimes superior) amount of cabin and boot space, be cheaper to run and tax than an equivalent SUV.

There are plenty of hybrid and plug-in hybrid estate cars, including the Audi A6 Avant TFSIe, Citroen C5 X, Mercedes C-Class Estate and E-Class Estate, Toyota Corolla Touring Sports, Volkswagen Passat GTE Estate, and the Volvo V60 T6 and V90 T6. If you want a fully-electric estate, your choices are a bit more limited for the moment. You can either go really cheap — the MG 5 — or really, really expensive — the Porsche Taycan Sport Turismo. Better-value electric estates are coming, though.

Yes, although to be fair most of the saloon and hatch variants of these cars will tow just as well. The ones with the highest towing limits are the Skoda Superb Estate, Volkswagen Passat Estate, and Volvo V90, all of which can haul as much as 2,200kg of braked trailer weight — just bear in mind that hauling that much weight might push you over the combined 3,500kg weight limit (if you got your driver’s licence after January 1997). You also need to remember that, if you’re hauling a caravan, you’re limited to 50mph on single-lane roads, and 60mph on dual-carriageways and motorways.

Of the cars on our top ten list, you’re best going for the Toyota Corolla Touring Sports if you want maximum reliability — it’s the only one of the ten to get a maximum five-star reliability rating from Which? That said, Skoda, Audi, and Volvo all tend to produce well-made cars too, so you’re probably not going to be taking too big a risk with one of those.

Buying an estate car for a family really boils down to one equation — how can I get the best possible space for the minimum possible cost? With that in mind, the winner here probably has to be the Skoda Octavia Estate. It has a bigger boot than anything else of a similar price (indeed, more space than many larger, more expensive cars) and Skoda has a solid reputation for reliability and running costs. You can get it as a plug-in hybrid iV model too, which could potentially save you a lot of money in fuel bills.

Two of the best-value estates come from Skoda in the form of the Superb and Octavia, which both boast boot space that wouldn’t be out of place in the class above. The Dacia Jogger is also very affordable and has a huge boot, though its seven-seater status means you could argue it’s more of a stretched MPV than traditional estate.

If you’re sticking to electric powertrains, the MG 5 is the easy winner here, since the only other electric estate is the Porsche Taycan Sport Turismo, a considerably pricier option.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but we reckon there are a few contenders for this crowd. The Porsche Taycan Sport Turismo’s sleek shooting brake design is enough to set your heart racing, while the Volvo V60 has a subtle sophistication that’s a far cry from the design-by-set square estates the firm used to sell.

Looking at official figures, this list would be dominated by plug-in hybrid models, because if you can keep the battery topped up you might find you rarely use a drop of fuel. Some of our favourite examples here include the Skoda Superb, Audi A6 Avant and BMW 3 Series Touring. The Mercedes C-Class Estate PHEV has the best official economy figure, though at 404mpg.

Don’t want a plug-in model? Again, the Skoda Superb and Octavia have some of the most economical petrol and diesel engines in the business, while the petrol-electric (non plug-in) hybrid Suzuki Swace and Toyota Corolla Touring Sports return excellent MPG in the real world.