Best cheap family cars in the UK
High quality and affordable cars for families from rated and reviewed dealers
Best cheap family cars of 2025
The best cheap family cars are those that mix a good level of practicality with a smooth drive, decent looks and, rather obviously, an affordable price tag. Of course, if you’re in the market for a cheap family car you might have to forgo a couple of luxuries, but you’ll still be left with an excellent daily runabout. Here, we’ve compiled some of the best value family cars you can currently buy new through carwow, all for around £25,000 or less.
What's good
What’s not so good
The Dacia Jogger is the most affordable seven-seater you can currently buy new. It’s comfortable on the motorway, and has loads of space inside for kids and luggage. Material quality isn’t great, however, and it has gutless performance when fully loaded.
What's good
What’s not so good
The Dacia Sandero is the cheapest new car on the UK market, which is certainly not a claim to be sniffed at. For a small car it has a super impressive amount of space on offer, but a two-star safety rating isn’t particularly amazing. Still, it’s one of the best budget family cars you can buy.
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What's good
What’s not so good
The Skoda Scala might be on the small side, but it has a massive boot and offers an excellent level of equipment. It’s a bit dull to drive on a twisty road, but it looks classy both inside and out and is priced extremely competitively.
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If you’d prefer an affordable SUV instead of a hatchback or estate, then the Renault Kadjar is worth a look in. It’s attractive on the outside, and has loads of passenger space and a generous boot. You get a good amount of equipment as standard, too - just know that its cabin is pretty drab to look at.
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What’s not so good
This funky compact SUV looks fantastic, comes with a range of smooth engines and is very comfortable on a bumpy road. It has a spacious boot, but there isn’t a huge amount of room in the backseats for adult passengers. Kids should be just fine, though.
The sporty-looking SEAT Leon is not only reasonably fun to point down your favourite country road, it has loads of passenger space and a good amount of equipment as standard. A bigger boot might be nice though, and some of the controls are really fiddly - particularly the ones that control the infotainment.
Battery range up to 46 miles
What's good
What’s not so good
The Skoda Octavia Estate has a seriously huge boot, which is handy if you’ve got a lot of stuff to cart about from place to place. Build quality is excellent and it drives smoothly enough, but it’s not particularly fun on a country road - unless you go for the hot (but pricier) vRS model.
The Vauxhall Astra not only looks fantastic on the outside, it comes with a huge boot and is super easy to drive around town - provided you avoid the slightly clunky automatic transmission. A bit more rear passenger space would be nice, too.
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The handsome Kia Ceed Sportswagon gets an impressive amount of equipment as standard, and has a large, practical boot. It’s a bit dull on the inside, however, and alternatives can be more comfortable out on a bumpy road.
What's good
What’s not so good
If you’re after a practical family SUV that’s efficient, spacious and can handle itself off-road, the 4x4 version of the Dacia Duster is a great choice. Two-wheel-drive versions are less appealing however, owing to their reduced capability in the mucky stuff.
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