Best MPVs and people carriers for 2026: tested and reviewed

The best MPVs and people carriers can be an ideal choice for anyone who regularly needs to transport lots of people and luggage. 

MPVs (multi-purpose vehicles) are large five-door cars that often feature a high roofline, wide-opening or sliding doors and up to three rows of seating to accommodate between five and nine people. While there are plenty of larger-capacity SUVs available that offer a higher driving position, greater ground clearance and better ride quality, if you’re looking for a lower driving position, floor and boot, an MPV is still a great choice.

All our MPV reviews include an extensive suite of tests and measurements that go as far as to check how much legroom people of different heights will have in all the rows of seats, plus how much space you’ll have to transport large items such as furniture with all the seats folded down. 

Want to compare all of the new and used models we've tested? Go straight to our MPV reviews

Best MPVs and people carriers available new 

Find the top-scoring, most practical and comfortable MPVs we recommend below. 

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Best used MPVs and people carriers

Get more for your money and minimise the potential for buying a money pit, with our top-scoring MPVs available to buy used.

 If you’re just after a seven-seater car but don’t mind what shape it is, check our guide to the best seven-seater cars

MPVs and people carriers to avoid

Should I buy an MPV or an SUV?

Michael Passingham, Which? senior researcher

With SUVs dominating the UK car sales charts year after year, it might look like SUVs are the best bet for most people. But MPVs aren't without virtue and it's worth understanding what sort works best for you.

What you see with an SUV is typically what you get; there aren't many cars with adjustable rear seats or a flip-up row of rear seats and where they do exist, they are typically pretty expensive compared to a basic MPV. 

Small, van-shaped but car-sized MPVs, such as the Volkswagen Touran, while not as popular as they once were, are among the most versatile cars you can buy. They offer a surprising amount of passenger space in the footprint of comparatively small cars but when all the seats are folded down you still have a huge amount of space for moving big loads whether you’re moving house or off to the tip.

If you don't always have seven passengers to carry, you can treat them like a standard car with a massive boot most of the time, and then flip up the rear seats when you need them. This is something most similar-sized SUVs can't offer. 

Larger van-shaped MPVs such as the VW ID.Buzz and Mercedes V-Class offer even greater flexibility and often include removable seats and customisable seating layouts, sometimes including the ability to swivel the middle row of seats around to face the rear passengers; these tend to be fairly pricey, though.

Boot space and seating configurations in MPVs

While many people carriers will be able to accommodate six or seven people, you might only want to use it in this way occasionally when the kids’ mates are along for the ride, for example. Indeed, having more boot space with the third row of seats folded down will be a boon when you’re doing a big grocery shop by yourself.

One of the key selling points of MPVs is the flexibility – rather than size – of their storage. Indeed, our lab tests show that boot space in an MPV is usually no better than an SUV when all three rows of seats are in use. Things get a lot better if you’re only using the third row occasionally, as you can more than double your usable space. 

As an example, the VW Touran (2015-) goes from a paltry 130 litres of boot space to 455 litres up to the parcel shelf when you fold down the third row of seats. That’s about the same as a typical estate car such as a Toyota Corolla Touring Sports.

It's not just about volume, though. There’s often more space in an MPV to put your things, such as under seats, under the floor and inside various cubbies. Many SUVs also have tray tables: perfect for lunchboxes, tablets or both. 

If you need even more luggage space, look for cars with roof rails as standard. You can typically add up to around 100kg of luggage on rails in rooftop boxes.

How many child car seats fit in an MPV?

If you have three young children, all needing to be seated in child car seats, an MPV may be the only viable option to transport the entire family safely and securely. Many conventional cars can't accommodate three child seats abreast. 

It's worth checking the rearmost fold-up seats in seven-seaters, too, as not all are suitable for accommodating child car seats. This is especially true if you’re using an Isofix car seat, as Isofix points are only mandatory on cars first sold since 2014 and only two are required to meet the standard. Many MPVs will have more than two but they may not come as standard, so be sure to check with the manufacturer or seller. 

If you’re using an Isofix car seat with a support leg, make sure it isn't resting on underfloor storage (which is common in MPVs), as this could make it less effective in a crash.

For more information, read our in-depth guide to the best baby and child car seats.

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Testing in controlled lab conditions means the results we collect are directly comparable between different cars, helping us to determine exactly which models are better and why, and helping you to find the perfect car for your needs.

And so you know which cars are likely to prove reliable for years to come, we also gather feedback from thousands of UK car owners through the annual Which? Car Survey, using it to generate detailed reliability ratings for the cars we test.

For more, see how we test cars.