Whether it’s for carrying children, bikes, dogs or antique furniture, estate cars have always served a useful purpose. And while the car market has evolved in recent years, with crossovers and SUVs taking the place of the family estate car as icons of suburbia, there’s still a demand out there for traditional station wagons, especially those with big boots.
Here are ten of the best estate cars on sale today:
10. Subaru Levorg
The Levorg is currently the British Touring Car Championship winning car – testimony, indeed, to its tenacious grip and lively performance. It’s not the most rational choice, with a 2.5-litre turbocharged petrol engine and CVT transmission limiting its fleet appeal and adding to its running costs, but there are few other cars in this class that are as engaging to drive or have as much character.
9. Vauxhall Insignia Sports Tourer
Were it not for the Vauxhall badge on its nose, the new Insignia Sports Tourer could be mistaken for a premium German wagon. It’s a handsome car, and a big one, too, with an excellent cabin layout and the advantage of Vauxhall’s excellent ‘OnStar’ on-board concierge service. It offers plenty of luggage space, too, and is excellent value for money, albeit at the expense of steep depreciation.
8. Dacia Logan MCV
There’s something loveable about the Logan MCV, which is Britain’s cheapest estate car. Prices start at £7,295, which is cheaper than most city cars, yet the MCV has up to 1,518-litres of luggage space with the seats folded flat. It’s best sampled with the 1.5-litre dCi diesel engine, which gives it combined fuel economy in excess of 80mpg. After all, if you’re keeping costs down, that’s the way to do it.
7. Audi A6 Avant
The handsome A6 Avant is one of the older models in its class, but it has aged gracefully thanks to its simple, unfussy and business-like design. The cabin is ergonomically brilliant, while the load bay is flat and capacious. With fierce competition in this class, there are some great deals on A6s at the moment. Buy one and you won’t be at all disappointed.
6. Skoda Superb
The Superb is an incredible estate car, with a truly vast load bay, offering almost 2,000 litres of space with the seats folded flat. It scores a full 100% at the business end, and it’s a good car to drive, too, especially in street-sleeper 270PS form, where the engine from the Octavia vRS plays a part. The Superb isn’t as cheap as it used to be, but it’s still a great value buy.
5. Volkswagen Passat
The angular Passat is the class-leader in terms of non-premium estates, although the Volkswagen badge has a cachet of its own. The Passat deserves it, too, thanks to its handsome good looks, spacious, functional cabin and tax-friendly engine range – it’s the perfect company car, which is why it’s a big hit with fleet managers and user choosers alike.
4. Skoda Octavia
From the entry-level diesel beloved of minicab drivers to the playful vRS, the Octavia Estate is a car of many characters. Chief among these, though, is value for money. It’s a quality car, great to drive, has a more than generous load bay and excellent comfort and standard equipment, wrapped up in a package that represents the absolute best value for money in the Skoda range today.
3. Mercedes-Benz E-Class
The latest E-Class is more than just a quality car. It’s a truly brilliant one, with striking avant-garde design, especially around the interior. The trim quality is lavish, the engine range varied from the sensible (E220d) to the insane (E63 AMG), all underscored by the German brand’s unassuming but undisputable solidity. If you want an estate car to keep for a long while, it’s the one we’d recommend.
2. BMW 5-Series Touring
The latest incarnation of the 5-Series Touring is a terrific car, which already has a number of awards and accolades to its credit after only a few months on sale. From fleet friendly diesel models to indulgent V8s, every 5-Series Touring is quite special to drive, while the interior ambiance, fit and finish are second to none.
1. Volvo V90
If there’s one thing that Volvo has always done brilliantly, it’s create estate cars. And the V90 is the perfect example of Volvo at its best. It’s a massive and functional estate, yet still manages to be one of the most striking and distinctive cars on the market today. Refined and stylish, with a beautiful, uncluttered fascia, it’s our favourite estate car on sale in 2018.
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