Used Car Hunter: 7-seater SUVs for £40,000
Our Car Hunter has £40,000 for a large SUV with seven seats, and the options are very attractive
Dear Auto Express, as the manager of my kids’ five-a-side team, I need a seven-seater car that has some boot space and won’t cost loads to run. We travel all over, so it needs to be comfy, too, while an SUV would be ideal to cope with dodgy football car parks. I have a budget of £40,000.
What are my best options?
Steve, Essex
Chery Tiggo 8 - the plug-in hybrid choice
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Chery is a new Chinese brand in the UK and with the Chery Tiggo 8 there’s lots to worry more established rivals. You can get the seven-seater with a petrol engine, but the PHEV is the better option – in fact, the marque claims it’s the world’s “most advanced plug-in hybrid system”.
The Chery makes most sense if you can charge at home, but unusually for a plug-in hybrid it comes with rapid DC charging, so the 18.4kWh battery can be topped up from 20 to 80 per cent in just 20 minutes. Its 1.5-litre four-cylinder petrol engine can charge the battery on the move and a claimed 56 miles of electric range is impressive (although we found it drops to 49 in the real world).
When the battery is depleted, the Tiggo 8 holds some charge in reserve so fuel efficiency remains high – during our 16-car PHEV megatest it returned 60.1mpg, which was greater than any other rival.
Its 117-litre boot capacity with all seven seats in place means it’s not that spacious, but the best thing is the PHEV’s price. Now that used models are appearing on the market, you can bag a top-spec Summit version for around £28,000.
Land Rover Discovery - the off-road choice
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If you’re covering a lot of miles and attempting to negotiate some challenging car parks, the Land Rover Discovery will have you covered with its incredible four-wheel-drive, off-road ability. A budget of £37,000 can get a four-year-old example in classy R-Dynamic SE trim with 33,000 miles on the clock.
It’s the most luxurious of the bunch here, so your five-a-side team will feel like superstars on match days, thanks to the premium interior, panoramic sunroof, Meridian sound system and heated leather seats. You also get an 11.4-inch touchscreen with Jaguar Land Rover’s very own infotainment system, which we’ve found easy to operate and nice and responsive, too.
The D300 diesel is barely any less economical than the D250, but is far more powerful with 300bhp on tap and 570Nm of torque. Boot space is slightly limited at 172 litres with the third row up, but if you’re travelling a lot, the Discovery will be the most comfortable companion, thanks to its hi-tech adaptive air-suspension and adaptive cruise control ensuring stress-free motorway mileage.
Latest Land Rover Discovery deals
Skoda Kodiaq - the all-rounder choice
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A serial winner of our Large SUV of the Year award, the current Skoda Kodiaq builds on the original with a more upmarket interior and extra ‘Simply Clever’ features, making it a terrific all-rounder and a wonderfully practical family car. It’s affordable, too, as a low-mileage and very well equipped SE L can be found for only £23,000.
The Kodiaq is a huge amount of car for the money, but dive into its kit list and you’ll find keyless entry, tinted windows and easy-to- clean leather upholstery. There’s loads of space in all three rows, and with all seven seats in place, there’s still 340 litres of boot space available.
Given that you’re ferrying kids, it’s also reassuring to know the Kodiaq achieved the maximum five stars in the Euro NCAP safety test, with great scores for child-occupant protection.
With a 148bhp 1.5-litre four-cylinder petrol engine, the Kodiaq isn’t quick, but more importantly it shouldn’t cost loads on fuel, thanks to its combined economy figure of 45.3mpg.
The Skoda isn’t particularly fun to drive either, although its noticeable body roll in bends means the softly sprung suspension will ride beautifully en route to those far-flung football clubs.
Peugeot E-5008 - the electric choice
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Go for other seven-seat EVs such as the Kia EV9 or Hyundai Ioniq 9 and you’ll be forking out at least £65,000 for a brand-new car. But prices for a tidy used Peugeot E-5008 can be tens-of-thousands less, making it tremendously good value. This seven-seater electric car can be found from around £28,000, and while that’s more expensive than the Skoda, if you can charge at home you’ll be saving money on fuel every time you plug the French model in.
The E-5008 is a big car but it’s very easy to drive at low speeds, while the 11.2-metre turning circle and light steering help to make those tight football car park manoeuvres a breeze. The Peugeot i-Cockpit interior layout might be a deal breaker though, depending on your preferred driving position.
Inside, the Peugeot offers excellent adjustability in the middle row and the backrests fall flat, so it’s easy for kids to access the third-row chairs. Boot space is an impressive 348 litres.
The small-battery E-5008 offers a 310-mile range, so while it should take around 30 minutes for a 20 to 80 per cent charge, it’s worth checking how far your furthest away game is.
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