The best estate cars - driven, rated and ranked

While there is a new edition of the BMW 5 Series Touring on sale now, we're yet to test it. But the previous-generation car is still an estate that covers all bases and remains hard to beat. 

Elegantly styled, engaging to drive, just about large enough for most needs and packed with enough neat features to suggest that BMW thought hard about how it would be used, the multi-talented German is at the front of this space race.

At 560 litres, boot capacity on this generation of 5 Series Touring is about average (it shrinks to 430 litres in the PHEV), but the load area is well shaped and the brand’s trademark opening rear glass makes it easier to load smaller items in a tight spot.

Fold the handy 40/20/40-split rear bench and there’s up to 1700 litres to play with. What’s more, air suspension is standard for the rear axle, helping deliver both self-levelling for heavy loads and, combined with optional adaptive dampers, enhanced comfort.

Yet BMW’s ‘ultimate driving machine’ shtick doesn’t come unstuck in the estate transformation, the 5 Series hiding its bulk and mass well with meaty steering, impressive agility and the option of expressive handling if you’re in the mood.

The engine line-up has been pared back in recent years to just four-cylinder diesel and petrol options and a lusty six-cylinder petrol.

There’s also a PHEV for business users looking for a tax break. And while there’s no M5 option, semi-official tuning arm Alpina does offer a subtle yet superheated conversion in the form of the Alpina B5 Touring, provided you’ve enough cash to fill a 5 Series Touring's boot.

Is it an estate? Is it an MPV? Is it an SUV? It does have seven seats and a mildly raised ride height, but we reckon the Dacia Jogger is an estate - and a really good one too.

Given the rampant rise in the cost of living that we’ve experienced in the past few years, the Jogger is particularly welcome. It offers all the space and utility you need, including a genuinely usable third row of seats, for significantly less money than most standard hatchbacks.

And it’s not as if Jogger drivers have to give up a lot of creature comforts. Yes, the plastics are hard and there's no plush leather on the seats, but Dacia has grown very adept at brightening up its interiors with a strip of fabric here and a bit of faux knurled aluminium there without breaking the bank.

Go for one of the still very reasonably priced higher trims and you get heated seats, cruise control and sat-nav, as well as a touchscreen infotainment system that works more logically than a lot of fancier systems.

The 1.0-litre petrol engine is no powerhouse, but thanks to the snappy six-speed manual gearbox, it gets out of its own way well enough.

If you must have an automatic transmission, the Jogger Hybrid is the one to go for, and it returns very impressive fuel economy.

The Jogger rides well on its soft suspension but has enough inherent balance to still be enjoyable on a twisty road. Some might scoff at the one-star Euro NCAP safety rating, but the Jogger protects still its occupants perfectly well in a crash. It was instead marked down for the absence of some active safety systems, but those can be less of a help than a hindrance on some cars, so it’s not the biggest loss.

The Jogger offers lots of space for relatively little money in what is quite a cheery and pleasant package. It’s the opposite of a luxury car, but it’s hard not to like.

The smaller sibling of the 5 Series Touring, the 3 Series Touring, packs many of its larger stablemate’s strengths into a more compact package. 

Few estates at any price are as good to drive, the 3 Series wagon’s mix of agility, driver engagement and right-sized exterior making it feel at home on any twisting stretch of Tarmac. 

And while it rides a little firmer than some, the sense of solidity and excellent refinement mean it's also relaxing when you just want to mooch.

The 3 Series also features a lavishly appointed and finished interior, while the boot will swallow 500 litres (or 410 litres in the PHEV) with the rear bench in place.

There’s also that handy lifting glass tailgate, numerous storage cubbies and shopping bag hooks.

A facelift in 2022 mostly concerned the interior, where the 3 Series gained a massive curved screen but lost a lot of its physical controls. We’re no great fans of BMW’s latest iDrive operating system, but at least the presence of the signature rotary controller makes up for a lot.

The 3 Series also had its engine line-up slashed in the UK. The regular range now consists of a 2.0-litre petrol, a 2.0-litre diesel and a 2.0-litre PHEV, but you can still have a straight six with either petrol or diesel power in the form of the M340i and M340d.

These are also joined by the magnificent 503bhp BMW M3 Touring, which has all the M3 super-saloon’s incredible pace and poise but an extra dose of practicality as well.

Jaguar did much for the rational appeal of its slightly long-in-the-tooth larger executive option, the XF, early in 2021 when it widely overhauled the interior, cut the engine range and slashed a four-figure sum off the list price.

A rear-driven, diesel-powered D200 XF Sportbrake can now be had for a little over £40k, which makes it cracking value - especially when the Mercedes-Benz E-Class is pushing into the £60ks.

WLTP emissions tests have robbed Jaguar's only estate of its straight-six engines, sadly: Jaguar never got around to dropping any of its Ingenium motors into the car.

But whichever engine sits in the XF Sportbrake's nose, you're getting arguably the best-handling chassis in this class, and one that changes direction beautifully, thanks to the weight and response of Jaguar's trademark steering.

The top-billing P300 model pairs the same 296bhp 2.0-litre petrol engine from the Jaguar F-Type with four-wheel drive and is a superbly competent all-weather family car, finally with a cabin and infotainment system worthy of a premium executive operator.

If you're looking for those traditional Jaguar values of space, pace and grace, the XF Sportbrake has them by the bootful.

Citroën has rediscovered its knack for doing things differently, and the C5 X is arguably the most tangible proof of this.

Combining the style of a coupé with the stance of an SUV and the versatility of an estate, the flamboyant French machine forges its own path to practicality. It’s an estate car, Jim, but not as we know it.

What’s clear from the outside is that comfort is the order of the day with the C5 X, even if it’s not quite as accomplished in this area as some of its double-chevron ancestors.

The soft suspension can get unsettled, but otherwise it delivers a supple and easy-going gait, while the squidgy seats are surprisingly supportive. Light steering and a fair amount of body movement mean it's best at a gentle canter, but consistent grip and accurate steering ensure it’s hardly a chore to drive.

Despite its rakish exterior, the C5 X features a spacious interior that looks good and is well built. There’s a large boot as well, which will swallow a very useful 540 litres of luggage with the rear seats in use, although this drops to 485 litres in the PHEV.

Speaking of which, the PHEV delivers some decent savings for business users and is the most relaxing choice these days.

The C5 X launched with the option of a regular 1.6-litre petrol engine, whose quiet running and adequate torque suited the car well. However, that was removed from sale after only a few months, leaving the 1.2-litre petrol triple as the only C5 X without a plug.

It’s a decent enough engine and is capable of excellent economy, but it can struggle with this big car, not helped by the somewhat petulant automatic gearbox.

Does the E-Class get any more convincing than in estate form? We think not, because if the role of a big Mercedes is to convey the whole family in enviable comfort, this is where you should spend your money. 

With the seats in place, there’s a healthy 615 litres of boot space, while dropping the 40/20/40-split folding rear bench liberates 1830 litres (although as with other cars here, the PHEV's version is smaller, at 460-1675 litres).

The cavernous, flat-floored load area is also well shaped and there’s a low load lip and a powered tailgate, all of which make it easier to transport awkward items.

For the latest E-Class (codenamed W214, or S214 for the estate), a few changes have been made. 

The first is that Mercedes has gone all-in on screens and tech. Higher trims get what Mercedes calls the Superscreen, which fuses a large central screen and a smaller screen for the passenger in a large expanse of black. It mostly works quite well, and you don’t have to have it if you don't want it.

Interior materials generally feel high quality too. Most new E-Classes in the UK come on sport suspension. We’ve yet to drive the estate in the UK, but we expect the ride to be okay rather than pillowy.

The PHEV is likely to be the comfiest, as it comes on softer suspension. All estates have rear air suspension, but that’s more for self-levelling than comfort.

From launch in the UK, there are only three powertrains on offer, all using a 2.0-litre four-cylinder engine: a mild-hybrid petrol, a mild-hybrid diesel and a petrol PHEV.

There are six-cylinder and four-wheel-drive versions in Germany, but it’s unclear if any of those will make it to the UK. For now, we’ve tried only the diesel, which proved very refined and very frugal.

For decades, Ford’s mid-sized car – first the Escort and then the Focus – was the default family choice, with estate versions available for those who needed more space.

With the rise of SUVs, the Focus has been marginalised a bit, to the extent that there won’t be a new generation once the current one’s run ends in 2025.

We still like it quite a lot, though. It doesn’t offer the premium-ish experience or PHEV  drivetrains of some rivals, such as the Peugeot 308 SW, but if you like driving and really being in control, it ticks quite few boxes.

The regular Focus is always powered by a mild-hybrid 1.0-litre three-cylinder engine these days, either with 123bhp and a six-speed manual gearbox or 153bhp and a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic.

Both are pretty good, but we would stick with the cheaper manual. It’s no hot hatch, but it does offer a very natural, satisfying driving experience, and there’s very little to annoy you. When we ran a 153bhp automatic as a long-term test car, it returned 58mpg on average, which is pretty impressive for a mild-hybrid petrol.

The most recent facelift introduced a massive multimedia screen. It sadly usurped the physical climate controls but, truth be told, it still works pretty well.

The Focus Estate is practical, too, without being massive on the outside. Boot capacity stands at 608 litres, increasing to 1653 with the seats folded flat. And it’s not just big: there are also practical features such as a luggage cover that’s easy to remove and reinstall.

If you do want that hot hatch experience, the estate is available in 276bhp Ford Focus ST form as well.

There was a time not that long ago when 'Toyota Corolla' was a byword for humdrum transport: it was durable and dependable but dynamically flat and devoid of charm.

However, that all changed with the 12th-generation car, which features all the Corolla's traditional strengths but mixes in some style and a big dollop of driver appeal. Go for the Touring Sports estate and you get a healthy injection of practicality too.

Thanks to the Toyota Next Generation Architecture, the Corolla is blessed with a fine ride and handling balance that makes it a genuine pleasure to steer down your favourite road as well as affording it genuine comfort and refinement.

These days, the Corolla is always a petrol-electric hybrid, but you do have the choice of a 1.8-litre or 2.0-litre engine.

The 1.8 got a sizeable power bump to 138bhp in 2023, making its performance adequate rather than sluggish. The 2.0 got a smaller upgrade to 193bhp, making it pleasantly nippy.

Neither is a performance machine, because the e-CVT will still give you soaring revs if you really put your foot down, but both get out of their own way and will return good economy.

In that respect, the 1.8 can be incredibly frugal on congested roads, but the 2.0 might be the better option if you do a lot of motorway miles.

The interior isn’t quite up to premium standards and the infotainment is fairly lacklustre, but there’s decent space and it’s robustly built. Likewise, the boot lacks some of the clever features of rivals, but it’s roomy enough and benefits from a low loading lip and a decent shape.

It's worth noting that the 1.8 has a slightly bigger boot, because its 12V battery can go under the bonnet, whereas the 2.0-litre’s has to live in the boot – 696 litres plays 581.

So there you have it: a Corolla with space, style, substance and sparkle.