Best Family Cars in Australia 2027: What to Buy Now, and What's Worth Waiting For

If you're buying a family car in the next twelve months, the most useful question isn't only “which is best?”. It's also “is the one I want about to change?”. A replacement model, a lapsing ANCAP rating or a drive-away offer with an end date can all move the answer between now and the middle of 2027. This guide is built for that kind of planning. It works from 582 SUVs, people movers and wagons on sale in our directory on 12 November 2026, all priced at or under $80,000, and from what manufacturers have said about the cars arriving through 2027.

If you need a car this month, our 2026 family car guide is the “best to buy right now” list, and it stays current. This one adds what happens next. Each category below has the picks, who they suit, what to watch, the grade we'd look at first on our figures, and a short “buy now or wait” call. The facts, side by side. Your decision.

The picks at a glance

One row per question. The figure is from our row for that car on 12 November 2026, with its price basis. RRP is before on-road costs; drive-away includes them (Victoria). Detail, runners-up and the 2027 view for each are below.

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6 of them on 200+ specs, price, safety and running cost in one view.

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MG ZS Vibe

$22,990 RRPas at 5 Nov 2026

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Toyota Yaris Cross GX Hybrid 2WD

$31,790 RRPas at 4 Oct 2026

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Chery Tiggo 4 Urban

$21,800 est. RRPas at 11 Nov 2026

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GWM Haval Jolion Premium

$23,990 drive-away (VIC)as at 5 Nov 2026

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Kia Seltos Hybrid S

$37,990 RRPas at 4 Nov 2026

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Toyota RAV4 GX Hybrid 2WD

$45,990 RRPas at 6 Sep 2026

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Each price is that car's stored figure with its basis and check date. Driva is an independent finance provider, not part of CarSorted. We aren't paid for this link.

Buying now or waiting: how to use this guide

Most family cars don't change much from one year to the next. A few do, and several of them are family cars. Hyundai Australia has told media the next Tucson arrives in mid-2027, hybrid-only at launch. GWM's next Haval H6 is reported for early 2027. Toyota has confirmed a fourth RAV4 plug-in hybrid, the GXL 2WD, for the first quarter of 2027. Mitsubishi says its all-new Pajero will be “unleashed in December 2026”. And Kia's Seltos has already switched to hybrid-only, with the old petrol grades gone.

So here's the rule of thumb we use through this guide. Buy now when the car isn't changing, the price is on the manufacturer's published list or a drive-away offer you can use before it ends, and the ANCAP rating will still be current for a while. Wait when a replacement is confirmed and close, or when the car you want is about to pick up a powertrain you'd rather have (a plug-in, a hybrid). Negotiate when a replacement is coming and the outgoing car is still on the lot: run-out stock is exactly what dealers want to move.

One caution. “Reported” and “confirmed” aren't the same thing, and we keep them apart. Confirmed means the manufacturer has said it on its own Australian site or in an Australian release. Reported means Australian motoring media have it from the manufacturer or elsewhere, but the manufacturer hasn't put it on its own page. Neither gives you a price until the price list is out.

How we picked

What counts as a family car. An SUV, people mover or wagon with at least five seats, sold new in Australia, with a price at or under $80,000. That's 596 rows. We then set aside a handful that aren't really family cars or aren't really still on sale: the LandCruiser 70 wagons (work vehicles), the Subaru WRX Sportswagon (a performance car) and six old Kia Seltos petrol grades that Kia replaced with the hybrid in October. That leaves 582 rows, 169 nameplates and 45 makes. Small hatches and sedans have their own 2027 small car guide, and utes their own ute guide.

Size classes. We sort by measured length and seat count rather than marketing labels: small SUVs are five-seaters under 4.5 metres, mid-size are 4.5 to 4.8 metres, large five-seaters are longer, and anything with six or more seats goes in the seven-seat group. That puts the MG ZS (4,430 mm) and Corolla Cross (4,460 mm) with the small SUVs and the RAV4 (4,600 mm) with the mid-size.

Prices. An RRP is before on-road costs; a drive-away price includes them. We never rank one against the other. RRP picks only use figures whose source on our row names the manufacturer's own configurator, price list or release: about half the rows (283 of 575 on our latest count). Rows with an RRP we estimated from a drive-away price, or with no named source, show in the tables but don't win a price pick. Drive-away figures are Victorian; 192 rows hold one, and many are offers with end dates, which we quote.

Running costs. Fuel and electricity costs use the same sum as our car pages: 15,600 km a year (300 km a week), the official combined figure, and $1.95 a litre for regular unleaded, $2.10 for premium, $1.90 for diesel and 30 cents a kWh at home. Plug-in hybrids are costed with the battery flat, from the manufacturer's charge-sustaining figure, because that's the honest worst case. If a row doesn't hold that figure, it gets no estimate rather than a guess.

Safety. We show the ANCAP result our row holds and its year. 423 of the 582 rows hold one, and 373 of those are five stars. “No data” means we hold no current result, not that the car failed. Nothing here is called the safest, because the star count alone can't rank that fairly (ANCAP explained).

Child seats. Where our row holds them, we show which seats have ISOFIX anchors and which have top tethers. We hold seat-by-seat positions on 85 of the 122 seven-seat and people mover rows. Boot space is the manufacturer's minimum figure; we don't rank it across seven-seaters because some measure with the third row up and some with it folded.

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Small family SUVs: one or two kids, city parking

191 rows across 60 nameplates, all five-seaters under 4.5 metres. These suit a family with one or two young children, a city garage and a weekly shop rather than a weekly tip run. The rear seat is the squeeze point: most hold two child seats comfortably and a third person only just.

Cheapest five-star on a published RRP: MG ZS Vibe, $22,990. Cheapest five-star hybrid: Toyota Yaris Cross, $31,790

Why the ZS. The MG ZS Vibe is $22,990 before on-road costs on MG's national configurator, the lowest manufacturer-sourced RRP of any small SUV with a five-star ANCAP result on our rows. That rating (2025) applies to ZS built from 4 December 2025, when MG added a centre airbag; earlier builds hold four stars, so check the build date on any stock car. It has a 443-litre boot, uses 6.7 L/100km (about $2,038 a year on our sum), tows 500 kg, and MG's offers page has it at $22,990 drive-away in NSW for cars sold and delivered by 31 December 2026. MG's warranty on our row is 10 years or 250,000 km, with servicing conditions.

Why the Yaris Cross. The Yaris Cross GX Hybrid 2WD is $31,790 before on-road costs on Toyota's own price list, the cheapest five-star (2021) hybrid small SUV on a published RRP. It's a full hybrid rated at 3.8 L/100km, which is about $1,156 a year in fuel on our sum, the lowest bill of any small SUV that takes fuel (the Lexus LBX hybrid matches it). The 2WD boot holds 390 litres; the AWD drops to 314. Toyota caps five years of servicing at $1,375 on our row, and the warranty is five years with no kilometre limit.

Who it suits. One or two kids, mostly city and suburban driving, parents who want low running costs and no plug. What to watch. It's small inside: 390 litres is fine for a compact pram and groceries, not a double pram and a scooter. It's rated to tow 400 kg, so no camper trailer. And our record shows its 2021 ANCAP rating running to 31 December 2027, so it will be one of the older ratings in the class by the end of next year. Value grade. The GX 2WD. The GXL 2WD ($33,990) adds equipment but the same boot and fuel figure.

The Hyundai Venue is cheaper on RRP at $23,750 (Hyundai's list), but we hold no ANCAP result for it, so it doesn't win a five-star pick. The Renault Duster is $31,990 with a bigger 472-litre boot, but holds three stars (2024).

Cheapest five-star on drive-away: Chery Tiggo 4 Urban and GWM Haval Jolion Premium, $23,990

Two cars tie on drive-away in Victoria. The Tiggo 4 Urban holds five stars (2023), a 380-litre boot, seven years of warranty with no kilometre limit and a $1,445 five-year capped servicing total. It uses 7.4 L/100km, about $2,251 a year on our sum. The Jolion Premium holds five stars (2022) and 337 litres; GWM's offers page says that price includes a $3,000 saving and ends on 30 November 2026.

Our take: on price these two undercut the Yaris Cross by thousands even after on-road costs, and sit level with MG's drive-away offer on the ZS Vibe (quoted for NSW). The trade is fuel: the Tiggo 4 uses nearly twice the Yaris Cross hybrid's figure and the Jolion not far off, about $900 to $1,100 a year more at our assumptions. Over five years that closes much of the gap. Tiggo 4 vs Yaris Cross | Jolion vs Yaris Cross.

The new one already here: Kia Seltos Hybrid

Kia replaced the petrol Seltos with a hybrid-only range in October 2026. The Seltos Hybrid S starts at $39,990 drive-away and the range runs to $55,490 for the GT-Line e-AWD; our rows hold a 483-litre boot. We don't yet hold an ANCAP result for the new car (Seltos hybrid launch story). If you're cross-shopping a Seltos, check the dealer is quoting the new hybrid, not old petrol stock.

The ZS Vibe's price names MG's configurator; the other ZS grades in the table aren't ranked, because our record doesn't name the document their prices came from. The Symbioz holds the biggest small-SUV boot on our rows at 563 litres, with no ANCAP result on record.

Buy now or wait? Mostly buy now. The small SUV arrivals for 2027 are additions rather than replacements of the picks: BYD has priced the Atto 2 DM-i plug-in hybrid at $24,990 and $29,990 before on-road costs (our record still lists it as coming), GWM's Haval Jolion Max plug-in and electric are reported for the first quarter of 2027. If a plug-in at Yaris Cross money appeals, the Atto 2 DM-i is worth a look first (Atto 2 DM-i story, Jolion Max story).

Mid-size SUVs: the family default, and the busiest year for change

230 rows across 64 nameplates, five-seaters from 4.5 to 4.8 metres. This is where most Australian families land, and it's where most of the 2027 movement is: Tucson, Haval H6 and RAV4 all have something new due or reported.

Cheapest five-star on a published RRP: MG HS Vibe, $34,990; plug-in, Geely Starray EM-i, $37,490; electric, Leapmotor B10, $37,888

The MG HS Vibe is $34,990 before on-road costs on MG's national configurator, with five stars (2024), a 507-litre boot, 1,500 kg towing and 6.9 L/100km (about $2,099 a year on our sum). The Geely Starray EM-i plug-in is $37,490 on Geely's Build & Price, with five stars (2025) and 83 km of WLTP electric range. The electric Leapmotor B10 Style is $37,888 before on-road costs on Leapmotor's Australian pricing, with five stars (2025), a 490-litre boot and 361 km of range (our record doesn't name the test). At 17.2 kWh/100km it costs about $805 a year to charge at home on our sum. Then the X-Trail ST 2WD 5-seat at $38,305 on Nissan's 30 September 2026 release, with five stars (2021), a 585-litre boot and a 2,000 kg braked towing rating. It uses 7.4 L/100km, about $2,251 a year. Then the Mazda CX-5 G25 Pure AWD at $39,990 (five stars, 2025) and the Hyundai Tucson Hybrid at $42,850 (five stars, 2021, 582 litres).

Who they suit. The HS suits a family that wants a five-star, full-size mid SUV for the least money. The B10 suits a family with off-street charging that rarely drives far in one hit. The X-Trail suits one that tows a box trailer or a small van and wants a big boot for the money. What to watch. The B10 carries a six-year, 150,000 km warranty, shorter on kilometres than Nissan's five years unlimited for high-mileage families. The X-Trail's 2021 ANCAP rating runs to 31 December 2027 on our record.

Cheapest five-star on drive-away: Chery Tiggo 7 Urban, $29,990

The Tiggo 7 Urban is $29,990 drive-away with five stars (2025) and seven years of warranty. We don't yet hold a boot figure for the petrol Tiggo 7. The Tiggo 7 Super Hybrid Urban plug-in is $34,990 drive-away with five stars (2025), a 475-litre boot and 93 km of electric range on the older NEDC test, so don't compare that range with a WLTP figure.

The one everyone asks about: Toyota RAV4 Hybrid, $45,990

The sixth-generation RAV4 GX Hybrid 2WD is $45,990 before on-road costs on Toyota's list, with a 705-litre boot and 4.5 L/100km. Our row lists 95 RON as its minimum fuel, which costs it at about $1,474 a year on our sum. Every RAV4 we hold is now a hybrid or plug-in. The catch for planners: we hold no ANCAP result for the new generation (RAV4 launch story). That's not a bad result and not a five-star one either; it's no data, and we won't borrow the old car's stars. It's also rated to tow 800 kg in 2WD form and 1,500 kg with AWD.

Our take: the RAV4 has the biggest boot and the lowest fuel figure of the mid-size full hybrids on our rows. If an ANCAP result matters to your family, it's worth waiting to see one published. Sportage vs RAV4 | Tucson vs RAV4 | X-Trail vs RAV4.

Biggest boots: Volkswagen Tayron 885 L, Tesla Model Y 854 L, Skoda Kodiaq 828 L

If the pram, the portacot and the dog all travel together, these three lead the mid-size class on our rows. The five-seat Tayron 150TSI Life holds 885 litres; our $53,990 RRP for it doesn't yet name its source. The Model Y RWD holds 854 litres, is $58,900 on Tesla's Australian list, holds five stars (2025) and costs about $651 a year to charge at home on our sum. The Kodiaq Select mild hybrid is $49,990 drive-away with 828 litres and five stars (2024). The Kia Sportage hybrid (586 L) and Tucson Hybrid (582 L) are the bigger-boot mainstream hybrids.

Cheapest plug-in: BYD Sealion 5 Essential, $33,990, but three stars

The Sealion 5 Essential is $33,990 on BYD's configurator, the lowest manufacturer RRP of any mid-size SUV in the set. It holds 463 litres and a 4.5 L/100km battery-flat figure (about $1,369 a year on our sum). It also holds three stars from ANCAP (2026), the lowest current result in this class on our rows. That doesn't make it unsafe to drive, but if five stars is your filter, the five-star Sealion 6 Essential is $42,990 on our row (that price isn't yet re-verified).

Buy now or wait? This is the class where waiting can pay. Tucson: Hyundai Australia has told media the fifth-generation Tucson arrives in mid-2027, hybrid-only at launch, and its register-your-interest page is live; Hyundai's reveal figures put it 60 mm longer than today's car (Tucson story). RAV4: Toyota has confirmed the RAV4 GXL PHEV 2WD for the first quarter of 2027, with 121 km of WLTP electric range and no price yet (RAV4 PHEV story). Haval H6: the next-generation H6 is reported for early 2027, hybrid first, with prices expected to rise (H6 story). If you're set on one of those three, wait or negotiate hard on the outgoing car. We haven't seen a replacement announced for the Sportage, CX-5 or B10.

Seven-seat SUVs: three rows, and not all third rows are equal

101 rows across 27 nameplates with six or more seats. The honest thing to say about most seven-seat SUVs is that the third row is for occasional use or for older kids, and the boot with all seats up is small. If you'll use all seven seats every day, read the people mover section too.

Cheapest five-star on a published RRP: Nissan X-Trail ST 4WD 7-seat, $41,305

Why. The X-Trail ST 4WD 7-seat is $41,305 on Nissan's 30 September 2026 release, the lowest manufacturer RRP of any seven-seater with a five-star result (2021). It's four-wheel drive, rated to tow 2,000 kg, uses 7.8 L/100km (about $2,373 a year on our sum) and carries Nissan's five-year, unlimited-kilometre warranty. Next on RRP are the ST-L 7-seat at $45,880 and the Rock Creek 7-seat at $48,315. Who it suits. A family of four or five that occasionally carries two extra kids. What to watch. The third row is compact, the rating runs to 31 December 2027 on our record, and a new X-Trail is reported for 2027.

Cheapest five-star on drive-away: Chery Tiggo 8 Pro Max Urban FWD, $38,990

The Tiggo 8 Pro Max Urban FWD is $38,990 drive-away with five stars (2023) and seven years of warranty. The plug-in Tiggo 8 Super Hybrid Urban is $45,990 drive-away with five stars (2025), the cheapest seven-seat plug-in on drive-away. Two things to know: our record shows a 117-litre boot with all seven seats up on both, and the petrol car uses 8.1 L/100km on 95 RON, about $2,654 a year on our sum.

Child seats in the third row: Santa Fe, Sorento, Carnival, Sealion 8, Palisade and Caddy

This is the question families with three young children actually need answered. Of the 85 seven-seat and people mover rows where we hold seat-by-seat positions, 59 put ISOFIX only on the two outer second-row seats; the centre seat usually has a top tether but no ISOFIX. Six nameplates in this set hold ISOFIX in the third row on our rows: the Hyundai Santa Fe, Kia Sorento, Kia Carnival, BYD Sealion 8, Hyundai Palisade and Volkswagen Caddy. The same six, plus the Mazda CX-80, hold top tethers on five seats. On a published RRP, the cheapest is the Sorento S Diesel at $54,380, then the Santa Fe 2.5 Petrol FWD at $54,400 and the Carnival S Diesel at $54,560.

What to watch. The Sorento's five-star rating dates from 2020, and our record shows it expiring on 31 December 2026. After that it shows as unrated unless ANCAP tests it again. The car doesn't change on 1 January, but if a current rating matters to you, or to your company car policy, the Santa Fe holds five stars from 2024. Value grade. For three child seats on a budget, the Santa Fe 2.5 Petrol FWD at $54,400 (642-litre boot on our row) or the Carnival S Diesel at $54,560.

Seven-seat hybrids: Sorento 5.4, Santa Fe 5.6, Kluger 5.6 L/100km

The Sorento S HEV FWD has the lowest combined figure of the seven-seat hybrid SUVs at 5.4 L/100km (about $1,643 a year), then the Santa Fe Hybrid FWD ($57,650 RRP, five stars 2024) and the Toyota Kluger at 5.6. The Kluger's row lists 95 RON, which lifts it to about $1,835. For a plug-in, the BYD Sealion 8 Dynamic FWD is $56,990 on BYD's configurator with a 5.3 L/100km battery-flat figure, but we hold no ANCAP result for it.

Towing a caravan: the 3,500 kg family SUVs

Twenty-one rows in the set are rated to 3,500 kg braked, all ladder-frame or off-road SUVs, and 17 of them have seven or more seats. On Toyota's published RRP the Prado GXL 7-seat is $79,990 (five stars, 2024); our row holds $68,990 for the Ford Everest Sport (five stars, 2022), without a named source yet. The Isuzu MU-X LS-M 4x2 was $49,990 drive-away on an Isuzu offer that ended on 31 October 2026, so ask for a current price. The KGM Rexton is $50,000 on our row, without a named source and without an ANCAP result on record. Remember a 3,500 kg rating comes with a tow-ball download limit and a gross combination mass, and a full family plus luggage eats into both (towing guide).

Boot figures for seven-seaters aren't comparable across manufacturers: some quote the space behind row three, some with it folded. The Outlander 7-seat carries Mitsubishi's 10-year, 200,000 km warranty, conditional on servicing with Mitsubishi.

Buy now or wait? Two things are coming. Mitsubishi's Australian site says the all-new Pajero will be “unleashed in December 2026”: a ladder-frame seven-seater with a 2.4-litre turbo-diesel. Australian outlets report $69,990 before on-road costs for the GLS seven-seat; Mitsubishi hasn't printed prices (Pajero story, Pajero vs Prado, Everest, MU-X). The new Mercedes-Benz GLB seven-seater is now in our directory from $71,429 drive-away for the GLB 200 (GLB story). If you were going to buy a Sorento for its third-row ISOFIX, decide whether the December 2026 ANCAP expiry matters to you before you sign.

Cars in this story

7 cars

2026 MG ZS Vibe

$22,990 RRPas at 5 Nov 2026

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2026 Toyota Yaris Cross GX Hybrid 2WD MY25

$31,790 RRPas at 4 Oct 2026

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2026 Chery Tiggo 4 Urban

$21,800 est. RRPas at 11 Nov 2026

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2026 GWM Haval Jolion Premium

$23,990 drive-away (VIC)as at 5 Nov 2026

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2027 Kia Seltos S

$37,990 RRPas at 4 Nov 2026

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2026 Toyota RAV4 GX Hybrid 2WD

$45,990 RRPas at 6 Sep 2026

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2026 Nissan X-Trail ST 2WD 5-seat

$38,305 RRPas at 1 Oct 2026

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Price shown is each car's stored figure with its basis and check date. Images: GWM Australia.

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People movers: when the third row gets daily use

21 rows across 8 nameplates. If you have three or more kids, or you do the school run for other families, a people mover beats a seven-seat SUV on almost every practical figure: more seats, a bigger boot behind the third row, and sliding doors that don't hit the car next to you in a school car park.

Cheapest on a published RRP: Hyundai Staria, $54,300; Kia Carnival S, $54,560

The Staria Diesel and Staria Petrol share a $54,300 RRP on Hyundai's price calculator, with eight seats, an 831-litre boot on our row, a 2,500 kg towing rating and five stars (2021). The diesel uses 7.2 L/100km, about $2,134 a year on our sum; the petrol 10.5, about $3,194. The Carnival S Diesel is $54,560 on Kia's price feed, with eight seats, 627 litres behind row three (2,827 with rows folded), 2,000 kg towing, five stars (2021), and 6.5 L/100km, about $1,927 a year. Kia's warranty runs seven years against Hyundai's five, both with no kilometre limit; the Carnival's five-year capped servicing is $2,863 on our row.

Who they suit. The Staria suits the family that values boot space and towing for the money: 831 litres and 2,500 kg against the Carnival's 627 and 2,000. The Carnival suits one that wants lower fuel use and the longer warranty, and it holds ISOFIX in the third row on our record, where our Staria rows show it on the second row only. What to watch. Both ratings date from 2021 and run to 31 December 2027 on our record. Both are over 5.1 metres long, so measure your garage.

Cheapest hybrid: Kia Carnival S HEV, $56,310

The Carnival S HEV is $56,310, only $1,750 over the diesel, and uses 5.8 L/100km on regular unleaded, about $1,764 a year on our sum. The catch is towing: our row rates the HEV at 1,000 kg braked against the diesel's 2,000. The Staria Lounge Hybrid is $73,740 with seven seats and 6.5 L/100km.

Our take: for a family that tows a box trailer at most, the Carnival HEV is the obvious grade; for a camper trailer over a tonne, the diesel or the Staria. Staria vs Carnival | Santa Fe vs Carnival.

The others: BYD M9, Ford Tourneo, Volkswagen Caddy, Multivan and ID. Buzz

The BYD M9 Dynamic is a plug-in hybrid people mover at $61,990 on BYD's configurator, with eight seats, 80 km of WLTP electric range and a 7.1 L/100km battery-flat figure; the M9 Premium ($72,990, seven seats, 145 km WLTP) holds five stars (2026), and we hold no result for the Dynamic. The Ford Tourneo Active is $68,990 RRP with eight seats and the most ISOFIX positions on our rows (six); we hold no ANCAP result for it. Volkswagen's Caddy Maxi is $60,980 drive-away (to 31 December 2026), the Multivan $72,990 drive-away, and the electric ID. Buzz five-seater holds 1,121 litres, the biggest boot in the whole set.

Buy now or wait? Buy now unless you want a plug. Ford Australia has told media the Tourneo becomes a plug-in hybrid only in 2027, reported from $73,340 before on-road costs and some time in the first half of the year; Ford hasn't published it, and it hasn't confirmed an Australian towing figure (Tourneo PHEV story). Kia's electric PV5 Passenger seven-seater has been reported for Australia, without a Kia Australia price or date (PV5 Passenger story). Nothing announced replaces the Carnival or Staria.

Wagons: SUV space without the SUV

Only six family wagons are left in the set once performance and work models are out. They're worth a look anyway: a wagon's boot often matches a mid-size SUV's, with a lower load lip for heavy prams.

Pick: BYD Seal 6 Touring Premium, $39,990, 670 litres

The Seal 6 Touring Premium is a plug-in hybrid wagon at $39,990 on BYD's configurator, with a 670-litre boot (1,535 with the seats folded) and five stars (2025). Among five-star plug-ins on a published RRP only the Geely Starray EM-i SUV ($37,490) is cheaper, and it holds the lowest battery-flat figure of the 25 plug-ins that store one: 4.1 L/100km, about $1,247 a year on our sum even if you never plug it in. What to watch. BYD's warranty is six years or 150,000 km, and we don't yet hold its child-seat anchor positions or a towing figure. The Skoda Octavia Wagon (640 L, five stars 2025, seven years warranty) is the petrol alternative at $41,990 on our row, or $47,990 drive-away for the Sportline to 31 December 2026 on Skoda's page.

Our take: if nobody in the family needs the high seating position, the Seal 6 Touring gives you nearly the RAV4 hybrid's boot (670 litres against 705) for $6,000 less RRP. Seal 6 vs Octavia.

Electric family cars

120 of the 582 rows are electric, all five-seaters. That's the first thing to know: none of the electric family cars in this guide's set seats more than five. The closest seven-seat electric car is the Mercedes-Benz GLB 250+ at $81,423 drive-away on our row, just over our line.

Cheapest five-star electric: Leapmotor B10, $37,888. Longest WLTP range under $50,000: BYD Atto 3 EVO Premium, 510 km

The B10 Style is covered above. For range, only 33 of the 120 electric rows name the WLTP test, so we only rank those. Under $50,000 RRP the longest is 510 km, shared by the Atto 3 EVO Premium at $46,990 (five stars, 2022, 490 L) and the Leapmotor C10 Design Long Range at $49,888 (five stars, 2024, 546 L). For boot space, the Model Y's 854 litres is the class leader in a five-seat SUV body, and the ID. Buzz beats everything at 1,121 litres. The cheapest electric family car on drive-away is the GWM ORA 5 Lux at $33,990, without an ANCAP result on record.

Our take: WLTP range is a lab figure. With a full car, a roof box or highway speeds, plan on noticeably less, and if you can't charge at home, our running-cost sums don't apply: public fast charging costs several times more per kWh. EV charging guide.

Plug-in hybrids for families

69 rows are plug-in or range-extender hybrids. Our advice for families: compare them on the battery-flat figure, not the headline, because the headline assumes a full battery every trip. Only 25 of the 69 rows hold that figure. The Seal 6 Touring (4.1), Sealion 5 (4.5) and Sealion 6 (4.72) lead it. On electric range, ten rows name the WLTP test. The longest is the Forthing Taikon 5 range extender at 170 km, with no ANCAP result on record; for families, the BYD M9 Premium at 145 km and the Skoda Kodiaq plug-in at 110 km ($59,990 drive-away, 745 L, five stars 2024) are worth a look, and the coming RAV4 GXL PHEV is rated at 121 km. Seven-seat plug-ins run from the Tiggo 8 Super Hybrid ($45,990 drive-away) to the Sealion 8 and M9. Our plug-in hybrid SUV guide goes deeper.

The safety calendar: ANCAP ratings that expire in 2026 and 2027

ANCAP ratings run for six years, then lapse unless the car is retested. For a family buying in 2027 and keeping the car for years, that's worth knowing before you sign. Our records show one family nameplate expiring at the end of this year: the Kia Sorento (rated 2020, expiring 31 December 2026). Eleven nameplates in the set run to 31 December 2027, all rated in 2021: the Toyota Kluger, Toyota Yaris Cross, Hyundai Staria, Kia Carnival, Nissan X-Trail, Subaru Outback, Hyundai Tucson, Skoda Enyaq, Ford Mustang Mach-E, Hyundai IONIQ 5 and Volkswagen Caddy.

Below five stars on our rows: three stars for the BYD Sealion 5 (2026), Renault Duster (2024) and Jeep Avenger (2024); one star for the Suzuki Fronx (2025); zero for the Mahindra Scorpio N (2023). Four stars for the Hyundai Kona and Inster, Mitsubishi ASX, Honda CR-V, HR-V and ZR-V, Peugeot 3008 and 5008, Suzuki e Vitara, Nissan Qashqai and CUPRA Tavascan. An expired or older rating doesn't mean the car became less safe; it means the result was set against an older test, and newer cars are tested harder.

Our take: if you're choosing between two otherwise equal cars, the one rated in 2024 or 2025 has passed a tougher test than one rated in 2020 or 2021. That's a fair tiebreaker for a family.

Head-to-head: the trade-offs that decide it

People mover or seven-seat SUV?

At about $54,000 to $58,000 RRP you can have a Carnival, a Staria or a Santa Fe. The people movers seat eight and carry 627 to 831 litres behind the third row on our records. The Santa Fe seats seven, holds the newer ANCAP result (2024 against 2021), and its hybrid tows 1,650 kg against the Carnival HEV's 1,000. If the third row is in use daily, the people mover wins on space. If it's weekends and the odd sleepover, the SUV is easier to live with.

Hybrid, plug-in or electric?

On our sums a RAV4 Hybrid costs about $1,474 a year in fuel, a Seal 6 Touring about $1,247 even with a flat battery (and far less if you charge it), a B10 about $805 and a Model Y about $651 at home charging rates. The plug-in and the EV cost less to run if you can charge at home. The hybrid needs nothing from you and has no range question on a holiday drive. If you've no off-street parking, the hybrid is usually the easier call.

Cheap now or cheaper to run?

The Tiggo 4 at $23,990 drive-away against the Yaris Cross at $31,790 before on-road costs is a gap of $7,800 before the Yaris Cross's on-road costs are added. The Yaris Cross gets about $1,100 a year of it back in fuel on our sums. Keep the car five years and the gap narrows a lot; keep it ten and it can close, depending on how far you drive. Run your own numbers in the calculator below.

Wagon or mid-size SUV?

The Seal 6 Touring holds 670 litres for $39,990; the RAV4 705 for $45,990; the Octavia wagon 640. The SUVs give you ride height and easier child-seat loading for a parent with a bad back. The wagons give you a lower load lip and, here, a lower price.

Budget bands: what your money buys

Here's how the set splits by price. We use the manufacturer's RRP where its source is named, otherwise the Victorian drive-away figure, so each band mixes the two bases (415 rows priced that way). Treat the edges loosely: a car just under a line on RRP can be over it once on-road costs are added.

The pattern is clear enough: under $35,000 you're choosing a small SUV or a Chinese-brand mid-size on drive-away, and no seven-seater is priced that low on our basis. Between $35,000 and $50,000 is the sweet spot for a mid-size five-seater, and where seven-seaters start to appear. Over $50,000 is where people movers and the seven-seat hybrids live.

Cost to own: the running-cost table

Price, fuel or energy use, our annual fuel estimate, warranty and the manufacturer's five-year capped servicing total where we hold one. Prices, fuel, warranty and servicing read our rows live; the annual figure is our arithmetic from the same rows on 12 November 2026 (15,600 km a year at $1.95 a litre, $2.10 premium, $1.90 diesel, $0.30 a kWh). Plug-in hybrids are costed with the battery flat.

On warranty, MG leads at 10 years or 250,000 km, then Mitsubishi at 10 years or 200,000 km when serviced with Mitsubishi; Jaecoo and Omoda offer eight years (GAC on most rows), and Kia, Chery, GWM, Skoda, Geely, KGM and Renault on the Koleos seven years with no kilometre limit. The lowest five-year capped servicing total we hold for a car that takes fuel is Honda's ZR-V at $995; we hold a capped total on 276 of the 582 rows, so “no data” in the table often just means the manufacturer doesn't publish one in a form we've recorded. Fuel isn't the whole bill: insurance, tyres and registration vary too much by family to put a fair number on.

What's coming for families through 2027

Confirmed means the manufacturer has said it on its own Australian site or in an Australian release. Reported means it's in Australian motoring media, but not yet on the manufacturer's own pages. None of these is in the picks above unless it's already on sale.

For the full list across every body type, see 2027 new cars month by month, 2027 hybrids and plug-ins and 2027 electric cars.

What could change these picks

GWM's Jolion offer ends on 30 November 2026, and the Skoda and Volkswagen drive-away prices we quote run to 31 December 2026. The Sorento's ANCAP rating expires on 31 December 2026 on our record. Toyota's RAV4 GXL PHEV gets a price before its first-quarter launch, and an ANCAP result for the sixth-generation RAV4 would change how we show it. A new Tucson in mid-2027 replaces one of the mid-size runners-up. We'll update this guide when any of these happen, or when a price we quote changes.

How to choose a family car: six checks

1. Count the child seats, then count the anchors. If you need three seats across or a seat in row three, check ISOFIX and top-tether positions for that exact car, not the range.
2. Check the ANCAP year. A 2020 or 2021 rating may lapse while you own the car.
3. Compare on one price basis. Get a drive-away quote for each car on your list in your postcode, and ask when any offer ends.
4. Take the pram to the dealer. Boot litres are measured differently across manufacturers.
5. Know what's replacing it. If a new model is confirmed and close, wait or negotiate on the outgoing one.
6. Drive the shortlist. The figures narrow it; a test drive tells you about the ride, the seats and how easy the third row is to reach. See our tall drivers and SUVs under $50k guides too.

Keep reading

Head-to-heads: Staria vs Carnival | Santa Fe vs Sorento | Sportage vs RAV4 | Tucson vs Sportage | X-Trail vs RAV4 | Tiggo 4 vs Yaris Cross | Sealion 6 vs RAV4

The brands: Toyota | Kia | Hyundai | Nissan | Mazda | BYD | Chery | GWM | Mitsubishi | Leapmotor | Skoda | Volkswagen | Ford | Tesla

More guides: Best Family Cars (2026): buy right now | Best Plug-in Hybrid SUVs (2027) | Best Hybrid Cars (2027) | Best Chinese Cars (2027) | Best Small Cars (2027) | Best Towing Vehicles