What are the best used family cars to consider? With a greater number of families choosing to holiday within the UK at the moment, it’s an increasingly important consideration. Fortunately, Toyota has a few contenders to choose from in its model range.
The best used family cars will likely combine comfort and space with excellent fuel economy and reliability. Families want to reach their holiday destination feeling refreshed and relaxed. They also want to ensure their family car has sufficient load space for everything they might need on their trip.
Toyota’s fuel-sipping hybrid powertrains can mean fewer visits to the filling stations during the road trip to your holiday. Meanwhile, Toyota reliability has been hailed by What Car? magazine, which ranked us second for reliability in its Car of the Year Awards 2021 – right behind our sister brand, Lexus.
We’ve chosen a few examples of the best used family cars currently available within our used car stock. All of the cars we’ve selected come with the peace of mind provided by our Toyota Approved Used scheme. Toyota Approved Used cars undergo an exhaustive technical check. They also come with a 12-month warranty and roadside assistance.
Best used family cars – five to consider
Toyota Corolla Touring Sports 1.8 Hybrid Design
If you favour a more traditional estate-bodied car over a higher-riding SUV, then the British-built Corolla Touring Sports could fit the ‘best used family cars’ bill. This 70-plate example with fewer than 10,000 miles on the clock stands out, not least because of its smart Denim Blue body colour.
The five-seat Corolla Touring Sports has a longer wheelbase than the Hatchback variant and offers more legroom for rear passengers. There are ISOFIX anchoring points on the two outer rear seats.
The loadspace has a 598-litre capacity (VDA, 1.8 hybrid) and comes with numerous features to make it practical and easy to use. For example, the rear seats can be folded down using a remote lever, giving a fully flat load floor.
The load surface can be configured in two positions (upper and lower). It is also reversible, with carpet on one side and a resin finish on the other, suitable for use when carrying wet or dirty items.
The Corolla was the first Toyota model to offer a choice of two hybrid powertrains and this example is the 1.8. It produces 120bhp and 142Nm and places the emphasis on fuel efficiency and a relaxing drive.
This Corolla Touring Sports is Design grade, meaning it comes with a host of kit which could prove useful on a road trip, including rain-sensing wipers, LED front fog lights, rear privacy glass, power-adjustable heated door mirrors with and automatic folding function and an auto-dimming rear-view mirror.
Toyota Corolla Touring Sports 2.0 Hybrid Excel
If you prefer the additional power offered by the 2.0-litre hybrid powertrain, you might wish to consider this Corolla Touring Sports instead. This version, finished in Scarlet Flare, produces 181bhp and 192Nm, building on the qualities of the 1.8 greater power on demand, effortless acceleration and more dynamic, ‘fun-to-drive’ characteristics.
The Corolla Touring Sports we’ve selected here is a top-spec Excel grade, so is loaded with additional kit including Bi-LED headlights, smart entry, sports front seats and part-leather seat upholstery. It also comes with the optional opening panoramic roof with an internal electric roller shade, making it an even better proposition on balmy summer days.
Toyota Auris Touring Sports 1.8 Hybrid Excel
If you are working within a smaller budget, you might wish to consider the Auris Touring Sports, which was the predecessor to the current-generation Corolla. At this price, it certainly warrants a place on our best used family cars list.
We found this example at Steven Eagell Toyota in Watford. Finished in Eclipse Black, this Auris Touring Sports has 42,850 miles on the clock, which is fairly low for a car of age. It’s a hybrid, using the previous iteration of the 1.8-litre petrol-electric powertrain compared to the one in the Corolla.
As a top-of-the-range Excel grade vehicle, this car comes packed with goodies including Intelligent Park Assist, LED headlights, smart entry and push-button start, 17-inch alloys, heated part-leather seats and dual-zone climate control.
Toyota C-HR Orange Edition 2.0 Hybrid
If you really want to make a statement on your summer holidays, this limited-edition Orange Edition could turn out to be your best used family car. A limited number of examples in this colour and specification were produced to mark a significant overhaul of the Toyota C-HR model range in 2019.
This Toyota C-HR is finished in dedicated Scorched Orange paintwork with contrasting 18-inch matt black alloy wheels and black bi-tone roof. In addition to the top-of-the-range Excel equipment specification, it also comes as standard with the JBL premium audio system.
The Excel grade includes rear LED lights, adaptive LED headlights, a heated steering wheel, leather seats, blind spot monitor and rear cross traffic alert.
The Toyota C-HR’s sleek coupe styling makes it well suited to smaller families. It offers 443 litres of loadspace to the roofline with the rear seats in place and has ISOFIX mounting points on the two outermost rear seats.
Toyota RAV4 2.5 Hybrid Excel
Another vehicle in a stand-out colour is this 20-plate RAV4, finished in Cyan Splash with a light grey leather interior.
This RAV4 is all-wheel drive and equipped with a 219bhp hybrid powertrain that should prove adept in all conditions. The electric AWD-i system has been re-engineered and enhanced to provide much stronger performance in challenging conditions and secure handling on slippery surfaces.
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It’s a high-specification Excel model, with 19in alloy wheels, projector LED headlights, heated front seats, headlight cleaners, a heated steering wheel, Blind Spot Monitor and Rear Cross Traffic Alert, power-adjustable heated door mirrors and a driver’s seat with power slide adjustment and lumbar support and memory function.
The RAV4 has impressive cabin space, load space and all-round comfort. With all seats in place, the cargo area has a VDA capacity of 580 litres.
Flexibility is designed-in so that the space can easily be adapted to gain more cargo room when required: with the rear seats folded down, a 29-inch mountain bike can be carried without any wheels having to be removed. There is a height-adjustable, two-level deck board that can be reversed when dirty items need to be carried.
The rear seats have a 60:40 split-folding function and there are storage nets on each side of the boot. Clever details include a hand grip on the tailgate that can serve as a hanger and a power-operated tailgate with hands-free function.
To access the full selection from across our entire dealer network, or to research Toyota’s best used family cars for sale in your area or price range, click here.
If you’d like to discuss your requirements with a member of our sales team, please use our dealer locator tool to find the centre that’s most convenient for you. If you decide that a Toyota ranks among your best used family cars, we’d love to hear all about it, so please tell us in the comments below.
Information about specific cars for sale correct at the time of publication.
