New Family SUVs

Every new car we sell meets current UK type approval standards, and most family SUVs in our range carry a Euro NCAP rating. Two things worth knowing about how to read them:

Check the year it was tested. Euro NCAP has raised the bar considerably over time, so a recent five-star result reflects a tougher set of tests than one from several years ago. Newer cars in our range have been assessed under the current protocol, which is reassuring.

Look at the child occupant score. It's reported separately from the adult score, and it's the figure that matters most if you're carrying children every day. We can pull this up for any model you're considering.

It's also well worth seeing what's fitted as standard: autonomous emergency braking with pedestrian and cyclist detection, blind spot monitoring, rear cross traffic alert (a real help reversing off a busy driveway) and a rear seat reminder. Modern family SUVs come with a genuinely impressive amount of this as standard these days.

If you have any questions about the safety features of any car, get in touch with our team and we will be able to tell you everything you need to know.

Litres are hard to picture. Roughly, in a modern family SUV:

• Compact SUV boot - one folded pushchair, or a weekly shop, but not both comfortably.
• Mid-size SUV boot - pushchair plus shopping, or two large suitcases.
• Large five-seat SUV boot - a week's holiday luggage for four, plus a buggy.
• Seven-seat SUV, third row up - room for a few soft bags, ideal for the school run with a full car.
• Seven-seat SUV, third row folded - usually the biggest load space of the lot, and brilliant for a tip run or a bike.

If your car mostly carries five people and a dog, the seats-down figure is the one to look at and it's worth checking how flat the rear seats fold, as this varies between models.

Our teams can demonstrate this on any car in the showroom, and we'd encourage you to have a go yourself.