Seven-seat SUVs are consistently aspirational vehicles in New Zealand. Even if your immediate family’s not big enough to fill all of those chairs all of the time, it’s confidence-inspiring to know you have the extra capacity when you need it. And when you’re not using the third row, you can generally fold it away and be left with a large luggage area.
Extra size means extra cost of course, and there are plenty of family 7-seaters that stretch up in price towards six figures and beyond. But there are also now a great mix of 3-row models at more affordable prices. There are even some very versatile vehicles for under $50k, although we’ve stretched our traditional “budget” figure to $70,000 to open up our options a little more.
So here we are: the 7 best 7-seaters for less than $70k, arranged in order of price.
Mitsubishi Outlander
The just-facelifted Outlander is a very familiar model from a well-established brand in New Zealand. So it might surprise that in a sea of new rivals, it’s also the least expensive car on our list here.
Ignore the entry LS, as that’s a 5-seater. But all models upwards from there have 7 chairs. Another surprise: while the petrol 2.5-litre (2WD or AWD) is the more capital-cost-friendly option, every plug-in hybrid dual-motor model (with a claimed 84km EV range) also dips below our $70k budget.
MG QS
The new QS looks pretty fancy inside and out - but also a bit different to other MG SUVs, partly because it’s a version of the Chinese-market Roewe RX9.
BREAK IT DOWN: 2.0-litre turbo-petrol 4-cylinder, 153kW/360Nm, FWD or AWD, 9.4-9.8l/100km (3P-WLTP), 4983mm, $49,990-$55,990.
For the Kiwi launch model, MG has gone big on value and stuck with a conventional turbo-petrol engine (FWD or AWD); it’s the only local MG that’s not available with electrification. Its key selling point is being a “genuine 7-seater SUV – not just five plus two”, according to the company.
Chery Tiggo 8
Full disclosure: we haven’t yet had the pleasure of the Tiggo 8’s company in the DRIVEN Car Guide garage. It’s coming soon and we’ll let you know what we think as soon as possible.
It’s part of a wave of impressive Chery SUVs (including the Omoda and Jaecoo sub-brands) getting established in NZ and a larger sibling to the 5-seat Tiggo 7 (there’s also a Tiggo 9 on the way).
The Tiggo 8 features the Chery super hybrid (CHS) system: plug-in technology that matches a large battery and fast-charging with a range-extender-type petrol engine. Chery claims it can do over 90km between charges.
Honda CR-V
Another very mainstream SUV for Kiwi buyers (we mean that in a nice way), but perhaps not one you’d immediately think of as having 7 seats.
To get the 3-row seating in a Honda CR-V you have to stick to the conventional 1.5-litre turbo-petrol engine and front-drive: the extra chairs don’t come with the CR-V’s e:HEV hybrid technology or AWD (the latter presumably for packaging reasons).
But you do get a choice of specification, either Sport or Sport Premium.
Kia Carnival
The Kia Sorento is a highly regarded 7-seat SUV that’s within our budget here. Feel free to get one of those. But since the focus is on occupants here, we thought we’d showcase the Carnival people-mover.
There’s only one Carnival under $70k, the entry EX diesel, but it’s still a brilliantly packaged piece of kit that offers loads of luggage space even with 8 souls on board. Yes, that’s right: 8. Seven seats is just kids’ stuff.
Skoda Kodiaq
The Skoda Kodiaq might seem slightly on the premium side in this sub-$70k SUV company. But you can indeed have one within our budget, as long as you stick to the 110kW front-drive powertrain and tick the box to add extra seats to the basic $57,500 model.
A price jump of $7k is a lot for a pair of chairs, but the 7-seater comes packaged with a higher standard equipment list than the regular Kodiaq: it also adds goodies like keyless entry, power/memory driver’s seat and electric tailgate tailgate with hands-free “virtual pedal” opening.
Peugeot 5008
Who says your family 7-seater can’t be full of flair? There’s a long tradition of 5008-badged Peugeot SUVs with 7 seats and super-practical cabin configurations. The latest shares a lot of its design with the smaller 3008.
It’s bigger than you might be thinking (longer than the Skoda Kodiaq above, for example) and don’t be alarmed by the tiny 1.2-litre 3-cylinder hybrid engine: it’s full of energy, great fun to drive and incredibly economical.