Whether you’ve got a large brood and need seven seats, or you just want a more practical family-mover than a regular five-seat hatchback, we’ve rounded up the best ten MPVs for €15,000.

BMW 2 Series Active Tourer

Not common at this money and not a pretty car either, but it’s possible to get into a 216d Active Tourer on a 151 or 152 plate, with 100,000-160,000km. This is a five-seat MPV, because the larger Gran Tourer (seven-seat) isn’t available for a €15,000 budget as yet; however, the BMW Active Tourer drives sharply and has a high-quality cabin.

Citroen Grand C4 Picasso

One of the best seven-seat MPVs out there with a vast cabin, striking looks and a smooth diesel engine. This sort of cash should bag you a 141- to 172-plate car, with between 70,000 and 160,00km on the clock. If you only need five seats, the smaller C4 Picasso and C3 Picasso are also available for this budget.

Ford S-Max

Ford does a wide array of MPVs that fall into fiscal reach – such as the B-Max, C-Max, Grand C-Max and even the Transit Tourneo – but the rakish, seven-seat S-Max is our favourite. Not only does it have a commodious cabin, it drives beautifully too. This money gets you a 141-plate car with no more than 120,000km on the clock. For outright people-carrying ability, check out the larger Ford Galaxy, too.

Mercedes B-Class

Another premium product from the Germans, although – as with the BMW 2 Series Active Tourer – Merc’s B-Class is a five-seater only. Don’t let that put you off, however, as its cabin is surprisingly spacious. This budget bags a CDI diesel on the 141 or 142 plate, with 100,000-120,000km.

Opel Zafira

Superb Flex7 seating means the Zafira’s cabin is highly configurable. For €15,000, you’ll be able to afford a 161 or 171 vehicle, with the 1.6 CDTi engine and low mileage – don’t buy anything with more than 90,000km on the clock for this cash. Pre-facelift 161 cars are visually more striking, with eye-catching ‘boomerang’ headlight-cluster arrangements.

Peugeot 5008

It’s the Mk1 5008 for this money, which isn’t anything like as good-looking as the current Mk2, but with a spacious, flexible and seven-seat cabin, a decent 1.6 HDi on the 151 or 161 plate with no more than 115,000km is a solid buy. The smaller 3008 five-seat model is also available for this cash.

Renault Grand Scenic

The French are particularly good at MPVs, given they claim to have invented them, and the excellent Grand Scenic is the seven-seater we’re nominating here (a five-seat Scenic is a financial alternative). For the budget, you get a late Mk3 version, such as a 152 or 161-plate 1.5 dCi diesel with between 75,000 and 100,000km on the clock.

SEAT Alhambra

A simply brilliant MPV, thanks to a van-like shape providing an enormous cabin with space for seven adults on board, while twin sliding side doors make it supremely practical in tight car parks. For the budget, you have to go early and higher-mileage – we saw a 131 2.0 TDI 115hp with 125,000km showing.

Toyota Verso

Not flashy but the Verso has seven seats and, as it’s a Toyota, it’s reliable. Diesel power is the norm at this level, with either the 1.6 or 2.0 D-4D engines being available. Look to source a 141- or 151-plate model with between 90,000 and 120,000km covered.

Volkswagen Touran

Like Ford, Volkswagen does an array of MPVs but, for this budget, the one that stands out is the superb Touran, likely to be a last-of-the-line Mk1 on the 151-plate, showing 140,000km or thereabouts and running the 105hp 1.6 TDI engine.

Carzone - 16-Jun-2020