New car sales have come to be dominated by SUVs. Choose rationally, however, and you can make a good case for the best estate tow car being just as good to tow with, perhaps better. With that in mind, in our best estate tow car guide, we’re sharing our pick of the standout options on the market.
Estate cars have largely fallen out of favour, with buyers often choosing crossovers or one of the best SUVs for towing instead. If you want a sign of how dominant SUVs are, consider that Volvo no longer sells estate cars in Britain. The Swedish brand now concentrates on SUVs.
However, there is still a variety of estate cars on the market, and newcomers on the way. The new VW Passat, for example, will only be sold as an estate.
As a rule, an estate will have a lower centre of gravity than an SUV, and you can expect more luggage space and a lower boot floor, ideal if you like to pack plenty of caravan essentials for your tours.
Just as choosing an SUV doesn’t necessarily mean that the car will be four-wheel drive, so choosing an estate doesn’t mean doing without it. Plenty of estate cars have four-wheel-drive versions. So if luggage space sits close to the top of your list of touring priorities, these are our picks for the very best estate tow cars.
What are the best estate cars for towing?
Škoda Superb Estate 2.0 TDI 150PS SE L DSG
- Price: £35,795
- Kerbweight: 1620kg
- 85% match: 1377kg
- Towing limit: 2000kg
You can buy quicker estate cars, and others with more upmarket badges. But when you consider value, towing ability and boot space, there aren’t many estates to touch the Škoda Superb – in fact, it made its way onto our best caravan tow car round up.
Diesel power might be out of favour these days, but we still think the 150hp 2.0 TDI is the pick of the range.
It strikes that near-perfect balance between pulling power and fuel economy. The last time we towed with one, we saw just under 30mpg while towing.
The Superb is stable as well as economical, keeping any sensibly matched caravan under control. You might notice some slight movement in crosswinds or when overtaking an HGV, but nothing that is going to have the palms sweating.
The Škoda’s practicality is what really sets it apart. The Superb is huge inside, with more than enough space for one six-footer to sit behind another. In fact, rear legroom is similar to what you’d find in some luxury cars. Luggage space is class-leading, with 660 litres for your bags with the rear seats upright.
See our full review of the Škoda Superb Estate
Volvo V60 Recharge T6 AWD Plus
- Price: £48,380
- Kerbweight: 2064kg
- 85% match: 1754kg
- Towing limit: 2000kg
The V60 Recharge is one of our favourite plug-in hybrid tow cars.
Volvo has upgraded the hybrid powertrain since we last drove the V60. It now achieves 54.7 miles on a fully charged battery, without a drop of unleaded. If you only occasionally tackle long journeys and have somewhere to recharge at night, you could go for weeks without refuelling.
Towing drains the battery, but the V60 is economical. We saw 27mpg towing, and the latest model, with its bigger battery, should be more efficient.
The Recharge is quick and stable as well as frugal. Having so many electrical components and a petrol engine tends to make plug-in hybrids heavy, and the Volvo tips the scales around the two-tonne mark. This helps with stability, and there’s very little movement when towing at speed, even in breezy weather.
Some estates have more space for luggage, but the Volvo’s boot is big enough for most needs.
Mercedes E 220d AMG Line Estate
- Price: £59,220
- Kerbweight: 1985kg
- 85% match: 1687kg
- Towing limit: 2100kg
Mercedes has the E-Class price pegged at a level that makes the BMW 5 Series look like the budget option. If you have deep enough pockets, though, the new E-Class Estate promises to make quite a tow car.
The 197hp diesel has 23hp of mild-hybrid assistance for a 0-62mph time of 7.9 seconds. Acceleration while towing should be brisk, although we’ve not yet had an opportunity to tow with the latest model.
The E 200 petrol costs a little less but has less pulling power, while the E 300 e plug-in hybrid is a lot more expensive. So the diesel looks like the sensible choice for towing duties.
This is a very big car, with a hefty kerbweight of 1985kg. That provides an 85% match figure of 1687kg – not much less than you would expect from a luxury 4×4.
Not many premium SUVs will rival the E-Class Estate when it comes to luggage space. The capacity is 615 litres with the rear seats in place, increasing to a generous 1830 litres with the seats lowered.
It has the looks, the badge and the space, but the latest E-Class Estate is out of reach for most of us. You don’t need to be extravagantly wealthy to afford an older example. Looking at the classifieds, we saw a 2020 model with 69,000 miles for £19,495.
Volkswagen Passat Estate GTE
- Price: £40,155
- Kerbweight: 1760kg
- 85% match: 1496kg
- Towing limit: 1600kg
There may be a new one coming, but the Volkswagen Passat Estate has been close to the top of our list of favourite estate cars for several generations.
In the past we’ve favoured diesel, but so long as you have somewhere to recharge at night, the GTE plug-in hybrid makes a fuel-efficient family wagon.
Granted, it can’t match the all-electric range of the V60 Recharge, but an official electric range of 40 miles isn’t bad.
Although unable to go as far on its battery, the Passat has one important advantage over the V60: it costs over £8000 less.
But it’s not as if saving that money means slumming it. The VW is well made, if rather conservative inside, and there’s lots of space to get comfortable in the front or the back.
The boot is a healthy size, too, despite VW needing room for the car’s batteries. Your holiday luggage should still fit.
Hitch up and head out on the road, and you’ll find the GTE a very accomplished tow car. Firm but not harsh suspension helps keep car and caravan pointing in the right direction, even when the wind picks up.
A combined petrol/eletric output of 218hp means it also has a healthy turn of speed.
Škoda Octavia 2.0 TDI 150PS SE L Estate DSG
- Price: £32,200
- Kerbweight: 1471-1621kg
- 85% match: From 1250kg
- Towing limit: 1600kg
This is the second Škoda to make it into our best estate tow car guide. The smaller Octavia has a facelift on the horizon, but will be around for a while.
We say ‘smaller’, but the Octavia Estate is hardly a tiddler. It packs in a huge 640 litres of luggage space, putting many larger, more expensive estate cars in the shade. Lower the back seats and that figure increases to an impressive 1700 litres.
The Octavia is still available with a choice of petrol and diesel power. If you want petrol, go for the 150hp turbocharged 1.5-litre. For regular towing, though, we’d pick the 150hp 2.0-litre diesel. It has more mid-range pulling power, which makes towing a big van less of a strain.
Although the equivalent VW Golf is a touch more stable on the motorway, the Škoda is a reassuring and able estate car for towing.
In everyday driving, it’s very easy to live with. While not the most entertaining car on a country road, the Octavia is a great all-rounder.
Like the sound of that, but not the price? Opting for a used tow car could be the answer. A 100,000-mile+ 2019 example costs about £8000. We’ve seen newer 2021 models with 60,000 miles for £17,495.
Full review: Škoda Octavia 2.0 TDI 150PS SE L Estate DSG
Ford Focus 1.0 EcoBoost 155PS Titanium X Estate Powershift
- Price: £33,700
- Kerbweight: 1451kg
- 85% match: 1233kg
- Towing limit: 1500kg
The Ford Focus Estate is one of the finest-driving family cars you can buy for sensible money. The turbocharged petrol engine is lively and economical, while the car handles brilliantly on twisting country roads.
It’s a shame this engine isn’t available with a manual gearbox for a more involving drive, but the Powershift auto does shift promptly and smoothly.
It makes a stable tow car, too. The Focus is secure and controlled pulling a sensibly matched tourer, with just the odd nudge from the caravan.
More mid-range pull would be welcome for overtaking, but the petrol engine has enough pep to hold a steady 60mph on the motorway.
The Focus can’t match the carrying capacity of the Škoda Octavia, but we don’t see many owners feeling short-changed with a 575-litre boot. Fold the seats and that rises to 1653 litres.
There’s plenty of room for passengers, too, although the standard of finish in the cabin could be higher. The driving position is sound – we were still comfortable after many hours behind the wheel – and the infotainment in post-facelift models is a big improvement.
If you want to pay less, take a look at the many examples of the Ford Focus on the used market. We spotted a 2019 car with 24,000 miles for £17,950.
Dacia Jogger 110 TCe Expression
- Price: £19,595
- Kerbweight: 1336kg*
- 85% match: Above max tow
- Towing limit: 1200kg
There aren’t that many new cars available at less than £20k these days, and even fewer if you want a practical estate. That makes the Dacia Jogger an absolute bargain.
As an estate tow car, it’s only suitable for trailer tents and lightweight tourers, with a kerbweight of 1336kg and a maximum towing weight of 1200kg.
With a modest 110hp and 148lb ft of torque, it’s going to take a while to reach 60mph with a caravan behind it.
But just look at the price! The Jogger offers so much for the money. It has seven seats, and while some might argue that makes it an MPV, not an estate, it looks like a traditional five-door load-lugger from the outside. The third row of seats can be removed, making the Jogger a very practical estate.
For a budget car, the Jogger’s cabin is cheerful rather than cheap. It’s solidly made and reasonably well equipped if you choose the mid-spec Expression trim.
Safety standards could be better, though, with a very poor one-star rating from Euro NCAP. That’s largely because the car is short of driver aids, rather than any significant structural weakness.
The Jogger is too new to be common on the used market though.
*Including 75kg for the driver not included in Dacia’s published kerbweight
BMW 520d M Sport Touring
- Price: £51,040
- Kerbweight: 1855kg
- 85% match: 1577kg
- Towing limit: 2000kg
We hesitated slightly before recommending the 5 Series Touring. A new model will be on sale by the end of the year, and we wouldn’t usually point customers towards a car that’s about to be replaced.
On the other hand, the new model won’t be available with diesel power and you can also expect a price hike when it arrives. The old 5 Series still has a lot to offer, too.
This is quite simply a brilliant car to drive, with or without your caravan hitched up.
The well-judged suspension delivers a really compelling blend of agility on country roads and stability when you are on the motorway.
Even with a large, family-sized caravan in tow, the 5 Series is always firmly in charge.
The 520d diesel is the sweet spot of the current range.
It’s economical, returning 54.3mpg in official tests, yet it accelerates from 0-62mph in 7.6 seconds when driven solo. There’s enough poke here to get you quickly up to speed while towing.
Step inside the 5 Series and you immediately see that, as expected, the cabin is extremely well made, and there’s plenty of space front and rear.
Quite a few estate cars beat the BMW’s 560-litre capacity with the back seats in place, but that’s still a lot of room for holiday luggage.
The new price is high, but we’ve seen 2019 models for as little as £15,000.
- Looking for a more compact towing vehicle instead? Our guide to the best small tow cars is sure to help!
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