Best large cars

This is the definitive ranking of the best and worst large cars on sale in the UK.

How can we make such a bold claim? Because this list isn’t just based on our opinion. We’ve compiled and analysed more than 15,000 new car reviews from 35 of the UK’s top motoring titles to produce our Expert Rating scores.

Why rely on one person’s opinion when you can have all of the top reviews gathered together in one place?

The large car sector covers an enormous range of price tags – as you’ll see below, a £30K Skoda Superb sits alongside a £300K Rolls-Royce Phantom. Alongside traditional saloons and estates, there are also sleeker liftbacks and ‘four-door coupé’ models trying to grab buyers’ interests as well.

Once upon a time, driving a large saloon car was something many aspired to – ‘Mondeo Man’ even became a phrase typifying the 1990s – while large estates were venerable family workhorses. But the demand for SUVs has put the large car sector into a steep slide, with even Ford announcing that the current Mondeo is the last.

The large car sector covers an enormous range of price tags – as you’ll see below, a £30K Skoda Superb sits alongside a £300K Rolls-Royce Phantom. Alongside traditional saloons and estates, there are also sleeker liftbacks and ‘four-door coupé’ models trying to grab buyers’ interests as well.

Today if you want a large car you will find much more choice at the upper end of the market. The Audi A6 and A8, BMW 5 Series and 7 Series, and Mercedes-Benz E-Class and S-Class still underpin the market but in turn face competition from strong newcomers such as the Volvo V90 and for great luxury, the Bentley Flying Spur or Rolls-Royce Phantom.

Electricity is flowing slowly into this sector – while several large cars now offer plug-in hybrid options, those looking for a full battery-electric car settle mainly on the Tesla Model S.