Six great cars with eight seats

As any parent with a car with more than five seats will tell you, all seats are taken far more often than you might think.

Somehow, even just a trip to the shops becomes a full-car affair, with either the in-laws or cousins visiting or simply with a few of the kids’ friends over.

As for anyone doing airport transfers or general hire car duties, the prospect of accommodating an extra customer or two in a back pew might mean more business, more often.

Of course, there are many seven-seat vehicles on the market, but what if you need just a little more in the way of seating capacity?

Just because there’s no longer an eight-seater version of the Toyota LandCruiser available, doesn’t mean aren’t still some great alternatives out there on the new-car market.

The 2024 Hyundai Palisade is an excellent family SUV that’s available with an extra serving of seats, making for a great on-road-oriented alternative to traditional people-movers and go-anywhere tourers like the Land Rover Defender 130 and Nissan Patrol.

All models in the new-for-2024 Palisade range are available with eight seats, in a 2+3+3 seating layout. That includes the Elite, Calligraphy and Calligraphy Blank Ink.

There are five top-tether strap points and three ISOFIX positions for securing child restraints. And although there’s only 311 litres of boot space when all seats are up, the volume increases substantially as unused seats are folded down.

As with most vehicles, you’ll probably end up resorting to a roof pod or trailer when planning a big family holiday with all seats in use.

Pricing stretches from $66,800 to $80,900 (plus on-road costs), with the choice of front-wheel drive V6 petrol or the pricier AWD turbo-diesel. Our pick would be the diesel all-wheel drive, with its price premium also bringing better fuel economy and fuel range.

2024 Hyundai Palisade Elite CRDi at a glance:
Price: $70,800 (plus on-road costs)
Available: Now
Engine: 2.2-litre four-cylinder turbo-diesel
Output: 147kW/440Nm
Transmission: Eight-speed automatic
Fuel: 7.3L/100km (ADR Combined)
CO2: 193g/km (ADR Combined)
Safety rating: Five-star (ANCAP 2022)

The 2024 Nissan Patrol blends rugged go-anywhere 4x4 capability and a 3500kg towing capacity with eight seats in both the Ti model and the flagship Warrior.

With the Toyota LandCruiser 300 Series not offered with eight seats, that puts the Patrol in a strong position, although the top-spec Ti-L is restricted to seven seats.

The Patrol Ti and Warrior come with a 2+3+3 seating configuration, with three top tether and two ISOFIX points for child restraints in row two only. There’s a 468-litre boot space with all seats up, which is probably not enough for a family of eight on a week’s driving holiday, but better than some of the other alternatives listed here.

The main downside to Patrol is that it doesn’t have a crash safety rating, the 5.6-litre V8 is thirsty and expensive to feed, there isn’t the tech or safety gear you might expect and the model itself is getting dated.

That said, the homegrown Patrol Warrior takes things to another level.

2024 Nissan Patrol Warrior at a glance:
Price: $101,160 (plus on-road costs)
Available: Now
Engine: 5.6-litre V8 petrol
Output: 298kW/560Nm
Transmission: Seven-speed automatic
Fuel: 14.4L/100km (ADR Combined)
CO2: 334g/km (ADR Combined)
Safety rating: Not tested

The latest-generation Land Rover Defender has proven itself to be a polished premium all-rounder, and the 130 is no exception.

It combines eight seats with excellent amenities, advanced technology, gutsy petrol or diesel engine performance – six-cylinder turbocharged petrol or diesel, plus a thumping P500 V8 option – and solid on-road and off-road capabilities.

There’s top-tether and ISOFIX anchor points for child restraints in both the second and third rows in the 130, which has a 2+3+3 layout, while the boot holds 389 litres with all seats taken and extends to 1232 litres when the rear seats are stowed.

2024 Land Rover Defender 130 X-Dynamic SE D300 at a glance:
Price: $126,670 (plus on-road costs)
Available: Now
Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder turbo-diesel
Output: 221kW/650Nm
Transmission: Eight-speed automatic
Fuel: 7.9L/100km (ADR Combined)
CO2: 208g/km (ADR Combined)
Safety rating: Not tested

The 2024 Kia Carnival is Australia’s most popular people-mover and offers great versatility with its 2+3+3 seating arrangement. All Carnival model variants are eight-seaters.

Like the other Korean models listed here, the Carnival is available as a diesel or petrol but only with front wheel-drive.

The Kia is a star little-kid carrier here, with five top tether strap points and five ISOFIX mounts across the second and third rows. The Carnival also offers a strong 627 litres of boot space with all seats set up, too, with a deep and wide load area.

2024 Kia Carnival Platinum CRDi at a glance:
Price: $67,580 (plus on-road costs)
Available: Now
Engine: 2.2-litre four-cylinder turbo-diesel
Output: 148kW/440Nm
Transmission: Eight-speed automatic
Fuel: 6.5L/100km (ADR Combined)
CO2: 170g/km (ADR Combined)
Safety rating: Five-star (ANCAP 2021)

The 2024 Hyundai Staria is a commercial van-based passenger vehicle and seats eight occupants arranged in 2+3+3 layout. It also offers handy boot space of 831 litres with all seats in place.

Like the Hyundai Palisade, the Staria can be specified with V6 petrol (front-wheel drive) or turbo-diesel (all-wheel drive) powertrains.

Despite a $3000 premium over the V6, the diesel with its eight-speed automatic transmission and AWD (it even has a centre diff lock) is the pick here, even though it gets a bit thirsty around town.

The Staria is refined for a passenger vehicle designed on a commercial base. The Staria has three top tether strap points and two ISOFIX positions in row two, but none in row three.

Meanwhile, even though it has a relatively fresh five-star ANCAP rating, some of the active safety tech (such as lane keeping) is a bit intrusive.

2024 Hyundai Staria Highlander CRDi at a glance:
Price: $67,000 (plus on-road costs)
Available: Now
Engine: 2.2-litre four-cylinder turbo-diesel
Output: 130W/430Nm
Transmission: Eight-speed automatic
Fuel: 8.2L/100km (ADR Combined)
CO2: 218g/km (ADR Combined)
Safety rating: Five-star (ANCAP 2021)

The Toyota people-mover many of us know, the venerable Tarago, was replaced in 2019 by the HiAce van-based Granvia.

The 2024 Toyota Granvia feels almost SUV-like to drive, so long as you don’t forget the fact you’re driving what’s essentially a small bus.

The 2+3+3 seating arrangement works well with plenty of room for eight and there’s still plenty of boot space. There are four top-tether strap and ISOFIX child seat anchorage positions: two in row two and another two in row three.

2024 Toyota Granvia VX at a glance:
Price: $77,476 (plus on-road costs)
Engine: 2.8-litre four-cylinder turbo-diesel
Output: 130kW/450Nm
Transmission: Six-speed automatic
Fuel: 8.0L/100km (ADR Combined)
CO2: 211g/km (ADR Combined)
Safety rating: Five-star (ANCAP 2019)