Which cars have the best family features for the school run?

We know that when it comes to parenting, you spend hours a day and years of your life ferrying your children to and from school, not to mention the extracurricular activities after (and sometimes before) school.

So you want a car that is up to the task as there are many things to think about.

Some cars have some great features that help to make the school run easier, whether you are a ‘drop-off and pick up lane’ parent, an ‘arrive 40 minutes before the bell to secure a park right outside the school’ parent, a ‘wait at the school gate so you don’t embarrass them’ parent, or a ‘park a few streets away and scooter to school’ parent.

We know that all families are at different stages of their schooling journeys, from your first child starting prep, to your youngest getting ready to graduate, or having multiple siblings across year levels and/or schools. The good news is plenty of cars have features that can help make your school runs easier.

It’s easy to assume that all cars will take on the daily school run task the same, but that is definitely not the case.

Some cars have sliding rear doors, remote moving front seats, entertainment apps, easy third-row access, engine-off air conditioning, provide large or divided boot space for sports gear and instruments, or hooks for school bags.

These are just some of the features that make school runs easier, and I have tested a heap of these features with my family over the last 10 years as a mum of two, family car journalist and founder of BabyDrive.com.au.

Here’s my list of great school run cars and the features they have in them.

The Kia Carnival gets frequent flyers at school drop off! It might just be the ultimate car for the job if you can get over the fact it’s a van.

Its remote sliding doors give little passengers easy entry and access to the third row without you leaving your seat.

Its boot is enormous and deep so it can carry scooters, small bikes, musical instruments or sports bags even with all three rows of seats in use.

Hooks in the boot are great for hanging school bags and for those whose families don’t fill all the seats but have the space for those surprise playdate requests!

For those doing school runs with quite an age-range of age children, a twin or tandem pram fits easily in the boot of the Carnival, and sports or musical equipment fits in there easily too.

Not all of these are vans, I promise, and the all-electric VW ID. Buzz has to be the coolest people mover.

Like the Carnival, its sliding rear doors can be controlled from the front, but you can also remove the centre console to create a walk-through from the front to back, which is a massive win when doing up harnesses and seatbelts in very hot or rainy weather.

Versions with a third row have easy access to those very back seats, the headroom is excellent throughout and sliding seats make the ID. Buzz lanky teenager-proof too!

Both two- and three-row versions provide plenty of room in the boot for instruments or sports gear, as well as a pair of handy storage drawers.

If you’re not ready to go electric and don’t want to join the school queue Carnival crew, a Ford Tourneo can work well for families ranging from infants up to lanky teens.

Remote sliding doors and large openings mean kids can easily let themselves in at pick-up with room for their bags and gear.

The high ceiling and spacious, super-flexible interior give teens heaps of room, and like the ID. Buzz, parents can walk through from the front to do up harnesses without getting out in rain or hot sun.

Under-seat drawers can conceal tablets or magazines for the ride home.

Most BYDs are full of fun entertainment options, which are likely to get a real workout in this plug-in hybrid seven-seater.

For families that have younger siblings and arrive early to get the closest parks right outside the school gates, the Sealion 8’s karaoke app, in-built YouTube and other on-screen features mean there is lots to keep you and your little ones entertained.

Being a plug-in hybrid, you can sit using all the apps with the aircon going without chewing through fuel and creating a fog of emissions right outside school.

The Sealion 8’s big boot has ample room for extracurricular apparatus, even with the third row in use.

Famed for bringing fun in-car apps to the market, this Tesla has everyone licked when it comes to a media system loaded with myriad entertainment options from karaoke to computer games, YouTube, Netflix and others so you’ll never get bored waiting outside school.

The latest Model Y also has these features in a little screen for rear passengers and, being an EV, you can sit with the aircon running and podcasts playing at pick-up without chewing through fuel.

Those with older kids will have no trouble fitting sports gear or musical instruments in the boot, which also has a deep well under the floor. If you’ve filled all that space, a few school bags can easily fit in the frunk.

The Volvo XC60 is a great car for school pick-ups because its built-in second-row booster seats mean if your child springs a “can so-and-so come round to play after school today” on you at the classroom door, you don’t have to worry about not having a car seat for your unexpected passenger.

For many parents, having impromptu after-school play dates covered without eating up boot space with just-in-case booster seats is a major “one less thing to worry about” win.

The XC60’s generous boot size is ample for extra-curricular gear, and the retractable roller blind automatically raises and lowers with the tailgate, so your kids can’t break it when they throw their gear in the boot.

It is also available as a plug-in hybrid, in which you can run the aircon and media system while waiting outside school without idling the engine.

The plug-in-hybrid Denza B5 makes a great school-run SUV that can tow and go off-road at weekends.

Using the battery, you can sit at school-pick up listening to podcasts and the aircon running without chewing through fuel and being made by BYD, the Denza has similar in-car entertainment tech to the Sealion 8.

For those whose kids go straight to an after-school activity, the heated and cooled centre console box is perfect to carry everything needed to fuel your kids between destinations!

When catering for the teenage mobile buffet, the front cup holders adjust in depth to fit different vessels – perfect for a jumbo juice, slushie or smoothie.

The tall boot space fits double prams, sports gear or instruments.

The Ford Everest’s media system has a drawing app in the media screen, which is great for keeping young kids entertained while you are waiting in the car at pick-up and drop-off.

If you’re using the first two rows of seats, boot space is ample for sports bags and instruments and the dashboard cup holders are perfect for your morning coffee, leaving the middle ones free for the kids.

Being able to tow and go off-road at weekends is another drawcard for this versatile seven-seat SUV.

Full of school run features, the Hyundai Palisade has switches on the side of the front passenger seat so the driver can move it and make access easier during kerb-side pick-ups.

Its flat rear footwells and excellent third-row access also make pick-up and drop-off easy.

A generous boot space for prams or sports gear and ‘Sounds of Nature’ white noise can get the younger siblings off to sleep during a journey. It even has a third-row intercom so passengers don’t have to yell across the length of the car.

There is also ‘Baby Drive’ mode designed to make trips more comfortable for all and, although the Palisade is a regular hybrid, its ‘Stay Mode’ gives you a short while of having the aircon and media system running without firing up the engine.

As an over-stimulated parent, ease of use can be an underrated selling point and the fuss-free, economical Nissan X-TRAIL e-POWER makes for an all-round practical school run car that is so easy to live with and relaxing to drive.

The boot dividers are gold for doing the school pick-up on your way home from work, as you can keep your work bags sectioned away from the kids’ messy school or sports gear. It is also a great way to prevent items rolling around the boot during a journey.

Nissan’s e-POWER hybrid system doesn’t give you as much time running the aircon and media system without an engine for as long as a plug-in hybrid, and the X-TRAIL has a fairly simple media screen, but everything just works and is easy to understand.

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