First Drive : MINI Clubvan Cooper D

Keith Adams takes a trip to Reims in France to see if the Clubvan makes a convincing case for itself as the ultimate lifestyle light commercial vehicle.

And, of course, whether it’s suited to Champagne deliveries…


Club Express

MINI Clubvan (1)

As assignments go, this is not a bad one. We’re to pick up a new MINI Clubvan Cooper D from Heathrow, and drive it down to Reims. The mission is to get to know the new ‘premium’ light commercial vehicle, before dropping it off at the celebrated Champagne house Marc Chauvet. For a Francophile, the idea of cruising through Northern France on what ended up being an unseasonably sunny couple of days is as close as it gets to driving perfection.

But what of the Clubvan itself? Regular readers will already be painfully aware that anything new MINI related sparks controversy with AROnline‘s expert and knowledgeable readership – it’s a definite case of love or hate. But despite the war rages within these pages, there’s been an impressive amount of love for the Clubvan. This version, more than any other recently, seems to make sense, evoking pleasant memories of the Mini Traveller van of old.

But what about the new Clubvan? We all like order in our lives, so where does it fit into the grand scheme of things? It’s fair to say that the usual rules of what does and does not make a good van don’t really apply. Ford, Renault and Vauxhall probably won’t lose a moment’s sleep over the Clubvan’s trifling 860-litre and 500kg payload. It is – in effect – the small van market’s first ‘premium’ product.

We’re sharing the drive down with Petrolblog‘s Gavin Braithwaite-Smith, and as we crawl around a congested M25 it’s as good as time as any to say that once we leave the UK, we’ll be keeping away from the Autoroute. Travelling through France is never better than where you’re meandering through the villages, spotting old cars – and luckily, he’s just as excited (if not more) at the prospect of finding a creased Citroen Visa or a patinated Peugeot 505 as I am.

As we leave the world class Terminal 5 at Heathrow and aside from the non-existent over-the-shoulder visibility, it feels as good as any other MINI to drive. From the front-seats forward, the Clubvan is identical to the car it’s based on, and that means the semi-retro instruments and controls, which we really hope stay with the MINI for the new 2014 model. The main speedometer is centrally-mounted, and in the standard models, that also houses the fuel gauge and warning lights. A secondary steering column-mounted digital speedo is also fitted, and this also doubles as the trip computer, too.

Love-it-or-hate-it interior
Love-it-or-hate-it interior

On the M20 down to the Eurotunnel terminal at Folkstone, it lopes along effortlessly, showing 2200rpm in sixth at an indicated 70mph. As motorway cruisers go, MINIs do the job very well indeed – wind noise is muted despite brick-like aerodynamics, engine noise is relegated to a distant hum, and the four-square, slightly firm, but well-damped ride suits high-speed distance covering.

By the time we board the train and rattle into the pipe under the Channel, we’re of the opinion that this is a pretty good van to cover distances in, and the thought of florists and bijou patisseries using it for urban duties seems like a bit of a waste to us.

Once in France, it’s time to hit the ‘no-motorways’ options on the sat-nav, and head in the direction of the rural France that we’d all love to retire to. Within minutes of our route nationale drive, we’re stopped in our tracks by a the sight of a wonderfully patinated Austin 1300GT sat on the back of a beavertail, awaiting its enthusiastic Gallic owner’s attentions. He’s obviously keen, judging from the UK-style numberplate that’s been fitted. Considering this perennial AROnline favourite is such a rare sight in the UK, its appearance in rural Picardy is akin in its likelihood as a Citroen SM rolling into the Iceland car park in Doncaster. Lovely stuff.

Clubvan and Austin 1300 (1)
Austin 1300GT was a welcome sight on the way to Reims

But it’s time to roll on. We scoot through the villages south of Boulogne, skirting the fashionable resort of Le Touquet, and head for the troubled town, Amiens. We don’t think too much about the city’s chequered past, which saw it sacked during the Franco-Prussian War, and World War One, and Two; and which now is suffering the economic ravages currently engulfing much of Europe. We enjoy the sight of the sheer variety of old cars still in daily use in this faded city. The spotting opportunities are just too good to resist – and progress is stunted by a series of encounters with various aged Renaults, Citroens and Peugeots… and an Alpine A310.

We’re also amazed at how much attention the Clubvan attracts – all of it seemingly positive. It had started at the rail terminal, when the passport officer had commented on how how the van was, and since then, it seemed we were turning heads in every village.

After the sprawl of Amiens, we push on, and the rolling countryside and open roads of the Somme. It’s an inspiring place to be, and perfect for the keen driver. The roads are wide, lightly trafficked, and the sweeping corners are well-sighted. The news that the MINI Clubvan drives almost identically to its four-seater cousin should come as a relief for those who are considering buying one, and it’s certainly a relief to us in God’s own driving county.

The Cooper D is expected to be the biggest seller of the range, and as befitting a van bearing that name, it’s suitably sporting to drive. With 110bhp to haul 1185kg, it has an excellent power to weight ratio. Between 30-70mph, in particular, it feels impressively quick and responsive. And on these roads, it’s fast, fun and accurate, with the steering and gear change in particular rewarding through their nicely-engineered feel and ample feedback. The Clubvan corners without discernible body roll, inspiring confidence because of its grip and poise.

Clubvan at Reims (1)
No trip to Reims is complete with a visit to the former Gueux circuit

A further plus point is that the Clubvan is kitted out with the awkwardly-named MINImalism package, which is standard across the range, so you get stop-start and a gearchange indicator included. And both have a real impact on fuel consumption figures, with the Cooper D achieving a combined fuel consumption figure of 74.3mpg and a CO2 output of 103g/km. In the real world, expect that to drop to 50-55mpg if you drive it as enthusiastically as we are.

Our Clubvan was fitted with optional 17-inch alloy wheels, which should ruin the ride quality. But on a mixture of surfaces, ranging from brilliant to appallingly rutted, it always feels firm but well-damped, and there’s no real cause to complain. And in short, anyone who ends up driving a Clubvan on delivery duties will enjoy themselves – just as long as their load isn’t too fragile. Still, the webbing on the floor and those lashing points will come in very handy, too, because we can see the average Clubvan driver enjoying themselves – and that could mean their cargo being flung around the loadspace if left untethered.

That gets us thinking about the Clubvan’s suitability for Marc Chauvet’s Champagne deliveries. We’re not far from his place in the quaint village of Rilly-la-Montagne near Reims, and we need to make one more stop off before dropping in on the famous former Grand Prix circuit, and the recently-restored grandstands and pit garages on the road to the prim village of Gueux. They’ve been restored sympathetically during the past five years, and were the centrepiece for the brilliant Weekend de l’Excellence Automobile historic racing festival. And many car enthusiasts on road trips love the place for a brief stop-off. We do the same, even though time is pushing on.

The past 10-or-so miles give us a bit of time to come to some conclusions about the MINI Clubvan. It isn’t a huge LCV, nor is it capable of carrying much weight, but it is a useful one for small businesses concentrating smaller loads, who’s drivers enjoy a bit of fun behind the wheel. Very few Clubvans will be bought on the grounds of sheer logic, not least because the space-to-cost ratio is probably the lowest on the van market.

But in reality, the Clubvan is all about appearances, and how well it drives. And on those points, it performs very well indeed. There is definite appeal for one-man operations, who can purchase the Clubvan as a commercial vehicle, use it as their own drive, and then claim back the VAT. The Clubvan line-up starts at £11,100 excluding VAT for the MINI One Clubvan, but when buying yours, take extra care when ticking the options list – our test Cooper D with Chilli pack, and a number of other extras fitted weighs-in an a heavyweight £23,500.

And at the genteel Champagne House in Rilly-la-Montagne, there’s plenty of room in the back for plenty of those cases of Brut, and its owner – and ancestor of the company’s founder – Nicolas Chauvet, certainly looks happy to see us. And the Clubvan. We just hope that once he starts delivering, he doesn’t get too enthusiastic on the wonderful roads that surround his vineyards. We’re not sure we couldn’t.

How much Champagne can we take?
How much Champagne can we take?

Gallery

Keith Adams

65 Comments

  1. Not sure why, but I really like this – more than many of the other MINIs, although the First is nice too. That rear side door is a bit pointless on this version though!

  2. @1: I agree, for some strange reason the Clubvan really appeals to me and I’m not particularly a pro-BINI person.

    I don’t expect it will be a popular view though.

  3. I was all up for this and sticking two fingers up to the chancellor on the company car tax, then I saw it was £25k and that is just far too much money for a Diesel, now if they did a Cooper S at 20k I might be swayed.

  4. ‘Oooh!’ Was my initial reaction. I rather like this! I’ve always wanted to love Bin’s, but something stops me. This one is just peachy though.

    Hopefully they bring it to Australia. I’ll be looking at a cheap one in a few years when it gets a few character marks from use, like any good commercial vehicle.

  5. Sorry to be a party pooper…I can source a loaded belingo, inc ac, choice of colours, 4 times the space for £8K.

    The smaller Nemo, even less.

    Personal experience with the car varient of this vehicle, is that it is “fragile”

    No way this would hold up to a committed van driver…

    It does however show BMW/Mini do have a sense of humor 🙂

    FRANKIE….time for some rhetoric

  6. Jeremy,

    Just to temper your comments, we’ve had our MINI 15 months now without a single quality issue or reliability glitch. You had problems, but I haven’t, so it seemed fair just to say this for the sake of balance.

  7. nice but to luxurious in the front imagine how it would look in 12 months after a builder or painter and decorator owned it, cant really scrub it out like a normal van.. remember the original mini van spartan but functional and pretty hard wearing..

  8. @ Jeremy. Good to see I’m in demand. I don’t work on Sundays though, and after a knackering Saturday I’m all out of rhetoric 😉

  9. Hi Keith,

    There is no way a Mini is built to commercial vehicle standards.

    no way.

    “white van man” would break this, and the interior is simply not man enough.

    Yours has not caused one minute of trouble, but I am not alone.

    I had a go in a new Berlongo “Enterprise”. Space/toys/comfort/same engine.

    This does show Mini/BMW have a great sense of humour!!!

  10. Jeremy
    Are you sure the new Berlingo has the same engine, can’t imagine Citroen fitting a BMW unit.

  11. As already said in another MINI thread about the Suzuki Swift, some people will never get why people like me love Mini’s or MINI’s over other far more practical, reliable or ‘sensible’ choices……..BUT most potential MINI Clubvan buyers are not going to be interested in a Citroen Belingo as an alternative, no matter how cheap, reliable or fully loaded it is! 🙂

  12. @ Jeremy comment 15

    There is no way you will pay £8k for a loaded Berlingo, new, through punter channels. We were looking at the lowest priced L2 for our business and it was over £16k on the road. If you weren’t taking about a new van, then you are not comparing like for like.

    As Keith says, you have had your isses but it is time to shake them off and move on

  13. Paul,
    A pre regd Peugeot Partner/citroen belingo/fiat equiv.

    £8500 (+VAT that you get back)

    All with ac/met paint etc

    Just priced one up for us…

    Paul, Im pleased to be shot of my Bini, it did have some good points…BUT, there is no way this would stand for the tough commercial life, and no fleet operator would put up with the foibles I did.

    I got 10% off my hateful mini, and that was without raising sweat….14% is the margin that the stealer makes

  14. @21.

    It’s the 110bhp unit – so it’ll be the PSA lump for sure. Especially as it’s a Cooper ‘D’ and not a Cooper ‘SD’.

    The SDs having the BMW N47-unit.

  15. Florist/high class butty shop delivery van.

    I just dont get alloy wheels on a van,i recently told a plumber to piss off when he called round for a repair when i clocked his Connect with 18″ wheels.Something about the night with these geezers and thier van with rims…

  16. Give me the Rover Commerce anyday…!

    Mini = Munich in no idea. The Germans lost the plot long ago if they ever had it in their greedy little idea to asset strip the great MGR and dump the smouldering remains with the crash and burn Phoenix 4. I’m entitled to my opinion and that’s it I’m afraid.

  17. One advantage with this van is it won’t be limited to 70 mph and could develop a following on this score.

  18. I had a Suzuki Swift DDiS long termer for nine minths a year ago, and was in possession of it when I bought our MINI back in December 2011. To say it’s as good to drive as the Mini is just not on. It’s built down to a price, the doors clang shut, it had an MPV-like driving position and the handling was sloppy. Most alarmingly, the Diesel engine suffered huge turbo lag and was extremely unrefined.

    The dealer was like something from the 1980s with a crap little showroom located next door to the local tip.

    It was well made and reliable, though – but it just felt cheap in some important areas. But really they’re not rivals. So not sure why the Swift’s been spoken about in this commenting thread.

  19. You all probably know that I’m not a Bini fan and thats beacouse i fid it a bad copy of the original classic Mini i adore and own. But be objective and make some constructive thinking…. at the launch of the Mini Traveler ant his derivates time were different, smaller loads, maybe no one even heard of the EUR pallet, and surprisingly the Piaggo APE was used and popular, cos nobody invented something better for that time. But today be serous, who will pay such an amount of money for such a car???for business use, nobody i think, beacouse even the greatest florist need a loading space big enough to do business-also the cities grow and with them the cargo demanods. Its a fashon oblect this mini…dont know and dont care…..but for 25 000 someone can expect more from a car.

  20. I think I have worked this out.

    This is the ASTRAMAX for the 2013 season.

    Its fast, Im sure it will handle

    Form over function.

    Looking at all the painted surfaces inside, and posh trim, that will simply not hold up in commercial use….I doubt it would hold up for repping.

    I wanna make a bet, these do not last as long as the much maligned toyota carina from a few days ago!!!!

    The carina also has a huge boot!

  21. Like this, but definitley not in white. Would look good for some businesses with some quality, sublte graphic or signs. It’s more of a mobile bill board and most definitely not a Berlingo van.

  22. Saying this isn’t as practical as a Berlingo is like saying an Evoque isn’t as practical as an Astra estate. Not everyone wants a ‘sensible’ van…

    Looks great as far as I’m concerned!

  23. As a current happy owner of a Cooper D Hatch (2007 build, bought new then) I would certainly have one of these if I needed a small van.

  24. As Shep said earlier, this is one variant of the MINI that makes sense. Not too keen on the big alloys, though – simple steelies would be more logical on a work vehicle.

  25. Just to let you know my Samsung Galaxy S2 is terrible. Always crashing and switching off for no reason, poor quality mini USB connector and cannot share phone records or phone book with my Golf via Bluetooth. Jeremy, last time I am going to have a South Korean made product:)

  26. Merlin,

    Maybe you should send your phone back or take it to be repaired.

    Try a new one? I have the S3 Galaxy with no complaints, and it all works as it should with my lovely Subaru.

    It could just be out of date firmware in either the phone or the car.

    Your car is probably made in Belgium and the phone China….

    I dont see what this has to do with me?

    All I did was made a comment about a hateful Mini, and the fact that the factory couldnt be bothered to screw it together properly or apply paint correctly. Is this because I dared complain about a British “premium” product?

    If you dont like your phone, up the ante and buy an I phone, if your budget stretches. I like me S3 and it has been dropped and abused on the factory shop floor.

    What you spend your own money on is upto you.

    If you like Mini so much, why dont you chop your golf in for one? and keep ARO informed just how perfect it is!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  27. It makes sense for BMW to expand the MINI range as much as possible. The Clubvan is easy and cheap for the company to do as it involves virtually no new parts. If it makes BMW money and keeps their UK based staff employed, this is no bad thing.

    I am sure there will be plenty of buyers florists included, who are looking for a ‘prestige’ vehicle. Let’s face it everyone buying decision was made on price and reliability we would all be driving a Dacias.

  28. Does the right-hand Club door open? If not, it must be the first new car since the Austin A35 to have a panel gap around a door which isn’t there. Heritage!

  29. Jeremy I was demonstrating how daft it sounds to have a problematic product and blame the Country of origin as you did in some of your original posts. The S2 problem according to Samsung is their firmware, but there is no fix yet. My car is made at the old Karmann plant in Germany by the way.
    The phone is a company phone and have tried many, the S3 is better. An iPhone is good but to use companywide is expensive and email security / access via Exchange server is not wonderful. Personally I prefered my Blackberry with a proper keyboard. Despite being one of the most popular phones on the market it is flawed. I am sure if it were a UK product then the complaints would be worse. I will stop now!

  30. Merlin,

    If you read my comments carefully, and the time scales involved, and the fact that the problem never went away, you may well consider I have a point.

    I think Sir you are contining to have a pop, which of course you are entitled too.

    If Mini are so wonderful, why are they on the bottom of the the realiabilty score?

    If you had read my artice you would have noted I did make many positive comments, economy, interior space, speed Vs economy, handling and the effectiveness of the heated seats and roof rack.

    Flawed is my lasting impression, so very nearly there.

    (On this site) The much maligned French engine/gearbox was faultless, it never broke down/used a drop of oil.

    But overall never again.

    But since you have a problem with your (sorry) budget phone, get an upgrade or buy a new one…its not that simple when youve spent £18K on a car is it.

    So, what I choose to spend my hard earnt on and the country of origin is ultimately up to me. Experience has taught me, German/Swedish or Japanese.

    Car wise I would like a Disco 4, but (I work in agri) every one that I know that ever buys a Landie has issues. That said that is the nicest car I have ever ever driven.

    As a consumer I like no hasstle, things sorted first time not left to linger. I actually use my vehicles to drive to SW France/S Germany and need a car I can trust.

    Trust is an important word. Before you start making personal comments about my opinions consider I tried a UK product first.

    I hope you have a great day, and please can you give this a rest.

    Please Sir.

  31. Sorry but you have miss understood me again.
    You have bought a German car built in their UK. It is up to BMW to pull their finger out. If Toyota, Nissan etc. can build and design here with top quality, then so can BMW.
    I used the phone as an illustration of how blaming the country of origin is a crassly over simplied argument NOT as means to discuss my/ company phone choice!! I agree that you have had a woeful time and if I had been through the same problems, then I would be equally angry (as I am with my phone). However I would be blaming BMW not the country of origin.
    I hope that BMW have read your article and make steps to improve quality of manufacture, sourcing, engineering and service.

  32. @Keith. I echo your comments about the Swift, its a fine little car but the way the doors close and the general “feel” of the build don’t compare to more expensive competition. However you get what you pay for. Its good to be able to have the choice though.

  33. I think that this makes more sense than most of the other MINI variants. I could see young couples without kids getting one – just open the back doors, chuck the mountain bikes and camping gear in and away you go for the weekend.

    A version with a window in the clubdoor and a third fold up seat would be useful, too. There are plenty of people for whom a three seater car with lots of loadspace would be enough. Lots of families these days only have one kid (including mine – I run my Jazz with one of the back seats folded permanently to increase the loadspace.)

    Wouldn’t want a white one though. British Racing Green with a white roof for me, like the old John Cooper Garages vans!

  34. Dear Merlin,

    Let me explain more clearly.

    Simply

    Every time I (thats me) purchase a UK made product be it a tumble drier, a car or anything else, my 40 years experience has taught me it will come back to haunt me.

    A car built in the UK, with English staff, that are supposed to spray a vehicle, maintain a clean room in which to apply paint and then QC said vehicle. This didnt happen.

    I voted with my feet.

    So my riposte is I dont buy English.

    Full stop

    This is sad, and this causes me pain.

    I will not knowingly buy Chinese, this is my choice too.

    Frankly I am not fussed by your choice in imported cars or phones, if UK made is so good, you invest your money.

    This is still a free country, I am still allowed my own opinions.

    I liked a Carina I had moons ago, it got slated by others on here, but it was a 10/10 car for me.

    The mini was a 3/10 car for me, and it did have some positive points.

    If you dont care for my personal opinions I am sorry.

    I do not wish to have this debate with you futher, this is after all a forum about cars past/present/future with lots of engineering comments addded.

    If my comments are “crasley over simpliefied” so be it, they are my opinions, you have yours and I have mine.

    Perhaps you should get involved with politics or work in UK TI, they need people with your convictions. This sir is a compliment

  35. As a van driver, one of these would last about a month in the real world of commercial vehicle work. It simply will not be able to hack real hard graft, plus you cannot fit a full size pallet in the back, so in truth as a van it is about as much use as a chocolate teapot. It’s just simply too small for it to be a viable vehicle, and once again, the price is comedically high. The side door is on the borderline dangerous offside, so not suitable for delivery work. It does prove that people here are blinded about how shit and impractical this so called van actually is. Falling for marketing bull once again. And by the way if any small businessperson is thinking about buying one, do not waste your money, DON’T. The larger capacity Fiat Fiorino is only around £8k plus vat, and is a much better bet

  36. And by the way, all prices for this van are excluding VAT, so unless you are a VAT registered business, there is a juicy 20% to go on top. That will kill any private sales of it, and any accountant worth their salt will advise against purchase due to the cost and impracticality. Sorry, no matter what you think, this has FAIL written all over it.

  37. I can vouch for mega deals on Peugeot/Citroen vans. Where I used to work they paid just over £8k plus vat for fully loaded Bipper diesels, with electric windows, electric mirrors, side door, alarm, bluetooth, stop start and aircon. And these vans work bloody hard. They average 10,000 miles a month, and are in use 24/7, and the only probs seem to be with the stop start, and going over the service intervals

  38. As has been said previously, as a spin off of the Clubman the Clubvan probably did not need a huge investment to actually bring to market and as it is not aimed at the big volume, cheap end of the commercial vehicle market like a Peugeot/Citroen van is likely to be a success inits projected market and like other MINI’s in the range go on create its own niche with very little direct competition. I also doubt many of the prospective customers it is aimed at will be wanting to put a full size pallet in the back……

  39. I can really tell that comments are coming from people who have never actually A) been self employed & B) a van driver. I’ve been both, and I know these will not sell well at all (thankfully). Vans are workhorses, not trinkets, they are there to be used, and take abuse, a Bini van won’t take either. And I’m sorry Martin, but 99.99% of businesses now have goods that need to be palletised, even flower shops get goods delivered by pallets, and all my local ones all use Peugeot Boxer sized vans. It’s uneconomical having small vans like that if you are doing a large number of drops a day, as you keep needing to return to base, thus using more fuel, eating up precious time, and eating your profits up. It’s a big fat fail on all levels. And small businesses are really feeling the crunch, so seriously do you think they are going to blow £20k plus vat on one of these? Reality check people!

  40. Some major practicality issues you seem to be ignoring here. This van is low to the ground, with very limited access. You can forget that pointless offside door, because for any form of delivery, you open that, its going to get walloped, crushing you against the side of the van, and very likely giving you fatal injuries. Also reaching inside a low cramped van will give you quite severe back and neck strain too. The list of massive fail points for this clearly idiotic creation just grows and grows, and no private buyer will buy it, they will just see the list price ex vat, then suddenly the 20% tax will wallop them, and commercials get clobbered for VED as the Clubvan costs £215 a year to tax, when the car version costs just £20 a year. I can’t stop laughing at that one. Its cheaper to buy the car version, but you can’t claim the VAT back on a car. They really have given both barrels to their clubfoot with this un!

  41. Yorkie,

    You are my hero.

    Always!

    My neighbour just got a Citroen Belingo in Black, has sat nav all the usual toys.

    I dont even think Mini group would know what a Euro pallet is!!

    I managed to upset a few peps, when I said the pretty mini interior would not cope with commercial life….in a van you simply expect to be able to brush it out and wipe it down.

    a working vehicle.

    keep it coming.

    Jezza

  42. “I liked a Carina I had moons ago, it got slated by others on here, but it was a 10/10 car for me.”

    It was made in the UK ffs….yet you will not buy UK made product!!
    My UK made Hotpoint lasted me 20 year fuss free. Decided to change for a new Italian made Hotpoint ….got a problem with the water solenoid. Bad idea.
    Friend’s Audi A6 went through 2 gearboxes in 50k.
    My brother in law’s very expensive (Japan made) Sony camera failed 2 days after the waranty finished. Has to be binned over £300 to fix. Customer service terrible, they had teh phone for 6 months!
    So you will not buy Chinese. Well bin your Apple phone then!

  43. @ Merlin 62

    FFS back.

    I dont have an apple phone I have a samsung phone that I do like.

    EXPERIENCE that is personal with the last 40 years of my life.

    My preferene is German, Japanese, Swedish in that order.

    Its my money, the little the hatefu government leave me after tax.

    I am sorry you dont like my opinion, but I am entitled to have a different one to you.

    Appliance wise, get yer cheque book out and try a miele, you get what you pay for.

    This is a car forum, not phone, washing machine or camera, lets keep on track .

  44. I think some people are missing the point here, this is a niche product intended to sell in low volumes in about 100 different countries, all comments about impracticality and quirkiness are correct and can be applied to every mini built since 2001 but history shows that over the last 12 years a car that on paper is a looser turned out to be a success story.

  45. Right, Steve et al, I lay down a challenge! Use one of these POS for deliveries for a week. Guaranteed by the end of the first day you will be wanting to set fire to it. It has NO place in the market, and is utterly useless. It seems the marketing bullshit has suckered several again. EVO basically called it pointless, and useless. EVO mag also made a good point about the side door. Thanks to the bulkhead, the gap to the back is now halved, making the door next to useless. Good one Bini, you really are incompetent tools when it comes to vehicle design.

    Another thing to think about for anybody daft enough to buy one as a private individual. Insurance premiums. Vans attract a higher premium, due to the higher risk of them being broken into, or going walkies, and also being a van, commercial re-enforced tyres are required, thus more expensive to buy. It also isn’t exempt from the congestion charge either. There are no redeeming features at all for this pathetic attempt at a van. Anyone with half a braincell would buy the standard car, because it’s only £150 more, and massively cheaper to run, and is actually more practical. And nobody looks cool driving a van. This van has as much street cred as a 12 month old dog turd!

    I find a certain person’s attitude very BNP esque too. I bet if you actually went to their house, you would find shed loads of ‘Made in China’ consumer goods. Made in the UK is not a sign of quality unfortunately. British workers in general are lazy and greedy, which is why we really have bugger all real industry left. Other countries proved you could make much better, for far less.

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