Fiat Doblo

Our verdict

The Fiat Doblo is a van with some glass in the sides, and should be regarded as such. It may be big, it may be quite cheap, but it’s also got all the class and refinement of a hen night in Clacton.

Comfort

The leaf-spring suspension actually makes for a reasonably comfortable ride, but the general lack off refinement inherent in anything that started life as a commercial vehicle can't just be papered over with a bit of colourful trim.

Performance

One of the slowest cars on sale, courtesy of some ridiculously small engines. There is a 1.9 JTD diesel though, which is your only option if you want to do A to B within a single rotation of the earth.

Cool

Nope. Some cars can become cool by simply rising above it. The Doblo ain't one of them.

Quality

Van-based cars are usually pretty hard-wearing and the Doblo looks like it can take a fair bit of abuse. The interior plastics are grimly utilitarian though, a constant reminder that the original target audience was Italian builders.

Handling

The Doblo has a leaf-spring suspension set-up, which means it's exceedingly basic in the handling stakes. It's also disproportionately tall, removing any vestige of mid-corner composure.

Practicality

What can you say? There's precious little the Doblo does well, but it's a veritable black hole when it comes to carrying stuff. Fold the rear seats and you have over 3,000 litres of space to play with. Call Stephen Hawking.

Running costs

It's cheap to buy, reasonably cheap to run and easy to insure. But anything as unloveable as this is not what you'd call a bargain. The ‘Family' version is, however, the cheapest seven-seater on the market, which is something.