Chevrolet Orlando

It is one of the cheapest seven-seaters around and is rather comfortable. Not as good as the class best, but its difficult to fault for the money.

• Comfort

  The ride is, for the most part, pretty comfortable but the Chevy doesn't handle rough surfaces as well as its rivals and feels unsettled at times. Front two rows of seats are spacious enough, but the back row isn't much good for anyone outside their teens.

  

• Performance

  Steer clear of the entry level 1.8-litre petrol engine. It hasn't got anywhere near enough muscle to shift the Orlando at a reasonable pace, it's not particularly cheap to run and you'll never sell it on a few years down the line. The 2.0-litre diesels are a far better bet, in 128bhp and 161bhp guise. Far less stressed and more refined than its petrol counterpart.

  

• Cool

  A budget MPV with a budget image isn't a recipe for attracting the opposite sex.

  

• Quality

  It's comfortable enough up front and visibility is pretty good, but the quality of the materials and the general ambience in the cabin is somewhat low rent compared to a Zafira or C-Max.

  

• Handling

  There's less body roll than you'd expect from a big-budget MPV and the steering has more life in it than you'd think, but it's too heavy at low speed, which makes parking trickier than it needs to be.

  

• Practicality

  Getting into the back isn't as easy as it is in the class-leading MPVs either, because the seats don't fold down individually - they're on a less practical 60/40 split. Is plenty spacious up front, though.

  

• Running costs

  38.7mpg and 172g/km of CO2 from the petrol and 47.1mpg and 159g/km from the diesel isn't bad, and you also get aftercare for the first five years and 100,000 miles with Chevy's Five Year Promise, so is the very definition of cheap and cheery.