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Fiat Doblo car review

23/03/10

Price17,145
We like...Big load space
We don't...Pricey top-end models

Latest version of Fiat's roomy van-cum-car is all new. But will it win your heart or fail to impress - find out hereElsewhere in Europe, drivers love vans – like the Doblo – that also come as cars. But here we’ve never really taken to them. Fiat has sold over a million car-type Doblos so far but just 27,000 of those found owners here.

Now, let’s be frank. You’re only likely to want one of these if you a) love the chunky, non-nonsense toughness of vans and b) have a nose for a bargain. Put simply, buying a van-car has to be all about bargain prices: getting a big useful five- (or seven-) seater for less than you’d give for a similar-sized MPV – like, say, a Renault Scenic.

Now Fiat has brought an all-new Doblo to the UK. It uses the same chassis as the current Punto Evo supermini, albeit made a fair bit longer. So it’s off to a good start. But it remains every inch a van. That means a tall box of a body offering twin sliding doors for rear-seaters to use and a massive tailgate – big enough to shelter you from the rain, if need be.

The rear seats tumble fold so that you can easily turn yours back into a van and the high roofline means you can fit in bicycles and push chairs without the sweat and contortions you’d car with a hatchback. There’s also a multi-position rear shelf that’ll support up to 70kgs, which is a really handy thing to keep heavy suitcases separate from other, more fragile belongings.

Fiat Doblo Inside, its van origins show through in the tough-but-a-little-rough plastics covering the doors and the lower dash. If you go for the optional climate controlled air conditioning, a shiny panel tidies up the central dash. But otherwise you get a set of cheap-looking dials with which to control and direct the heat. Still, the dash is covered in good-looking textured material, while the seats are comfy and clad in tough-looking fabrics that (in the top-level Eleganza) come in natty two-tone colourways.

Five seats come as standard but you can add an extra two (making a third row) as a cost-extra option. But they have only enough leg room for children and while they fold and lift out, they are very heavy. What’s more, you lose the handy luggage shelf and gain a roller blind under which to hide your belongings. Finally, with the seats in use there is next to no luggage space – a problem shared with other compact seven seaters.

To drive? Feels like a van. You sit high and the view in all directions is terrific. The Doblo eases over bumps comfortably enough and it’ll take bends without undue roll. But the steering feels slow and there’s not the sureness of control you’ll see from a good compact MPV. The range-topping 2.0, 135bhp diesel is respectably quick, though noisy as it builds speed, while the other diesel, a 1.6 105bhp, is smoother, quieter and not that much slower. It’ll save you a bit on fuel and road tax, too. The cheapest Doblos come with a 1.4, 95bhp petrol that we have yet to try. A stop/start system is fitted as standard across all models - to reduce fuel consumption and cut CO2 emissions. This cuts the engine whenever you're stopped in traffic and the gears are put to neutral.

Fiat Doblo Pick between three trim levels: Active, Dynamic and Eleganza. All are reasonably equipped, although you won’t get curtain airbags and the entry Active models do without air conditioning and ride on steel wheels. And, if you want seven seats, you’ll need at least the Dynamic model, while alloy wheels and the multi-position luggage shelf come as standard only on the top-trim Eleganza.

Should you buy one? For us, only the cheapest models make sense. Why? For the money Fiat asks for the top-level Doblo you can get a low-end Renault Scenic – and we know which we’d rather have. Meanwhile, other cars-from-vans – the Renault Kangoo, Citrn Berlingo and the wonderfully named Peugeot Partner Tepee – are as good, and a little cheaper.

To view and buy new and second-hand Fiat Doblos, go to motors.co.uk