Renault's Kangoo will make itself indispensable so don't expect finesse

I loved this car-like, van-like Kangoo. A 1461cc diesel motor with just 104.5bhp doesn't sound enough for a lumpen-looking, shed-shaped car-van-car one-and-a-half ton vehicle, but it cruised quietly and happily in sixth gear at around 2,500 rpm at motorway and dual carriageway limits.

The paint colour was, appropriately, surf blue. My sister, with whom I was staying, did not like the colour and she did not like the Kangoo. This despite the fact that it transported a lifetime's remnants of her junk to the recycling centre and returned with a Lloyd Loom bed linen box which someone else had abandoned. I can see why she didn't like it. For someone who puts style top of their list the Kangoo (and its peers the Citron Berlingo, Peugeot Tepee and Fiat Doblo) are never going to be contenders.

I apply my desert island rationale. If no one saw what you were driving, would you choose, say, a high image saloon car or something really functional, like a Kangoo?

The current model arrived in Britain last June. The brochure actually shows a surf blue model on a coastal road, with a short board on the roof. The next page has one in front of a double garage. There's a "basket" on the wall and a long-haired teenager leans back underneath, his right foot on the basketball, arms crossed, looking at the Kangoo. "Shucks, see what my parents got? They read the bit in the brochure where it goes on about being hungry for adventure, yearning for the beach and countryside and that stuff, and it having gallons of space for luggage and people and sports kit."

Well, kiddio has a point there. The Kangoo is practical. The rear parcel shelf can be set half-way to apportion your load – say something fragile over something else. The back seats fold flat easily enough and the sliding side doors (rather noisy ones) permit easy entry/exit for luggage or passengers. There is an integral and easily managed roof rack system and a top-hinged tailgate. You pay 14,351 for the Expression model I tested, which adds additional storage including a useful shelf above the windscreen, three "aviation" lockers midway along the roof, and flip-up picnic tables on the back of the front seats. There are also air vents in the floor for rear passengers, a fold-flat front passenger seat, and the electric mirrors fold away. This is useful because they stick out 10 inches and tend to catch on things in narrow lanes. This is a good model to aim at, should you want a Kangoo in your life. The demo car had a stack of extras which hoisted the price to 16,415. The Surfpaint added 404. Rear parking sensors were 255 and non-standard roof bars were another 255. Climate control at 817 was the biggest input to the bill but you can have ordinary a/c for 562.

Other options, not fitted, were asymmetric side-hinged, glazed rear doors (179), cruise control with a speed limiter (255) and stability, traction and understeer control for 307, and possibly worth having if you push on rather quickly, because the Kangoo is by no means a natural handler.

If there is a cross-wind then you'll feel it, and at times, for instance when reversing, the Kangoo is cumbersome. It does not match a real car for running refinement and neat manners, and there is an old-fashioned clatter from the diesel motor outside the vehicle. I would have liked a locking compartment in the cabin. OK, so it lacks glamour and it is a bit of a stodgy car about town

Fully loaded for my test drive, the trip meter recorded 46mpg at an average speed of 60mph for a seven-hour journey. Stiff? I'll say.

On the Road

It is: Year-old revision of the van-car concept with five seats, including a 2:1 ratio rear bench.

Test car: Expression dCi 106 diesel, from 14,351.

Motor: 106ps 1,461cc giving 177lb ft torque at 2,000rpm for good in-gear flexibility.

Prices: Open at just 11,870 for the 90bhp 1.6 petrol model, rated at 192g/km CO2 and 35mpg.

Economy: Official 44mpg urban, 56.5mpg extra urban, 51.4mpg combined, with 146g/km CO2. On test it recorded 34mpg in town and 46mpg on motorways.