Your problems solved
An old-fashioned appetite for petrol is the only negative about a van-based car that makes perfect sense for the 21st century family.
This Berlingo long-term test was an experiment. The need to cut emissions has forced SUVs into ever more coupe-like profiles, decimating their boot space. I’ve lived with a few and liked them, but often been surprised by their impracticality. I wanted to see if something way cheaper, with seven adult-sized seats and a hangar of a boot, was now peak family car, or whether its van origins would fatally kipper its image and quality and long-distance chops.
The answer? I’m currently trying to buy this one from Citroën. The Berlingo has ruined me for other cars. My next test car has arrived, another premium SUV, and though it has many fine qualities I look into its tiny boot and despair. My eight-year-old son saw the new car and said he thought it was better to carry stuff than go fast.
We used the Berlingo for the six months until late September and had a better summer as a result. It carried everyone and everything we needed it to. I’ve probably forgotten how to fit bike racks or take front wheels off, because you just don’t need to. We made a 10-day road trip three-up from the south of England to the west of Ireland with three bikes (all wheels on), three bodyboards, wetsuits and all the other kit a reasonably active young family needs and I could still use the rear-view mirror. The kids grew so attached to ‘the van’, as it became known, that they took it in turns to sleep in it.
That trip answered my concerns about the Berlingo’s long-distance comfort. The seats lack underthigh support and the armrests are oddly set but we covered 1500 miles to Ireland and back – and a fairly chunky 9000 miles over six months – without any grumbling from my slipped disc. The combination of the 126bhp, 1.2-litre petrol triple and the eight-speed auto is refined and suciently powerful at motorway speeds with a reasonable load aboard, and its thrummy, short-shifting nature is surprisingly fun when you’re empty and on a back road.
But its fuel use is ruinous, and the only reason I might not buy this particular Berlingo. Over those 9000 miles we averaged 32.2mpg, with a single-tank best of 38.2mpg on a steady motorway run, although 35mpg was more typical in such circumstances. The average range over 24 fill-ups was 362 miles with a best of 424 miles, again on the motorway. At its best the Berlingo only skirted the bottom of its 36.8-43.7mpg WLTP combined figure, and the 129bhp 1.5-litre diesel with a six-speed manual might be the better choice for now. There’s also now an electric version with a claimed 174-mile range which would be perfect for days out, but I still wouldn’t fancy relying on our en-route public charging infrastructure for 10 charges with two small kids aboard on that road trip to Donegal.
Faults? Very few. The roller cover on the central storage box fell apart, mainly due to my clumsiness, and the notquite-carpet on the back of the middle-row seats has balled up alarmingly as they spend so much time folded: that needs to be fixed. But otherwise the car wears its miles lightly, and I could see us adding a lot more if I can continue to afford the fuel bills.
And any concerns about the Blingo’s looks are quickly forgotten once you use one. You might not want one, but you need one. And when you realise how much you need one, you’ll want one. A friend with a Vanquish has been reading these reports and now plans to buy one, calling his desire for a weird French van a ‘dirty little secret’. Time to come out, my friend.
Count the cost
Cost new £31,445 Part exchange £23,171 Cost per mile 18.2p Cost per mile including depreciation £1.13
You might not want one, but you need one. And when you realise how much you need one, you’ll want one