Long-term: Renault Kangoo Compact

By the time this issue of Fleet Van hits the streets, our little Kangoo Compact will be safely back at Renault HQ waiting for its next assignment with another journalist.

It was the second Kangoo we’ve had on a back-to-back test – the first was a Kangoo Maxi crew-van – and during the past six months these vans have proved to be pleasant to drive, economical to run and rock-solidly reliable – what more can a fleet manager ask from a van?

Of the two, the Maxi crew-van was the most practical, with five seats and 3.4 cubic metres of loadspace on offer.

The seats fold flat down into the floor at the flick of a switch, unlike some other crew-cabs I could mention.

On a Volkswagen Caddy Maxi crew-cab I had on test the other week, the seats had to be taken out and stored somewhere – and very heavy they were too!

But of course that extra practicality has to be paid for and the Kangoo Maxi weighs in at £14,750, whereas this smaller model is just £10,450, so if you don’t need the extra room there’s no point paying for it.

Both vans featured Renault’s Euro V compliant 1.5dCi diesel powerplant, the bigger van offering 90bhp and the smaller one 70bhp.

And to be honest, both proved lusty enough for fleet purposes and never felt underpowered, even with a load on board. We were, however, slightly disappointed with the fuel economy figures.

The official figure for both is 53.3 mpg but we never got higher than 45mpg.

Mind you, those official figures, as I always point out, are achieved empty and on a rolling road indoors so are unlikely to be replicated in real life.

This apart, we are extremely sad to see this perky little pair of performers disappear from our lives.