Irish Times best buys: Compact MPVs

The Meriva manages to be both oddball and conservative at the same time. It’s in many ways a traditionally sensible Opel - solidly made, slightly grey interior, understated styling on the outside and a relatively middle-road attitude to pricing, neither overly expensive nor exceptionally cheap. But then you open the back doors and realise that Opel has done something different by hinging those doors from the rear. It’s not, perhaps, the dramatic difference which it first appears but it’s hugely helpful when you’re loading small people into car seats (less turning and twisting). The addition of Opel’s new 1.6 diesel engine has seriously upped the Meriva’s refinement and performance, but its chassis was always perfectly pleasant.

Best buy: Meriva SE 1.6 CDTI from €23,995. Prices start at €19,995.

PCP packages start from €200 a month.

Read the review: New Opel Meriva narrows the quality gap

The Venga is the relatively simple choice in this segment (along with its more-or-less identical twin, the Hyundai ix25) as it’s not really an MPV at all, but a small hatch with a loft conversion. Basically, it’s a Rio hatchback in lift shoes. That means it’s still small enough to be a doddle in town, with no bulky corners to worry about when parking, The downside is that it’s also not quite as spacious in the back or the boot when compared to some rivals, but it has the twin virtues of that long Kia warranty and a conspicuously low price tag for the most basic petrol-engined model. It’s not bad to drive, just not very exciting.

Best buy: Venga CVVT L 5-door from €15,900. Prices start at €15,900.

PCP packages start from €187 a month.

To appreciate a 500L, you first have to get past its styling, which looks like someone took a 500 hatch and over-inflated it with a bike pump, and then stuck an unattractive wig on top. Not tantalising, then. Inside, things are rather better - space is excellent and the seats in both front and back are very comfortable. Quality isn’t bad either, and everything feels nicely screwed together, plus you can have the bright, simple uConnect touchscreen infotainment system which really lifts the ambience. To drive, it’s only average at best, but it rides most bad roads comfortably and if the steering is a bit light and twirly, well, what are you buying a small MPV for. Value is its forte. It’s hard to get more space for less.

Best buy: 500L Pop Star 1.6 Multijet from €23,450. Prices start at €17,950.

PCP packages start from €209 a month.

Wild card:

The name is a bit of a mouthful, but the premise is actually quite simple - a spacious, seven-seat family car which just happens to be made by BMW. Think an MPV can’t be fun to drive? Think again - this thing has the same fulsome steering, the same German iron fist body control as pretty much any BMW. You can even wreck the ride quality by ordering M-Sport suspension and big wheels, just as on a ‘normal’ BMW. There’s a broad range of engine options, but why look any further than the 150hp 218d? It does pretty much every job you could ask of it (although it is worth considering the 4WD 225xe plugin hybrid, but that’s a strict five-seater only). Why is a car this talented our wild card pick? Check out the price tags…

Best buy: 218d Active Gran Tourer SE from €39,050. Prices start at €36,350.

PCP packages start from €339 a month.

Buying used?

It’s a seriously odd looking car, the Roomster, but instead of being the result of a an accidental pencil swish in the design lab, the Roomster was actually supposed to look like that. It was designed to that the driver had a cocooning and focused environment in the front, while those in the back had bigger windows and an airier environment. Does it work? Yeah, kinda but the best bit is that the Roomster lives up to its name with massive space and helpful rear seats which individually fold and tumble and can even be taken out altogether. Check for valve issues, suspension bushes and anti-roll bar links, water leaks and clogged diesel filters.

Best buy: 2014 Roomster 1.2 TSI petrol Ambition for circa €11,500.