Faults:

Van would not start due to flat battery so I bought a new one. (no problems after)

Had to replace rear brake cylinder for MOT which was expensive.

General Comments:

I liked the van to start and kept it for one Year.

But being a very young driver could not afford insurance of 1,000 pounds approximately per year.

The van drove better when it was fully loaded as it bounced around when empty.

I liked the fact that it had twin side loading doors, and found them very useful.

The van got blown around in the wind a lot.

The interior space was very useful and the build quality was good.

The engine being 1 litre was not powerful enough and was quite sluggish when pulling out at junctions.

The van was extremely reliable apart from the dead battery. The heater worked well.

The brakes were not as good as a relatives old volvo as the van had drum brakes and the volvo had disk brakes.

The van would be perfect for driving round town, but would be uncomfortable on long journeys.

Faults:

The interior light bulb failed after 3 days. My dealer said the bulbs were on factory order. This situation remained for 2 weeks, until I bought the part from a local auto shop.

An exterior door handle broke when vehicle was 1 month old, The dealer also had to order this part, although it only took a few days. Other Hi-jet owners told me these handles break easily.

Ignition key broke for no obvious reason at 3 months. Dealer had to order the key which took another 3 Days.

General Comments:

The seats on this vehicle offer no support. Also being positioned immediately above the front wheel, you feel every pothole with a vengeance.

The driving position in general is very poor, the low line of the top of the windscreen means you have to drive in a hunched position. This, allied to the poor seats, led in my case to back and neck pain, and subsequent disposal of the vehicle after 6 months.

The fuel economy was pathetic. Even gently driven, 34mpg was the absolute best I attained. In normal everyday use it was between 25 and 28 mpg.

The engine is superb.