Vauxhall Mokka SRi Nav Premium 1.2 – long-term review

I'm not a fan of milky drinks. Having a dairy alergy does that to you – so this is my first experience of a Mokka, and I have to say I find it to be quite delightful.

No cheesy odour, no froth, no liberally sprinkled cocoa... just a refreshingly good baby crossover.

Enjoyable to drive, very attractive to look at inside and out, plenty of space (though in the interests of full disclosure not as much bootspace as I enjoyed in our Ford Puma, but you can’t have everything) and highly acceptable fuel economy.

And soooooo much better than its predecessor with the same name but none of this car’s style, verve or personality.

So, what exactly are we dealing with here. One of the UK's best-sellers in waiting? Well, the Vauxhall Mokka you see here is a (deep breath) SRi Nav Premium 1.2 (130PS) Turbo auto costing £24,455 OTR, but with our carefully chosen extra of Brilliant Jade White Paint, this particular car comes in at £27,775.

That’s in the exact same ballpark price-wise as my previous lifer – and widely acknowledged king of the baby crossover sector – the Ford Puma. The ST Line car we ran cost £22,690 OTR and £24,690 with our few carefully chosen extras. An ideal comparison, then?

Let’s be clear from the outset... the Mokka is a very different proposition from the Puma. Driving dynamics will always be of the greatest importance in a Ford, so the Puma is without doubt the better choice for a keen helmsmith.

But for those wanting to dial back the ‘enthusiastic’ driving and instead encourage a more relaxing style of travel (no bad thing in a family car), I can recommend the Mokka as a very attractive alternative.

I drove the Puma and Mokka over the same roads on the same day and found the Vauxhall to be a smoother, less bobbly drive. Not as engaging, but High Wycombe is hardly the place to whang around roads like a lunatic.

Economy proved to be broadly similar in both cars, each easily returning mid-40s mpg on a drive through town and on quiet country B-roads.  

I do have one less positive point to make. I’m a half day into Mokka ownership and have stumbled on one thing that annoys me greatly – the apparent lack of secondary boot release, either on the boot itself or inside the cabin. The only way to access the boot seems to be via the button on the key. I genuinely hope it’s me missing an obvious button, because otherwise it’s a bonkers situation. 

I hope I resolve that conundrum soon as a weekend trip to the Cotswolds is looming, which will not only clear up the boot release problem but also highlight the dynamic ability (or not) of the Mokka – expect an update on that trip next time.
 
UPDATE:

Fabulous news! I have found the external boot release, it is located in the lip above the numberplate. It’s far from obvious, but thankfully exists. And all it took was a trawl through the manual.

The shame of it...