Vauxhall Meriva review

A small people carrier/MPV thingy. Well, ‘small’ is relative, as this Meriva is significantly bigger than its predecessor and now competes with models previously thought to be a class above. Its USP is its funky door design, with the rears hinged at the back. Sounds like a bit of a gimmick, but use them and you soon realise they’re a stroke of genius. Parents of small children will approve. It's been facelifted for 2014, but this is very much an engineering update: styling changes are few and far between.