MINI ONE 1.4 D 3dr (2004)

Excellent, reliable and trustworthy, easy to drive

I'm a driving instructor and I wanted something easy for my students to drive. I used to use a Micra, which did the job ok, but I wanted something a little more substantial, and also less cramped for me to be sitting in all day. The Mini One does the job just fine. It's better for me to be sitting in, it's still nice and small and easy for my students to drive, but it's not as cramped.

The only tricky thing is that the clutch in the Mini One is bit more of a faff than the Micra, a sort of odd trick of getting it to engage by revving first and then letting it bite slowly. Needless to say that isn't great for learners! Mind you, baptism of fire and all that, they'll never have trouble with another clutch..

The diesel engine is a little bit flat in terms of torque, but that really isn't a problem as a driving instructor. I suppose I need to be kept from driving too fast when I'm on my own, give the right impression as I've got my name all over the car!

The aircon is a must I would say, but then I am in it all day mostly going quite slowly. Still I can well imagine it getting very very stuffy in there during the hot weather. We had a very hot summer this year too.

The biggest problem for me was the fuel economy. Even the diesel isn't anything much to write home about. I'm sure I'm among the worst people to ask about that it has to be said, because my students are forever braking and restarting, revving too hard, missing the clutch etc, but still, wasn't all that impressed. I've heard good things about Skodas, might be switching for that reason.