Though it boasts body-coloured bumpers and door handles and uses a big tailgate instead of twin rear doors, the Maxi Life still shares much of its exterior appearance with its van stablemate. The same goes for the instrument panel, which has a hard-wearing plastic finish and a utility-style open glove compartment. However, the dashboard is neatly laid out with ample storage, backed by an overhead compartment with the capacity to swallow huge amounts of additional travel items.

The interior is softened by dual-colour trim and the deep front door pockets are shaped to ensure one-litre bottles remain upright.

Impressive space for every occupant guarantees excellent comfort in the Maxi Life and the third row bench seat even allows sufficient legroom for people up to 6ft 2in. Because the seating is arranged in cinema-style tiers, passengers on the rearmost bench have limited forward vision, but unusually large side windows provide adequate compensation. Thankfully, the car’s large glazed area uses heat-reflecting glass to help the air conditioning unit keep the interior cool, but while the system has venting to the front and centre seats, there are no air outlets at the rear.

It’s a quiet car on the motorway, but both diesel engines can be noisy when revved and on start-up.