Fiat Doblo Work-Up (2013 - ) expert van review

 

Fiat Doblo Work-Up (2013 -     ) expert review

By Dan Tye

Price £21,407 (for the 1.6-litre version we tested) and £20,327 for the 1.3-litre version.

PROS

Extremely practical

Drives well and good on fuel

Quirky looks

CONS

Purchase price is high

Microsoft Bluetooth system is poor

Quirky looks

VERDICT 3.9 out of 5

“Some things just won't fit inside a van. For these occasions, Fiat Professional has made the Doblo Work Up. It’s basically a Doblo Cargo van with a pickup bed slid into the back. Where this wins over a pickup is that it has drop-down sides; this makes it immensely more practical. The Work Up won’t be for everybody, it looks a bit funny and it won’t do really hardcore jobs, but it has a certain appeal. Think handymen, gardeners and farmworkers.”

EXTERIOR

For tradesmen, a dropside van is more versatile than a cargo van because you can load in and out the sides. But existing 3 and 7 tonne dropside vans are on the big and heavy side. This is why Fiat made the Work Up; they wanted to give people a small dropside van that’s perfect for getting about busy town centres and down narrow streets. The Work Up is certainly for niche uses though. Its looks are unique too. During my week long test, its quirky shape generated a lot of interest from other motorists. Much of this curiosity came from tradesmen on petrol station forecourts, asking questions like “How much does it carry?” and “What sort of mileage are you getting out of it mate?”. I’d say that very few of the Work Up's target audience are actually aware that this van exists, or what it is capable of. Ok so the front looks a bit funny, a bit like a fish with huge eyes, and the pickup bed looks like it’s just been slid into the back of a Doblo panel van. I guess it looks like the kind of van a kid might draw in a school book, but there’s a certain charm about this – and its ideal for those who don’t want to spend their days driving a boring-looking van.

Our rating: 4 out of 5

INTERIOR

It’s grey in the cabin, but it’s well laid out. I really like the large space in front of the windscreen and the way in which the windscreen sweeps round panoramically. Door mirrors are superb and give you a brilliant sighting of where the rear corners and the rear wheels are going. The steering wheel feels nice, the seats are easily adjusted albeit they’re a tad hard. There are two cup holders in the centre when you really want them to the right of the steering wheel. 

Our rating: 3.5 out of 5

PRACTICALITY

The Work Up has a built-in ladder rack and load-restraining hooks.  There’s even an under-floor compartment for tools. A protective grille sits over the on the cab’s rear glass so that items don’t smash through. The only downside with this is that you get weird reflections in the rear mirror which make it difficult to see what’s behind you and its distance from you. Should you buy this or a pickup? Well, there’s a real trend for pickup trucks at the moment, like the Nissan Navara, instead of panel vans. But you can only pull down the tailgate on a pickup whereas with the Work Up you get a van that looks like a pick up but has the sides which drop down. This makes the Work Up so, so much more practical than a pickup. On a practicality level, the Work Up wins, but in terms of lifestyle, you might feel better driving a something like a Navara at the weekends instead of this funny looking thing. Remember though, your business might not need the off-road ability and the ground clearance of a pick-up. Think carefully about how you’re going to be operating. Sure, the Work Up isn’t the sort of vehicle that will have mass-market appeal, but it’s well thought-out and extremely well-put together.

Our rating: 5 out of 5

PERFORMANCE

There’s big MultiJet logo on the front grill. This is Fiat’s brand name for its diesel engine technology. There’s substance to this name though as the Doblo work Up is a strong performer. There’s a choice between two diesel engine sizes; a 1.6-litre with 105bhp or a 1.3-litre with 90bhp. Prices start at £16,065 for the 1.3-litre model and £17,065 for the 1.6-litre. We’d say go for the 1.6-litre MultiJet, it’s only a grand more has a fair bit of oomph, as anyone who has driven or owned the Doblo will know. Both engines have stop/start but Fiat’s Stop & Start system isn’t the best on the market and I found it had the occasional tendency to get caught out starting back up quickly enough. 

Our rating: 4 out of 5

RIDE & HANDLING

It might be funny-looking but that doesn’t translate into funny handling. Although it doesn’t look sturdy, it actually drives incredibly stable at all speeds and doesn’t wallow around as you’d think it would. 

Our rating:  4 out of 5

RUNNING COSTS

It is a bit on the pricey side to buy from new (starting from £16,700), but it does at least have low maintenance and servicing costs. Its official fuel figures are 49.6mpg with 150g/km of CO2 for the 1.6-litre version, but on my weeklong test I managed 42mpg. You could reduce your running costs by buying the 1.3-litre version which will be just fine if you don’t expect to be regularly loading the rear up to its maximum 1000kg. The 1.3-litre gives a book figure of 55.3mpg so that’s a good 10mpg better and it also has lower emissions of 134g/km, which will help with your van insurance. It’s also a grand cheaper than the 1.6-litre, so it might be a more economical version in the long run. Saying this though, the 1.6-litre does have a lovely amount of poke which makes driving it much more enjoyable.

Our rating: 3 out of 5 (because of its purchase price)

CARGO AREA

The Work Up’s pick up bed is made up of a high-resistance steel box. The dropsides are made of aluminium alloy and they fold down independently of each other. You simply pull out a black lever on each end and the sides rotate down very nicely. There are steps built into the dropsides which you fold out so you can step up onto the bed. There’s even a step built in to the  cab so you can climb up to secure ladders etc on the rear bulkhead. Your payload (up to 1000kg) sits on an anti-slip wood floor. Fiat Professional says that it can carry three Euro pallets or 33 boxes of fruit. Wondering if this is for you? It’s a safe bet that if you do anything agricultural, constructional or maintenance wise then the Work Up is for you.

Our rating: 4 out of 5

SAFETY

It has stability control, antilock brakes and electronic brakeforce distribution.

Our rating: 4 out of 5

EQUIPMENT

This has a Blue&Me infotainment system developed with Microsoft. It’s not very good though and awkward to use. My phone wouldn’t connect to the Bluetooth and there’s a very annoying voice from the system. Fiat has its own power connector in the dash so you have to buy its own brand of satnav to make use of it.

Our rating: 3 out of 5

WHY BUY?

No other van manufacturer offers anything else like the Work Up, and it certainly has redefined what’s classed as a dropside van. Is there a need for a compact dropside like this? Those who own one would say yes to this. It’s a little piece of Italian quirkiness – and more and more tradesmen are finding favour with them, especially as more become available in the used market. 

Our rating: 4 out of 5