A Practical Guide to buying a new Mini-Van. By J. Flowers

Prior to setting off in search of your new car, it is useful and less likely to end up in tears if you are able to identify your needs. It is no good rocking up back home from the dealer with a Mercedes C-Class C350 Sport Sedan if you are a Scuba diver, for instance. There's not enough room in the back to squeeze in a fish and chip take-away, never mind a giant  aqualung and multiple shark deterrents.

Setting your priorities and sticking with them is a universal challenge faced by new car buyers worldwide. Take comfort in the knowledge then that you are not the only person on this planet who has a wallet full of hard-earned rubles that really do not want to be spent on a practical mini-van. And who can blame them? The average minivan has about much appeal as sitting through a re-run of Bashar al-Assad’s BBC televised speeches.

Today I am here to take the tedium out of Mini-Van buying by announcing that this time out, you really don’t have to settle for something that looks like a taxi you would rather run over than be seen driving. The Ford Kuga has arrived!

According to South African Ford dealers, the Kuga sports a kinetic design, an intelligent AWB system and a dynamic exterior. There are a lot of other things they have to say about this people and aqualung carrier, such as Independent multi-link Control Blades and multi-point fuel injection. But they really should just let you drive it and you can. Find your local dealer online at http://www.ford.co.za/locator-a-dealer.  I guarantee you will never buy a mini-van again, unless of course you are a Taxi driver.