The Mercedes V-Class is a seven-seat executive people carrier — the vehicle most London chauffeur companies use when a group is larger than four passengers.

It sits between a saloon and a minibus, and the distinction matters. A Mercedes E-Class or S-Class carries three passengers in comfort. Past that you are either splitting the group across two cars or moving up to something larger. The V-Class keeps everyone in one vehicle, in one conversation, arriving at one time.

What separates it from a minibus is the interior: full leather, individual reclining seats rather than a bench, separate climate control for the rear cabin, and enough height to walk in through electric sliding doors instead of climbing a step. On a twenty-minute run across London that hardly registers. On a ninety-minute run from Gatwick with six passengers, it is the whole difference.

If a quote describes the vehicle as a "luxury MPV" without naming the model, ask which one. The interiors are not comparable and the price often is.

Fewer than the brochure suggests, because the seat count and the boot capacity cannot both be at maximum.

The rear row of seats has to be occupied to reach seven passengers. That rear row is exactly what folds down to create the luggage space quoted in the specification. Put a seventh person in the vehicle and you lose most of the boot.

This is the single most common reason a London airport transfer goes wrong, and almost nobody publishes the real figures. We measured ours and photographed them — the full breakdown by passenger count is on the luggage capacity page.

£195 fixed from Heathrow to Central London, £65 per hour as directed, or £520 for a full eight-hour day — VAT, parking and tolls included.

The fare is fixed at the point of booking. Airport parking, drop-off charges, tolls, the congestion charge and ULEZ all sit inside the figure, and nothing is added afterwards. There is no surcharge if a flight lands late and no card fee.

Many London operators quote plus VAT, so a price that looks forty pounds cheaper is often the same or higher once tax is added. The full price list sets out exactly what is and is not included.

Two things worth noticing. For a group of four, the V-Class is cheaper per hour than a Range Rover and carries three more people. And six passengers in two E-Class saloons costs £270 to Heathrow against £195 in one V-Class — the seven-seater is both cheaper and one arrival instead of two.

Journeys are carried out by Willsson and Co Ltd, trading as Chauffeur Force, a private hire operator licensed by Transport for London under licence number 0086340301, valid until December 2028, of Boundary House, Cricket Field Road, Uxbridge UB8 1QG. Every chauffeur holds a TfL private hire driver licence and an enhanced DBS check. Every vehicle is separately licensed as a private hire vehicle and insured for hire and reward. In London all three licences - operator, driver and vehicle - must be valid at the same time for a journey to be legal.