Volkswagen Multivan Review

For a van, it looks pretty good but doesn’t come across as anything special. This being said, it isn’t designed for its looks; more for its practicality – The ID.Buzz shows how good van design can be.

There are plenty of single paint options as well as two-tone paints, with either black and red or silver and orange. Personally, neither of these two tone options were to my taste and I don’t think it would work if the Multivan was used as an airport shuttle or private executive hire. We were given the Starlight Blue which looked smart.

The VW Multivan model we were given came with the electric sliding doors, which were a nice touch and saved opening and closing by hand. They could be opened or closed by pressing a button on the door itself, from the driver’s cabin or via the remote. The tailgate was manual and heavy, so an automatic version would be a lovely feature.

The interior has too many beige plastics and felt basic for a £60,000 van. From what we can see there isn’t an option to change the colour of the plastics or the seat covers. The slidable table is a great design feature and can easily go from the front to be used by the driver and/or passenger to the back of the Multivan where it can raise up and turn into a table.

The driver’s, front passenger’s and the middle row of seats all come with twin armrests, making driving and sitting in the Multivan very comfortable. It helps that there is plenty of space for everyone and you wouldn’t struggle to fit 7 people comfortably on a long journey. It does seem silly that you can’t reverse the seats. We were told this was because they did not crash-test this system. Obviously, safety comes first but would have liked to have seen this feature.

If you’re looking at storing loads of items then the Multivan has an abundance of storage spaces and cubby holes – check out our cubby counter in our video review.

Reviewed by Sean Dalton, Head of Direct Sales & Rental

The VW Multivan has a 10″ colour display and 10″ infotainment display as standard, but due to the size of this vehicle, the central display did feel a tad on the small side. The whole system itself was much more intuitive than some other demos we have had in. It was easier to pull off, get going and learn along the way without too much distraction from not being able to work it out.

An integrated eSIM means there’s a permanent connection for online services and connecting to the Multivan remotely via a smartphone app. I connected to wireless Apple Car Play pretty instantly and it was useful to have a wireless phone charger shelf under the central display.

The screens were clear and very responsive to touch, although the temperature and volume buttons underneath the central screen felt hidden, and even more so in the dark. I would have preferred dials for climate control so they could be found quickly. The dashboard digital display was very customisable and I easily found a view I was comfortable with. The buttons on the steering were great and responded well, compared to slide or touch-sensitive buttons.

The reversing cameras, as well as sensors, were a great help with manoeuvring the van for parking.

Reviewed by Rhian Hawkings, Head of Marketing

The VW Multivan is very comfortable to drive. The overall ride is soft and the cabin is quiet when using either the petrol engine or battery.

On the model we had the air conditioning wasn’t so great for people in the back, so upgrading this on the options package is recommended, especially during a sweltering heatwave like we were experiencing when reviewing the Multivan.

There are USB-C ports in all three rows which helps keep devices topped up. The sliding table is great for picnics, games and work. One thing that was noted, was the lack of sliding windows in the back. This is an option however if you go for a 90% tint on the rear windows, you can’t have them for some reason.

As mentioned above, inside the cabin is quiet. Surprisingly quiet – Not only is the engine noise minimal, but wind and road noise at high speeds are also dull.

Reviewed by Matthew Albutt, Digital Marketing Executive

We were given the standard length Multivan which comes in at 4.97m compared to 5.17m for the long model, which gives you a slightly bigger boot if you need to use the Multivan with all 7 seats in place.

When it comes to space, you won’t be disappointed. Just wait until you see our cubby counter in our video review. There is plenty of room to fit 7 fully grown adults comfortably. When taking out the seats, just make sure you put them back on the correct side as the seatbelt clicker will be on the outside and not the inside.

Front sensors and a rear reversing camera are standard, which makes manoeuvring and reversing the Multivan a lot easier especially if you’re in a tight space or small carpark.

It’s possibly the most practical car I’ve ever driven, but it does have size on its side.

Reviewed by Matthew Albutt, Digital Marketing Executive

The hybrid model we had would be great for short runs, but MPV vans are not built for this. If doing multiple runs a day the hybrid battery will quickly become useless as you won’t have time to charge it to get the benefit. A fully electric version would be preferred, especially given the large footprint of the Multivan.

As mentioned before, it drives really well and is quiet. There doesn’t seem to be any body roll due to the fact the Multivan is built on the same platform as VW cars. The adaptive cruise control works well and is the same system across all VW group cars, so to me, felt familiar.

When in hybrid mode VW claim you can achieve around 170MPG. We never achieved this while testing, only getting around 80MPG, which is still good for a vehicle of this size. When the battery held on to 1% the MPG dropped to the low 40’s, but then when it reach 0% this dropped to the low 30’s. You really need the battery charged to get the full advantage.

Reviewed by Mike McKernan, Sales Executive.