Volkswagen Multivan - long term review

So there we have it. After nine months with a Volkswagen Multivan in our lives, it’s finally time to say goodbye. Not for the first time, of course – three months ago we waved off our original two-tone eHybrid version, welcoming this 2.0-litre TSI ‘Long’ edition in its place. As chance would have it, I was first custodian of the former, taking it on a family holiday to Cornwall, and final custodian of the latter, this time taking it to Devon, so I’ve had plenty of opportunity to get to know Volkswagen’s funbus. 

Let me not keep you in suspense. I’m a huge fan. I love these things. I couldn’t have asked for a more suitable vehicle for what I needed it for. The first trip totalled around 850 miles, the second around 750 miles. Same five passengers, same Dudley dog, same amount of luggage, same glowing reviews from all my passengers. Plenty of interest from passers-by too, including several who came up to ask me questions. 

I made the point in my very first report that I suspected the eHybrid is probably best suited to urban use, rather than long distances like our trip involved. And yet, as Charlie mentioned in his previous report, it returned better mpg (40.1mpg) than the regular petrol (30.2mpg), even without charging up at any point on our trip. Sure, the extra length of this ‘Long’ edition adds 22-23kg according to Volkswagen, but our shorter eHybrid weighed more anyway due to the additional weight of the motor and batteries. Strange.  

No doubt in my mind that you do appreciate the additional torque from the e-motor when you need it too, given that this is, let’s not forget it, a two-tonne bus. Particularly so because if you’re buying one of these, you want the ‘Long’ version, which gets you an extra 20cm of rear overhang, the equivalent of 294 litres extra bootspace. When you’re using all three rows – we favoured the 2-1-2 formation with five passengers – that extra bootspace does come in handy. And considering it commands a £1,398-£1,793 premium depending on spec, or a little extra a month on lease, it’s a no brainer.  

Mind you, it doesn’t come cheap to start with. At time of writing, in base spec Life trim you’re looking at a starting price of £45,207, or in upper spec Style trim, as both Multivans we had were, a starting price of £57,387. Ouch. If it was my money I’d be tempted to go with the entry trim, and then be selective with the options – you want the two-tone paint (£2,850), which has 10 times the appeal of the metallic paint (£954) options, and electric sliding doors (£1,656) are a nice thing to have. I’d swerve the panoramic sunroof (£2,448) though, which on a van this size made it rather more sauna like inside than I appreciated.  

Sadly, you’re stuck with VW’s button free infotainment system whatever spec you go for, which even over 1,600 miles I still couldn’t get along with. I also suspected we’d got unlucky with the persistently rattly centre console of the previous Multivan, but I was wrong – it was no better here, unless weighed down with drinks and snacks. Turns out our broken British roads aren’t quite as smooth as the German ones it was presumably tested on. 

Our second Multivan also had the curious optional (no cost) six-seater package in place of the standard seven seats, which results in the loss of the middlemost seat in favour of the second row being able to swivel 180° to create a conference style seating configuration. Bit of a headscratcher, that one – how often are you going to want to rotate the seats, and do you really want the ability to do that at the sacrifice of a seventh? We’re not so sure – and predict you’d end up kicking yourself in the future. 

Those issues aside, however, there’s been little else to find fault with. The whole Top Gear office has been universal in its praise for the Multivan: in its time with us, it’s been to the Alps twice, on four staycations, and used as a makeshift office, camera car, canteen, people carrier, and much more. Is the Multivan the SUV antidote you never knew you needed, as we asked ourselves nine months ago? Without doubt. We’ll miss it.