Volkswagen Caddy Review & Prices

The Volkswagen Caddy MPV might just be the most un-thrilling car on the roads today. It’s like watching an Avengers movie, but Robert Downey Jr, Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, and Mark Ruffalo have all been cut out of the film, leaving only Jeremy Renner. Not bad, but not really what you’d call a marquee act.

However, the Caddy MPV is also one of the most practical cars on the road today, thanks to being based on the Caddy van. Helpfully, the Caddy van is also based on the same box of components that Volkswagen uses to make the Golf and a whole host of other cars, so as far as van-to-car conversions go, it’s really more of a car-to-van-and-back-to-car conversion.

The natural alternative to the Caddy is the Citroen Berlingo, another van-based MPV - and one of our favourites. You might also consider other big, practical cars such as the Dacia Jogger, or a more traditional estate car such as the VW Golf Estate.

In terms of style, it has none. OK, so maybe that’s a bit unfair, but there’s no mistaking the upright, boxy van lines at the back. The blacked-out tailgate and the vertical rear lights at least give off a bit of visual interest, but at the front the nose is simple, plain, and a little snubby. It’s like a down-sized version of the look taken from the bigger Volkswagen Multivan. At least it’s not fussy, but the Ford Tourneo Connect looks a bit more interesting from the outside.

Inside, there’s all the space you could want, but little of the quality. In fairness, being based on the Caddy van means that everything inside the Caddy MPV is going to be rugged and long lasting, but there’s none of the nice soft-touch plastics that we’ve become used to in Volkswagen’s car lineup. A Dacia Jogger feels more appealing inside.

At least the front seats are comfy and the steering wheel looks and feels nice as it’s the same one as in the Golf. An 8.25-inch touchscreen comes as standard, but you can upgrade that to a 10.25-inch screen, while digital instruments are also an optional extra.

What you buy a Caddy for is the space, though, and in this area it delivers. There’s a short-wheelbase Caddy MPV with seats for five, which includes three individually shaped rear seats, which is good from a kiddie-carrying point of view but the fact that only the outer rear seats have ISOFIX points is a bit of a pain.

Rear legroom in the standard five-seat model is also a touch sparse, so you’re much better off upgrading to the long-wheelbase Maxi seven-seat version, which gets sliding middle row seats and much more space. The extra seats in the boot are well-sized too.

As for the boot space, this is where the Caddy really comes into its own. There’s 1,110 litres of boot space for the five-seat model, and a massive 1,452 litres for the seven-seat Maxi model, once you’ve folded away the third row. You can have a third row, and therefore seven seats, in the short wheelbase model, but we wouldn’t recommend it as there’s just not quite enough space. In the Maxi, even with seven seats occupied, there’s still generous and useable luggage space behind.

Engine choices are quite limited — you can pick from a 114hp 1.5-litre turbo petrol engine, or two 2.0-litre TDI diesels, with either 102hp or 122hp. The diesels are super-frugal, but a bit noisy so go for the petrol, which is only slightly less economical, but much smoother and quieter. There’s an optional seven-speed automatic gearbox available for the petrol and the higher-powered diesel.

You can check out the best Volkswagen Caddy deals on Carwow here, or look at other great Volkswagen deals. If you're looking for a used Volkswagen Caddy for sale, you can do that too, and remember that Carwow can even help you to sell your old car when the time comes.

There’s no getting around it — the Caddy MPV is really expensive. In base form, it’s as much as £10,000 more than a basic Citroen Berlingo, and a similar amount more than the new Ford Tourneo Courier (although the Courier is a slightly smaller car. Er, van). You can’t have an electric Caddy, but you can have an EV Berlingo (although it’s a bit short-ranged) but you can have a Caddy California, with a comfortable bed and a slide-out kitchen in the back, which is cool, but again very expensive.