Overview
What is it?
This is the latest generation Volkswagen Caddy, although if you’re looking at the images above and seeing far too much glass for your liking, you’ll need to click these blue words to be taken to our commercial Caddy Cargo van review.
The current fifth-gen Caddy also comes as a small campervan in this rather natty California spec, but here we’ll focus on the people-carrying Caddy Life.
What’s that then?
Forget the oversized Touareg and the overpriced ID.4, the Caddy Life is almost certainly the most practical family Volkswagen on sale today. You can even have it in long-wheelbase ‘Maxi’ form in some parts of the world. You will still have to buy it through Volkswagen’s commercial vehicles branch, but prices start at a remarkably reasonable £25,379.
Tell me more about this Caddy…
The new Caddy sits atop the VW Group’s MQB platform, meaning it borrows powertrains, safety equipment and many interior bits from the very-much-a-car Mk8 Golf. Does that mean it no longer drives like a van? Click through to the driving tab of this review to find out.
The aforementioned powertrains include a 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbodiesel with either 101bhp or 120bhp. The former can only be paired with a six-speed manual gearbox, whereas the latter gets a choice of manual or seven-speed DSG auto. Just one petrol engine is available – a sprightly 112bhp 1.5-litre turbo four-cylinder that comes with a manual only in base-spec Caddy trim or with a DSG only in top-spec Life trim.
There are no hybrid, PHEV or fully-electric options, and we wouldn’t expect to see any in the very near future – the Caddy is perhaps the epitome of modern-day motoring simplicity.
It looks good though?
Doesn’t it just. Most of the world might have forgotten about proper MPVs, but Volkswagen clearly felt that enough people would buy a new Caddy to warrant some actual styling. That face is mighty handsome and you can have some fancy metallic paint options including ‘Copper Bronze’, ‘Fortana Red’ and ‘Golden Green’.
Our choice from the range
Volkswagen
1.5 TSI Life 5dr DSG
£29,370
What's the verdict?
“A massively practical VW that isn’t an SUV. Benefits greatly from its new MQB platform”
The Caddy Life has benefitted massively from the move to Volkswagen’s MQB platform, with proper car-like driving dynamics and better equipment than you’d expect from a van-based lump. It even looks good these days. Okay it might not be the most fashionable thing on four wheels, but it’s an immensely spacious family car for the money. Time to forget all about that crossover you were thinking of test driving…
Driving
What is it like to drive?
If you read the first page of this review this might not come as a surprise, but the current-generation Caddy is an excellent thing to drive. Okay it might not be the last word in refinement, but that’s primarily thanks to a slight lack of soundproofing and the roomy-but-boomy cabin.
That move to the Golf’s MQB Evo platform (which also underpins the Seat Leon, the Skoda Octavia, the Cupra Formentor and the current Audi A3) has benefitted the current Caddy massively, with leaf springs being swapped out for a proper coil-sprung rear axle too.
What are the engines like?
So far we’ve driven the Caddy Life with the 1.5-litre TSI petrol engine and VW’s venerable 7spd DSG. We’ve also tested the same engine with the six-speed manual in Caddy Cargo form – you can read more about that by clicking these blue words.
The little four-cylinder is responsive and more than powerful enough with 112bhp and a 0-62mph time of 11.9 seconds, while the DSG is super smooth and can be overridden with wheel-mounted paddles. The redesigned suspension means it can corner like a car too, although there is a bit more roll than you’d find in something like a Golf.
You mentioned refinement?
Ah yes. The cabin can get a little rattly over bumpy surfaces and that blunt shape means you’ll hear a fair bit of wind noise at motorway speeds, but compared to other van-based cars, this car-based-van-based-car (we think we got that right?) is still a class above.
And there are new safety systems?
Lots of them. The Caddy Life gets 19 different driver aids including (but not limited to) pedestrian monitoring, city emergency braking, lane assist, trailer assist for help with towing and even VW’s impressive Travel Assist system that can take the brunt of the driving duties on a motorway at speeds of up to 112mph.
Interior
What is it like on the inside?
Don’t expect to jump inside a Caddy and find plush materials and cutting-edge tech. Volkswagen hasn’t exactly been at the Bentley parts bin for this one.
Instead there’s lots of hard-wearing plastics and strong, family-friendly fabric seats – five of them as standard but you can upgrade to seven by ticking an £840 option box or by upgrading to the long-wheelbase Maxi.
The boot is ginormous with a huge tailgate too. In the standard five-seat Caddy Life you get 1,213 litres of space behind the rear seats (compared to 380 litres in the Mk8 Golf). Remove the back bench altogether and you’re left with a 2,556-litre chasm. That’s MPV practicality for you.
The base-spec Caddy doesn’t get too much kit, with a DAB radio system and a small 6.5-inch touchscreen, but upgrade to Life trim and you’re looking at a proper 8.25-inch infotainment screen with the option of the larger 10.0-inch Discover Media sat nav system from the Golf. There’s also the option of a fully digital 10.25-inch instrument screen.
What else to mention in here? Well, there’s not quite old Citroen Berlingo levels of storage but it’s certainly not bad. There are plenty of cupholders and cubby-holes (including ones just above your head) plus a neat little drawer underneath each front seat. All trim levels get plenty of airbags too, with a couple for those in the front seat and curtain airbags on all rows.
Buying
What should I be paying?
A very basic Caddy starts at £25,379 in the UK, but it’s the Life trim you’ll really want at a very reasonable £29,569. That brings 16-inch alloy wheels as standard (although you can upgrade to 17s or even 18s).
It also adds the proper infotainment screen and the option of upgrading to the 10.0-inch unit for £1,302. Given our experiences with the Mk8 Golf we might avoid that option though, spending £174 instead on Apple CarPlay/Android Auto connectivity.
LED headlights are also optional, as is the fantastic – if a little expensive at nearly £1,000 – panoramic roof. Spec the latter and the Caddy cabin is literally filled with light from all angles. Giant windows mean visibility for the driver is excellent, although kids in the back might struggle with the non-opening windows on the sliding doors.
In terms of fuel consumption, we managed to get 45.7mpg from the 1.5-litre petrol with DSG ‘box – actually slightly better than Volkswagen claims. The 2.0-litre diesel in either state of tune should get you into the 50s.
Keyword: Volkswagen Caddy Life