Volkswagen Caddy MPV Review 2025

For almost as long as VW has sold purpose-designed passenger cars it’s also offered people-carrying versions of its commercial vehicles. Today these tend to be known as van-based MPVs with the brand selling a four-strong line-up of them — find out everything you need to know about the smallest with our full Volkswagen Caddy review.

Aimed at buyers who want the most amount of space for the least amount of cash, the Volkswagen Caddy is a versatile van-based car that pitches itself as a trendier alternative to the battery-powered Citroen e-Berlingo and Toyota Proace City Verso Electric, in addition to other Stellantis-produced clones of that same design.

While it borrows a lot from the Volkswagen Caddy Cargo, that van also borrows a good deal of its underpinnings from the VW Golf, which bodes well for comfort and a decent driving experience. It’s also worth highlighting that the Caddy is the sister car to the Ford Tourneo Connect, making it the VW’s most obvious rival.

Right from the start it’s apparent that the VW Caddy is really easy to drive, with an incredibly tight turning circle and soft suspension that isn't easily upset by broken road surfaces. Refinement is brilliant, too — the Caddy will happily sit at motorway speeds with only a bit of wind and road noise disturbing the peace.

Buyers can pick from a range of combustion engines for the Caddy. The 2.0-litre TDI diesel is available in 102PS and 122PS outputs, plus there’s a 1.5-litre TSI petrol with 116PS. The lower output diesel comes with a six-speed manual as does the petrol in entry-level specification, while the other options receive a seven-speed DSG dual-clutch automatic as standard.

Importantly for family buyers, the Volkswagen Caddy is available with a range of driver-assistance technology as standard, including an autonomous emergency braking system which can apply the brakes if it detects a potential collision, as well as lane-keep assist to stop you straying on the motorway. With its eSIM technology, it will also call the emergency services automatically and pinpoint your location if you're involved in an accident.

Equally importantly the VW Caddy is simply huge inside. You can pick from two body lengths, slightly confusingly named Caddy short wheelbase and Caddy Maxi, for the smaller and longer respectively.

Both sizes are available with a third row of seats making them seven-seaters, although we reckon the Caddy short wheelbase is best-treated as an ultra-practical five-seater. The boot will swallow up pretty much anything you might throw at it, while the rear seats can be folded back and forth — or, in the case of the third row, removed entirely when not required.

The standard Caddy starts from just over £29,000 and it's noticeably basic inside but the majority of buyers are likely to go for the higher-spec Caddy Life. This comes with desirable features like 16-inch alloy wheels, keyless entry and parking sensors at the front and rear. Prices of the Caddy Life start in the region of £33,500.

Ultimately a lot of potential VW Caddy buyers will walk straight past it in the dealer's showroom in favour of its Volkswagen Tayron seven-seater SUV. Yet the Caddy is more practical than the SUV could dare dream to be, it just checks out expensively compared with alternative offerings from other manufacturers.

What the Volkswagen Caddy isn’t is an unappealing to live with compromise you might be expecting of a van-based MPV.

It might be a van-derived MPV but the Volkswagen Caddy is arguably more car than van when it comes to the driving experience. Sharing its underpinnings including much of its suspension and steering with the current VW Golf is good news for the driver and passengers.

A proper coil spring suspension set up rather than the more industrial leaf spring arrangement at the back means it deals well with broken roads. Although it doesn’t handle like a giant hot hatchback it is game enough to play along on a twisty road. It’s composed on motorways which helps take the strain out of longer journeys.

Its electric power steering is light in town and offers decent feel at higher speeds, with the added bonus of a tight turning circle, so despite being spacious inside it’s quite easy to squeeze it into smaller parking spaces.

The Volkswagen Caddy is available with three engine options. The 2.0-litre TDI diesel can be had with 102PS and 280Nm of torque or 122PS and 320Nm outputs, with the lower-power version coming with a six-speed manual, while the more powerful version gets a seven-speed DSG gearbox as standard.

The other option is a 1.5-litre TSI petrol, with 116PS and 220Nm of torque, with a choice of six-speed manual or seven-speed DSG, depending on specification.

Top speed for the 102PS TDI is 109mph with the Caddy short wheelbase requiring 13.5 seconds for the 0-62mph dash and 14.0 seconds for the Caddy Maxi. By contrast, the 122PS version can reach 116mph and needs 11.4 seconds in short wheelbase guise for the 0-62mph sprint, extending to 11.8 seconds for the Maxi.

Curiously there’s far less variation for the 1.5-litre TSI petrol’s performance when transmission type and body size are added to the mix. All have a top speed of 113mph and can manage the 0-62mph benchmark in 11.9 seconds apart from the Maxi equipped with the manual gearbox, which takes 12.4 seconds to do the job.

There’s not a huge amount to choose between them in terms of outright speed, with both the diesels and the petrol offering decent torque from low engine speeds which makes acceleration relatively effortless if not searingly fast. If you plan on regularly loading up your Caddy then the more powerful diesel engine is the way to go, especially as the slick dual-clutch gearbox is well-matched to the diesel.

If urban journeys are likely to be more frequent then the TSI petrol makes more sense, with the added benefit of it being a little quieter than the diesel. The six-speed manual is easy to use and works well with the petrol too but the DSG is likely the best choice for most buyers.

Euro NCAP crash-tested the Volkswagen Caddy in 2021 and although the testing process has changed since then, at the time it achieved an impressive five stars.

It scored a strong 84% for adult occupant protection and 82% for child occupant protection, a moderate 69% for vulnerable road user mitigation but 79% for safety assist, thanks to a generous standard provision of safety kit.

All versions of the Volkswagen Caddy have a braked towing capacity of 1500kg, aside from the short wheelbase TSI manual and both the 122PS TDI DSG automatic entry-level Maxi and Life short wheelbase which have a reduced maximum of 1400kg.

The Volkswagen Caddy’s interior space is its trump card, with more room than most SUVs that are substantially larger on the outside. The large tailgate opens to reveal a large space with a low floor, making it easy to get it loaded up, although without the option of an electrical tailgate it can make closing it again tricky if you are not the tallest.

With all seven seats in place, the Caddy short wheelbase can only offer 191 litres compared 446 litres. When the third-row seats are folded into the floor leaving five places available, those volumes grow to 1213 litres and 1720 litres respectively.

Fold all of the back seats down to essentially turn the Caddy into a van with windows and those maximum capacities expand to 2556 litres for the short wheelbase and 3105 litres for the Maxi.

Front seat space is excellent, with the high roof providing all the headroom anyone could need as well as generous elbow room, with lots of fore and aft adjustment for drivers of any size.

The second row is almost as spacious, with the bonus of sliding doors makes it a breeze to get children in their seats, plus with three individual seats it’s not impossible to get three adults in either.

If you are stepping out of a conventional SUV into the Volkswagen Caddy you may find it something of a downgrade. There’s nothing inherently wrong with the interior but this is one area where it feels more closely related to its commercial vehicle sibling.

Much of the interior is finished in black plastic which not only looks relatively unappealing but is also hard to the touch, which reinforces the feeling of being sat in something that’s more van than car.

On the upside it does feel well constructed, which is important given the likelihood of it being used for heavy loads of passengers and luggage.

Early versions of Volkswagen Caddy came with a wider choice of infotainment systems than most but this is not necessarily a good thing, with the standard 6.5-inch system offering limited functionality.

More recently the standard models’ system became an 8.25-inch touchscreen with a 10.4-inch unit for Life versions, both with six speakers, Bluetooth and DAB radio, with a further option of expanding the system’s capability with streaming and internet for an extra £660. Disappointingly wireless Apple CarPlay is a further cost option at £192 and then only for Life-specification versions.

The system itself is relatively straightforward and may be familiar to anyone who has recently driven other recently made VWs but there are some drawbacks. The climate control functions are all housed within the system, proving fiddly to use on the move, while on occasion the software itself glitches, leaving you fumbling for the right option.

Prices start at £29,113 for the standard Volkswagen Caddy short wheelbase with the 1.5-litre TSI engine and manual gearbox. Sticking with the nameless entry-level trim but with the Maxi body, 122PS 2.0-litre TDI and DSG automatic transmission, the price rises to £35,791.

Least expensive when you upgrade to Life specification is the 102PS TDI engined, manual gearboxed short wheelbase model at £33,655, with the 122PS, DSG-equipped Maxi being the dearest at £38,689.

In comparison the bodily similar Ford Tourneo Courier starts at £34,620 rising to £40,270, while the electric Citroen e-Berlingo costs between £31,240 and £33,690.

As for used examples, expect to pay upwards of £20,000 for the earliest 2021 examples.

Running costs for the Volkswagen Caddy should be relatively low as all the engine options are relatively modest in terms of power and so fuel consumption in the 40s for the petrol and over 50 for the diesel versions should be within reach.

According to WLTP Combined cycle tests the Caddy short wheelbase in standard specification with the 102PS diesel engine will be the least thirsty averaging 49.6-53.3mpg.

Insurance groups are also quite low, with the basic version with a petrol engine getting into group 8 and rising to group 13.

Two trim level choices are available in the Volkswagen Caddy range — a nameless entry-level specification and a better-appointed Life alternative.

Standard features on the entry-level Volkswagen Caddy include:

• 16-inch steel wheels with plastic trims
• Body coloured bumpers
• Electrically adjustable and heated door mirrors
• Fabric seat upholstery
• 25-inch touchscreen for multimedia system
• DAB radio
• Bluetooth connectivity
• Six-speaker audio system
• Manual air-conditioning
• Cruise control
• Electric parking brake with Auto Hold
• Sliding luggage area cover

Additional niceties fitted the Volkswagen Caddy Life include:

• 16-inch Wien, silver-painted alloy wheels
• LED tail lights
• Black roof rails
• Electrically folding door mirrors
• Keyless entry and starting
• Parking sensors front and rear
• Reversing camera
• Trialog fabric seat upholstery
• Front seat lumbar adjustment
• Digital Cockpit driver’s display screen
• 0-inch touchscreen for multimedia system
• Two dashboard mounted USB-C sockets
• Storage drawers beneath the front seats
• Covered in-car waste bin