Volkswagen Multivan review

The Volkswagen Multivan is undoubtedly an MPV for the modern age. Think back to a VW ‘van with windows’ of the past and you’ll see that this latest iteration is a whole galaxy away from that. Simplicity is long gone, replaced by luxury and usability.

For a start, it's a seven-seater that has two seats up front and five individual rear seats. Better still, the seats can be slid back and forth, reclined and even swivelled as required. And to ensure that everyone’s comfortable, there are separate climate control zones, and you can even specify voice assistance through an Amazon Alexa device.

Now, to cram all that in, the Multivan naturally had to be really big, and you’d probably assume it has the rudimentary underpinnings of a van, right? Nope. It’s actually based on the lengthened chassis of a VW Golf.

The benefits of that are multiple, including allowing the Multivan to have much of the tech that already appears in the Golf, plus an extensive range of engine options. It also allows Volkswagen to offer two lengths – Standard and Long. With interior space being such a high priority in this class – the same one the Ford Tourneo Custom and Mercedes V-Class also find themselves in – having that choice is only a good thing.

What’s new?

- July 2025 - AirConsole app introduced, allowing passengers to play video games on the touchscreen when stationary

- April 2025 - eHybrid version added – plug-in hybrid (PHEV) with an official all-electric range of up to 57.2 miles, four-wheel drive eHybrid 4MOTION version also available

- March 2022 - 2.0 TDI diesel engine added to the range

Our recommended engine is the 148bhp 2.0 TDI diesel, which just so happens to be the entry-level option. It gives the Volkswagen Multivan more low-down grunt than the petrols and will lug a fully loaded van up to motorway speeds without breaking a sweat. And while its 0-62mph time of 11.6sec isn’t particularly special in the wider MPV market, it nonetheless still gets the job done without feeling sluggish. 

That said, if you spend a lot of your time in town or the city, the 1.4 eHybrid plug-in hybrid (PHEV) with its electric-only range of just over 30 miles – not too far off the Ford Tourneo Custom PHEV’s 35 miles – is well worth considering. With 215bhp and the instant assistance you get from an electric motor, it also feels every bit as brisk as its 9.0sec acceleration time suggests.

It’s just as swift as the 148bhp 1.5 TSI VW Touran – which is pretty good considering the heft of the Multivan. The downside is its tiny 45-litre petrol tank, compared with the 60-litre tank available with the other engine choices. That limits the eHybrid’s range on long trips, and you'll be lucky to get up to motorway speeds on electric power alone.

On paper, the eHybrid is just as quick as the smooth yet swift 201bhp 2.0 TSI petrol engine, although the latter’s thirst for petrol won’t be to everyone's liking. The 134bhp 1.5 TSI petrol will be better in this regard, but its 12.2sec sprint to 62mph suggests you’ll need to thrash it mercilessly when getting up to motorway speeds.

Being tall and quite long, it's not as manoeuvrable as a family hatchback around town, but it's certainly more wieldy than the Tourneo Custom. 

If you’re coming at the Multivan from a regular car, you'll notice that the steering is slower and requires more turns when, for example, reversing into a parking space. Its accuracy means you quickly adapt, though, and there's a reassuring heft to it at higher speeds, so you'll have confidence in holding your lane on a motorway or negotiating a series of B-road bends.

However, there are limits to how quickly you can go in twists and turns because, being taller and heavier than smaller MPVs such as the Touran, the Multivan leans more in corners. Its grip levels, meanwhile, are respectable for this type of vehicle, but the tyres will squeal in protest far sooner than in smaller rivals.

Ride quality is good: the suspension deals with the initial shock of potholes and expansion joints before it gets to you. However, you can feel a thwack over larger, sharper abrasions, something the Touran is better at isolating you from. The Multivan isn’t quite as refined as that MPV at 70mph either, although it is far quieter with less wind noise than the Renault Trafic Passenger.

Volkswagen gives you the (expensive) option of adaptive suspension that’ll enable you to tailor the ride to match your driving style and the road you're on. We haven't tested it yet, but we'll update this review when we have.

The eHybrid's brakes are consistent and easy to judge, despite having to incorporate the regenerative braking system that tops up the battery as the car slows down. Sadly, this version isn’t as refined at motorway speeds because its six-speed gearbox buzzes away more at higher revs than the seven-speed 'box you get with the other engines.

“While certain bumps cause some shudder, I found the ride generally calm, whether around town or on the motorway.” – Oliver Young, Reviewer

Step up into the Volkswagen Multivan and you'll find that it's easy to settle into a comfortable driving position. Aside from a steering wheel that, in typical van fashion, is angled away from you a touch too much, the seat itself gets height adjustment and standard electric lumbar support.

There’s plenty of under-thigh support to keep you comfortable on long drives, plus you get fold-down arm rests on both sides of the driver’s seat. Style trim is trimmed in a microfleece material that's particularly soft.

With plenty of deep glazing all around, big door mirrors, and a commanding driving position, visibility is excellent. Every version of the Multivan comes with parking sensors front and rear, and there’s a reversing camera as well.

Much like in a van, the dash is made of hard plastics. However, the Multivan has a range of textures to suggest some effort has been made (although the fake wood grain on Style trim might not be to everyone’s taste).

Every Multivan gets a 10in touchscreen infotainment system with Android Auto and wireless Apple CarPlay smartphone mirroring. Wireless phone-charging remains an option across the range, although there are six USB-C sockets throughout the interior to keep your devices topped up. Style features an upgraded infotainment system with sat-nav and Alexa voice recognition. 

The trouble is this infotainment system isn’t as easy to get on with as the older Volkswagen infotainment set-up found in the VW Touran. The row of touch-sensitive controls for both the air-con and volume controls aren’t even illuminated, making it awkward to use at night. 

A digital driver instrument cluster is standard, and range-topping Style has a fully configurable display that can be easily operated through buttons on the steering wheel. That makes up for some of the infotainment system’s shortcomings, and also gives the Multivan a far more modern feel than MPVs that are still using analogue dials and tiny LCD displays. 

Neither of those rivals is available with the LED headlights you get on the Multivan, either. Style trim upgrades these to matrix LEDs, which automatically adapt the main beam pattern to avoid dazzling other drivers. The Multivan’s standard sound system is decent enough, but you can upgrade it to an 840-watt 13-speaker Harman Kardon set-up at a cost.

“You sit high and mighty and, with how great visibility is, I felt very comfortable behind the wheel.” – Oliver Young, Reviewer

Head, leg and shoulder room is in plentiful supply in the front of the Volkswagen Multivan, and you get a number of covered cubbies to hide things in. There are also two glove boxes, and two cupholders that flip down from the centre console.

It's a similar story for rear-seat occupants. The second row is made up of two individual chairs that can slide, recline, or spin round to face the third row in a conference style. A sliding centre console is fitted to a middle rail that runs between all three rows. It features a couple of cup holders, and can be made to pop up to reveal two fold-out tray tables. There are also flip-up trays on the backs of the front seats.

The third row can either be made up of three seats or two individual seats (the six-seat lay-out is a no-cost option). The Multivan is better for rear head room than all car-based MPVs and if the middle row is slid forwards a touch, it beats them for leg room too. All seats in the second and third rows get Isofix mounting points for securing child car seats, and the outer seats get pull-out draws.

Boot space for the standard length Multivan is typical for an MPV with all seats in place – in other words, you’ll struggle to get a bulky pushchair in there. You do get a hard cover that acts as a divider, so you can stack items above the boot floor using the luggage area’s height, rather than its length. For anyone needing more space, there's a Long variant that has a greater rear overhang to extend the boot area – this gives you enough room for, say, a Brompton fold-up bicycle and a couple of carry-on bags.

“Space is the key reason you’d buy one of these vehicles, so I’m happy to say that’s a core strength here.” – Oliver Young, Reviewer

The Volkswagen Multivan is quite pricey compared with the VW Touran and other regular MPVs although that’s to be expected because you’re paying for an awful lot more metal. It's considerably cheaper than the Mercedes V-Class and (by a smaller margin) the Ford Tourneo Custom. 

The flipside of it costing more than most car-based MPVs is that the Multivan is very good at fending off depreciation. It holds its value far better than most rivals and even betters some high-end, limited-run performance cars. That means that over the course of ownership, your running costs will actually be very affordable, and high residuals help to keep monthly PCP finance quotes low (future values form part of the equation). 

Anyone looking at this from a company car tax perspective will want to take a look at the eHybrid model, which will cost you far less than every other model in the range. The only plug-in hybrid rival is the Ford Tourneo Custom PHEV, which does beat the Multivan in terms of CO2 and electric-only range (albeit not by much). 

The eHybrid has the best fuel economy on paper, but you’ll need to charge up the battery regularly to get anywhere near its 156.9mpg official figure. Its maximum charging speed is just 3.6kWh, so it’ll take around four hours from a dedicated wall charger, or roughly six hours from a three-pin plug.

The 2.0 TDI will do more than 40mpg, while the 1.5 TSI is in the mid-30s. The 2.0 TSI barely breaks 30mpg, and will be the priciest version to run.

Equipment levels are good, with entry-level Life models getting parking aids, adaptive cruise control, a 10in infotainment system, LED headlights, plus 16in alloy wheels (17in for the eHybrid model). We think it’s a bit of an oversight that there are no rear climate vents in this version, meaning you’ll have to specify three-zone climate control. 

We’d stick with Life – Style is worth considering but is a lot more expensive. Style gets rear air-con, plus matrix LED headlights, sat-nav, heated front seats and steering wheel, Alexa voice activation, and electric sliding doors and tailgate. 

In terms of safety, the Multivan received a full five-star rating from Euro NCAP under the latest testing regime. All the rivals were tested under the old system, or so long ago that the ratings have expired, so drawing comparisons is impossible.

You get lots of safety tech, including automatic emergency braking (AEB), speed and road sign recognition, and lane-keep assistance. Style adds blind-spot monitoring and rear cross-traffic alert (to warn of a vehicle crossing your path when backing up).  

Volkswagen finished in a slightly disappointing 18th place out of 31 manufacturers in the 2024 What Car? Reliability Survey. That's way behind Toyota but ahead of Mercedes. Like every VW, the Multivan is covered by a warranty for three years or 60,000 miles, whatever comes first. 

“While I wouldn’t call it cheap, you get a lot for your money. That goes for space, first and foremost, but also standard kit.” – Oliver Young, Reviewer

Buy it if...

- You need lots and lots of passenger space

- You want a choice of petrol, diesel or plug-in hybrid power

- You’re okay with a boxy, van-like look

Don’t buy it if…

- You want a first-rate driving experience

- You want a truly plush interior

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