Volkswagen ID Buzz long-term test: report 8

The car Volkswagen ID Buzz Style SWB 77kWh Pro Run by Stuart Milne, digital editor

Why it’s here We want to find out if a more traditional MPV format can still make for an appealing and practical family car. And more importantly, if the funky styling can win over diehard petrolheads.

Needs to Offer effortless practicality to families, yet be the consummate commuter car

Mileage 13,986 Price £63,835 Target price £60,335 Price as tested £66,945 Official range 255 miles Test range 221 miles

26 February 2024 – Under the bonnet

‘What’s under the bonnet’ is a question familiar to many electric car drivers. It’s a fair one: with batteries usually stored under the floor there ought to be a big storage space where you’d usually find an engine. And in some models there is.

The term ‘bonnet’ is rather grand for the Volkswagen ID Buzz’s small, lightweight cover. Pull the release in the passenger footwell and it opens. It feels like a tough bath panel, and is almost certainly designed to disintegrate in the event of a crash. So far, it’s not festooned with stone chips; a surprise given the Buzz’s bluff frontage.

What’s in there? Not a great deal: some polystyrene protection and some bits that will likely only be accessed much later in the Buzz’s life as part of routine servicing or maintenance. The reason for my poking around was to top up the windscreen washer fluid – a must-do for driving in the winter. 

Despite the small access area, it’s easy to get close to the filler neck, although the job might’ve been easier still if I was using something more wieldy than a five-litre bottle of diluted screenwash.

The Buzz has since been whisked off to a dealer to get an airbag warning light resolved due to a software glitch. The replacement Buzz had a door fault which randomly popped the side door open on the latch – fortunately only when stationary – sometimes setting the alarm off. It was traced to a fault with the door mechanism fooling the door solenoid into thinking the door is obstructed from closing fully, then popping itself open.

Strangely, my own Buzz has since developed the same fault, so another trip to the dealer may beckon before long.

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