Volkswagen Transporter long-term test: report 6
The VW Transporter has long been a staple of the medium van market, so now we're living with one to see if it can be the perfect photographer's apprentice...
The car Volkswagen Transporter panel van T32 Commerce Pro 2.0 TDI | Run by Max Edleston, photographer
Why we’re running it To see how well Volkswagen’s latest medium-sized van stacks up as a photographer’s apprentice
Needs to Offer more than enough space for all of our kit, long-distance comfort and connectivity to keep in touch with the office
Mileage 9814 Price £48,720 (inc. VAT) Best Price £48,720 (inc. VAT) Price as tested £51,102 (inc. VAT) Official economy 36.7mpg Test economy 35.9mpg
12 November 2025 – Parking practically
It surely won’t have escaped you that my Volkswagen Transporter is rather long. Indeed, at around 4.9 metres, it’s longer than most other cars on the road, and that means it’s sometimes cumbersome to park. And that’s especially the case when you happen to live and work in London, where parking space, especially on the street, is at a premium.
Parking a van isn’t really like parking a car, either. For one, there’s no traditional rear-view mirror to look at. On some vans, you can add a digital mirror which receives a feed from a camera mounted above the rear doors, but I didn’t choose this on my Transporter, because it’s rather expensive, at £1302.
That means instead I rely on my own judgement, the Volkswagen’s door mirrors, and the rear-view camera which comes on Commerce Plus versions of the Transporter and above. The camera itself is very good, displaying a clear image of what’s behind me on the Transporter’s infotainment screen, along with graphics to show how far away I am from other objects. Plus, there’s a top-down view which is useful for squeezing alongside other cars.
I’ve found that unlike some other cars I’ve driven, where the image makes it look as though you’re far closer to surrounding objects than you actually are, the Transporter’s image accurately allows you to judge your distance.
However good technology is, though, I still like to rely primarily on the mirrors. And on the Transporter these are brilliant, with a top section which shows a wide view of what’s behind me – useful for seeing other cars in my blind spot, as well as my surroundings when parking – and the bottom third angled down so you don’t kerb your wheels.
Don’t get me wrong, it’s taken some time to get used to having two mirrors to look at, but now it’s become second nature to check both whenever I’m parking up. And, fingers crossed, so far my alloys have remained unblemished. My Commerce Pro Transporter is the first trim level in the line-up to get 16in alloys as standard, and they really make my van stand out next to lesser versions which get steel wheels instead. It would be a shame, then, to mark mine due to careless parking.
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