Volkswagen Multivan Review & Prices

If you’ve got a lot of people to transport, then seven-seat SUVs are all well and good - but most of them are cramped in the third row and not really suited to being fully laden with adults. What you really need is an MPV - and the Volkswagen Multivan is the best of the lot.

Despite the ‘van’ in its name, not to mention its boxy looks, the Multivan actually shares more of its DNA with the Volkswagen Golf rather than the Transporter panel van. That does mean a pretty hefty price tag, but think of it like buying an American-style fridge-freezer. There are cheaper ways to keep your food cold, but it’s a great way to ensure you have enough space - and it’s more stylish than many alternative solutions.

If you find yourself looking at the Volkswagen Multivan you probably have proper van-based MPVs on your shortlist - cars like the Ford Tourneo Custom, the Renault Trafic Passenger or the Mercedes V-Class. Other seven-seaters you might be looking at include the Land Rover Discovery or BMW X7 - or, if you know you’ll only need the third row occasionally, smaller options like the Peugeot 5008.

None of these can hold a candle to the Multivan’s interior, though. As standard, you get seven separate seats that slide and fold with space for an adult in each one. Opt for the long-wheelbase model and they’ll have room to stretch out. On some models you have an even more opulent six-seater layout, while on others you can turn the centre row around for a conference-style setup.

Add in a clever sliding central table, cupholders galore, and enough USB ports for everyone to charge their gadgets, and you can see why the Multivan is a parent’s dream for keeping children in the back comfortable and occupied.

Life’s good for the driver, too. The Multivan feels like a car up front, with digital instruments, comfortable seats and a big central touchscreen that controls almost everything.

It feels like a car to drive, too - admittedly a large and heavy one. The Multivan’s available with a surprisingly perky petrol engine, some efficient diesels and even a plug-in hybrid model which has the potential to really slash your running costs if you can keep the batteries topped up.

It’s rather expensive to buy, though not too bad if you’re comparing it to top-end versions of other people-carriers. But you get what you pay for here, and if you’re sensible with the extensive options list the Volkswagen Multivan is an absolutely cracking MPV.

Interested? You can find our best deals on the Volkswagen Multivan here, or check out deals on other Volkswagen models here. You can also browse Carwow for used examples of the Volkswagen Multivan - and remember that if you want to sell your car online, Carwow can help with that too.

The Multivan starts from just over £48,000 for a basic diesel model in entry-level Life trim. This does come with most of the basics, though if you’re coming from a car of a similar price you might find the lack of things like heated seats a bit hard to swallow.

Style trim commands a £10,000+ premium over the entry level but does have a much greater level of equipment, including nice touches like electric sliding doors. Meanwhile, you can easily add another £10,000 through the options list - but most of the stuff on there is a ‘nice-to-have’ rather than an essential, such as an upgraded sound system or a vast panoramic glass roof.

That does sound like a lot, especially if you’re looking at something like a £32,000 SEAT Tarraco SUV. The Multivan’s price is certainly comparable with similar versions of the Ford Tourneo Custom or Mercedes V-Class, though - certainly when you factor in that all versions of the Multivan have lots of equipment and an automatic gearbox.

Feels big and cumbersome compared to a car, but it’s superbly easy to drive with great visibility

In town

The Multivan is a big vehicle, especially in the bigger of its two body lengths, and there’s no cheating physics - so you’ll have to make sure parking spaces are large enough and you might breathe in a little going through tight gaps and width restrictions.

However, for a vehicle this size it’s very easy to drive. All Multivans are automatic, so your leg gets a rest in heavy traffic, and the steering is light and accurate so threading through traffic or parallel parking is a doddle. Visibility - often a struggle in bigger vehicles - is great too, thanks to thin windscreen pillars with a glazed section reducing your blindspots at the front. You do lose your view out of the back if you have a central passenger, but that’s common to most vehicles like this - and big side mirrors help make up for it.

The Multivan’s suspension deals pretty well with speed bumps and pockmarked roads. If you’re travelling with just one or two people, it can feel a little firm and crashy over potholes, but that’s because it’s designed for seven people and their luggage - fully laden it’s much better. 

If you do primarily town mileage, then the plug-in hybrid engine is by far the best bet. It feels very luxurious travelling on electricity alone, which the Multivan can do for around 20-25 miles depending on your driving style. It’s also very quick off the line for such a big vehicle. 

On the motorway

A little bit of wind noise from the bluff front and the big mirrors doesn’t spoil the Multivan’s very relaxing motorway manners. The lower-powered engines can be a bit raucous getting up to speed but once you’re cruising they settle down nicely and generally the cabin is pretty refined.

The diesels are the best engines for those who do a lot of motorway miles, but even the plug-in hybrid is good here. It’s actually the quickest engine of the lot, and the ability to coast down inclines on electric power means it’s more efficient than you’d think over long distances. 

On a twisty road

It’s a little less lumbering than a Mercedes V-Class and about on par with a Ford Tourneo Custom - but the Multivan doesn’t like to be hustled down a country lane. There’s a surprising turn of pace from the top petrol and the plug-in hybrid engine, but mostly the powertrains prefer to be driven in a more relaxed manner.

Adjustable suspension is available as an option, but even ‘Sport’ mode doesn’t make much difference as you still feel the Multivan lean a lot through the bends. If you do press on, though, you’ll find the steering surprisingly satisfying for such a big vehicle.

A brilliantly flexible space for passengers, but alternatives can carry eight or even nine people

Negatives out of the way first - the Multivan is a strict seven-seater, with a 2-2-3 seating layout. Most van-based MPVs, such as the Ford Tourneo Custom, have six seats in the rear, and some even have a double front passenger seat to carry nine passengers total - so the VW loses out a little in terms of overall carrying capacity.

For the seven people who can sit here, though, it’s very good indeed. The front seat passengers have a great time of things, with comfortable seats with loads of adjustment. There are armrests on both sides, and a more car-like driving position than you might expect from a vehicle that’s so upright. 

Storage up front is good too. There’s a big glovebox, multi-level door bins and a couple of smaller covered storage areas higher up the dashboard. Flip down a cubby in the centre and you’ll reveal a pair of cupholders, above which sits a shelf for a smartphone. There’s wireless charging here on the higher Style trim level, but a pair of USB-C ports take care of that on the lower-spec ones so it’s no huge loss.

Space in the back seats

With all five rear seats able to slide individually, you can easily balance out legroom between passengers and make more room in the boot if needed. Five six-foot adults can get comfortable in the back with ease. If your family is very tall, you might prefer the Long version, which gives just a little extra flexibility - this is also useful for luggage as the regular model has quite a shallow boot when all five seats are pushed back.

Accessing the third row is a doddle - the middle seats slide all the way forward and fold out of the way, and the Multivan’s big sliding doors create a sizeable aperture to scramble through. They’re a boon in car parks, too, as they can’t ding the vehicle next to you. They can be a little heavy if you’re parked on a hill, though the electrically operated doors of the Style model make this easier.

Rear passengers have full use of a clever sliding centre console, too. At the press of a button it rises up and two airline-style tables fold out, plus it’s littered with cupholders and a big storage drawer. There are also cupholders and USB-C ports along the vehicle’s sides, plus more tables on the front seatbacks. It’s really versatile back here.

Boot space

The Multivan’s enormous tailgate could be difficult to open if you’ve parked close to a wall. Volkswagen quotes a generous 469 litres of space in the standard wheelbase Multivan and 763 litres for the Long model, but that’s when loaded right up to the roof - it’s not so generous up to the rear window. 

If you want to load large bags or other big items, you’ll probably want to slide the third row of seats forward by a click or two. A Ford Tourneo Custom or Mercedes V-Class has more luggage space as standard, with the latter quoting a minimum of 610 litres of space.

The Multivan’s seats do fold flat but they don’t disappear into the floor like you might expect from a more traditional MPV or seven-seat SUV. If you fold them all down and slide them as far forward as they’ll go, you’ll liberate plenty of room - but for the maximum loading volume you’ll need to take them out entirely. They are pretty light compared to, say, the seats in the old Volkswagen Caravelle - but you will need somewhere to store them once they’re out.

A high-quality interior, but the infotainment is frustrating to use

The Multivan’s interior has a lot that’s easily recognisable from Volkswagen’s passenger car range. The steering wheel and gear selector, for example - or the standard-fit digital dials and infotainment touchscreen. It’s all very high-tech and very nice, giving you the impression that you’re in a luxury people-mover rather than just a glorified van.

Style models even have a swathe of wood trim across the dashboard, which just about skirts the line between classy and tacky - you’ll make up your own mind. What’s more important is that everything feels high-quality, even if a few of the materials - such as those lower down on the dash or on the door cards - don’t entirely feel like they justify the high price tag.

Most frustrations come with the infotainment system. It’s the same one fitted to Volkswagen’s passenger cars, and it deals with not only sat-nav and media but climate controls and driving functions too. It’s clear and most functions are easy to find, but it’s needlessly complicated to alter the air-conditioning en route or tailor the driving mode to one you want.

It’s also quite prone to crashing, which isn’t ideal if you’re relying on it for your route planning. It’s an extra shame because it replaces almost all physical switchgear in the vehicle. There isn’t even a volume knob - instead, you get an awkward touch-sensitive slider that’s impossible to see in the dark.

The Multivan is pretty efficient for how big and heavy it is. The fuel economy champion is theoretically the plug-in hybrid, which returns an official figure of more than 150mpg. In the real world, that’ll depend on how often you charge it up. We saw around 24 miles of electric range from a full charge, which could easily be enough for a school run or a commute without using the petrol engine at all. With a discharged battery, you can expect about 30mpg from this engine around town and more than 35mpg on a long motorway run, which is impressive.

For the diesels, you can expect to see close to 40mpg if you drive carefully, while the petrol engines provide the lowest fuel economy at around 30mpg at a cruise. These figures are still pretty comparable with what you’d get from a Ford Tourneo Custom or Mercedes V-Class, though.

The PHEV Multivan sits in the 14% category for BIK company car tax, which is very reasonable. All Multivans are subject to the additional road tax supplement for cars over £40,000.

The Multivan has a full five-star Euro NCAP safety rating with impressive ratings all round - 90 percent for adult occupants, 89 percent for child occupants and even 87 percent in the tricky Safety Assist category.

All models come with autonomous emergency braking, lane keeping assist, adaptive cruise control and more airbags than you can shake a stick at, which is reassuring if you’re going to fill the interior with fragile children.

Volkswagen’s warranty is just three years and 60,000 miles, though this is matched by the offerings from Ford and Mercedes. In fact, the only manufacturer who offers a long warranty on a big MPV like this is Toyota with the Proace Verso.

VW’s reputation for reliability is middle-of-the-pack, with a mediocre performance in the 2023 Driver Power owner satisfaction survey. The Multivan is also much more closely related to the brand’s passenger cars than it is its vans, which suggests the equipment and engines won’t necessarily have that commercial vehicle longevity.