Volkswagen Caddy Life 2006 Review

7-day Test

People movers used to be simple commercial van-based products with three rows of seats bolted in and a few extra windows. They were functional, spacious and able to carry more than your average two adult two-kid families but when it came to driving dynamics or creature comforts they were often sorely lacking.

Slowly, these rather agricultural products made way for a new generation of car or SUV-based family oriented transport that still offered the same versatile and spacious interiors but with much better road manners and a level of equipment that was more than your average tradie desired.

But along with the improvements came much higher price tags and these days if you are after a large vehicle that will seat seven in relative comfort and handle in a manner more appropriating a passenger car you will need to dig deep for at least around $35,000 with the average price around the $45K mark.

Volkswagen, a brand not unknown for its long history of people movers, has bucked the trend however and introduced the Caddy Life. Based on a van -- the small Caddy -- which in itself is based on a car -- Golf V -- it hits the market as the cheapest means to move seven passengers.

That is however, just seven passengers, for with the third row seat in place and in use, there is no space for any luggage. VW claims the Caddy Life offers the best of both worlds with a versatile interior that can accommodate a mix of bodies and bags and that much holds true as long as the body count is less than maximum. The second row folds and tumbles and the third row can be removed altogether -- although this takes the effort of two burly blokes.

With its high van roof and seats folded it can provide a cavernous load area capable of swallowing 2.3 cubic metres with a load length of 1.35m. So the space is there if you want it.

With its van origins, there is also an abundance of storage cubbies throughout the well finished but plasticky cabin. Space for passengers is good with high mounted second and third row seats enabling rear passengers to see forward across the top of the two front buckets. The seats are firm yet reasonably comfortable although the third row is really a kids-only zone.

There is also a good level of standard equipment that belies the Caddy's van origins that includes air conditioning, remote locking, power front windows and mirrors, cruise control and a quality single-slot CD audio system.

Entry into the rear is via two sliding doors while to gain access to the third row, it is a simple case of folding and flipping the 40 section of the second row.

Under the bonnet driving the front wheels is a Golf-derived 1.9-litre turbo diesel engine that drives through either a five-speed manual gearbox or optional six-speed semi-automatic DSG transmission.

Although the engine doesn't hide its diesel preference at idle, once on the move it is reasonably quiet and refined at urban speeds and very flexible. With its peak torque of 250Nm on tap from just 1900rpm, it is perky off the line and will pull from about 1500rpm in fourth gear if you are feeling lazy and feels particularly strong between about 2500rpm and 4000rpm.

The five-speed gearshift is solid and well defined and if you need to keep the engine revving in the power zone, is user-friendly enough to cope with regular shifting without being too taxing on the driver. At 100kmh on the highway, however, the engine is ticking over at a relatively high -- for a diesel -- 2800rpm and we feel that it could do with an extra ratio to make highway cruising that little bit more quiet and refined.

With its Golf front-end suspension, the Caddy Life handles better than you might expect but it still trails others in this segment. The suspension is reasonably firm and on decent tarmac, the ride is quite comfortable. At the same time, despite the high body, it doesn't lean too much through corners.

But head off the smooth freeway and things do change quite dramatically, especially if you are the sole occupant. With its leaf sprung dead rear axle, chopped up surfaces make the ride lumpy and bumpy and at speed, the rear end has a propensity to bounce around alarmingly reminding you that despite the seats, underneath the Caddy is still a small cargo van.

Not only do you feel rougher surfaces, you also hear them as the rear end bangs through bigger potholes and corrugations. Thankfully, the car is fitted with standard traction control, which at least helps keep it on the road but this is not a vehicle in which you want to drive in a hurry over less than perfect roads. It isn't the death trap that previous forward control van-based people movers once were but dynamically it falls short of most of its rivals and needs to be treated with care.

Part of the reason that people movers were never great sellers in Australia was that SUVs grew into far more refined and mature beasts that offered similar interior space and versatility with better on-road manners.

With the Caddy Life Volkswagen may have the cheapest seven seater on the market but at $31,990 for the manual diesel, it is still not that cheap and buyers may find the average refinement and dynamic compromises are not worth the small saving.  

Also read CarPoint's local launch review