Volkswagen Caddy Maxi Comfortline 4MOTION 2011 Review

Price Guide (recommended price before statutory and delivery charges): $45,490
Options fitted (not included in above price): Metallic paint, satellite navigation/RNS510 audio
Crash rating: TBA
Fuel: Diesel
Claimed fuel economy (L/100km): 6.7
CO2 emissions (g/km): 177
Also consider: Nissan Dualis +2 Ti, Subaru Exiga Premium

Volkswagen's Caddy Maxi Life is a strange amalgam of commercial vehicle-cum-peoplemover with some semblance of SUV functionality thrown in.

Commercial vehicles converted to the role of people moving were once all the rage, but then SUVs arrived on the scene. All those folk who grew up watching Malcolm Douglas and Vincent Serventy now wanted to visit remote places -- and take their progeny with them.

Volkswagen has never forsaken the idea that a van could make a decent peoplemover, however, despite fielding two of its own SUVs, the Tiguan and Touareg. When it comes to moving more than five people in one trip, VW offers the Transporter and people-carrying derivatives of that model -- or the Caddy.

This vehicle on test was the Caddy Maxi Life Comfortline 4Motion 320TDI. Bit of a mouthful, but basically it's a long-wheelbase Caddy in an upmarket specification with four-wheel drive and a turbodiesel engine developing 320Nm of torque. Volkswagen neglected to mention in its name that this vehicle also came with a six-speed DSG (dual-clutch) transmission.

With all of those attributes, the Caddy doesn't come cheap. As tested the price was $49,270. For the same sort of money you can purchase diesel SUVs that will likely take the seven-person family further off road than the Caddy will. If the Caddy's turning circle is a strongpoint offroad, its long wheelbase isn't. It's for this reason we suggest the VW is likely to be most at home in the snowfields, where it would be quite capable and safe. But if travel to the snow is the only reason you need 4WD, there are diesel SUVs that will seat seven and will execute that role with the same degree of competence.

But if the owner also requires lower running costs, ease of use, roominess and all-round flexibility, the Caddy mounts its own argument in its favour. The VW can tow up to 1400kg (braked), so it's capable of hauling a ski boat, trail bikes or other recreational vehicles for a family of seven on camping holidays. Around town the Caddy is practical and easy to operate. It's also economical and provides ready access to all three rows of seats for older occupants.

Even with all three rows of seats in use, there's still plenty of space behind for luggage and sporting equipment, or the owner can take the seats out during the week and use it as a dedicated commercial vehicle, with a tailgate at the rear and sliding doors at the side. And all that's to say nothing of the safety afforded by the all-wheel-drive system. Very few vehicles can provide the sort of versatility to approach the Caddy in this specification.

For its size and its stature, the Caddy was surprisingly compact in tight spaces. The turning circle was impressive for the car's three-metre wheelbase. Inside, the driver had a commanding view of the road ahead, although the field of vision behind was not so hot. That's to be expected, given the Caddy's commercial vehicle origins, but if you're a driver of passenger cars rather than commercials the oblique view to the rear might come as a shock.

But from the driver's position the Caddy offered most of the virtues of VW passenger cars, although it seemed spartan considering the purchase price. Clearly the price of the vehicle was down to its mechanicals, rather than its interior fittings and fixtures.

Seating accommodates adults of average height across all three rows and access to the rearmost seat was very easy to arrange. Entering and exiting the Caddy from the second row of seats doesn't get any simpler in fact. Unlike some SUVs and people movers, the Caddy's H-point was age-appropriate across a wide spectrum -- from the very young to the very old. It wasn't just the step height that was right, it was also the Caddy's generous headroom in the rear. And once you're inside, the stadium seating provided a panoramic vista forward for little tackers.

Turbo lag was a problem and negated one of the principal virtues of the 4Motion drivetrain -- being able to just tramp it in the wet and slot into traffic. Changing lanes one morning, with a fast-moving Territory charging up from behind, the Caddy needed to get on boost and take off, but delayed doing so while the turbo spooled up. The smooth and rapid shifting of the DSG box helps to reduce the exposure to turbo lag, but in a higher gear the drivetrain can be caught flat-footed. If the driver can foresee a need for performance, he or she can get on the gas early enough for it not to be a problem, but emergencies don't usually provide much warning.

Otherwise the diesel engine was a good unit. It was powerful once in its stride and was also quiet and way more refined than one would expect of a diesel in a converted commercial vehicle. The turbodiesel was, finally, fairly frugal. With a real mix of commuting and open-road drives over the course of the week, it ended up using an average of 7.3L/100km, according to the trip computer. Despite being a quiet unit, the engine could be heard working at freeway speeds -- just a subdued rumble, however.

Overall the Caddy rode comfortably enough, although drivers of out-and-out people movers might expect something a little cushier than what the Volkswagen has on offer. It rode well enough over secondary-level bumps, but felt unyielding over the larger holes and lumpy bits. This didn’t really translate into sports-car handling however. There's no doubt that the Caddy offered good grip -- and did encourage the driver to push a little harder if time was tight, occasionally surprising drivers of other cars.

And if the Caddy seemed conspicuous overtaking an SV6 Commodore on the outside of a bend in a dual-lane arterial, imagine how conspicuous it was parked in among the bland-mobiles in a shopping centre car park. Finished in bright metallic blue and standing about 30 per cent taller than the shopping trolleys around it, the Caddy could be missed. Bonus points for that!

According to VW, the Caddy provides more room and more luggage-carrying capacity than many of its likely SUV competitors. The Caddy, in fact, has enough above-average scores across a range of criteria for it to be the standard-bearer in a very narrowly-defined market niche. We've listed the Nissan Dualis +2 Ti and the Subaru Liberty Exiga as two rivals close in type and specification to the VW, but neither of the Japanese vehicles offers a diesel engine (although one is said to be on the way for the Dualis). Neither the Nissan nor the Subaru can match the VW for packaging, but they offer more refinement and better 360-degree vision. They're also so much cheaper than the Caddy that running costs -- as an excuse to buy diesel over petrol -- can be largely discounted over the term of vehicle ownership.

However, while the buyers attracted to the Caddy might be numbered in the tens rather than hundreds or thousands, the VW has so many strong points in its favour that it builds its own business case from a broad-based foundation.

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