Reviews of the Volkswagen Caddy

The Volkswagen Caddy is a small city van that's classic Volkswagen. Coming with a modern cabin, good practicality, and an excellent drivetrain, the Caddy is perfect for small businesses. 

Rivals to the Caddy include the Citroen Berlingo, Peugeot Partner, Vauxhall Combo Cargo, Toyota Proace City, and Ford Transit Connect. 

Our Volkswagen Caddy review covers:

• Compact exterior with sporty front end 
• Pleasant exterior with loads of tech 
• Up to 3.1m3 of load volume 
• Either a petrol or diesel engine available 
• Three trim levels available 

Pros:

• Excellent handling 
• Superb interior 
• Good diesel engines 

Cons:

• Payload slightly less than rivals 
• Noticeable road noise 
• Infotainment can be fiddly to use 

The Caddy is now in its fifth generation, and since its inception, it's been one of the best-looking small vans on the market. Whereas the Stellantis vans all look painfully similar, the Caddy stands out with its Golf-like front end, sharp headlights, and body-coloured air intakes. 

Inside the Caddy, there's enough room for two people to get comfortable. You get two proper seats, unlike a passenger bench found in other vans, which means there's plenty of shoulder room. There's also loads of storage, including an overhead shelf, door pockets, and a large bin under the dashboard. 

The Caddy comes with a load volume of 3.1m3, which is slightly behind the Citroen Berlingo and Vauxhall Combo Cargo. You also get a maximum load space length of 1,797mm, a width of 1,613mm, and a height of 1,272mm. This should be big enough for a pair of Euro pallets to lie flat. If you need more space, go for the Caddy Maxi, which increases load volume to 3.7m3. 

The interior of the Caddy is undoubtedly the best in its class. It's modern and smart and features a range of premium materials, such as soft-touch plastics and a leather steering wheel on mid-range trims. It's also straightforward to navigate when behind the wheel. 

Incorporated into the dash is a 10-inch colour infotainment system with a DAB radio, two loudspeakers, Bluetooth, and hands-free control. On Commerce and Commerce Plus trims, it has a six-inch touchscreen, which can be tricky to use, so we'd recommend upgrading to Commerce Pro, which comes with a full 10-inch touchscreen. 

Three trim levels are available for the Caddy: Commerce, Commerce Plus, and Commerce Pro. 

Commerce has 15-inch wheels, halogen headlights, a single near-side sliding door, manual climatic air conditioning, a multi-function steering wheel, a six-inch colour infotainment system, LED interior lighting, rear parking sensors, driver alert system, brake assist, and cruise control. 

Commerce Plus has a leather-trimmed multi-function steering wheel, electrically adjustable lumbar support for the driver's seat, an interior light in the load compartment, and an anti-theft alarm system with interior monitoring in the cab. 

Commerce Pro has 16-inch alloy wheels, LED rear tail lights, heated front seats for driver and front passenger, keyless go, a rear-view camera, a digital cockpit, and a navigation system. 

The engine range is made up of either a 2.0-litre diesel or a 1.5-litre petrol. Both come with a six-speed manual transmission as standard and have front-wheel drive. An optional seven-speed DSG and four-wheel drive system is available on the range-topping diesel. 

For the entry-level petrols, you can choose from a 75bhp or 102bhp unit. Considering they're entry-level units, they're more than good enough and will meet the demands of most businesses. 

If you need more power, there's a 122bhp diesel available that shoots from 0 to 62mph in 10.7 seconds. It's also available with an optional automatic transmission and four-wheel drive. 

Just one petrol engine is available, a 1.5-litre TSI turbo engine with 114bhp. It comes with Active Cylinder Technology that can disable two of the cylinders to save fuel whenever less performance is needed. 

The Caddy is a superb van to drive. Its handling is almost car-like, and it drives well both around town and on the motorway. 

Around town, the Caddy is in its element. Thanks to its compact size and agile handling, navigating city streets is a breeze, and you also get rear parking sensors as standard to help with tight spaces. Its suspension deals with potholes and bumps in the road well, even with an empty load space. 

On the motorway, the Caddy remains extremely capable. The engines get up to cruising speed with relative ease, and the cabin makes for a good experience for long-distance driving. Our only criticism would be that road and wind noise are noticeable at high speeds. 

Prices for the new Volkswagen Caddy start from £27,426.00 OTR* or to lease from £342.66 per month.

Looking to get behind the wheel of the Volkswagen Caddy? Nationwide Vehicle Contracts is one of the UK's largest van leasing brokers and offers a range of leasing deals to suit your every need.

Leasing may be cheaper than an outright purchase, thanks to a low initial deposit and fixed monthly rentals.

*' On the road' price correct at time of publication and includes one year's road fund license, DVLA first registration fee and number plate fee. Prices are subject to change; always check with your nearest retailer.