2022 Volkswagen Caddy Cargo review: Australian first drive

Volkswagen is, as you might imagine, well-known for its vans. One of them anyway. Tell people you’re driving a VW van and they immediately ask if it’s the new Kombi, as though the million teasing concepts over the past couple of decades haven’t resigned us to the idea that we will never see the retro funster in rebooted production.

Most go a bit blank when I explain it’s a city van but a few will say, “Oh, yes, the Caddy. You see those everywhere.” And you do, because before COVID, seven out of 10 city vans sold in Australia were one of the marque’s Caddy 4 range. Since having this one in the driveway, I’ve realised just how ubiquitous they’ve become, outnumbering challengers from Renault, Peugeot and the dearly-departed Citroen Berlingo by a big margin. Only COVID and the knowledge that a new model is coming has interrupted its giant lead.

Caddy 5 is a big deal for Volkswagen. Renault has almost caught the German giant in the segment (at least it has in Australia) and, as is the way of things in commercial vehicles, it has been a decade since the last new model. A lot has happened in the last decade and so a lot has happened to create Caddy 5.

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Pricing and Features

The Caddy Cargo comes in two wheelbase lengths, with the longer one known as the Maxi.

The entry-level SWB comes with 16-inch steel wheels, a hardy cloth interior, leather steering wheel, reversing camera, rubber flooring in the cab, LED interior lights throughout, a cabin partition made from a thick plastic grille and window and, if you buy a manual, the shifter is wrapped in leather.

From January 1, the SWB Cargo starts at $34,990 for the petrol manual, stretching to $39,990 for the TDI320 with a seven-speed DSG dual-clutch automatic, both prices before on-roads.

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Moving up to the long-wheelbase Maxi, you get wider sliding doors on both sides as well as 17-inch steel wheels. Again, from New Year’s Day 2022, you’ll pay from $36,990 for the petrol manual to $41,990 for the TDI320 with DSG. Again, all pricing is before on-roads.

A further Cargo-based variant, the Crewvan, has a five-seat interior with additional curtain airbags for the back row of seating.

VW’s Composition spec media system is along for the ride, with an 8.25-inch screen familiar to the company’s passenger car owners. With four speakers in the cabin, it works well and is able to overcome the noise when you’ve got an empty cargo area. The $1660 Navigation package adds sat-nav and wireless Apple CarPlay (Android Auto remains USB-powered) to Cargo and Crewvan as well as two USB-C ports in the rear for the latter. It also upgrades to the larger 10.0-inch screen.

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On the safety spec list, you’ll find low-speed forward AEB, driver fatigue detection and multi-collision braking support. The Caddy Cargo looks after just the front row because there aren’t any seats in the back but you get front, side and curtain airbags as well as a front centre airbag to avoid head clashes, which must be a first for the segment.

Sadly, there is no standard rear cross-traffic alert (RCTA) or rear AEB, which would be particularly useful in this class of car given the very limited rear vision, especially when loaded. RCTA is either $760 on its own or part of the $2795 Driver Assistance package ($2690 in the Crewvan) and only available on DSG-equipped vehicles.

Obviously, there aren’t any child seat anchors on the Caddy Cargo while the Crewvan has three top-tether and two ISOFIX points.

The Caddy range has, as of November 2021, not yet attained either an ANCAP or EuroNCAP safety rating.

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Comfort and space

The driver’s compartment of the Caddy is a mighty fine place for a van. Modelled closely on the Golf’s but with a lot more space to play with, there’s a ton of storage that you won’t find in the hatchback. An overhead storage gallery is great for chucking odds and ends out away from prying eyes and is a good way to stop things rolling around on the floor.

You could even store an umbrella, but you’d need to find a way to secure it. The dash has a full-width slot that opens up over the driver’s side to allow storage of a tablet or papers and there’s a 12-volt charger for a device. The centre console hosts two USB-C chargers and there’s another 12-volt point in the load area.

The front seats are comfortable and don’t hinder entry or exit through the wide-opening doors.

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To access the load area, the standard Caddy has a single sliding door on the kerb side with a 695mm opening. At the rear are the classic asymmetric barn doors that open left and right. With the push of a lever, you can fold them a further 90 degrees so you won’t get trapped in a tight loading dock.

The 2755mm wheelbase and load compartment height conspire to offer 3.1 cubic metres of space.

The Maxi adds a second sliding door and both have a larger 836mm opening compared to the SWB. The Maxi wheelbase is a further 215mm and the load height squeaks out another 3mm for a total volume of 3.6 cubic metres. Both will fit two Euro pallets, the main difference being it’s snugger in the SWB and in the Maxi you can load a pallet via the wider side doors.

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The Maxi will also hold two Euro 3 pallets, with the SWB managing a single but with a decent chunk of space to spare. Given the Maxi’s extra length, the turning circle is 12.1 metres against the SWB’s 11.4m.

SWB payload ranges from 692kg in the DSG petrol, rising to just over 720kg for all other variants. The Maxi allows from 725kg for the DSG petrol, rising to 754kg for the manual petrol and TDI320 DSG. Towing is rated at 1400kg for the manual petrol with every other Caddy Cargo and Crewvan able tow up to 1500kg braked.

The roof can take a maximum of 100kg within the payload figures. GVM ranges from 2150kg up to 2350kg for the Cargo Maxi and up to 2450kg for the Crewvan.

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From the factory you get a body-colour metal floor as standard, with fixing points to secure your load. Options include a fitted plastic, rubber or plywood floor. The rubber floor gives you that rugged, hose-out vibe.

Caddy Cargo and Crewvan have barn doors with windows as standard and you can opt to delete the windows or fit a lifting tailgate. Big boxes are easy to load with the doors wide open and the low loading lip.

My wife’s ongoing mission to rotate every piece of furniture out of the house every two years to confuse both me and the dog was a perfect excuse for us to load the Caddy with a giant box that held one half of a two-seater couch. I wish I’d taken the $10 bet that it wouldn’t fit because the box went in with space to spare and it might have been possible to stack them two high.

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On the road

The Cargo range has a trio of powertrains that are best summarised in a table. Like this one.

The TSI petrols are not yet in the country and the vehicles available to test were fitted with the TDI320 DSG drivetrain.

Caddy 5 shares a good chunk of its mechanicals with the passenger car line of the VW Group, meaning it’s built around the MQB platform. That means it is a cheaper vehicle to develop than going from the ground up from nothing. It also gives engineers and product planners access to a wide range of technologies, particularly safety, that have been lacking in this segment. Some of the safety features might be optional, but at least they’re available if you want them.

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It also means that the driving experience is a great deal more refined than you might expect from a commercial van. The cabin is impressively quiet for a commercial vehicle, although an empty Cargo with a bare shell might be a bit noisier than the Crewvan, which itself is slightly noisier than the carpeted, seven-seat people mover.

With fewer seats and things to absorb noise as well as the giant megaphone of an open cargo area, it’s a battle to keep noise down without half a tonne of noise deadening.

The diesel engine is also very quiet on the move, with hardly any clatter and absolutely no rattling. Performance is – perhaps unsurprisingly – strong, with the twin-clutch transmission playing ball most of the time and only really caught out in a quick on-off-on stop-start transition when rolling to a stop. The rest of the time it’s close to impeccable, shifting quickly and smoothly and there’s even a Sport mode if you’re not keen on the slower life.

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Steering is positive and light, but not so quick you’ll get into trouble. I had the misfortune of having to swerve quite sharply for an obstacle in the road and the Caddy handled the upset with controlled body roll and just a distant wail from the tyres. More importantly, I didn’t have to take a hand off the wheel to complete the manoeuvre.

As with the people mover version, the ride is excellent. The rear suspension has come in for a great deal of scrutiny, with Caddy 4’s leaf springs ditched in favour of coil springs. The rigid axle and Panhard rod remain, but in concert with the MacPherson struts up front, the unladen ride is quite something.

I’ve driven SUVs that can’t handle bumps and potholes as well as the Caddy, which bodes well for a loaded vehicle. Obviously, things will deteriorate on poor surfaces – like concrete with massive joins – but apart from Sydney’s hopeless motorways, that sort of surface is mercifully rare.

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Ownership

The Caddy comes with the same package as the “normal” car range, with a five year/unlimited-kilometre warranty and 12 months of roadside assist.

VW offers two service packs. The first covers three years or 45,000km and costs $1300. If you pay as you go, VW reckons you’ll pay up to $265 more over the three services, so that seems like a handy saving. If you choose the five-year/75,000km package, you’ll pay $2100, saving up to $669 and getting the first service gratis. As you can probably tell from these packages, VW expects to see you back for a service every 12 months or 15,000km, whichever comes first. These service figures compare favourably with the aforementioned Peugeot Partner and Renault Kangoo.

If you service with an official dealer, you’ll also get a 12-month extension on the roadside assist.

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Verdict

For someone who doesn’t necessarily appreciate the overall utility of a city van, the Caddy feels like a massive achievement. While I always enjoy a week bouncing around in one of its rivals, handing it back isn’t difficult. That was fun, back to more refined motoring, thanks. But quite honestly, if someone asked me if I would own a Caddy, I’d be tempted. While it would probably make the furniture swapping worse, I wouldn’t object to owning one because it’s so good to drive and so versatile.

This is an obvious result for prospective Caddy owners. The last two years have been punishing for people in logistics and trades and I bet the last thing they want is to get into a noisy van they have to endure rather than enjoy. Caddy 5, like the Golf before it, has moved the game on.

Volkswagen Caddy Cargo specifications