Any VW Caddy Maxi Life Owners in here?
Discussion
With another baby on the way need a bigger car to travel 2 x adults 2 x teenagers and 2 x baby/ toddlers Thankfully oldest is at uni so rarely travels with us, so just need a 5 seater that can occasionally seat 6
I also want a huge boot, as I keep picking up large items, and often have bikes with me
I also need isofix , CC, aircon otherwise im not fussed, have about £10K to spend
Ideally been looking at vans, but the only one that offers what I want in budget is a VW Caddy Maxi Life, I can take the last two seats out most of the time and just have a huge boot , anyone got any ownership experiences?
Only thing that puts me off is that I only do under 10K miles a year and a fair amount of those are 5-10 mile start stop urban driving, normally buying simple petrol engined is fine, just wondering how the 1.6 VW diesel will cope with low urban mileages .
I looked at Honda Stepwagon MPV imports but the delay in any parts put me off
Otherwise its a Ford Galaxy, but TBH I dont like them , plus the boot isn't as big as a Caddy as the rear most seats are fixed in the car
cheers
TMM
I also want a huge boot, as I keep picking up large items, and often have bikes with me
I also need isofix , CC, aircon otherwise im not fussed, have about £10K to spend
Ideally been looking at vans, but the only one that offers what I want in budget is a VW Caddy Maxi Life, I can take the last two seats out most of the time and just have a huge boot , anyone got any ownership experiences?
Only thing that puts me off is that I only do under 10K miles a year and a fair amount of those are 5-10 mile start stop urban driving, normally buying simple petrol engined is fine, just wondering how the 1.6 VW diesel will cope with low urban mileages .
I looked at Honda Stepwagon MPV imports but the delay in any parts put me off
Otherwise its a Ford Galaxy, but TBH I dont like them , plus the boot isn't as big as a Caddy as the rear most seats are fixed in the car
cheers
TMM
Edited by TwistingMyMelon on Tuesday 5th December 14:01
I run a Caddy Maxi Life Wheelchair vehicle as part of a Charity I'm involved in.
It's effectively a taxi - with 5 proper seats and room for a wheelchair behind.
Hence, it doesn't do 5 - 10 mile commutes
The 1.6 diesel is reasonable, and is a comfortable cruiser, both on urban, country roads and motorways.
Fairly quiet.
With having a number of drivers, it does get a fairly hard life, but it stands up to it well enough.
Not hugely economical - getting low 40's mpg, but a lot of it is short town journeys (with a warm engine).
With being a WAV, it's heavier than standard.
It still has the pre-emissionsgate map on it (my son works for VW and has told me horror stories about Caddy's having the emissions fix done)
By comparison, we had a Fiat Doblo (new model) previously.
This is noisier, smaller in the back (only a 4 seater + wheelchair) and less economical.
Reliability has been surprisingly good - nothing has failed (yet! - I now run the Dobby as my personal vehicle for carting motorbikes around).
The Caddy is more car-like to drive than the Dobby, but the Dobby driving position, with the big screen makes it seem commanding.
Caddy 3rd row seats will probably be heavy - I know from experience that the 2nd row seats are VERY heavy, but easy to get out (if there's two of you).
It's effectively a taxi - with 5 proper seats and room for a wheelchair behind.
Hence, it doesn't do 5 - 10 mile commutes
The 1.6 diesel is reasonable, and is a comfortable cruiser, both on urban, country roads and motorways.
Fairly quiet.
With having a number of drivers, it does get a fairly hard life, but it stands up to it well enough.
Not hugely economical - getting low 40's mpg, but a lot of it is short town journeys (with a warm engine).
With being a WAV, it's heavier than standard.
It still has the pre-emissionsgate map on it (my son works for VW and has told me horror stories about Caddy's having the emissions fix done)
By comparison, we had a Fiat Doblo (new model) previously.
This is noisier, smaller in the back (only a 4 seater + wheelchair) and less economical.
Reliability has been surprisingly good - nothing has failed (yet! - I now run the Dobby as my personal vehicle for carting motorbikes around).
The Caddy is more car-like to drive than the Dobby, but the Dobby driving position, with the big screen makes it seem commanding.
Caddy 3rd row seats will probably be heavy - I know from experience that the 2nd row seats are VERY heavy, but easy to get out (if there's two of you).
Hi, bud. Ran a Maxi Life for 2 years, with the 1.6 engine. Would echo points above. Not massively economical, but as a family wagon it ticked all the boxes. Mountain biking, fishing, beach trips, holidays and flung a load of shed panels in the back when my Mum’s fence blew down. I loved mine, but had to sell due to austerity measures on my part. Would have another as a family car at the drop of a hat! Suggest you test drive one, to get an idea of how car like they are.
Jonesy
Jonesy
The 1.6 is gutless, its even worse after the diesel fix. You would be much better off with something like this ...
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...
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