Volkswagen, Crafter, interior

The Crafter has a really comfortable driving position, their were no back twinges after a 500 mile trip

What’s hot

  •  When VW announced it was putting a 2.0-litre engine into such a big van we did wonder if it was man enough for the job but thanks to lots of low-down torque, this van felt plenty powerful enough – on the flat anyway. We did traverse one or two quite steep hills during our week-long test and ended up frantically rowing around the gearbox looking for the necessary oomph, but then you’d expect that wouldn’t you? We’d opt for the more powerful 136bhp Euro 5 if we were buying this van for lots of heavyweight work.
  • Comfortable or what? We just happened to undertake a 500-mile trip during our test week and at the end of it there were no back twinges whatsoever. The driver’s seat is superbly supportive – and the passenger ones aren’t bad either.
  • Like most vans nowadays the cab doubles as a little office so there are loads of cubby holes, coffee cup holders, cola bins and a desk that pulls down from the back of the middle seat.
  • The Crafter is swathed in black plastic on the outside, which means that when (not if!) your drivers start scraping it down posts and walls, it won’t cost a fortune to have it repaired.
  • We know pearlescent paint is about the last thing many buyers will order, especially at £820 ex-VAT, but boy did it make this van sparkle! For owner-drivers who want to give an upmarket feel to their businesses, we reckon this extra could pay for itself in more business from all those clients impressed by your suave looks.
  • In the back it’s top marks for that non-slip floor and half height load protection being standard. It’s a bit of a climb up into the cargo area, thanks to the rear wheel drive shaft underneath, but there is a grab rail at the rear which helps things along and once inside even six-footers can stand up straight.
Volkswagen, Crafter, load, area

With just 14 cubic metres of space on offer, you bring this van up to max weight by just covering the floor 

What’s Not

  • We did a double-take on the payload figure of a tad over one tonne. With 14 cubic metres of space on offer you will bring this van up to max weight just covering the floor, unless you happen to specialise in lugging bags of feathers about.
  • Overload it and you risk the long arm of the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency grabbing you by the short and curlies. And that wouldn’t be pleasant, I can assure you!
  • The fact is that the Crafter is a more heavily built van than some, with rear wheel drive gubbins underneath plus a stash for safety enhancements that rob it of a fair amount of cargo weight along the way. Opt for the rival Citroen Relay and you get almost half a tonne of payload extra.
  • Our van is Euro VI emissions compliant, which means an AdBlue tank to fill up at extra cost every so often. Even boasting Euro VI standards, this Crafter still pumps out 210g of CO2 per kilometre and is still only slated to return 35.3mpg on the combined cycle, about average nowadays for a van of this size. The rival Ford Transit 350 L3H2 2.2 TDCi 125 FWD ECOnetic only pumps out 179g/km and it’s a Euro 5 engine.

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