Volkswagen Crafter Luton 163 LWB review: the big, strong mover

What’s not?

• One of the problems with vans like this is that the heavier they are, the less payload you get, as the total of the van and its contents cannot add up to more than 3.5-tonnes. Thus with that heavy chassis and extra tail-lift, payload is bang on one tonne, which in effect means that once you’ve covered the floor with a medium layer of cargo, that’s just about your limit.

• This in turns means that anyone using this van runs the risk of overloading it, which in turn means that when they are stopped by the lads and lasses at the DVSA, they will be in big trouble. The only way to avoid this is to fit one of those devices that warns the driver when the van is too heavy, which will again add to the price.
• Clearly its use is much more suited to firms such as bed and mattress suppliers, house movers and so on where bulk doesn’t mean so much weight. But we’re just warning.

• This van is built to last but you do pay the price for it. At a basic £34,625, it can’t compete with the rival Citroen Relay Luton, which weighs in at £27,765. True the Relay can’t compete on the build quality front, but then it does cost £6,860 less, which means you can opt for a Relay and still buy your partner a little run-around for the same price.

• Talking of the Citroen Relay Luton, you also get as standard reversing sensors, air-con and a Teletrac sat-nav and stolen vehicle tracking system as part of the Enterprise package. These are all paid-for options on the Crafter.

• This one isn’t Volkswagen’s fault but thanks to the fact that the official fuel economy figures are calibrated on a rolling road, thus ignoring the wind resistance factor, this van is highly unlikely to achieve anywhere near the claimed 33.6 mpg on the combined cycle. Mind you the Luton part of the body is aerodynamically shaped so should offer as little resistance as is possible with a van that is shaped like a barn door!

Verdict on the Volkswagen Crafter Luton 163 LWB

If it’s superb build quality you want and you have the cash to spare, the Volkswagen Crafter Luton will fit the bill and more. It won’t appeal to those who just want value, but what you get in return is a van that will repay you load after load after load after…Well, until those aliens come!