2023 Volkswagen Caddy Life Review
2023 Volkswagen Caddy Life Review
The 2023 Volkswagen Caddy Life might just be the ultimate family car. No, really.
To demonstrate why that is, in this video CarGurus UK editor Chris Knapman gathers together his life and packs it all into the Caddy’s boot to show just how practical it really is. At the same time, all aspects of the car are weighed up compared with a traditional hatchback or a fashionable SUV, including the Caddy Life’s styling, interior, equipment, technology, safety ratings and driving manners.
With the Caddy range starting from £26,000, it certainly has value on its side. But is it really good enough to consider instead of one of those coveted SUVs?
Volkswagen Caddy Life full review:
https://www.cargurus.co.uk/research/V…
With thanks to Buckland Park Lake:
https://bucklandparklake.co.uk/
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▬▬▬▬▬▬▬ Contents of this video ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬
00:00 – Introducing the VW Caddy
02:33 – Practicality
05:23 – Boot space
06:42 – Interior
09:05 – What is it like to drive?
13:48 – Final thoughts
15:26 – Let us know your thoughts
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Content
0.599 -> if you are into supercars like this
2.76 -> McLaren Center
4.14 -> then you're going to be better off
5.58 -> heading over to the Piston heads YouTube
6.96 -> channel rather than watching this video
8.519 -> same applies
10.679 -> if your thing is classic cars such as
12.719 -> this beautiful 2cv in fact we've got a
15.48 -> great video on the CarGurus UK YouTube
17.1 -> channel where my colleague Ivan drives
19.26 -> the 2tv
21.06 -> and if you're into modern Classics like
23.34 -> a Porsche 996 then well as well as
26.519 -> clearly having fantastic taste and a
28.439 -> very high IQ I'm afraid you're in the
30.9 -> wrong place because today's cargo is UK
32.94 -> video is not for the dreamers this one
34.86 -> is very much for the pragmatists
41.8 -> [Music]
44.36 -> meet the latest 5th generation version
46.98 -> of the Volkswagen Caddy life a car so
49.8 -> laser focused on what it needs to be
51.66 -> that even its name is logical and to
54.6 -> prove it I have brought my life along to
56.879 -> put into the caddy life a little in a
59.039 -> little bit to see just how easily it can
60.899 -> be done but before that let's actually
62.82 -> talk about what this car is so these are
65.7 -> known as van based mpvs although
68.88 -> interestingly the latest caddy life is
70.74 -> actually quite heavily based on the mqb
72.78 -> platform of the latest golf so this
74.34 -> really is a car based van based car
80.58 -> does that make sense who knows anyway
82.939 -> one of the big compromises you get with
85.08 -> this type of vehicle is the styling
87.24 -> right so
88.5 -> boxy yes I mean it looks like a van with
90.96 -> Windows doesn't it except with the caddy
93.14 -> Volkswagen has not only taken
96.54 -> the architecture of the golf it's taken
99.299 -> some of the styling as well so look at
100.619 -> the front end of this car doesn't this
102.78 -> look like a huge Improvement on caddies
105.479 -> of days gone by this is really smart
107.52 -> this car has the upgraded LED headlights
110.64 -> these are 1100 pounds but they look very
113.46 -> cool in the daytime and they work very
115.38 -> well at night so that's worth
116.399 -> considering and when you think about the
118.68 -> cars this is up against things like the
120.24 -> Citroen balingo the fortuneo the Peugeot
122.759 -> rifter you have to say that Volkswagen
125.219 -> has kind of taken a bit of the cool
126.42 -> factor of its bigger transporter and
128.399 -> applied it to the caddy and I think it
129.899 -> it really works and better still there's
132.959 -> even a California version of this one so
134.58 -> a small camper van and yes the first
136.92 -> thing I do when I get home will be
138.239 -> contacting VW to see if we can get one
139.8 -> of those on test because it sounds
141.48 -> tremendous
143.66 -> [Music]
149.599 -> all right let's move away from style and
152.28 -> all that heart rules head type thing and
154.08 -> talk about practicality because that's
155.52 -> why we're here isn't it so to start with
157.8 -> all caddies come with sliding doors you
159.66 -> can have them motorized this car doesn't
161.34 -> have motorized doors there are four
164.28 -> versions of the caddy that you need to
165.72 -> know about so there's the standard caddy
167.58 -> there's the caddy life that's this
169.56 -> there's the caddy Maxi and there's the
172.08 -> caddy Maxi life the difference between a
173.819 -> standard and a maxi is short wheelbase
176.4 -> with standard long wheelbase for the
177.78 -> Maxi the Maxi gets seven seats as
180.06 -> standard the short wheelbase doesn't but
182.4 -> you can add seats in the back of the
184.379 -> short wheelbase as well it's about a
186.06 -> thousand pounds and you can also to
188.28 -> confuse matters have a maxi but ask
190.08 -> Volkswagen to not have the third row of
192.06 -> seats in which case they'll give you
193.08 -> about 400 pounds back is that all clear
195.5 -> as for the caddy and the caddy life
198.239 -> that's a trim thing and I'm going to do
200.4 -> that as a voiceover because I'll never
201.599 -> remember
203.819 -> upgrading from a caddy to a caddy life
205.8 -> costs 2 600 pounds which gets you among
208.8 -> other things alloy wheels drawers under
210.599 -> the front seats LED tail lights power
212.819 -> folding mirrors a large infotainment
214.98 -> system Lumber support front and rear
216.9 -> parking sensors and um a bin so as I
220.5 -> said this one is a caddy life and it's a
222.36 -> five-seater
223.68 -> um so let's have a look
225.12 -> at the space in the back apologies for
228 -> the detriters my children have spent
229.44 -> quite a lot of time in this car already
230.84 -> and have almost ruined it to be honest
233.879 -> but
236.159 -> it's roomy uh you would hope it was
237.959 -> roomy because it's a van based car based
240.06 -> band-based car but it's uh yeah it's
242.819 -> good the seats don't slide which is a
244.68 -> shame but they do recline
247.62 -> um and
249.36 -> these nice trays here which again
251.519 -> children love stuff like that don't they
254.28 -> uh you also get some usbcs here and more
258.54 -> Headroom than anyone could know what to
260.76 -> do with
262.1 -> downsides include that you don't get
264.66 -> three individual seats so this middle
266.22 -> seat is still roomy enough but it's not
269.04 -> individual and it doesn't have its own
270.6 -> isofix and you only get ice effects in
273.18 -> these out of two seats but it's really
274.5 -> nice and easy to access
277.919 -> continuing on the theme of practicality
279.84 -> interior storage is not as good as
282.66 -> you'll find in a Peugeot rifter or
284.1 -> Citron blinko there's no overhead
285.78 -> Cubbies here there's one at the front
286.979 -> but none for the back but you do get a
289.56 -> fairly decent door Pockets these seats
292.32 -> however can be
295.5 -> folded like that obviously they don't go
297.3 -> flat into the floor like in a sort of
299.759 -> more of a car based MPV or as we've
301.68 -> noted this is a car based MPV based fan
303.479 -> based car
304.74 -> um but they also tumble forward and you
307.38 -> can remove them completely
309.72 -> um Barry might know that this one is
311.88 -> actually two seats in one so it's pretty
313.68 -> heavy to move which is why I haven't
315.54 -> done it one downside of the caddy is
317.82 -> that the rear windows don't open but on
319.74 -> the plus side you can easily child lock
321.3 -> the rear doors via a button on the
322.86 -> driver's door
323.94 -> when we're talking about the boot in the
326.4 -> caddy we don't need to worry about
327.66 -> things like the height of the loading
329.52 -> lip or the width of the boot because all
331.68 -> of those things are absolutely brilliant
333.66 -> what you do need to consider is the size
336.06 -> of the tailgate it's massive so you need
338.759 -> a lot of room behind the car
340.44 -> particularly as on the caddy this glass
342 -> screen doesn't open so basically you
344.88 -> just learn to park everywhere nose in
347.52 -> but cars like this you know they're all
349.44 -> about making your life easier aren't
351.6 -> they even compared with the biggest SUV
354.539 -> this thing is absolutely massive and
357.479 -> it's also of course much cheaper to buy
359.94 -> so the caddy range starts from just over
362.88 -> 26
364.32 -> 000 pounds
365.759 -> which to give you an idea is about the
367.68 -> same
368.46 -> as an entry-level golf or t-rock
371.039 -> crossover this caddy life meanwhile this
374.58 -> is about 31 000 pounds and for that you
377.1 -> get 1200 liters of boot space or if you
380.639 -> remove the rear seats entirely you get 2
383.3 -> 500 liters of boot space to put that
385.68 -> into context in a golf with the rear
387.84 -> seats in place you get 380 liters of
389.94 -> boot space now of course if you take
391.8 -> those back seats out the drawback is you
393.72 -> can't take the kids with you can you but
395.1 -> I suppose at least it would be peaceful
397.979 -> right is that all loaded
402.96 -> now before we get carried away and
404.58 -> declare that this is the best family car
406.62 -> in the whole world let's address the
409.02 -> elephant in the room which of course is
410.58 -> that this is still based on a van and so
414.3 -> it needs to be robust
416.039 -> in the same way that a van does so where
417.84 -> us car reviews love to get into new cars
419.759 -> and feel around for all the soft touch
421.5 -> Plastics and diligently hunt out the one
423.66 -> bit of scratchy plastic that the
424.979 -> manufacturer has not considered in this
426.3 -> car we don't need to do that because
427.56 -> everything and I mean everything is a
430.08 -> hard scratchy piece of plastic but
432.3 -> that's fine it's honest it's not trying
434.1 -> to be anything it's not I would say
436.02 -> though that if you are a details person
438.08 -> there are some things that are going to
440.039 -> bug you so for example down here there's
441.539 -> a little blanked off plate which
442.68 -> presumably is where a stop start button
444.72 -> once lived it's now down here and then
446.4 -> just filled it in with a bit of a
447.96 -> plastic cap and
450 -> here on the door look at these exposed
452.819 -> bolts now personally I think that's
454.74 -> great because it's going to make the
455.58 -> Dormer very easy to replace should you
457.139 -> knock it off but again as a details
459.24 -> person you might not
461.639 -> all in all though this is built to last
464 -> and I think it is totally fit for
466.259 -> purpose robust it might be but that's
468.66 -> not to say the caddy can't also be high
470.4 -> tech so all caddies come with a
472.259 -> touchscreen infotainment system in the
474.18 -> entry level model it's a six and a half
475.74 -> inch screen if you go for the life it's
477.78 -> 8.25 inch or you can pay for this this
480.72 -> is the 10 inch system from the golf it's
483.66 -> the same you can get these digital dials
485.759 -> here as an optional upgrade now
487.16 -> personally I probably wouldn't bother
489.479 -> paying to upgrade to this system because
491.039 -> it's still pretty laggy just like it is
493.44 -> in the golf and the menus aren't that
494.819 -> intuitive to use
496.86 -> um as a good example of the frustrations
498.72 -> of this system oh heated seat you think
500.94 -> I'd like that to get that you have to
503.22 -> press it once to get the menu and then
505.259 -> again and then if you go off that and
507.12 -> you think oh I'm getting a bit hot you
508.56 -> don't just press a button to turn it
509.819 -> down you have to press it once then
510.96 -> press it again and also when you start
512.82 -> the car up first time this doesn't
514.86 -> respond very quickly so you press it and
517.14 -> then you press it again and it still
518.82 -> doesn't do anything then you press it
520.38 -> again then it goes down two and then
521.82 -> just shouldn't be that difficult just
523.62 -> give me a button anyway so I wouldn't
526.8 -> upgrade to this one personally it's too
528.899 -> expensive and also no matter how many
531.42 -> modern vws I drive I cannot get my head
533.82 -> around the fact they didn't backlight
535.2 -> these slider controls here and same for
538.08 -> the gear selector here it's not backlit
539.94 -> so I would save my money on the big
541.92 -> screen and I would buy a head torch so
544.08 -> that I could adjust the temperature at
545.519 -> night should we go for a drive
550.74 -> foreign
551.839 -> with cars like this you had all the good
554.459 -> bits like the space and the value for
556.14 -> money then you have to weigh them up
557.76 -> against two things one was safety not
561.24 -> being as good as in a normal hatchback
563.7 -> and the other that they didn't drive as
566.1 -> well
566.88 -> well these car based van based cars have
570.3 -> made huge progress in these areas so
573.66 -> this latest caddy gets a five-star Euro
576.72 -> end cap
577.68 -> safety score with really high schools in
580.32 -> the individual areas as well and it's
582.6 -> also much better to drive than it's been
585.779 -> in the past
586.8 -> for both of these things we can return
588.6 -> to the fact that the caddy is based on
590.519 -> the same mqb architecture as the Mark 8
592.74 -> golf so it's not only safe and strong in
595.62 -> the event of a crash but it has loads of
597.3 -> active driving safety features too now
599.64 -> some of these are great like this one
601.08 -> has side assist with the blind spot
603.24 -> monitors and it has autonomous emergency
604.92 -> braking and some of them are not so
608.22 -> great so the lane assist is as
610.8 -> interfering here as it is in any other
613.62 -> VW you can turn it off but a bit like
616.08 -> with the heated seats it's a bit of a
617.519 -> convoluted process you either go in via
619.26 -> the touch screen but as we've discussed
620.76 -> that can be a bit of a nightmare or you
623.399 -> can use the buttons on the wheel here
624.899 -> but you press it once on the left hand
626.76 -> side to get the menu and then you have
628.62 -> to use the button on the right hand side
630 -> to switch it off
632.459 -> as far as driving manners go the Caddy's
635.22 -> golf underpinnings help here too so it
637.86 -> doesn't drive as well as a Mark 8 golf
639.54 -> let's get that
640.8 -> clear straight away but it is not as far
642.72 -> off as you might think and it's
643.92 -> certainly a lot better than you would
646.019 -> imagine anything that has something to
647.22 -> do with the van would ever be so let's
650.339 -> start with the ride this is a really
652.62 -> quite a bumpy road we're going down here
654.839 -> and the caddy just takes it all in its
657.54 -> stride it really does just smother out
659.94 -> the bumps big or small it's a very
662.459 -> comfortable car you do hear the bumps
665.279 -> you hear the suspension moving and
667.5 -> that's one of the big differences
668.519 -> between this and a hatchback or SUV it
672.48 -> doesn't though roll over Lots in Corners
674.22 -> you might expect that being based on a
675.779 -> van but actually
677.76 -> it stays fairly upright it's quite a
680.339 -> satisfying car to drive
682.38 -> when it comes to powertrains VW isn't
684.779 -> offering any electric or plug-in hybrid
686.519 -> options on the caddy and so if you want
688.56 -> a family EV like this a Citroen ebelingo
691.26 -> or Peugeot e rifter is the way to go
694.32 -> now big news here Volkswagen has found
696.899 -> an alternative to battery electric power
699.06 -> and it's really quite incredible this
701.82 -> car will do a range of around 450 to 500
705.839 -> miles and when you need to charge it you
708.899 -> can do so in four or five minutes from
711.36 -> an infrastructure that already exists in
713.64 -> significant enough numbers to charge
715.2 -> millions of caddies it sounds
717.26 -> unbelievable doesn't it but it's true
719.459 -> and it's called
721.32 -> petrol
723 -> specifically this caddy has vw's 1.5
725.7 -> liter turbo petrol unit with 114
728.279 -> horsepower or if you prefer there's a
730.26 -> 2-liter diesel with either 102 or 122
733.019 -> horsepower so all of the engines in the
735.54 -> caddy are turbocharged and that's
737.399 -> actually really important in a car that
739.62 -> is going to often be laid in with lots
741.3 -> of people and things because it makes
742.68 -> them much more flexible so the 1.5
745.579 -> petrol has 221 newton meters of torque
748.8 -> and that comes in from 1750 RPM again
751.5 -> that sort of flexibility is really
753.54 -> helpful
754.5 -> not to 62 11.9 seconds in this
757.56 -> particular model so it's not fast but
759.72 -> then let's face it we didn't really
761.399 -> expect it to be did we it's perfectly
762.959 -> adequate for performance
765.42 -> um one thing you do notice like with the
767.399 -> suspension uh this just doesn't have as
770.04 -> much sound deadening as a golf or a
772.5 -> t-rock or a Tiguan and so you do hear
774.839 -> the engine a lot more and it's not a
776.459 -> particularly emotive soundtrack either
778.62 -> gearbox wise you can have a six-speed
781.019 -> manual or in the life you get the seven
783.24 -> speed DSG automatic which is on the Move
786.779 -> very smooth it's a good gearbox the only
790.019 -> thing as with a lot of these dsgs
791.899 -> particularly when you start putting a
793.8 -> lot of weight into the car is that when
795.839 -> you pull away there can be a bit of a
797.339 -> pause so then you push the throttle a
798.959 -> bit harder at which point you surge away
801.3 -> like a boy racer in your Volkswagen
803.459 -> Caddy life fuel economy 40 to 45 on a
806.88 -> run in the petrol which is really good
809.12 -> and the other thing worth calling out
811.2 -> are the brakes which are strong and
813.06 -> consistent which is really good and
816.18 -> another thing that contributes to this
817.56 -> just feeling quite car-like to drive
822.83 -> [Music]
832.98 -> the caddy
834.66 -> it has its flaws now some of these
837.24 -> are similar with other van based mpvs
840.06 -> like the fact you need half the car's
841.56 -> length again in order to be able to open
843.18 -> the boot and some of them are similar to
845.88 -> other Volkswagen models like the below
847.38 -> par infotainment system and you could
849.3 -> also argue that Rivals like the Citroen
851.579 -> balingo the Peugeot rifter and the
853.079 -> mechanically similar Ford tornado
854.76 -> represent better value
856.98 -> however if you can get over the fact
859.5 -> that this isn't an SUV then it's a
862.74 -> really good car and it represents really
865.38 -> practical family Motoring
867.66 -> perhaps it's just my stage of life but I
869.82 -> can't help thinking that there is a bit
871.56 -> of call to the caddy styling too
874.019 -> here's a fun fact the caddy and I were
876.48 -> both born in 1982 just a month apart in
879.18 -> fact
880.079 -> and yet despite growing up with each
881.88 -> other for just over 40 years now it has
884.579 -> taken me this long to really get the
886.56 -> appeal of a vehicle like this I've kind
888.72 -> of grown into it if you like
891 -> and whether you regard these as cars
893.579 -> that are as practical as Vans or vans
895.32 -> that drive almost as well as cars
897.18 -> doesn't really matter the fact is that
898.98 -> for family life they just work
901.139 -> brilliantly things like the sliding
902.82 -> doors and the huge boot make a huge
905.04 -> difference I was explaining all this to
907.199 -> my seven-year-old the other day and she
909.06 -> looked at me and she said
910.62 -> I think I got the name wrong
912.899 -> all right I said what do you think they
914.88 -> should have called it then and at that
916.68 -> she walked over
918 -> put her hand there in quite a matter of
919.68 -> fact he said they should have called it
921.48 -> the Volkswagen Daddy
923.94 -> do you rate the caddy as an ideal family
925.8 -> car or would your money be spent on a
927.6 -> hatchback or SUV instead do let us know
930.24 -> and remember that when it comes time to
931.86 -> find your next car you can head to
933.44 -> cargurus.co.uk to find lots of great
935.399 -> deals from top rated dealers
937.63 -> [Music]
Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lH2pI2jjUnE