19/11/09

• Price24,705
• We like...Space; big enough to sleep in
• We don't...Expensive; slow

 Big-bus VW is roomy enough to sleep in - or take seven for a long ride in comfort. There's even (some) boot spaceDon't look on the Caravelle just as a car. Think of it also as a spare room. Turns out that this Caravelle will sleep two pretty comfortably. The rear-most three-seat bench folds flat to become a bed, while buying the optional ‘sleep pack’ (£568 at time of writing) gives you a bed extension, a mattress cover and a dinky set of curtains that stick to the window surrounds using magnets. Ours also had an independent heater to keep the chill away on frosty nights. This is another optional extra, costing a steep £1062.

Caravelles have two jobs in life. If they’re pretty basic like ours – cloth seats, no carpet, tough rubberised floor cover – they do well as camper vans. Otherwise, you go for top spec: leather seats, plush carpet, neat little drinks tables and they become mobile boardrooms for business types.

Our Startline model seats seven in 2:2:3 layout and leaves a fair space out back for luggage. More than you get in many another a people bus, but not enough for holiday luggage for everyone.

The mid-row seats swivel and they and the bench lift out, although each is too heavy safely to lift out unless there are two of you. Getting in and out is easy thanks to big front doors, a massive slider that opens on to the rear compartment, and a tailgate that lifts high and, when fully open, is big enough to shelter you from the rain. Inside the sliding door you’ll find a folding picnic table stashed. Nice.

The dash is square and van-like, but it has plenty of places for pens, phones and the like and it is very solid.

The Caravelle is huge and feels it on the road, although its way-high driver’s seat, square corners and slabby sides to make it OK to place when parking. We’d splurge out the extra for the parking sensors fitted to our test car, though – they’re really useful.

The 1.9 diesel motor is ours churns out just 101bhp, so progress is stately, not quick. But you can also choose to have 2.5-litre diesels in various tunes up to 171bhp, or a 3.2 V6 petrol that pushes out 230bhp. But on ours the gear shift was at least sited nice and close to the wheel and punting it along becomes fun once you’re confident of its size and used to its easy-as-you-go acceleration.

If you’re riding solo is ds thump and crash over severe road ripples and there’s touch of front-to-back pitching, too. Load it up, though, and the ride settles, while over distance it cruises quietly. Fuel economy is reasonable, although CO2 emissions are high enough to push expensive road tax your way.

Should you buy one? Depends on what you’re looking for. As a people mover its expensive, while offering little more in usable space or comfort over its rivals. But as a camping van, a cross-Europe tourer, it’s out in a class alone. If you’re after a new one, though, you may wish to hold off until 2010, when Volkswagen will show off an updated Caravelle.

To view and buy new and used Volkswagen Caravelles, click on to motors.co.uk

• Engines1.9 diesel
• Power101bhp
• 0-60 mph18.9secs
• Economy37.2mpg
• CO2g/km199
• Insurance groups12
• EuroNCAP
• Airbags4
• Seats7

Motors.co.uk value verdict: