2011 Volkswagen Caddy Maxi Life Review

With Seven Seats And Lots Of Space, Caddy Maxi Life Drives Like A Golf

For many families, a full-size people mover or SUV is just too big – particularly in the city/suburban environment. It’s even harder in crowded Europe so Volkswagen has ticked that box with the Volkswagen Caddy Maxi Life. 

Oozing Volkswagen’s hallmark clever design, safety, performance and quality, the Caddy Maxi Life provides a high quality German model for buyers in this segment.

Against rivals from Europe and Asia, the Volkswagen Caddy Maxi Life delivers space for seven adults, plenty of cargo space and Golf-like driving dynamics.

Volkswagen Caddy Maxi Life Overview

Competitively priced at $41,990, the Maxi Life is the stretched, range-topper of Volkswagen’s Caddy lineup. A genuine seven-seat mini SUV, it provides generous space for seven adults and handy luggage space – if the need arises you can easily remove both second and third row seats.

Inside is Volkswagen’s typically high-class interior with many cues to the Golf. That means nice quality materials, supportive seats and impressive comfort. 

But as this is the Volkswagen Caddy, the Maxi Life also provides supreme practicality with multiple storage boxes and luggage tie-down points.

For families, the Volkswagen Caddy Maxi Life is a very high standard German mini-SUV.

Volkswagen Caddy Maxi Life Engine

Volkswagen Caddy Maxi Life is available with the 1.6-litre, four-cylinder turbo-diesel engine or the 2.0-litre version. Car Showroom tested the latter – Volkswagen’s 320TDI, the most powerful Caddy engine.

Maximum power is 103kW at 4200rpm and peak torque of 320Nm is available between 1500-2500rpm.

While the 1.6-litre engine drives through a seven-speed DSG automatic transmission, the 2.0-litre employs a six-speeder.

 

Fuel economy (combined cycle) for the Volkswagen Caddy Maxi Life 320TDI is rated at 6.5l/100kms.

The latest European turbo-diesel engines offer remarkable performance and refined operation and Volkswagen’s current crop is at the top of the Totem Pole. The 320TDI in the Volkswagen Caddy Maxi Life uses common rail direct injection and piezo injectors.

Volkswagen Caddy Maxi Life The Interior

Car Showroom has long regarded ranked Volkswagen’s interior designs as amongst the very best. Perfect example the current Volkswagen Golf.

So when those stylists turn their hands to a van/mini people mover, you shouldn’t expect anything less than excellent. Volkswagen Caddy Maxi Life delivers with its Golf-derived interior, seats and dashboard.

But here’s the good bit – as the Volkswagen Caddy Maxi Life is based on the Caddy commercial van it also scores the myriad (Volkswagen says 24 in total) nooks, crannies and storage boxes which have endeared the Caddy to commercial van buyers throughout the world. All those things families carry in their cars – mobile phones, sun-glasses, street directories, hand wipes etc, etc - can be safely stored in the Volkswagen Caddy Maxi Life…that’s practicality with a capital ‘P’.

 

Volkswagen Caddy Maxi Life scores a leather-wrapped, three-spoke steering which adjusts for rake and reach and combines with height adjustment for the drivers’ seat to provide the usual top-shelf Volkswagen driving position.

Instrumentation is conventional, modern gauges (Golf style) and the audio is a MP3/CD unit.

If you need to ramp-up the load carrying, Volkswagen Caddy Maxi Life can remove the second and third seat rows quite rapidly and provide an enormous 3,880-litres of space. With all seats in place, luggage capacity is 530-litres.

Access to the rear seats is reasonable and gets easier with familiarity. The second row seats is divided 1/3-2/3 so you simply fold the smaller part to access the two third row seats.

We must say even full-size adults will find the third row seats reasonably spacious – that’s not a claim many mini-SUVs can make.

Volkswagen Caddy Maxi Life Exterior & Styling

Volkswagen Commercial vehicles has a star on its hands as the Caddy sells up a storm with private and fleet customers who appreciate its practicality and Golf-like driving dynamics. Same on the outside – this thing is clearly a larger van version of the Golf.

In Caddy Maxi Life, things are stretched to the max. (over 4.8-metres) to accommodate the seven-seat layout. So much so the 16-inch alloy wheels look a bit small (we’d go for the optional 17-inchers).

 

And while there is a family tree tracing back to the Golf, the Caddy is a creation of Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles and Volkswagen points to the front grille and lights (now with standard Daytime Running Lights) which are reminiscent of the larger T5 vans. Volkswagen Caddy Maxi Life is distinguished from its commercial family members by body-colour bumpers and standard fog lights.

The side view of the Volkswagen Caddy Maxi Life is highlighted by those enormous rear windows (which operate in a very clever manner), standard roof rails and large sliding doors.

And the rear has real class with curved C-pillars, body-colour bumpers and a large glass window for the hatch.

 

The overall look is clearly van-based and practical – not the suave, curvaceous on-road appearance of the Peugeot 308 Touring.

Volkswagen Caddy Maxi Life On The Road

When Volkswagen launched its Caddy commercial van, the newcomer from Germany gave an instant kick in the shins to the established players in the light van market. Golf-based so its driving dynamics were a step-up and cleverly thought-out inside to provide surprising cargo space, plus comfort and practicality previously unseen in this segment.

Same attributes apply for the Volkswagen Caddy Maxi Life, which as-tested in 320TDI guise, delivers strong acceleration thanks to its 350Nm of torque and nice ratios from the six-speed DSG automatic transmission.

It’s mostly Golf so the Volkswagen Caddy Maxi Life is refined even when pressed hard and dynamically still very good despite the altered weight of this seven-seater (1715kgs to around 1400kgs for the Golf). Over bumps, the Volkswagen Caddy Maxi Life’s van-based leaf spring rear suspension is a tad noisier than a Golf, but the hallmark Golf precision, grip and sporty firm ride were still there when we tackled our high-speed mountain roads test loop.

 

Families love people movers and the two Car Showroom juniors were no exception – quickly scampering to the third row and enjoying the view from the large side windows. And that plentiful glass area proved a winner when we needed to reverse-park the lengthy (4876mm) Volkswagen Caddy Maxi Life in the city.

In its long wheelbase form as tested, the Volkswagen Golf Caddy Maxi Life requires a 12.2-metre turning circle (11.1-metres for the short wheelbase version) so care was needed in our compact CBD car park.

Overall, the Volkswagen Caddy Maxi Life – thanks to its Golf underpinnings – just about rivals the excellent Peugeot 308 Touring for on-road dynamics…that’s good news for family European mini SUV buyers.

Volkswagen Caddy Maxi Life Challenges

Volkswagen has some runs on the board at the moment with a long list of outstanding products in many market segments – including light commercial vans with the Caddy. Styling is a personal thing and the Volkswagen Caddy Maxi Life, while a seven-seat people mover, can’t hide its commercial van origins.

 

Volkswagen does have other mini MPVs in other markets, which are more stylish/subtle in their looks, but these are not sold in Australia.

Of course the upside to the Volkswagen Caddy Maxi Life’s van heritage is its very practical and clever interior.

Volkswagen Caddy Maxi Life Verdict

If you like Volkswagens, need seven seats, but can’t stretch to $49,990 for the Caravelle or Multivan, this is the car for you. All the hallmark Volkswagen engineering and production quality in a handily priced, user-friendly seven-seat crossover.

If you’re not currently a Volkswagen fan and you’re shopping for a seven seater, the Caddy Maxi Live still deserves a place on your shopping list so you can compare how the clever teams in Hanover and Wolfsburg, Germany tackle the seven-seat crossover equation. You’ll be surprised just how smart their solution is and how nice it is to drive.

Volkswagen Caddy Maxi Life The Competition

It’s a mixed bag for seven-seat people movers and crossovers. The seven-seat 2WD Toyota Kluger is a perfect example – only $700 more than the Volkswagen Caddy Maxi Life, with all the Kluger attributes, but its V6 petrol engine cards 11.0l/100kms for fuel consumption to 6.5l/100kms for Volkswagen’s frugal turbo-diesel.

Or there’s Peugeot’s 308 Touring (from $35,490) – slick European style and quality but certainly a tad more squeezy than the Volkswagen Caddy Maxi Life.

 

Honda Odyssey, priced from $41,990 must be considered and Mitsubishi is in contention with the seven-seat Outlander stickered at $37,690.

And if all of that is stretching your wallet, Kia’s Rondo is Australia’s seven-seat budget leader (only $31,390 for the top-spec SLi model).