Overview

The Volkswagen T7 Multivan is the brand’s replacement for the Caravelle. Unlike that vehicle (and despite the name) the Multivan isn’t actually based on the same underpinnings as the Transporter van. Instead, it’s a bespoke MPV built on the same MQB platform as all of Volkswagen’s family cars – and as such it’s a huge leap forward.

This makes it closer in spirit to the old Volkswagen Sharan, which was discontinued in 2021. The Multivan shares plenty of qualities with the best MPVs, including an upright body, great visibility and a huge amount of space inside. In fact, it’s brilliant if you value these things – which is why the VW Multivan won Best Seven-Seater in the Parkers New Car Awards 2024.

Price-wise, the Multivan is at the higher end of the MPV market, making it a rival for vehicles such as the Mercedes-Benz V-Class, Peugeot Traveller and Vauxhall Vivaro Life, as well as big SUVs ranging from the Skoda Kodiaq to the BMW X7.

Volkswagen’s certainly made it attractive for those sorts of customers, with niceties like a standard automatic gearbox, a high-tech dashboard and the option of a highly useful plug-in hybrid engine variant. The interior is plush and it’s a distinctive – we think attractive – vehicle to look at. We’ve always found they attract plenty of admiring glances.

More to the point, while the Multivan may offer less kerb appeal than the new all-electric VW I.D. Buzz, the cabin is more flexible and there’s enough VW spirit to keep most devoted vanlifers happy. Despite its car-like underpinnings, VW also still sells the Multivan through its VW Van Centres rather than the car network.

Over the next few pages we’ll thoroughly review the Volkswagen Multivan, rating its driving experience, practicality and interior and how much it’ll cost you to run.