Volkswagen Transporter Kombi review

Yep, it feels pretty car-like in here too. If you’re coming from the regular Transporter panel van it’ll be very familiar, with a very durable feel and lots of hard-wearing plastics designed to survive the apocalypse and several medium-to-large meteor strikes. Not necessarily a bad thing if you’ve got the kids…

As standard this Kombi is a five-seater with two individual seats up front and three further back. Alternatively it can be optioned with a driver’s seat plus two-seater bench seat in the first row, making it a six-seater.

There are a couple of giveaways that show this isn’t a designated people carrier – you only get speakers up front, there’s a shortage of cupholders in the rear, and no floor mats (or, indeed carpet) unless you go for the top-spec Sportline. 

Is the tech your usual VW disaster?

No, actually – but primarily because it shares its interface with the Ford Transit Custom. That means you get a 12in digital driver’s display and 13in touchscreen based around Ford’s SYNC 4 operating system. Good news for your, bad news for VW's Gold Star for Effort collection.

The driver's display isn’t the most inspiring and it's a little limited in customisability, but the main screen is a breath of fresh air compared to the capacitive touchpoints and infuriating sliders in much maligned VWs of recent years.

It’s not perfect mind – the majority of the controls are programmed into the touchscreen, but at least you get adjustable shortcuts to quickly navigate to climate controls and turn off any unwanted driver assist systems etc.

One other thing to note: all versions get a steering wheel with proper, physical buttons. VW says it’s so they’re easy to operate even “when wearing gloves”, because van. We’re not complaining.

Does it get any special treatment over the regular van?

Erm… all versions also get dual sliding doors, whereas the van only gets one. Oh, and you get LED lights back there too.

But otherwise, not really. VW makes no secret about that – if you want something a bit posher there’s the Transporter Shuttle. Or alternatively, the car-based Multivan, which feels much more like an MPV as a result. For EV disciples, there’s also the retrotastic ID.Buzz.

If you’re looking for a people carrier and a work horse in one though, this Kombi manages the compromise incredibly well. It’ll seat six in comfort and still squeeze in two Euro pallets, for goodness' sake. Can a Bentley Bentayga do that? No. No it can't.