[Closed] VW Caddy Maxi Life - experiences/alternatives

caddy kombi also worth looking at as that will give you 5 seats, rears fold etc as they middle row in a life do.
Converting a wheelchair van back is hard as most have the floor heavily modified.

There are a lot of wheelchair accessible converted Caddys, has anyone got one of these and reverse-converted it back to standard?

Unless you're gonna do it yourself, I don't think you can, didn't seem to be anyone who did it when I looked.

http://owencommercials.com/vehicle/mercedes-citan-crew-van-65-reg-sn-16/

bought one of these ^^^ recently, only gives you 5 seats, not 7, do possibly may not suit. Seats fold flat into floor like the civic magic seats to give a 2.1 x 1.2 x 1.2 load bay.

Caddy maxi seats fold down, to get the same space you need to lift them in and out.

I like the fact it's not all glass too, for security and kipping purposes, got the rear side windows tinted too, in the process of looking for a curtain solution, then I'll get insulation and carpet lining done.

Averaged 53mpg since I got it 6 weeks ago, pretty good.

Friend had the Caddy for life but sold it and got the Ford Torneo connect which he much prefers.

I'm starting to think what do I want next. My saloon is getting old (19), but so far reliable and I have a 4 bike rack for it. We no longer need a car for the kids, and MrsF has a medium SUV - I'm not climbing on a latter to get 4 trail bikes a bike rack on top of that.

With Covid, I'm probably going to be working flexibly forever now. I'd definately consider a crew van and have the back decked out to hold bikes, front wheel off, and also make it a bit of a day van with storage for a small cooker and day trip gear. Not really planning to sleep in it. Tail gate would be good for cover when getting changed out of muddy kit, or got the cooker on.

I quite like the look of the Peugeot Expert, but many seem to be 'ramp equipped'.

We looked at making curtains for the Tourneo Connect but in the end bought some thermal window blinds from ebay. They come with the rubber suckers and are cut for each window. Works a treat.

Tracey, I'll butcher up a T5 bulkhead curtain, that's no probs, I'll have a look at those you suggest, though there's possibly a bigger choice for your van than there is for mines.

We have a Caddy Maxi "Comfortline" 2.0 140hp... It comes with a good spec and importantly a detachable towbar and 13 pin I think electrics. Very happy with it and back from a 21 day Lithuania / Poland trip. We slept in the car with a camping box, bikes went on the towbar Thule rack. Our spec has a Webasto heater and some other nice stuff, its lined well inside.

With only 2 rows of seats teh boot is massive. Seats in the back are single and a double. Both fold and tilt and a bike will go in like this, wheels on. Seats out its massiver.

Bear in mind the sad VW EGR story. On the 1.9 Tdi it was on the top of the engine and an easy fix. The newer 2.0tdi has it at the back of the engine, very hard to get to. Its a €300 part and a €1k job if it goes wrong and also, these are fitted with dpf filters as well.

But all this aside, ours does perfectly for us, bike duty and adventures.

New shape Berlingo XL? We got one about a fortnight ago and its been ace so far. 7 seats, rear two removable and middle row fold flat. Had four people and four bikes in it today.

Amdro also make a camper conversion that looks pretty interesting, though storing the bits when not in use would be a pain.

Obviously no long term reports on it yet...

@mesh, I saw all the adverts for the Berlingo/Pug cars a year ago and really liked the look of them and with the much improved dash. They are on my list too, but my dad had an earlier Berlingo, and it was a good car, and he needed a van/car at the time.

The Amdro kits are fab, that's what my wife spotted, and suggested it - not something she does often - 'is that a kit for the car your dad had ?'.

Thing is, me and a mate, who both need to haul big trail bikes about, still have saloon cars - i.e. a boot, not a hatch. It works for us both. Fully loaded, 4 blokes, 4 bikes on roof, all our sh1t in the boot - sorted. We are both scratching our heads what to do next. Thing is, his Audi is newer and it's his missus car. He has a 30 year old LR Deffender that's really used for off road.

He was following my car from a mate's van when we were off to Llandegla, and he said my car looks tiny with 4 trail bikes on the top. It can still exceed speed limits with them up there easily..

I really don't know what to do next ? My wife keeps saying, 'your car is old what do you want next' - me, mine does everything I need, don't want to go smaller, we also don't need all the space.

Otherwise I think, fark it and get a 2 seater, and get step ladders for MrsF's SUV for bikes.

When I looked seriously at them (5 years ago) 90% of them were wheelchair converted and the few that were standard just weren’t sufficiently cheaper than a caravelle to make them worth considering. So the standard answer is - if a Berlingo isn’t enough, just get a transporter.

Got a 7 seat maxi life. It's good, very versatile family mobile. Can take 7 in comfort but all the seats can come out in seconds. As a 5 seat the boot is vast. We normally have it with 6 seats so you get easy access to the back 2 seats.

A couple of years ago when we looked there was nothing that came close if you wanted >5 seat versatile family mobile that wasn't a full on van or SUV. The new Berlingo 7 seat wasn't out and Transit Connect 7 seats were rare. I'd look at those now if I had to replace, I really liked the old 5 seat Berlingo I had.

There is a wheelchair accessible caddy life conversion available. We test drive one, ride was awful, fuel tank was tiny due to ramp and it rattled like a babies toy box over anything that wasn't billiard smooth. Bought an Alhambra not too much more money, bigger just as rattly and a tiny bit more range.

Wheelchair ramp conversions are generally awful but if you need one you need one.

Range is so compromised I think there should be easy opportunities for EV but probably no market.

Wheelchair converted vehicles also have a number of bespoke parts on the under side

Usually replacements such as exhausts are expensive and limited

If you don't want diesel and are looking at newish then the new Berlingo can have a 1.2 turbo petrol that's a decent engine. XL size is usefully bigger than the old Berlingos and 7 seat too.

For electric it's been pretty much the env200, which you can have as a combi with 5 or 7 seats, or an Evalia version which has more interior trim and a bit more MPV than van with seats. The Peugeot/Citroen/Vauxhall midsize vans are coming very soon with 50 or 75kwh batteries and they're doing the passenger/minibus versions (Spacetourer/Traveller/Life) as electric ones too. Hopefully more from the other manufacturers soon.

If you're on a tighter budget and don't want diesel then there's also japanese market stuff. I imported a Honda Stepwagon that's similar size, sliding doors, big tailgate, rear seats flip up out of the way for bikes and stuff. It's been a really useful camping/bikes/tiprun car for us. Newer there's Toyotas (Voxy, Noah, etc) in similar boxy mini-van MPV style that use their Prius hybrid system.

Bear in mind the sad VW EGR story. On the 1.9 Tdi it was on the top of the engine and an easy fix. The newer 2.0tdi has it at the back of the engine, very hard to get to. Its a €300 part and a €1k job if it goes wrong and also, these are fitted with dpf filters as well.

Mine was replaced on Friday - £690 all in. Bit of a kick in the stomach! Frustratingly my alternator went last year (fairly pricey) and the gearbox blew a year ago too, taking the DMF and clutch with it - £2800 for that... 10yr old vehicle with 115k on the clock - I guess shit just goes wrong!

Love the van though - 2.0, 140bhp, Maxi Kombi with tailgate. Had mine lined and leisure battery in the back with additional plugs and lights in ceiling and tailgate for when getting changed etc. Brilliant MTB vehicle.

If you’re on a tighter budget and don’t want diesel then there’s also japanese market stuff

the sharan/alhambra is available with a 1.4 turbo petrol as well.

On my 2nd VW Caddy Maxi life, 1st was 08 plate 140bhp 2.0l. Owned it for 8 years with nothing other than wear and tear items, although with all the power in the front wheels the tyre life isn’t great. Could not fault it. Always run as a 5 seater, with the rear two just stored in the garage. Flip one seat forward and you get 2 bikes in whole, with the boot still practically empty and still a 4 seater. Got 40mpg on a run. Sold as 40mpg was seeming low compared to big estates.
Now bought a brand new (good discount) top of the range 150bhp 2.0l Euro 6. So much better in the latest model. Much more car like ride, more power, much better fuel consumption regular 50+ on a tank, 55+ if all motorway. Better plastics and finish and all mod cons, heated seats, sat nav, rear camera parking etc. Equivalent spec in a T6 was £12k more expensive. Won’t be changing it any time soon.

Cheers for all the responses.

Just to clarify, I neither want nor need a wheelchair accessible version. However, seems that 80% of those that are advertised on auto trader have had the WAV conversion. Wondering how possible it would be to convert it back to standard, or at least remove the ramp, electrics etc.

Also, has anyone started off with the van version and added seats, windows etc? How costly would that be and how DIY-able is it?

The Berlingo XL / Rifter look like good options ... Looking forward to seeing yours in the metal at the weekend @mesh

Stay clear of wheel chair conversions, chopped floors, tiny fuel tanks and and unique exhausts.

I'd go for a grand tourneo connect.

@wzzzz

I’d go for a grand tourneo connect.

I was about to ask about those...

Do have any experience of them?

I think Tracey has one?

Ours isn't the Grand. Its a great vehicle for biking. Daughter takes it all over. She has a Decathlon drive away for long stays. Otherwise she sleeps in the back with the bike down the side of her.