Volkswagen Caddy
Verified49 reviews
Reviews
Beware warranty not worth paper it is on
Had issues with new SWB caddy. Injectors and then Catalytic converter. It was new, filled with correct fuel and despite this had to get it towed. Dealer claimed it was my fault. Not covered under warranty. Total crap. Despite paying, not fixed. Asked Volkswagen Aust for help with dealer, they just ignored the issue despite shoddy repair and claims of what the issue was. All other warranty issues now invalidated due to this being blamed if anything occurs. Well practiced behavior by Dealer .... and Volkswagen Show detailsExpensive to maintain petrol engine is a timebomb
The 1.2L TDI Skoda engine is a ticking timebomb. at 34,000 km on the odometer there was developing blowback sound from engine. Waterpump bearings ceased up prompting replacement. Aircon failed. Badly implemented engine cooling system relying on both mechanical and electric pumps. at 70,000 km turbo has air leaks all parts are short lived and overpriced. there are many bad stories on forums of simular circumstances but perhaps if volkswagen stuck to real wheel driven vehicles with their own engines than shoving in crappy terd bird motors to expire at 140,000km. Its these vehicles that inflate living expenses.Mechanics and owners say engine lasts to 140,000 km before rebuild required. A recycle bottle. Show details
Better options out there
I had purchased both the 2015 Caddy and Amarok.But seriously regret buying the Caddy.
The rear suspension is terrible, unable to carry any weight in the rear, Was always riding rough as a rock on the bump stops when half loaded.
The other problem I had is losing gears while driving, Very dangerous while stuck in the middle of an intersection.
Apparently common problem with the 7speed auto gearbox.
These should never have been built with a DCT in them with such a small 1.4l engine.
The gearbox-engine combination can't handle any weight in the vehicle, makes it a very difficult driving.
On the other hand the Amarok has been great.
I don't know how Volkswagen got the a Caddy so wrong.
Shame.
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Disappointingly poor engineering
At 114,000 km my 2013 diesel caddy maximum van went into limp mode at 100 kph, I managed to get the van to limp across 3 lanes of traffic to a space for emergencies. Very scary situation. While it restarted, the engine would not run. No chance of driving in limp mode. I had no choice but to get a tow truck back to my mechanic.The fault is one injector, around $1400 work plus $400 for the tow. When will the next failure happen? A previous minor fault in the battery/generator circuit also cause numerous limp mode episodes. I could get t... Read more
he vehicle going on re starting. The local dealers service unit failed to diagnose the problem on several visits. My mechanic fixed that one. Like other reviewers on this site I have no confidence in VW Australia or their agents. My next vehicle will not be a VW.Warranty Not Worth The Paper It's Written On
Overall this has been a great car being used by my husband only. However a couple of months ago our daughter who was 8 at the time got in the back, shut the sliding door and the whole window fell on top of her.......the rust internally was unbelievable. What was very interesting is we recently changed over from Victorian number plates to Qld number plates and there was no indication of rust where the screws had been and yet internally the back windows (which we only noticed when the window fell out) are full of rust. We approached VW Australia ... Read moreand they would have a barr of supporting us; they told us to go back to our local dealer and have the van assessed, then they would look at the report. Unbeknown to us Cricks Maroochydore (off the record) said they see this same problem time and time again and yet after the report was submitted, after we went to Consumer Affairs they were unable to help us because they can't force VW to do anything about this matter. Their warranty supposedly states "Repairs are covered under their limited warranty only if there is a rust-through condition in the body sheet metal originating from the inside of the affected panel" - it states that but they won't honour it!! They came back with "the rust was caused by leaking windows" - the window leak was not attended to causing the corrosion" interesting though we have never opened the back sliding windows and we never saw any signs of a window leak. They are claiming that we should have reported it in a timely manner (according to their warranty) well we did as soon as the window fell out!!!! VOLKSWAGEN will not be meeting the customers expectations..................Shame on them. They are very lucky that the window falling on our daughter only caused emotional distress - she certainly got a fright...And not physical injury. Not impressed at all VW.Very reliable
I bought my first Caddy 1.6 2K about 3 years ago with 220k on the clock. Its been extremely reliable with normal maintenance. Only replaced brake rotors and pads as expected with mileage. Its used every day as a work van. Its just done over 315k. Recently I had a problem with power. Long story but in the end it s appear to be a bad fuel pump. Saying all this im very happy. Drives like a sedan...very comfortable with range of about 650km. Would buy another with question Show detailsGreat work car
Great car for work, 2.0TDI is responsive and powerful enough for around town. DSG works well and you easily adapt to it. Short wheel base but still plenty of room in the back. 2019 model year so it has Apple CarPlay/android Auto. Been perfectly reliable with zero faults in 50,000km.My only gripe tho is when you have barn doors, you can’t get the reverse camera unless you ask VW to put one in after you take delivery of it, but saying that, the reverse camera once added is high resolution and looks just like the other VW cameras. Show details
Don't buy a manual
We bought a brand new Caddy Runner less than two years agoBeing a manual that was wanted as all my cars are manuals only, for over 20 years.
After 20 000km while driving in the centre Lane in peak hour the car stopped as normal with the start stop function.
But failed to start. An hour late towed to a dealership close at Rockdale.
Couple of weeks later drove out with being told rear crank bearing and Seal failed and also flywheel ring had separated.
Drove around the block and straight back in with a strange oil burning smell. Told will go aw... Read moreay. Days later after not even changing gears on a express way was really strong returned to dealer and left as oil/air separator faulty and oil running down the engine near the gearbox. Picked up a week later. Drove only 9 times then while again on a metro road cruising along bangs and jumps out of gear. Towed to Sutherland dealership as closest. 20 200km and VW says it's normal wear and tear. $1500 to repair. What a joke. Light load only. 4 weeks later will off the road Was not able to get a trade-in price after promised several times. Have up and towed to Sydney City VW that helped as much as they could with their hands tied. Fixed in days at half the price. Bought another passenger car from them. Also now selling caddy manual asap Current personal car BMW with 525% more power (kilowatts) 510% more torque (nm) 300% more kilometres With a towbar and tows a boat with a perfect clutch. Unlike this rarely driven VW Caddy Lemon. VW doesn't tow. VW doesn't drive fast VW doesn't have heavy loads Car prior to this Lemon VW HSV Senator Manual with 388kw 680Nm with 80 000km until sold towing a large caravan. With a perfect clutch. Car Prior HSV R8 manual wagon with 383kw 650nm with 105 000 km until sold. Again perfect clutch towed a large caravan interstate and all around the hilly country. This VW is normal for 20 000km and clutch fail is NOT NORMAL!!!!!! VW AUSTRALIA will not come to help at all. Do not risk. We have another with more kilometres Prior to this I drove a older caddy maxi with 180000km with the same clutch so these new are lemons.
I loved my Caddy better than any other car I have owned
Ive just been reading the reviews and Im astonished that people have found so many problems with their Caddys I owned a Caddy Life for 8 years, it had done 395000 KM in that time. Never had a problem until it had done over 300,000 KM and that was to be expected; but nothing serious. We regularly serviced the Caddy, we did a lot of freeway driving daily living 50Km from Perth. The Caddy had exceptional handling in any road conditions but more importantly the TDi motor with a 5 speed manual gearbox was very economical, it got more economical the ... Read moreolder it got. I would get 1000 to 1100 km to a tank. Unfortunately I was rear ended on the freeway one very cold wet winters morning in 2016 and that finished off my time with a car that I really miss.VW Caddy Maxi Life TDi250 1.6L Diesel DSG - Limp Mode Instant Loss of Power Dangerous, Serious Safet
We purchased the VW Caddy Maxi Life new in 2011 for the safety, economy, low emissions, solid quality build, versatility of the 7 seats and different configurations for large cargo space. It has fulfilled our expectations in these areas bar emissions and most concerningly, barring safety. We have kept the car regularly serviced and well maintained. We wish to make others aware and add to the reviews stating a safety issue with the limp mode. After experiencing this over a dozen times and talking to mechanics, the VW does not respond with a "nor... Read moremal"half speed limp mode. Instead limp mode response is a sudden, dramatic loss of power with deceleration from 100km to 30km in seconds. The DSG is still in gear (unsure what gear it drops down to as too concerned with getting safely off the highway asap) but it is af if the vehicle is engine breaking. It does not slowly cruise down to limp mode, as if in neutral. There is no warning, as soon as an engine fault lamp flashes the limp mode is instant. Five of the times we have experienced limp mode we were on the highway travelling at high speed. This has been extremely dangerous because of the dramatic deceleration leading to being vulnerable to a collision from the rear. There is no warning to the driver behind until hazard lights are mechanically applied asap. Each time the engine fault lamp flashes we have taken it into the dealership or mechanic immediately. Over a period of 5 months the EGR and four injectors (not all at once) have been replaced. Our concern is the defect of the vehicle's drastic response in limp mode. We do not feel confident to drive the vehicle on the highway not knowing when the next component will fail. The instant limp mode has put ourselves and other road users safety in jeopardy. We have been contacting VW Australia over the last 5 months and were advised our concern with the vehicle losing power is not a known concern with our vehicle model. On searching reviews, such as on this site, this is not the case. Others have experienced the exact same issue. Our extreme disappointment is that VW will not look into this safety issue further or rectify the problem. VW recommend that if any faults are to arise to have our vehicle taken into a Volkswagen dealership to further diagnose our concern. We do not want to wait until another fault, risk another potential collision, too many very close calls already. The unusual thing is the faults which have thus far thrown the vehicle into limp mode do not put the engine immediately at risk. The dealership advised to switch the vehicle off then restart and the vehicle could be driven home to the dealership. Why don't they program the ECU to give a warning for say 30 seconds before power loss? Why is possibility of engine damage (which hasn't been the case with past faults) put ahead of passenger safety? Passenger safety should be paramount! We have emailed a letter of complaint to VW three weeks ago but still no reply and no reply to previous email. There response previously is to say they understand our disappointment surrounding our experience but will do nothing further until another fault lamp arises...Great van!
Bought this van to transport my dogs around as I run a rescue. It’s drives smoothly and gets good mileage to the litre, being a Diesel engine.I was looking for a van that could be used generally as well, so was ecstatic to find a van with a comfortable five seater interior as well as plenty of room in the back for the dogs.
The sunken floor in the rear passenger section allows for good leg room and there are plenty of small storage sections, like cup holders, side pockets and overhead document holders. It could, however do to incorpora... Read more
te some type of ‘boot’ section for larger items, but I guess most people utilise the rear carriage for that, rather than place dogs in there. Small things like mirrors on the sun visors could have been incorporated, but as a functional vehicle, it certainly does its job well.Caddy Maxi Crewvan is GREAT
This new van replaced a short wheel-base Renault Kangoo, and is a quantum leap ahead. More power, even if it is a 1.2 turbo, more driveability, more space, very comfortable, and the dash and control layout is very similar to my Tiguan, so there is no problem with swapping from one to the other. Having the people mover version gave me better sound insulation in the back than if I had bought the van version, and with the back row of seats out, I have 5 seats and stacks of workspace. I would have preferred barn doors, but there was no reversing ca... Read moremera option without the lifting door, which is a bit big to lift for my small girl workers. The 7-speed dual clutch is smooth, but is a bit reluctant to reverse slowly up a hill - don't touch the brake, just let it creep along.10 years ownership... Let the trouble begin
Being a tradie, this van gets a beating. Has been reliable till now. The dam bulb out light on dash is constantly on with all bulbs working, starter motor recently replaced, clutch recently replaced, turbo diaphragm replaced, glow plugs replaced, left hand side ball joint replaced, front and rear brakes pads replaced and new battery. After 10 years and bought brand new with 215,000km on the clock now with constant start stop its been a great overall.Steer away from the DSG and petrol models. You need to maintain these vans and they will give you years of trouble free motoring
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Great durable car
Handles well, driving for 3 months now. At first I found it quite difficult to get used to after driving small sedans but overall it's been great.Excellent fuel economy, averaging about 800 - 1000km per tank at this rate, some highway driving but it's definiltey a great feature.
Servicing seems reasonable considering European. I have friends who drive the same car and have complained about expensive prices.
Overall a good car and I would recommend.
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Perfect work van but not without its quirks
I bought 2 caddy maxi 1.9 TDI vans for my delivery business and so far they have been great. Both vans were bought with over 200,000 Kms on them and both have completed 10,000 Kms trouble free. I was of the opinion that most of the problems had occurred at lower Kms and would have been fixed already. I got the dealer to chuck in a 2 year warranty on both that covers the mechanicals for extra piece of mind.Pros: Great to drive and has car like handling. Very comfortable and well designed interior. Good stereo for van. Lots of storage space ... Read more
and cup/bottle holders. Sips diesel fuel - I get between 600-800 Kms per tank. Punchy 1.9 Diesel engine with plenty of low down torque. 6 speed dsg gearbox is smooth and quick to change gears up and down but it's not without its quirks. Cons: DSG gearbox on one of the vans has an issue with finding reverse sometimes and will clunk around before finally going into fault mode and is indicated by the gear indicator flashing and the check engine light coming on. This is easily rectified by switching the engine off and back on again, the gear box instantly shifts into reverse and back to driving normal again. The check engine light disappears after a while. I don't have the money to diagnose and repair the issue (I've read it may be a clutch pack that needs replacing). Once you get used to the way a dsg operates and can accept it niggles it is a good gear box. Overall I'm very happy with the Caddy. Even with the dsg issue it's still a very good van. I had a Hiace van as a rental before I purchased the Caddy, and while it was a good van, it was no where near as comfortable, stable or as fun to drive as the Caddy.Questions & Answers
Can a child seat be fitted on front passenger
I'm pretty sure it's illegal to fit a child seat to the front of any car.
Not illegal to fit a child seat in the front as long as there are no other seats in the back. What I mean are there pints to fit the child seat?
In Queensland
Volkswagen 2009 Speed sensor
Hello...i`m considering buying a 2008, Caddy SWB, 1600 Manual, 180kms. Looks clean and owner has log book. The reviews have made me nervous! Any thoughts please? Cheers.
I'm not sure what the manual is like to drive, but I found the automatic was terrible when I had weight in the back.
Like with any car, make sure the servicing is up to date.
And the best advice I c... Read more
Morning Shane...thank you for taking the time to reply. Very helpful. Cheers.
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