ID buzz owners – real world experiences and review

Looking at a lease for a VW buzz life pro version, cannot find one to test drive so could folk who own one tell me please,

Real range…..I have seen everything from 140 miles to 250 miles real world claim.

Seats…. looking at basic seats not optional extra comfort pack….are they ok and holding up?

Things you like

Things you do not

Clearly with a bit of configuration you can get bikes in…..seen the thread. But dog owners are you putting the dog in the boot? If so are you using divider or crate? Or in the cabin?

My Audi A6 all road is going to my daughter ha’s has died so VW buzz seems a good option but I commute 70 miles a day 3 to 4 days a week. Alternatives are Audi Q8 but does not seem as enjoyable nor as practical.

All thoughts welcome

Sorry I have no direct experience but interested in replies.  If you Google VW Buzz trips to the alps there are some reviews of mtb trips. Sounds like it needs a lot of stops for charging – maybe ok in the rest of Europe but not convinced for the UK.  There have been reviews on here which to my mind don’t give a lot of confidence about the space in the back. I’m a Berlingo owner – I  would love to replace with a Buzz, but not convinced from what I’ve read – especially given it’s going to cost around £60k!

It may help, I’ve had both id3 and id4 cars and both seem a step down compared to previous vw cars the upholstery on the id3 is very cheap feel n look same as the interior, the id4 is a little better but not by much, as for range, if a electric car is advertised at say 250 mile range then as a rule of thumb you will never actually get that id say more like 230 and that’s summer driving very steady, winter your probs looking at 165 ish, apart from that they drive really well, but also factor in the whole country’s infrastructure for electric cars is way behind

Thanks for the replies….the quality on VW seems to have plummeted.

The new LWB has some work cut out for it. The SWB weighs 2700kg and has a GVW of 3050. Adding 40cm to its length, two extra seats and a bigger battery can only make things less good.  It’s also suspicious there’s no weight data for the LWB anywhere yet.  If it’s anything like the caravelle, it’ll be approaching the point where it’ll take people, or their stuff, but not both.

I have a Buzz Cargo and couldn’t be happier with the range, I’m not sure what people are doing with them to get 140 miles range. I think my long term averages is 3.2m/kWh which is a theoretical 246 miles. Most trips in summer are 3.5-4+ depending on speed. Regen is a big boost as it’s so heavy, it really drags power back in. Slower speed up and down gives the best range. There are people on the owners group getting 340+, but that will be slower. Often from Norway so I guess they drive a bit more chilled!

If you are comparing it to cars, efficiency could be better (we are usually +0.5-1m/kWh in our Soul) but essentially, it’s a van. Compare it against other vans and they don’t come close. We had an E-Expert for two years before this and it was terrible, tons of errors and getting sub 100 miles in winter.

I don’t think they do but it might be worth checking if the Maxus Edeliver 5 or 7 are made in an MPV?

Here are the LWB weight specs from the VW Germany site

Equipment version

Pro long wheelbase

Empty weight with driver

2,636.189kg

Actual weight on front axle

1,272.318kg

Actual weight on rear axle

1,288.871kg

Perm. Total weight

3.125kg

Permissible total train weight

4.125kg

Permissible axle load front / rear

1,575kg / 1,630kg

Permissible trailer load braked at 12% / 8%

1,000kg / kg

Permissible trailer load unbraked

750kg

Support load / roof load

75kg/kg

If it helps, VW say the 86kWh battery of the LWB adds about 30km of range.

That LWB is going to lose a lot of folk their licence.

We trialled one as a potential new fleet vehicle. The reports back were that the cabin and general performance were fine, but where it counts was woefully lacking and that was the range. Absolutely dreadful and what makes it worse is the cost of vehicle. Certainly not cheap.

Back in 2019 we reserved 7 Cyber Truck build slots which aren’t even close to being fulfilled so we looked at alternatives. We’ve ended up going for the new Hi Lux instead.

The ID Buzz just isn’t up to it mileage wise. From memory, they were struggling to get 220 miles from it, which is P155 poor for that amount of money.

That LWB is going to lose a lot of folk their licence.

how so? you can drive up to 4.25 tonnes of ev on a normal licence

That’s the van (pro) version. Add maybe 200kg more on for sound deadening, windows, the pano roof , rear hvac, the extra motor and seats in the GTX?

edit: that is indeed the LWB MPV. Less bad than I thought. Its still a stupendously lardy vehicle: 489kg to play with, assuming no options. 6 lads, no luggage.  5 chocolate and coffee fuelled IT professionals? My family and 300kg of stuff seems reasonable, better than our velle certainly.

“how so? you can drive up to 4.25 tonnes of ev on a normal licence”

Don’t think so – from what i can see you can drive 4.25 tonnes of van *if* you do 5 hours of additonal training. Plus that’s a van and a buzz is a car.

https://www.gov.uk/driving-licence-categories

Don’t think so – from what i can see you can drive 4.25 tonnes of van *if* you do 5 hours of additonal training. Plus that’s a van and a buzz is a car.

both those restrictions (van + training) have, or are being dropped – might have been missed under the election?

https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/driving-licence-flexibility-for-alternatively-fuelled-vehicles/outcome/consultation-outcome-driving-licence-flexibility-for-alternatively-fuelled-vehicles

Im considering a Buzz Cargo lease to replace a petrol Caddy as the current Caddy lease prices are just silly. Can anyone comment on the cabin space, as Im a long bodied 6’2″ and wondering what the headroom is like?

“both those restrictions (van + training) have, or are being dropped – might have been missed under the election?”

Those seem to just be proposals for future legislation from a government that’s no longer in power. Doesn’t seem contentious so I imagine the civil servants will drop it on the new minsters desk in due course. That page I linked to is the current status quo.

So real world is 200 miles then? Not looking at cargo model but five seater.