Verdict ★★★★☆

In many ways, the Multivan is a brilliant car. It’s a very comfortable way to travel. The cabin finish might not quite live up to the near-£60,000 price tag, but every passenger has space to stretch out, especially if you pick the six-seat layout, rather than the default seven-seater.

Getting in and out is easy, thanks to the sliding rear doors. Moving to the back of the cabin is simple, too, owing to the space between the middle-row seats. We love the way the chairs move back and forth to better share the space between passengers, and the sliding centre console is a really clever feature.

You choose a car like the Multivan for its practicality, but the driver doesn’t feel shortchanged. The ride is comfortable, and handling is composed. Go for the 2.0-litre petrol and there’s plenty of performance. By petrol standards, mid-range pulling power is strong, and the Multivan will quickly pull a sensibly matched caravan up to speed. The VW is stable as well as swift, with assured towing manners to put the driver at ease.

However, there’s no getting away from the petrol car’s thirst, in solo driving and while towing. If we covered a lot of miles, we’d go for the diesel, or for frequent short trips, the plug-in hybrid would have lower running costs.

It’s also a shame you can’t specifiy the Multivan with four-wheel drive. This would solve the traction problem we found when making hill starts and would make this large MPV a genuine alternative to big SUVS. Even with these reservations, we rate the Multivan very highly.