Volkswagen Touran (2015-2026) Review

The Volkswagen Touran is one of those cars that quietly makes an enormous amount of sense. While many buyers now default to a seven-seat SUV, the Touran sticks with the old-school MPV recipe of a tall roof, clever packaging and an emphasis on practicality over posturing.

That’s its biggest strength. The Touran doesn’t just offer seven seats as a technicality. It has three individual seats in the middle row, decent access, plenty of useful storage and the sort of day-to-day family usability that many supposedly more fashionable alternatives still struggle to match.

It also drives in a reassuringly normal way. There’s good visibility, light steering and a tidy, Golf-like feel that makes it much less intimidating than larger seven-seaters. Around town, that matters. On longer journeys, it settles down nicely and feels more refined than some van-based alternatives.

The current UK picture is simpler than it once was. The diesel options have gone and the Touran now centres on a 1.5-litre petrol engine, with manual and DSG automatic gearboxes depending on trim.

The VW Touran is only available as a used or nearly-new purchase, but that doesn’t stop it from being a strong product in the right context. If anything, the Touran’s old-fashioned honesty is part of its charm. It’s not trying to be adventurous; it’s trying to be a really effective family car, and it still succeeds.

For most buyers, the best choice is the Volkswagen Touran Match with the 1.5-litre petrol engine. It has the most sensible balance of price, equipment and flexibility, and it’s the only trim that lets you choose between a manual and DSG automatic.

If you’re worried about long-term complexity and simply want the most straightforward version, the manual Match is the cleanest answer. The DSG is easy enough to live with, but it’s not the essential choice here.

SEL and R-Line add extra trim detail and more visual polish, but the Touran is at its best when you lean into its practical side rather than trying to make it feel sporty.

The Volkswagen Touran now sits at roughly £39,960 and up depending on trim and stock, which means it’s no longer a cheap family MPV in absolute terms.

That said, you’re paying for a very specific kind of usefulness. The Touran is one of the few compact seven-seat cars that prioritises proper interior flexibility over style-led design, and that gives it a value of its own if you know you need what it offers.

Used examples make an especially strong case, because there are nearly new cars around for notably less than list and the Touran’s appeal has never really depended on having the very latest badge appeal.

The most obvious rival is the Dacia Jogger. It's much cheaper and also gives you seven seats, but it doesn’t feel as solid, as refined or as cleverly resolved as the Volkswagen.

If you’re willing to go bigger, the Volkswagen Multivan is the more spacious and more flexible answer from the same brand, though it’s far more expensive. The Ford Tourneo Custom and Citroen SpaceTourer also offer much more room, but they feel far more van-like in return.

Among SUVs, the Skoda Kodiaq and Hyundai Santa Fe are the obvious alternatives. Both offer seven seats and a more fashionable image, but neither matches the Touran for neat packaging and family-friendly simplicity.

Practicality is where the Volkswagen Touran really earns its keep. Up front, there’s plenty of adjustment, good visibility and lots of useful storage, while the three separate seats in the middle row make a real difference to family life.

Each middle-row seat is properly usable, which helps the Touran feel more versatile than many seven-seat SUVs that effectively treat the centre position as an afterthought. Access to the third row is decent enough, and while the rearmost seats are not huge, they’re more usable than you might expect.

The obvious compromise is boot space with all seven seats in place. At 137 litres, there’s barely enough room for more than a few bags. Drop the third row, though, and the picture changes dramatically, because capacity rises to 927 litres. Fold the second row as well, and you get 1,857 litres and a very useful, almost van-like load area.

That means the Touran is at its best as a five-seater with occasional seven-seat ability. Used that way, it’s one of the smartest family cars of its kind.

The Volkswagen Touran measures 4,527mm long, 1,829mm wide and 1,668mm high. That gives it a very useful footprint: large enough inside to be properly practical, but still compact enough to slot into urban life without feeling cumbersome.

That’s one of the Touran’s most underrated strengths. It offers proper seven-seat flexibility without feeling like a giant bus on everyday roads.

The Touran’s infotainment system is one of the more conventional setups in the current Volkswagen world, and that’s no bad thing. The menus are logical, responses are quick enough, and the learning curve is much gentler than on some newer touch-heavy dashboards.

The current setup includes a digital cockpit and a 10.25-inch media system, with navigation standard from Match trim. Wireless smartphone charging is included, though app connectivity availability depends on trim and stock specification, so it’s worth checking the exact car if this matters to you.

The Volkswagen Touran’s cabin materials are solid rather than glamorous. The finish is tidy, the switchgear feels robust, and there is a general sense that it has been designed to survive years of family life.

It no longer feels especially premium by the standards of the latest German cars, but it still feels more substantial than many mainstream alternatives. That matters more in this kind of car than any decorative flourish.

The current Volkswagen Touran range now centres on a single 1.5-litre petrol engine with 150PS. In Match trim, it can be paired with either a six-speed manual or a seven-speed DSG automatic, while higher trims are DSG only.

Performance is perfectly adequate rather than punchy. Volkswagen quotes 0-62mph in 8.9 seconds, which is enough to make the Touran feel brisk enough for normal family use without ever pretending it’s anything sporty.

The Touran feels tidy and secure on the road. There’s not much body lean, the steering is light and accurate enough, and the whole car responds in a way that feels much closer to a Golf than to a van-based people carrier.

Ride comfort is another strength. Even on larger wheels, the Touran deals well with poor roads and keeps passengers comfortable, which is exactly what you want in a car likely to spend its life carrying family members rather than enthusiastic drivers.

The 1.5-litre petrol is refined enough, and while there is some wind noise at speed, it’s no worse than you would expect from a car of this shape. Overall, the Touran feels like a very relaxed family car.

The Volkswagen Touran now sits on a four-star Euro NCAP rating under the current assessment criteria, following the 2022 retest. That is a step down from the older five-star result, but it still comes with plenty of useful safety kit.

Standard features include Front Assist, multiple airbags and ISOFIX points on all five rear seats, which is a genuine family-car highlight. Some of the more advanced systems were optional rather than standard, so specification can vary depending on the exact car.

Official fuel economy is up to 44.4mpg for the manual and 43.1mpg for the DSG automatic. Those are respectable numbers for a seven-seat petrol MPV, even if real-world results are likely to dip below that around town.

The Touran is not especially light, so you shouldn’t expect miracle economy, but it looks reasonable by the standards of a practical seven-seater.

The Volkswagen Touran comes with a three-year, 60,000-mile warranty, which is standard enough for this class rather than a major selling point.

Volkswagen servicing plans are offered on either fixed or flexible schedules, and it’s worth checking which regime a stock or used example is on, especially if you plan to keep it for a long time.

Insurance groups are relatively modest for a car of this size. Current figures run from group 19 to group 21 depending on trim and gearbox.

That makes the Touran easier to justify than some larger seven-seat alternatives, particularly for family buyers who are already keeping an eye on fuel and finance costs.

From the second year onwards, the current standard VED rate for petrol, diesel and hybrid cars is £200 a year. Cars with a list price above £40,000 also pay the Expensive Car Supplement for five years from the second licence, taking the annual bill to £640 during that period.

That matters here because some higher-spec Touran versions sit around or above the £40,000 threshold, so it’s worth checking the exact list price of the car you are buying. Not every version is automatically caught in the same way.