Mercedes V-Class Review & Prices

There aren’t many big people carriers on sale that’ll comfortably seat up to eight people, and most of them look and feel a bit like modern minibuses. Not so the Mercedes V-Class. Where alternatives such as the Toyota Proace Verso and Hyundai i800 are like a huge blue Ikea carrier bag – practical and affordable but pretty basic – the V-Class feels like a whopping Prada holdall.

Even entry-level models come with big alloy wheels, flashy chrome trim and a few body creases to make sure your passengers don’t mistake it for a removals van, while more expensive AMG Line and Exclusive versions pack an even posher visual punch.

Don’t go thinking the Mercedes V-Class has maxed-out its style budget on the outside – it looks and feels very nearly as upmarket inside, too. The neat dashboard has lots of soft plastic trims and the infotainment system – while some way off the techy units you get in Mercedes SUVs – comes with more features than most MPVs.

Things are equally comfortable in the back seats. It’s a doddle to step in through the V-Class’ massive sliding doors and there’s enough headroom for six-footers to climb into the rearmost row. The seats themselves – of which you can have up to six – are nicely padded and there’s enough space in the V-Class’ wide cabin for three adults to sit side-by-side without feeling hemmed in.

There’s also the option to ditch the two rear benches and replace them with two uber-luxurious throne-like seats instead. Or, you can remove the back seats entirely and use the Mercedes V-Class as a seriously upmarket van.

Whether you’re carrying people or palettes, you’ll find the Mercedes V-Class is a doddle to drive. You sit up high and get a decent view out – although the windscreen pillars are rather wide – and the controls are all very light and easy to use in traffic.

The nine-speed automatic gearbox is nice and smooth, but it does like to change up a little too soon. This isn’t a huge issue but does mean the V-Class feels a little lethargic when you accelerate hard because it’s almost always in too high a gear.

It’s a shame that the Mercedes V-Class’ diesel engine grumbles quite loudly when you accelerate, but it settles into a quiet cruise at motorway speeds. You won’t head too much wind or tyre noise in the V-Class, either, and its suspension does a decent job ironing out bumps without wallowing unpleasantly.

If you’re planning to do plenty of long journeys in your Mercedes V-Class, you’ll want to consider paying extra for the Driver Assistance pack with built-in blind-spot warning, lane-keeping assistance and adaptive cruise control.

Just bear in mind that this does bump up the price of the already quite expensive Mercedes V-Class. So, if this sounds like your ideal MPV, make sure you check out our Mercedes V-Class deals to see how much you can save on one, or browse the latest used stock. You can also sell your car through carwow.

The Mercedes V-Class is one of the poshest people carriers around and comes with a stylish interior, but some of its infotainment feels a bit dated

Unlike many large people carriers, the Mercedes V-Class doesn’t look and feel utilitarian inside. Instead, it comes with a pretty slick design and plenty of plush-feeling materials like those in Mercedes cars.

The dashboard, for example, has a soft, yielding finish and its sweeping design looks similar to that in the C-Class saloon. You get a set of near-identical air vents, too – albeit with a black instead of a brushed chrome finish – and a simple row of intuitive buttons that operate with a pleasing solidity.

The free-standing infotainment display isn’t anywhere near as slick as the integrated dual-screen units you can get in the likes of a conventional Mercedes car, but it looks far nicer than the small infotainment screen you can get in a Toyota Proace Verso.

The faux-leather seats feel very nearly as cosseting as the real thing and the contrasting stitching you get on higher-spec models is arrow-straight. The door bins come with nice felt-lined pockets to stop items rattling around on the move and you can get the Mercedes V-Class it with a suede-like roof lining looks and feels great.

It’s not without fault, though. There are a few very hard, scratchy plastics beside the centre console, around the rotary dial for the infotainment system and on the doors. That said, the Mercedes V-Class is still one of the plushest people carriers you can buy.

As standard, the Mercedes V-Class comes with a 7.0-inch infotainment display. It isn’t integrated quite as neatly into the dashboard as the screens in some MPVs, but it’s reasonably bright and the graphics – while not crystal clear – are pretty easy to read on the move.

Rather than using a touchscreen, you navigate through the system’s menus using the rotary dial on the dashboard. This means you don’t need to take your eyes off the road for too long to select the right feature, but the awkward position of the bulky hand-rest won’t suit everyone.

Satellite navigation comes as standard, but it isn’t particularly easy to pan or zoom into the system’s maps using the rotary dial – a touchscreen is much more intuitive. Things get a little easier if you pay extra for an Exclusive model thanks to its larger 8.4-inch display, but you can’t mirror your phone’s navigation and music-streaming apps through the V-Class’ screen as you can in most other Mercedes models.

These high-spec cars do at least come with live traffic updates and a beefier Burmester stereo system, but this doesn’t sound anywhere near as good as the similar unit fitted to plenty of Mercedes SUVs.