Best 5-seat combi and crew vans to buy
Need to carry a mix of cargo and passengers? These are the best combi and crew vans around
Some commercial vehicle users need to carry both cargo and passengers. In those cases, a crew van or combi (sometimes spelled kombi) with seats for five or more people could be the answer. These combi vans are a halfway house between conventional panel vans and minibuses or van-based MPVs, and feature a second row of seats in the back. They're a good choice for somebody who needs a work vehicle that can double as family transport, but wants more security or cargo volume than a double cab pick-up truck can provide.
The majority of panel vans are available in crew or combi van guise, although usually the range of body lengths and trims, as well as engine and gearbox options, aren't as broad. These models are often built to the same standard as the panel van that they're based on, too. What we mean by that is you shouldn't expect passenger car levels of refinement, because uncarpeted floors, hard plastics and basic kit are often the order of the day. However, some crew van and kombi models are kitted out to a similar standard as their van-based MPV counterparts, with carpets, leather seats and a decent amount of kit that makes them more appealing as family wagons.
So which 5-seat crew or combi van is right for you? We pick 10 of the best below...
1. Ford Transit Custom DCiV
We rated the previous Ford Transit Custom as the crew van around, and with the current version perfecting the formula, it’s no surprise to see it picking up where the old one left off.
The Double Cab-in-Van (DCiV) version seats up to six, with a load length of 1,604mm behind the bulkhead and 3.3 cubic metres of capacity when specced with the short wheelbase. If you’re happy losing one of those seats to gain extra capacity plus the capability of carrying longer items, the five-seater MultiCab has a larger load area with an L-shaped bulkhead.
Along with being a very capable van, the Transit Custom also has excellent, car-like driving manners, and a wide range of powertrains. There are the usual manual and automatic diesel options with varying power outputs, plus a plug-in hybrid and several Ford E-Transit Custom electric vans.
2. Volkswagen Transporter Kombi
The Volkswagen Transporter is now based on the Ford Transit Custom due to a joint venture between the two manufacturers, and it’s all the better for it. The VW gets the same excellent range of diesel, plug-in hybrid and electric powertrains, and similarly car-like driving manners.
The Kombi is a rather different offering to the Transit Custom double cab-in-van, though. There’s no bulkhead, which isn’t so great for security, but it’ll make for a more pleasant interior ambience for passengers. With that in mind, it’s better suited for private owners than commercial purposes.
The lack of bulkhead does mean the total load length is slightly longer than that of the Ford at 1,777mm long for the short-wheelbase Transporter.
3. Mercedes Vito Crew
The Mercedes Vito is starting to feel its age against much younger competition, particularly the Ford Transit Custom and Volkswagen Transporter corporate cousins we’ve already covered. But Mercedes has continually updated the mid-size van to keep it competitive, while slimming down the range so it makes more sense.
A Vito Crew remains part of the range, available in two wheelbase lengths with between 3.6 and 4.1 cubic metres of space. Two different diesel engines are available, but there’s no electric version - the eVito can be specced as a panel van and as a passenger-focused Tourer, but not a Crew van.
Like the VW Transporter, there’s no bulkhead separating the seating compartment from the cargo area, something which brings drawbacks in terms of security and refinement but adds load space flexibility.
4. Vauxhall Vivaro Doublecab
The huge Stellantis group of brands has several crew vans on its roster, which are pretty much the same thing other than in their branding. We’ll be covering two of them on this page, starting with the Vauxhall Vivaro Doublecab.
It’s available in L1 and L2 lengths, although either way, you get seating for six. The passenger compartment is separated by a plastic bulkhead with a window, and behind that, there’s 1,352mm load length and 3.2 cubic metres of cargo volume in L1s, with 1,700mm and four cubic metres on L2s.
148bhp and 177bhp diesel engines are available, or a 75kWh battery in the Vivaro Electric. That’s a much bigger pack than in earlier models, giving a decent 219-mile range. The increase in cell count has also meant a bump in price, though.
5. Citroen Dispatch Crew
The Citroen Dispatch Crew is the second of our Stellantis mid-sized vans on the list, which means all of this is going to sound quite familiar from the Vauxhall Vivaro we’ve just covered.
Again, there’s the choice of two lengths (in this case referred to as M and XL), with 3.2 - 4.0 cubic metres of cargo space behind the plastic bulkhead depending on which you go for. Unsurprisingly, the powertrain options match. You can pick between 148bhp and 177bhp diesels or the e-Dispatch, which has the same upsized 75kWh battery pack as the Vauxhall Vivaro Electric.
There’s also a counterpart to the sporty-looking Vivaro GS, in the form of the VTR, which might bring back some memories if you used to own the thusly-badged Saxo.
6. Ford Transit Connect Flexcab
The joint venture that sees the Volkswagen Transporter become a badge-engineered version of the Ford Transit Custom also goes the other way. The Ford Transit Connect is really a Volkswagen Caddy in disguise, and both cars get a very clever rear seating arrangement, here called 'Flexcab’.
It’s effectively a crew cab van and a panel van in one vehicle. That’s because in one swift movement, the second row of seating transforms into a bulkhead to open up significantly more load volume.
The folded seat unit is inevitably a lot chunkier than a traditional bulkhead, so you don’t get quite as much cargo capacity as a two-seater Transit Custom, but it’s not too far off. In the short wheelbase version, for instance, there’s 2.4 cubic metres of capacity instead of 3.1, while the maximum load length is 277mm shorter at 1,520mm.
It gets the same excellent plug-in hybrid setup as the VW Caddy with up to 73 miles of electric range, but also something we’d rather was not carried over - the VW’s noticeable lack of physical buttons, making it needlessly fiddly to perform basic functions like changing the cabin temperature.
7. Volkswagen Caddy Kombi
Although it’s not called ‘Flexcab’, the Caddy Kombi’s rear seating arrangement works in just the same ingenious manner as it does in the Ford Transit Connect.
Since we’ve already covered the short wheelbase’s cargo capacity with the Ford, we might as well look at the longer Caddy Kombi Maxi’s load-lugging ability. There’s 3.1 cubic metres of space with the rear seats in the bulkhead position, which happens to be the same as a short wheelbase Caddy panel van, and 0.6 less than a Caddy Maxi panel van. The load length is 1,873, compared to 2,150 in the Maxi panel van.
In terms of powertrains, there’s a choice between a 2.0-litre diesel engine or a plug-in hybrid with plenty of electric-only range.
8. Renault Trafic LWB Crew
Go for a passenger-carrying Renault Trafic, and you're getting a van that's geared slightly more to work use than family life, but it's still a great option, because it's one of the most spacious vans in the medium-sized sector.
The Crew Van variant features a glazed bulkhead and glass for the sliding doors, but like other vans in the sector, the back doors are solid steel for security. The main benefit of these vans is the wipe-clean nature of the cargo area, and in the Trafic Crew you get a decent amount of space, too. Now available in LWB form only, there’s four cubic metres of volume to play with. And with a square shape, it's easy to load up.
The back seats have lots of room and a great view of the road ahead, while the 2.0-litre dCi diesels that are now fitted across the range deliver plenty of pulling power.
9. Ford Transit Courier Double Cab In Van
Believe it or not, Ford’s smallest van is available as a ‘Double Cab in Van’. While this configuration trims the load length to 1,429mm - down from 1,802mm - the latest version of the Ford Transit Courier is wide enough that two Euro Pallets will fit in either version. The total cargo volume, meanwhile, is 2.5 cubic metres in the DCiV, compared to 3.0 in the two-seater panel van.
The powertrain choice is more limited than the panel van’s, with the DCiV losing the all-electric E-Transit Courier option along with the 122bhp petrol manual. Your choices here are the 1.2-litre petrol with either 98bhp and a manual gearbox or 122bhp and an automatic, or a 1.5-litre, 98bhp diesel manual.
Like a few of the vans here, it’s frustrating that there aren’t more physical interior controls, with the touchscreen infotainment system having to do a lot of the heavy lifting. In better news, though, the Transit Courier is surprisingly fun to drive, if that matters to you.
10. Ford Transit Double Cab in Van
Much like the Transit Custom Double Cab In-Van, the full-size Ford Transit offers a great mix of cargo capacity and passenger space. Because the Transit is a large van, the DCIV is a six-seater instead of five, and it has plenty of room for all aboard.
You can have it with either a 2.0-litre EcoBlue diesel in 128bhp and 162bhp states of tune, or as a fully electric E-Transit with two different sizes of battery available. There are L2 H2, L2 H3, L3 H2, L3 H3 and L4 H3 combinations, while unlike the Mercedes Sprinter Crew Van, there's a choice of front, rear or four-wheel drive as well.
There's a glazed bulkhead splitting the cargo area from the cab, which is a nice touch, although the cabin is generally pretty workmanlike in terms of their fit and finish.
How to choose your crew van
You'll find crew van variants available in the small, medium and large van classes. In the smallest class, it's a case of 'making do': Small crew vans are usually based on long-wheelbase versions of the van in question, but more often than not have solid metal sliding side doors, with glass offered as an option. Some models offer a folding back seat that is integrated into a multi-position steel mesh bulkhead. This means you can fold the back seats away to increase cargo capacity when they aren't in use, but the seats themselves are only really designed for short journeys, because of the thin padding that's used.
If you're looking at a combi or crew van that needs to double as family transport, then a medium-sized version is the one to choose. These vans aren't as cumbersome as large panel vans, and they offer the kind of kit and driving experience that's not very far removed from a passenger car. Go for one with a steel bulkhead between the cargo and passenger areas, and it'll be just as secure as a panel van, perhaps even more so because the only access is via the rear doors. These models will feature sliding side doors with windows, and there are versions available that are well kitted out, with five or six-seat layouts offered.
The large crew van sector offers carrying capacity like no other. The majority are six-seaters - because the vans they're based on usually have three-abreast seating up front as standard - while some can even be had with four narrow seats in the back if you need the capacity for short trips. These crew vans are often more basic in their equipment, because they are designed to transport workers rather than families. They tend to have wipe-clean surfaces, hard-wearing fabrics and not many creature comforts.
Another option to consider is the crew cab. These models usually feature a bare chassis at the back for conversion purposes, often making space for tipper or pick-up bodywork fitted as part of a conversion. This separates the load area from the passenger compartment – like in a pick-up truck – and these models often have a far higher payload capacity.
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