Skip advert
Advertisement
In-depth reviews

Volkswagen T-Cross - Practicality, comfort and boot space

Cubby-filled, spacious cabin made even more versatile thanks to a sliding rear bench seat

Practicality, comfort and boot space rating

4.0

How we review cars
RRP
£24,895 £33,095
Avg. savings
£2,314 off RRP*
Find your Volkswagen T-Cross
Compare deals from trusted partners on this car and previous models.
Or are you looking to sell your car?
Value my car
Fast, no-nonsense car selling
Value my car

When it comes to practicality, the Volkswagen T-Cross is competitive within its class. Available in just the one five-door compact crossover bodystyle, the car’s boxy dimensions and high roof translate into plenty of cabin space.

It scores big points for versatility, too, thanks in no small part to the sliding rear seat bench that’s standard across the range. Up front, it’s just as impressive, with a comfortable driving position that has enough adjustment to accommodate drivers of all shapes and sizes.

Advertisement - Article continues below

In addition to plenty of room, there are lots of spaces to keep items up front. A rubberised tray on top of the dash is ideal for small, lightweight items, while the huge cubby ahead of the gear lever has space for big smartphones and USB cables. The door bins are deep and wide enough to hold a large water bottle, and there is further storage space beneath the centre armrest. Passengers in the back can make use of similarly generous door bins and a pair of USB ports.

Size

The Volkswagen T-Cross measures 4,235mm long, 1,799mm wide (including its door mirrors) and 1,584mm tall, so it’s a similar size to its VW Group siblings. The T-Cross is 54mm longer than the Polo supermini which sits on the same platform, but that’s still comfortably shorter than a Golf, so it’s an ideal size for city driving.

Legroom, headroom & passenger space

Up front, the T-Cross feels very spacious. Headroom is generous, and the seat offers a wide range of adjustment (the height, in particular, can be varied by a huge amount.)

Skip advert
Advertisement
Skip advert
Advertisement - Article continues below

Headroom is equally good for back-seat passengers, while there’s more than enough foot space beneath the front seats. Legroom depends entirely on the positions of the sliding rear bench: in its rearmost position, the T-Cross is among the most spacious in its class. However, slide the bench forward its full 140mm of travel to maximise luggage capacity, and there won’t be any legroom whatsoever for people sitting behind a driver of average height.

Advertisement - Article continues below

The T-Cross comes with ISOFIX mounting points both in the outer two rear seats and the front passenger seat.

Boot Space

The T-Cross has between 385 and 455 litres of boot space depending on the seat positioning. The sliding rear bench allows you to prioritise either boot capacity or rear legroom. Even with that in its most rearward position, the 385-litre volume is more than you get from a Volkswagen Golf, and sliding the seat forward all the way opens up the volume to 455 litres. However, this leaves a huge gap between the raised boot floor and the back seats, in which you could end up losing smaller items.

The T-Cross comes with an adjustable boot floor as standard. In its raised position, there’s no load lip to lift items over, and should you need to, there's space to store the parcel shelf beneath it. The boot should be able to swallow a set of golf clubs, although they’ll go more easily in a Ford Puma, which has an innovative ‘Megabox’ system, which is a handy 68-litre tub moulded into the boot floor that you can stand a golf bag up in. It also has a plug at the bottom, making it an ideal place to store muddy boots that you can wash out later.

The rear seat bench splits 60:40, and leaves a completely flat load area. This expands the total storage area to 1,281 litres, which is six litres more than you get in a Renault Captur.

Towing

The 94bhp 1.0-litre engine has a braked towing capacity of 1,000kg, while the more powerful 113bhp version increases this to 1,100kg, much like the Ford Puma. Opting for the 1.5-litre engine only increases capacity to 1,200kg, which is okay, but somewhat shy of the up to 1,700kg you can pull using a four-wheel drive ‘4Motion equipped VW T-Roc.

VW has increased the weight the tow ball can take from 55kg up to 75kg, allowing you to carry up to three e-bikes on a dedicated bike carrier.

Skip advert
Advertisement

New & used car deals

Volkswagen T-Cross

Volkswagen T-Cross

RRP £19,500Avg. savings £2,314 off RRP*Used from £12,295
Volkswagen Tiguan

Volkswagen Tiguan

RRP £35,080Avg. savings £3,743 off RRP*Used from £25,098
Hyundai Tucson

Hyundai Tucson

RRP £29,540Avg. savings £3,974 off RRP*Used from £15,633
Vauxhall Corsa

Vauxhall Corsa

RRP £18,505Avg. savings £4,317 off RRP*Used from £19,564
* Average savings are calculated daily based on the best dealer prices on Auto Express vs manufacturer RRP
Skip advert
Advertisement

Most Popular

It’s not just electric cars that are overpriced
Opinion - expensive cars

It’s not just electric cars that are overpriced

Not matter how good a new car might be, Mike Rutherford thinks it will ultimately fail if it's overpriced
Opinion
16 Feb 2025
New Kia EV4 revealed at last! Volkswagen ID.3 rival incoming
Kia EV4 saloon - front

New Kia EV4 revealed at last! Volkswagen ID.3 rival incoming

First official images of Kia’s electric family car have surfaced, and it looks all but identical to the concept
News
16 Feb 2025
New Nissan Leaf and Micra confirmed for 2025, plus next-generation hybrid tech for Qashqai
New Nissan Leaf - front 3/4

New Nissan Leaf and Micra confirmed for 2025, plus next-generation hybrid tech for Qashqai

Nissan’s big plans for 2025 may also include a new plug-in hybrid system for the X-Trail
News
17 Feb 2025