Volkswagen ID Buzz 2023 long-term test

In this line of work, it doesn’t really do to confess to brand favouritism, but there’s no denying VW is a marque I’ve always held in high regard. That deep-seated affinity, though – for me and no doubt thousands of other paid-up members of the ‘dub club’ worldwide – has been harshly tested of late.

Widely publicised software issues and usability gripes have plagued the firm’s current crop of cars, which have hardly sought to compensate for their shortcomings with perceptible charisma and distinct personalities like VWs of old.

In 50 years’ time, will you reminisce fondly about all those brilliant summers you spent trekking around the country in a T-Cross, laugh at the memory of all your old ID 4 Pro’s charming quirks, or go on a wistful rant about how they “don’t make cars like that anymore” when someone down the pub mentions the Taigo? Possibly not. 

The Buzz, though, is the antithesis of those rather clinically conceived crossovers. A wilfully whimsical statement of intent from a brand that has decided elements of its storied past can live on, with some concession to modernity, in its bold electric future.

And it’s no flash in the pan: we’ve already heard how certain existing names (Tiguan, Passat, Golf) will be carried forth, in recognition of their intrinsic importance to the Volkswagen story, and the neat little ID 2all concept nods heavily to some of the brand’s most popular hatchbacks in a bid to recapture the fun-loving, crowd-pleasing ethos that defined its predecessors. Familiarity breeds contempt? VW is hedging its bets on the very opposite being true.

Not that you would ever mistake the Buzz for its air-cooled ancestor: beyond the two-tone paint scheme and blobby, bread-bin silhouette, there are few overt stylistic links to the Type 2.

Take a good look around, though, and you will find a couple of fun little nods to the spirit of the VW bus ‘brand’: there are Harvey Ball-esque smiley faces in the door handle recesses and engraved surf bus motifs in the trim at the rear, for example, and the three stripes across the D-pillar are where the air intakes were on the original. Neat.

Call it cheeky, call it cringeworthy – the truth is: I like it. Cars have become far too serious, so it’s nice to be spending time with one that majors on joviality without verging on contrivance, as we have observed with some other retro-flavoured cars – particularly those that can’t lay claim to so lengthy and pervasive a back story as the VW van.

If you needed a measure of its credibility, perhaps it suffices to say that I’ve received several knowing nods from classic VW owners already – and believe me when I say that’s no small feat (I once waved and nodded at the driver of a lovely T3 Notchback from a 2004 Bora, forgetting I wasn’t in my Beetle, and nearly had to go into hiding) – so this is a good start for the Buzz. Plus, it’s already proving far more useful than any five-seat SUV at this price, with seats that fold flat and a massive hidden load space under the boot floor enabling it to do a very passable impression of a van when needed.

It’s hardly as utilitarian as the Microbus, but I’m hoping it emerges from our test as a convincingly practical alternative to more conventional big EVs like the Audi Q8 E-tron and Kia EV9.