Mercedes-Benz V-Class (2024 - ) review

A car this vast, heavy and expensive is never going to be cheap to run, but Mercedes has at least made it feel economical by giving it a diesel engine and a large fuel tank. You should comfortably be able to achieve more than 500 miles from a tank. The two diesel options are both 2.0-litre engines with broadly similar fuel economy (about 40mpg), but in reality you’re looking at 30-35mpg. Especially if you don’t spend much time on a motorway. Regardless of engine choice, the buying price for a V-Class is eye-watering, in part because in the UK we only get ‘Long’ or ‘Extra Long’ versions of the thing, with well-specified trim choices (Premium and Exclusive) and plenty of options; seven or eight seats are standard (your choice), but to upgrade to a ‘luxury six-seat package’ will cost you £10,000 on top of an Exclusive trim car. Your rear passengers will thank you, though. The CO2 rating of the diesels puts them into the 37% BIK bracket, which in the context of modern EVs and plug-in hybrids makes the V-Class quite difficult to justify even as a company car. If you need this much space and can live with electric, then the cheapest (and quietest) way to run a V-Class is by getting the electric EQV and a home charging unit.

Mercedes' reliability generally isn’t as good as you might assume. The company placed 22nd out of 31 brands in a recent UK-based car owner reliability survey. But, an advantage of the V-Class essentially being ten years old (as of 2024), and the fact that it’s made using garden variety parts (it’s a van with a 2.0-litre diesel engine, remember), is that it’s all tried-and-tested stuff. All the mechanicals including the engine, gearbox and suspension are utilised in hundreds of thousands of vehicles. And very few of the car's 2024 upgrades (the grille, LED headlamps and infotainment) will have much bearing on general reliability.

The V-Class was smashed into various objects by Euro NCAP back in 2014, and although the test is much more stringent now, the five-star score it received is still reassuring. Its 93- and 87 per cent scores for adult and child occupants respectively are especially good, and indicate the specific robustness of the chassis. Safety kit is generous as standard, too, including LED headlamps, automatic emergency braking, lane keeping assist (and not the sort that bounces the car away from the markings, like some of these things do), and blind spot monitoring. Because each seat in the V-Class is an individual chair, all of them have ISOFIX for child seat fitment. And due to the sheer space in the cabin, you’ll have no issue with baby seats forcing those in the front to hike their chairs forwards, as can often be the case even in bigger family cars. Basically, if you’ve recently had sextuplets, this is an excellent choice. Also congratulations.

You’d think, given everything we’ve said so far about how big and plush the V-Class is, that this would be a five-star score. And while three might be slightly on the harsh side, it’s fair because the V-Class always feels like… we’re going to say it again… a massive van. So yes, the sheer space is lovely – especially for those in the back enjoying the novelty of their individual rear-facing seats. And the electronically operated sliding side doors are both theatrical and functional – it’s proper easy to get into the V. But the diesel engine is noisier than Ozzy Osbourne’s tinnitus, generating a tone that’s positively tractor-esque when it’s being worked. The ride quality can be an issue, too. At low speed, the softness of the suspension is a non-issue. It makes for very comfy progress, in fact. But proper luxury cars (and even some bog standard family SUVs these days) have sophisticated damping that soaks up bumps while keeping the car’s body nice and stable. The V-Class has none of that sophistication, it seems. It’s just soft. And so if the road is less than smooth, the whole thing rolls and pitches like a polystyrene brick bobbing along a swimming pool. It’s not as turbulent as we’re probably making it seem, but it's nowhere near the Lexus LM for refinement or general sophistication.

As you’d expect from a car with this list price, and whose base trim is called “Premium”, there’s a lot of stuff stuffed into the V. All get the latest MBUX infotainment system, which utilises both a touchpad and a touchscreen, so you can basically choose the way you want to use it. Or bypass it entirely because wireless smartphone mirroring is standard; Apple CarPlay is almost always better than the proprietary systems in cars, and this is no exception. The displays, a lovely pair of 12-inchers, are very high def, as well as being customisable to suit your tastes. Thankfully, a 360-degree parking camera is standard too, which is especially useful in multi-story car parks. And the ‘easy pack’ tailgate is worth a mention, which allows you to open up the rear glass to drop things into the boot. Without it, the sheer length of the tailgate means you need about 6ft of space behind the car just to get the boot open. The seating configuration is up to you, with Mercedes offering two rows of three in the rear (eight seats) or seven seats as a no-cost option. Tracks running the length of the cab allow the seats to be removed and turned around, so that the rear passengers can face each other. A good option if you want to force your children or adult friends to talk on a road trip. Ot stare awkwardly at each other.

As we’ve already discussed, if you want to burn fuel to get along, diesel is your only option. A 2.0-litre diesel specifically, always with a nine-speed automatic and driving the rear wheels. The 220d has 161-horsepower and 382Nm, and the 300d 234-horsepower and 500Nm. They’re significant differences on paper, especially the torque figures (torque is what gives a car its “oomph”). But because neither sets the world alight in performance terms, and they’re roughly 1mpg apart in efficiency (one side or the other of 40mpg), we’d say that the 220d is enough. Genuinely, the electric EQV is the far superior drivetrain, because it has literally none of the vibration or noise of the diesel. It’s ridiculously expensive at £92,000-plus, mind, although it’ll still be cheaper than the diesel in every way if it’s purchased as a company car.