Fleet managers have spoken, and once again they’d rather their vans wear a VW badge than anything else.
For the second year running, Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles has topped Fleet News’ FN50 reliability survey - a poll of the UK’s 50 largest leasing and contract hire companies - with the Transporter crowned the most reliable van on British roads.
The seventh-generation Transporter, launched earlier this year, appears to have struck the right balance between workhorse dependability and modern creature comforts.
It beat rivals from Ford, Mercedes, Vauxhall and Stellantis to the top spot, reaffirming its reputation as the van that rarely breaks a sweat - or down.
VW’s smaller Caddy also made it into the top ten, while the brand as a whole retained its title as Most Reliable Van Manufacturer.
The FN50 Awards are based on real-world feedback from the country’s biggest fleet operators, so there’s no public vote or showroom gloss to skew the result.
These are the people who run thousands of vans every day and know exactly which ones spend more time in the workshop than on the road.
Craig Cavanagh, VW’s National Fleet Manager, said the recognition “acknowledges our dedication to safety, comfort, and customer confidence.”
The fleet world clearly agrees, even if the new Transporter isn’t quite the simple, solid, all-German workhorse it once was.
That said, if you scroll through a few Facebook owner forums, you’ll find a rather different mood.
The new T7’s use of Ford’s 2.0-litre EcoBlue diesel - affectionately nicknamed ‘EcoBoom’ by its critics - hasn’t gone unnoticed, especially given its ‘wet belt’ timing setup that’s earned a mixed reputation for longevity.
Whether those concerns prove valid in the real world remains to be seen, but for now, at least, the fleet world seems perfectly happy with it.
