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Entirely predictable task, surprisingly competent execution – 3 January
As the old saying goes, there are three inevitabilities in this life: death, taxes, and receiving a text that says “can you help me move house on Saturday?” as soon as you announce that you’re in possession of a large car or van.
And so it was that, just half an hour after I’d sent my friends a picture of a VW ID Buzz being delivered to my house, the call of duty came. I feigned reluctance, but the truth is that I really wanted to see if this oversized five-seat MPV could prove itself more useful than your average estate or crossover, and this would be the perfect test.
I was in fairly good spirits until my mate’s cargo – rather than the promised “small desk and a couple of big bags” – turned out to include half an Ikea catalogue’s worth of bedroom furniture, a dozen unwieldy plants, a record collection, a stack of rare vintage film posters (curiously unpackaged but apparently “priceless”), a set of filthy outdoor chairs and a ridiculously large television.
Clearly, this was going to be a big ask of the Buzz, and the arrival of another friend (ostensibly an extra pair of hands but really a dead weight) meant we had to keep one of the back seats up, further restricting load space.
But anyway, I love a bit of Tetris, so I was quite keen to tackle the puzzle. The back seats fold fully flat, which is a good start, and the seat bases can then slide back to give a bit of extra storage on the floor behind the driver – so the desk fitted a charm up top, while the monsteras and money plants could be stowed safely in the footwell.
Towels and clothes next, which is where the ‘second’ boot under the main load bay came into its own. I reckon we got a whole wardrobe’s worth crammed in under there, once I’d relocated the nice VW-badged basket that holds the charging cables and breakdown kit, and there was still room for all the bedding.
With a towel down to protect the floor, the garden set went in flat, which still left masses of space on top for a good few boxes. We piled these in until there was only room for the TV to slide in carefully on top of everything, wedged against the headlining.
