Volkswagen T-Cross long-term review: report 7
The Volkswagen T-Cross impressed us on test, but how will it work in the hands of Millie, a key-worker in a care home?...
The car Volkswagen T-Cross 1.0 TSI 115 SE
Run by Millie Mangwanya
Why it’s here To see if Volkswagen’s smallest SUV is worth the extra over the Polo on which it's based
Needs to Not feel out of its depth on the motorway, be comfortable on long trips and prove more practical than a hatchback
Mileage 5292 List price £20,995 Target Price £20,353 Price as tested £22,580 Test economy 45.0mpg Official economy 47.1mpg (combined)
6 May 2020 – The T-Cross keys are handed to someone very worthy indeed
Meet Millie. Millie’s a key worker and a bloody lovely lady. I know this because she looks after my dad, who’s resident at the care home where she works, and she’s had a run of bad luck with cars recently. Really bad luck, actually. Not only had her faithful old Volkswagen Golf been rear-ended and written off, but the replacement she’d bought to tide her over had blown its engine – after just two weeks.
Millie can get to work by train, but from her home in Bedford to Edgware that’s over two hours door to door. Imagine catching the 5:45am train, doing a 12-hour shift, then facing two trains and over two hours to get home again. Not pleasant. In fact, the stress it was causing her broke my heart, and I thought, “What can we do to help?”
Cue a call to the Volkswagen PR department. “I know this is a long shot,” I said, “but how would you feel about doing a good deed?”
“Of course, we’d love to help,” was the answer. “Brilliant!”
So, from now on you’ll be betting T-Cross feedback on from Millie, and her invaluable insights on how life with Volkswagen's baby SUV compares with a Golf.
Initial impressions? Well, for a start she’s ecstatic that her journey’s now just 38mins, but of the car, she says it's…and I quote…“Awesome.”
Of course, you’d like a little more detail, so here goes: compared with her previous car the engine is quiet, and even though she had reservations that its little 1.0-litre petrol wouldn’t have the get-up-and-go required for her trip down the M1, it’s proving plenty pokey enough.
And she’s already started pointing out some of the little things that us motoring hacks can, through overexposure to new cars, take for granted. For example, Millie loves the digital instruments and the reminder that pops up on the screen to tell her which is the most appropriate gear for the speed she’s travelling, to help save fuel.
Over the next couple of weeks, once she’s settled with the car, we’ll gather together more Millie insights. Which just leaves me to say a big thanks to Volkswagen, and a big thanks to Millie, too.
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