Doing well at half-term
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• Commercial Motor is currently evaluating two of the more recent additions to the light commercial world on our long-term test programme.
Both come from popular sectors of the market, but neither is sourced from companies which are seen as established volume sellers in the respective categories.
The Toyota Hiace competes with the likes of the Ford Transit in the important medium panel van market, while the Volkswagen Caddy van tackles the larger carderived vans typified by the Vauxhall Astramax.
Toyota Hiace Toyota's latest Hiace, which was a class winner in this year's CM Testers' Choice awards, comes from a long line of classic long, thin, forwardcontrol Japanese panel vans.
Their sales are limited by quotas, and their designs are tailored to the regulations and conditions found in the home market. Nonetheless, vans like the Hiace — competitors from Mazda, Mitsubishi, Nissan and Vauxhall (née Isuzu) also spring to mind — continue to appeal to small businesses in the UK, typified by painters and decorators.
When the facelifted Hiace first saw the light of day late last year, it added to the traditional qualities of this breed of van — namely convenience, reliability and strong residuals — but also gained improved performance and economy from updated drivelines, a slightly larger payload, and a remodelled interior more likely to appeal to European tastes.
Having put the diesel Hiace through a roadtest, we felt that the model deserved further examination to see how it stood up over a longer period. With Toyota's assistance, we took delivery a few months ago, and have now clocked up more than 14,000km (8,700 miles) of mixed usage.
At £9,795 the diesel version costs £87.0 more than the petrol equivalent, and is priced more or less on a par with comparable Transit diesels. It is powered by a 57kW (76hp) 2,446cc indirect-injection engine, driving through a fivespeed gearbox.
With a combination of town and cross-country driving, with and without loads, the Hiace has so far consumed fuel at a consistent rate of 10.01it/100km (28.2mpg), and has shown a minimal thirst for oil. Performance when lightly laden is sprightly, and remains adequate with a tonne in the back; only the rather unsophisticated road behaviour has let the side down on the move.
The full-sized tailgate and sliding side door work well, and the finish of the interior and exterior seems to be surviving the intensive employment without complaint.
Thus far, therefore, with the Hiace proving totally reliable and pleasant to drive, the Toyota has made many friends. We look forward to reporting on whether the Hiace is as popular at the end of its stay.
VW Caddy
Our other long-term companion, the VW Caddy van, is an interesting attempt by Volkswagen's importers to get a foot in the valuable car-derived van market. With the Golf van's appeal limited by its lack of a purpose-built van body, the importers chose to follow the lead set by several of VW's Continental operations, and create a van by putting a body on the back of the Yugoslavianbuilt Caddy pickup.
Some observers viewed the move as an alternative to fitting the pickup with a Truck