The VW T-Cross is Volkswagen's smallest SUV in their range, so while this small five-seater might not be the obvious choice for a family car, we are giving it our unique BabyDrive testing! Let's find out how it gets on…
The 2021 VW T-Cross is a great looking little family SUV, the one tested here is the ‘Life' base model that starts at $29,000, not a bad price for a family car. For that kind of money, I was expecting it to feel cheap to drive and to have that hollow plastic feel that most more affordable cars do but that wasn't the case with the T-Cross. It has that typical Volkswagen solid on-road feel while still being light and nippy like a hatch.
The interior is minimal but the surfaces don't feel or sound cheap to the touch.
There are a few of the details missing us parents rely on; such as rear aircon vents, it does get hot inside and making sure the rear little passengers are kept cool in the Australian climate is difficult without rear vents.
There are also no handles above the rear doors of the VW T-Cross Life either so I had nowhere to hang a toy for my baby, to keep her happy on car journeys.
There are no cup holders in the back either, so you will be forever passing water bottles backwards and forwards to your kids!
In the front there are no lights in the vanity mirrors and no glasses case in the ceiling.
AND that's it! That's all I can find to complain about! So let's find out about the rest!!
For a small SUV space is pretty good! We found it best to put our rear-facing child seat on the passenger side of the car and the forward-facing child seat behind the driver. This way a 186cm adult could fit in the front in either position. That's actually better than the larger VW T-Roc!
Two child seats fit really nicely in the back with a little space between them but I found not enough for a third passenger to sit between them.
Legroom is quite compromised in the back for the child in the forward-facing child seat but we managed perfectly well during our week with the T-Cross.
Although it is a small SUV, I didn't find bending in to do up their harnesses very straining on my back.
There are ISOFix points in the two outer rear seats and top tether anchorages on the back of all three seatbacks, so you have flexibility if you wanted to position a child seat in the central seat instead of the sides.
One of the best things in the VW T-Cross is in the boot! The floor can drop down about 10cm which is really handy for families as it gives them extra space to fit everything they need for the kids.
That's especially true for those with two small children for example because all sizes of pram will fit in the boot, even a twin stroller or tandem pram would go in with the boot floor in the dropped down position.
For such a small SUV the boot of the VW T-Cross is quite practical, it fits eight shopping bags which is comparable to the Hyundai Venue and Mazda CX-3. If you need more space, the Hyundai Kona fits nine, the Nissan Juke and Citroen C3 Aircross both fit ten and the Mitsubishi ASX fits eleven shopping bags in the boot.
Or a small-sized dog would fit in the boot, though it would be better if you drop the boot level down to give them more head space too.
The media system in the VW T-Cross is easy to use and navigate and has Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.
The reversing camera is great, the image quality is excellent, the picture fills the whole screen and you can turn the parking sensors off with a button on the dash easily.
There is no sat-nav in the ‘Life' model but I found it fine to just use Apple CarPlay.
Storage is good throughout the VW T-Cross, in fact it is more practical than in the slightly bigger VW T-Roc which is surprising! It has a sensible shape and size of cup holders in the front, all the door bins hold large refillable water bottles and there's even a hidden drawer underneath the driver's seat for valuables when you go to the beach.
The VW T-Cross Life makes a nice little family SUV to drive, it feels sturdy on the road but nippy and light to steer. Apart from child seats blocking over-your-shoulder vision a bit, visibility is very good while driving and when parking and maneuvering and I found it very quick and simple to park because of its size.
Boot space in the VW T-Cross Life is fantastic because you can drop the floor level down around 10cm, giving you a much deeper space to fit strollers, prams and everything else family life requires!
The twin stroller fits into the T-Cross's boot with two shopping bags but you need to remove the parcel shelf even with the floor dropped down.
The tandem stroller fits into the T-Cross' boot, underneath the parcel shelf, with two shopping bags. Not many cars this small can do that!
The boot space and its functionality are really important. I like to have a big boot space and little side wells or areas I can divide things into. So something I don’t want to move around while I’m driving such as kids lunch bag or there wet swimming gear can be sectioned off in a little well where it’s not going to spill or get squashed by the rest of the things in the boot.
Hooks for securing shopping bags to are also favourites of mine, I like being able to secure the bag containing more fragile things like eggs so they don’t move around on the journey.
I measure the boot space in freezer shopping bags, prams and dogs. Not because I think all there is to a mum’s life is food shopping, prams and dogs. (Although it can feel like it sometimes!!) But because these are visually mesurable items we can all associate with. For me, the car company boot measurement of litres is not an amount I can easily visualise and 400L in one car may differ in usability to that in another due to the configuration or shape of the space.
The compact stroller fits into the T-Cross' boot with four shopping bags beside it.
You can easily fit a small to medium size dog in the boot of the VW T-Cross.
The boot floor is lovely and flat, making it comfortable for dogs as well as emergency nappy changes and lowering the floor will give both extra space too.
How good is storage inside the VW T-Cross?
The storage inside the VW T-Cross is pretty good in both rows. This was surprising because in the slightly bigger VW T-Roc the storage is more minimal.
In the front, there are two sensibly shaped and sized cup holders in the central console that will hold a reusable or a disposable coffee cup. Behind them is a tiny central console box and the lid doubles as your armrest.
In front of the gear lever is a phone charging well with a 12v and two USB sockets.
The glove box would hold my wallet but not the iPad with the manual.
There is no sunglasses case in the ceiling and the visors don't have lights just mirrors.
There is a hidden drawer underneath the driver's seat which we found good for leaving valuables when we went to the beach or park.
The door bins in the front are a good size and will hold a large refillable water bottle and an iPad fits too.
In the back, the door bins are the right size for a large refillable water bottle too.
There are net map pockets on the back of both front seats too.
BabyDrive Indepth - Noise
How noisy is the VW T-Cross?
The VW T-Cross is not a very noisy car.
The media system is modern, simple and easy to navigate.
It has Apple CarPlay and Android Auto which is great for being able to access the podcasts and apps you and your children like to listen to on journeys.
The reversing camera image quality is great and it fills the whole screen.
You can adjust the sensor volumes within the media screen…
…and you can turn the parking sensor sound on and off on the central dashboard.
Also within the media screen, you can manually drag the speaker sound easily into the front if you need to or into the back if you don't want to listen to the kids' nursery rhymes!
The cruise control in the VW T-Cross is quite accurate and easy to use. The controls are situated on the left of the steering wheel.
Becoming a parent I soon realised there are some noises and sounds I feel are unnecessary and I could happily live without if it meant my baby stayed asleep!!
That often the distraction of my screaming, distressed baby is more dangerous when driving than not having a lane departure warning for example.
If it is the lane departure warning beeping that creates distress with my baby then which is safest?
It’s where I think we need to be able to strike a balance and choose when we can mute the warnings or swap them to a vibration in the steering wheel or flashing light perhaps?
A lot of these noises come with the increase in technology and especially linked to safety features and alerts. For me these all have their place.
Another thing I have realised is I spend my time in a lot more places where small children roam, parks, beaches, play gyms, swimming lessons, daycare centre etc. I have become more aware that when I’m reversing or manouvering in the car parks I have to tripple check for small children running around behind me or being in my blind spot when reversing. For this I LOVE reversing cameras, I just don’t like their beeping sounds!!
I have become so much more aware of safety and potential accidents or hazards since having a child and so I love the peace of mind that I get from the cameras and sensors combined with my own vision from windows and mirrors as I don’t trust cameras alone.
The indicator volume wasn't baby-waking in the VW T-Cross.
The doors and windows of the VW T-Cross close quietly, so they are not baby waking.
With baby asleep you want to be able to get in and out without worrying the doors will be too noisy and wake Bub up!Â
There are window locks on the driver's door control panel, to stop little kids in the back fiddling with their windows.
BabyDrive Indepth - Car Seats
How many child seats fit in the VW T-Cross Life?
Two! There is enough space in the back for two child seats to fit nicely.
The T-Cross is Volkswagen's smallest SUV so I was not expecting to be able to sit in the central seat between the two child seats!
There are ISOFix points in the two outer rear seats within plastic guides and easy to connect to.
There are top tether anchorages on the back of all three seatbacks, clearly labelled and easy to connect to and reach through the boot.
For a small SUV, legroom is pretty good and we found a workable combination of child seats and adults during our week of testing. We found it best to put our rear-facing child seat on the passenger side of the car and the forward-facing child seat behind the driver, so that a 186cm adult could fit in the front in either position. Not only is this impressive for a car of this size, it's better than the bigger T-Roc!
It does mean legroom is minimal in the back for the child in the forward-facing child seat but we managed perfectly well during our week with the T-Cross.
I found posting bub into her child seat and reaching in to do up harnesses a little cramped in the back of the T-Cross.
Australia being a country of weather extremes; blazing sun and torrential rain, mean you may find it easier to put Bub into their seat from inside the car sometimes. If it’s hot you can get the air-con going, cool the car down and not stand out in the sun while you fasten them in or shelter from the rain and not get soaked yourself whilst you’re doing it. So it is important to test whether Bub can be easily installed from either direction!
There is room to feed bub in the back if you only have one child seat installed.
BabyDrive Indepth - Drive & Comfort
How comfortable is the VW T-Cross? And How good is the VW T-Cross to drive?
The front seats of the VW T-Cross are comfortable and easily adjustable using the controls on the side of the seat bases.
Underneath the driver's seat is a hidden drawer which I found really useful for leaving my wallet and phone when nipping out to do the school drop off and pick-up.
For a mum travelling in the back with bub, the seats are comfortable too. Legroom is good although in the central seat there is a hump in the footwell that you have to straddle.
For the first year of my babies life when we would go out as a family, if I wasn’t driving, I would travel in the back with bub so it’s important to check the back seat comfort as you may be spending a lot of time in them! They were never something I gave any thought to before but I definitely notice a good or bad back seat now!
The steering wheel is fully adjustable in/out and up/down.
Across the front dashboard, there are four air conditioning vents, two in the centre underneath the media screen and one at either end of the dashboard. Unfortunately there are no air vents in the back of the VW T-Cross Life.
There are some controls for the aircon on the central dash, below the media screen.
Visibility is good out of the front of VW T-Cross, however, out of the rear side windows I found it difficult when loaded up with two child seats and a front passenger. This meant I really used the camera and side mirrors when maneuvering or parking.
One thing I have noticed since being a mum is I hate it when I reach a destination or get home from being out and Bub has either done really well in the car or she is screaming her head off and I have done really well to keep it together for the entire journey (usually the latter!!) and it takes 10 minutes to park the car! It can be really stressful. Usually I dread parking new cars as they take longer in our tight apartment block carpark, but the VW T-Cross, was pretty easy to park.
BabyDrive Indepth - Safety
How safe is the VW T-Cross Life?
The VW T-Cross Life scored a five-star ANCAP safety rating and has six airbags as standard. There are frontal airbags for driver and front passenger and side chest airbags for the front passengers and head curtain airbags for the first and second-row outboard passengers.
In testing the VW T-Cross scored 85% for child occupancy protection (41.8 points out of 49), 97% for adult occupancy protection (36.9 out of 38), 80% for safety assist technology and 81% for vulnerable road user protection.
In adult occupancy testing, the VW T-Cross scored 7.30Â out of 8Â for the frontal offset test and 7.76 out of 8 for the full-width frontal, 8/8 for the side impact test and 8/8 for the pole test.
In the frontal offset test, neck tension in the 10 year dummy indicated MARGINAL protection and the chest results indicated ADEQUATE protection. Protection offered to all other critical body regions of both the 6 and 10 year dummies was GOOD.
In the side impact test, protection of all critical body areas was GOOD for both child dummies.
The Volkswagen T-Cross is fitted with lower ISOFix anchorages on the rear outboard seats and top tether anchorages for all rear seating positions.
Installation of typical child restraints available in Australia and New Zealand showed most child restraints could be accommodated in most rear seating positions, though one of the selected booster seats could not be correctly installed in the centre rear seating position, and one of the convertible seats could not be correctly installed in rearward-facing mode using the ISOfix anchorages.
Some of these safety features are also features that drive me crazy as a mum! Like the lane departure and forward collision alert or the parking sensor beeping sound. I want all the safety technology AND to be able to mute the sound when Bub’s asleep!
On the face of it, the Mitsubishi Pajero Sport is a spacious, family-friendly seven-seat SUV. But it comes with just one top tether, that isn’t on the same seat that has ISOFix, and you have to buy and fit the others yourself! Because top tether anchors are in the ceiling, third-row passengers have straps in their faces and it’s impossible to get into the third row if you have a couple of child seats fitted in the second row! Read More
4 Comments
Great review! I’m about to buy this car and I have a child using TTje britax roemer dualfix isize car seat. I guess it will fit behind the passenger front seat.
Great review! I’m about to buy this car and I have a child using TTje britax roemer dualfix isize car seat. I guess it will fit behind the passenger front seat.
One of the only cars this small where you’d have a chance of that 🙂
Do you know of any small suvs that have air vents in the back seat? Wanting to downsize the car but don’t want the kids melting? Thanks 🙂
The Honda HR-V hybrid does and has huge legroom but only 2 seats in the back.