• Bespoke V-Class dash isn’t like Vito van
• But driving position still feels like it
• Quality in places questionable for the price

How is the quality and layout?

The 2024 V-Class has been given a new dashboard to bring it up to date with the rest of the Mercedes fleet, completed by a centre console touch pad and two large multimedia displays. Many hallmarks of a Mercedes-Benz dash are now present in the V-Class, including plenty of polished chrome and ambient lighting – 64 colours to choose from – but it has a relatively subdued and grown-up mien compared to some of the other vehicles in the current Mercedes range.

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The steering wheel features a raft of touch-sensitive buttons that are easy to use but prone to the occasional accidental nudge. It’s never much of an issue until we mistakenly knocked the adaptive cruise control button on a busy urban street…

Luckily, owing to the upright commercial vehicle-style driving position and large windows that encircle the vehicle, visibility is excellent in the V-Class and so keeping on top of our surroundings wasn’t difficult. Electric seats and a steering wheel that adjusts for reach and rake meant it was pretty easy to get comfortable.

Infotainment and tech

The V-Class comes fitted with two 12.3-inch displays as standard, along with the same MBUX infotainment system as other contemporary Benzes. The touch-sensitive displays are slick and responsive, while MBUX is easy to get to grips with and has one of the better voice control systems on the market. The V-Class is also compatible with Android Auto and Apple CarPlay at no extra cost.

Comfort

• Spacious and comfortable for all passengers
• Multi-zone climate control is effective
• Some refinement issues at speed

Middle row seats – whether you have the three-seater bench or the pair of captain’s chairs – can face forwards or backwards, while all of the back seats can be slid around on floor-mounted rails. The seats also fold forwards and can be reclined, although if you intend to remove them in order to make use of those van-like internal dimensions then be warned they are very heavy.

Climate control is available in all three rows, with a separate temperature control for the rear compartment and four roof-mounted vents. Even on hot days it soon cools down the cabin, although with such a large volume of air to chill it is invariably noisy for the first few minutes until the desired temperature is closer to being reached.

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Thanks to best-in-class aerodynamics, wind noise is rarely an issue. The sound of both its tyre roar and the rumbling diesel engine become particularly prominent when there are few people in the car and the cabin acts like a mobile echo chamber – especially under heavy acceleration. The resonance encountered when driving on sections of concrete motorway quickly becomes tiresome, too.