Is Now a Good Time to Buy a Used VW Crafter? The New Generation Question Answered

The Waiting Game Nobody Warned You About

Spend any time on the van forums and you'll find people talking themselves out of a perfectly good purchase because something new is supposedly just around the corner. The VW Crafter is the latest van caught in this particular limbo. There's been a lot of chatter about a next generation model arriving imminently, and for buyers trying to decide whether to pull the trigger on a used example now, that chatter matters. It's also, largely, chatter based on outdated information.

Here is where things actually stand.

The second generation Crafter has been on sale since 2017. It received a facelift in 2024 with deliveries landing from August that year, bringing an updated digital interior, new safety systems, and a fresh infotainment setup. Various publications, citing comments from VW bosses, were reporting an all-new generation arriving in 2026. But VW's own announcement of the SPACE programme, the platform that will underpin the genuinely next generation Crafter, puts that launch at 2028, not 2026. The electric first SPACE based Crafter will be built in Poland on an entirely new scalable architecture. It won't arrive until towards the end of the decade, and even then there's no guarantee it comes to the UK in right hand drive quickly.

So if you've been sitting on your hands waiting for the new model, you could be waiting another two years longer than you thought. Possibly more.

What You're Actually Buying Today

The facelifted second gen Crafter is a genuinely good van. Three diesel engines are available, 140hp, 163hp, and 177hp, all from a 2.0 litre unit, with front, rear, or four wheel drive depending on configuration, and the choice of a six speed manual or an eight speed automatic.

That eight speed auto is the one to have. Full stop. It's the best gearbox available on any panel van today and it's not particularly close. Spent a week in a 177hp automatic covering runs between a depot outside Wolverhampton and a series of site deliveries across the Black Country, and by day three I'd completely stopped noticing I was driving something the size of a removal van. It's that good. Smooth, responsive, and it takes all the misery out of urban multi drop. The same gearbox in VW's passenger cars feels coarser by comparison, which says something.

Load volumes run from 9.9m3 up to 18.4m3 depending on configuration, with payloads from 784kg to 2,621kg on the CR50. For a standard 3.5 tonne CR35, you're looking at up to 1,447kg, which is workable if not class leading.

One thing nobody puts in a brochure: the load floor on front wheel drive models sits noticeably lower than on rear wheel drive versions. If your drivers are loading and unloading manually all day, that height difference matters more than almost any other spec point on the sheet. Go rear wheel drive because you think you want the traction, and you're asking your driver to lift six inches higher on every single cycle for the entire working life of the van. Most operators don't clock this until they've already bought the wrong one.

The sliding door rail fills up with grit and road debris. Starts sticking around the three to four year mark on any van that does outdoor site work. Easy enough to sort with a clean and some silicone spray, but the dealers won't mention it and a lot of used examples have never had it touched.

The Facelift: What Changed

The 2024 updates focused heavily on the cab. A new 10.3 inch infotainment display is fitted as standard, with a 12.9 inch screen available as an option. Digital instruments are now standard across the range, and the traditional handbrake has been replaced by an electronic parking brake, freeing up storage space on the centre console.

The infotainment is a genuine step backwards for working drivers and I'll die on that hill.

Pre facelift models had physical switchgear you could operate without taking your eyes off the road. The new setup is a sea of glass that requires concentration to use while moving, which is precisely the opposite of what a working van driver needs at 6am on a wet Tuesday trying to find the heated seat button. The ChatGPT integrated voice assistant is a nice feature to show someone who's never seen it before. After about four days you'll be poking at the screen like everyone else. VW put a lot of effort into making the Crafter feel more like a premium passenger car, and in doing so made it slightly less useful as a tool.

On the outside, almost nothing changed. The Crafter's face remains the same broad, square unit it's been since 2017. That's fine. It's a van.

Running Costs

The cleanest Crafter on paper is the manual 140hp version, which claims up to 32.8mpg on the WLTP cycle. Real world, on mixed use, expect somewhere between 27 and 30mpg from the 177hp. A Mercedes Sprinter or Renault Master will return around 35mpg in similar conditions.

That's a meaningful gap. Over 30,000 miles a year it adds up to a lot of diesel.

AdBlue capacity is 18 litres, smaller than most alternatives. Lots of used examples arrive with the warning light already on because fleet operators have been blanking it for weeks. Running low on AdBlue for extended periods can cause SCR catalyst damage that costs serious money to fix. Check the level before any test drive, not after. It's a basic thing that catches buyers out constantly.

What the New Generation Story Actually Means for Used Values

When a new model is on the horizon, real or imagined, the used market for the outgoing van gets wobbly. Dealers push to clear stock. Part-exchanges pile up. Private sellers panic. Prices soften.

That's been happening with the Crafter.

Used 2024 facelifted examples are currently sitting at around £32,000 to £34,550 according to live Honest John pricing data, against a new price of £45,660 excluding VAT when the facelift launched. That's a meaningful discount on a van under two years old with full history. A clean 2022 example with 43,000 miles is available from trade sellers for around £28,000 to £30,000 plus VAT. The Trendline is the most common spec in circulation right now, with around 169 examples on the market at any given time.

Here's the thing the forums haven't caught up with yet. Now that the true replacement is confirmed for 2028, the second gen has considerably more runway ahead of it. Dealers who were discounting on the assumption the new model was imminent will figure that out and stop discounting. The window is already narrowing.

I picked up a pre facelift CR35 automatic on behalf of a client last year for just under £29,000 plus VAT with 38,000 miles on it from a main dealer in the Midlands who was clearly keen to move it. Came back the following month and the same spec with more miles was up at nearly £32,000. The anxiety around the supposed new generation had already started unwinding.

No Electric Crafter Is Coming to the UK Anytime Soon

Worth addressing directly because it affects CAZ planning for a lot of buyers.

VW has confirmed the new generation Crafter will be built on the SPACE programme SSP platform with an electric powertrain, targeted for 2028. And even then, VW has a terrible track record of bringing electric commercial vehicles to the UK in right hand drive. The e-Crafter was sold in left hand drive markets and never made it here. It was quietly killed off rather than updated. There is no particular reason to believe the SPACE platform Crafter won't follow a similar pattern, or that the 2028 date won't slip. It probably will slip.

For businesses in or near Clean Air Zones, Birmingham, Bath, Bradford, Bristol, Portsmouth, and the London ULEZ among them, this matters practically. A diesel Crafter running Euro 6, which means anything from the second generation from 2017 onwards, currently complies and faces no charge. Operators who assumed they'd have an electric option within 12 months are now looking at a much longer wait before a genuine like for like replacement exists. Running a used Euro 6 diesel Crafter for the next three to four years while that picture clarifies is a rational position.

Not glamorous. But rational.

If your operation involves regular driving within the London ULEZ, check individual vehicle compliance via the TfL ULEZ vehicle checker before committing. Euro 6 second gen Crafters from 2017 onwards should be fine, but verify rather than assume.

The Case For Buying Now

To summarise the argument plainly:

• The second gen is a known quantity with nearly a decade of real world reliability data. The first gen was a rebadged Sprinter with all the costs that entailed. This one is VW's own design and it's considerably more robust

• Facelifted models are depreciating faster than they should because of new generation speculation that has since proved premature. There is real money to be saved right now by someone who understands this

• No electric alternative for the UK before 2028 at the earliest, and even that is optimistic. Euro 6 diesel compliance is set for the foreseeable future

• The eight speed auto in the 177hp CR35 is the best in class. If you're doing high mileage urban work, it's worth finding for the right money

On pre facelift second gen, the sweet spot is a 2020 to 2022 example with under 80,000 miles and a clean service record. Check the AdBlue system, confirm the DSG fluid has been changed on schedule if it's an auto, and listen for a low frequency buzz from the cab bulkhead area under load around 1,800 to 2,200rpm. It's almost always the bulkhead insulation panel working loose from its upper mounting clips. Costs pennies to fix but it's a negotiating point and a sign the van has been worked hard.

The facelifted 2024 cars at £32,000 to £35,000 are worth serious consideration if budget stretches. Browse current stock in our VW Crafter for sale listings. If you are looking to finance your new purchase and need a great quote, we'd recommend you pay Business Van Finance a visit.

Is There a Case for Waiting?

Genuinely yes, but only if you can hold out until 2029 at the earliest and you specifically want an electric Crafter or the new platform.

If you need a van in the next 12 months, waiting achieves nothing. The 2026 new model that was widely reported does not exist. By the time the SPACE platform Crafter arrives, takes production slots, reaches UK dealers in right hand drive form, builds up enough used supply to make the market sensible, and depreciates to realistic used prices, you're looking at 2030 or later.

That is a very long time to make do.

The Verdict

The Crafter is a proper van. Thirstier than the Sprinter on fuel, the new touchscreen cab is worse for working drivers than what it replaced, and payload isn't the highest in class. None of that is a dealbreaker for most operators.

Right now the used market is misbehaving in your favour. Prices are soft because of a new model that won't arrive for years. People are discounting vans that still have most of their working life ahead of them.

Take their money.