Volkswagen Routan reviews

2009 Volkswagen Routan Interior Features

The Routan's greatest advantage over the Town & Country is the quality of the interior materials. The Routan also takes advantage of most of the T&C's thoughtful entertainment features, but lacks the innovative seating options that give the Chrysler a considerable advantage in the minivan class.

Where hard plastic dominates the dash and doors of the Town & Country, the Routan has nicely padded door armrests and a quality soft-touch upper dash. It's not all luxury level, though. The lower dash is hard plastic and the trim piece that bisects the dash is thin plastic. On one model we drove, this piece didn't fit well either. The white-faced gauges with black numbers are sourced from Chrysler. Surrounded by a faux aluminum trim piece, they are not that easy to read in bright sunlight.

The radio is set high on the center of the dash, and VW offers a version of Chrysler's UConnect Tunes and UConnect GPS hard-drive radios called JoyBox. JoyBox is also offered in two versions, one with a navigation system and one without. Both include a touchscreen, and both versions have a 30-gigabyte hard drive that holds music and picture files. Those files can be ripped from a CD or downloaded from a thumb drive plugged into the vehicle's USB outlet. When the navigation system is ordered, the hard drive also holds navigation map information. The navigation system has voice activation, and comes with one year of Sirius satellite radio.

Routan's controls are easy to use, though those on the right of the radio or touchscreen can be a bit of a reach for the driver. The climate controls are located below the radio, and they're self explanatory. The gearshift is mounted between the radio and the instrument panel. It's easy to reach, leaves plenty of room for other controls, and includes an electronic gear readout in the instrument cluster.

Room up front is plentiful. There is plenty of head room, and leg room will only be lacking for the tallest drivers. The front captain's chairs provide an upright driving position with an SUV-like view of the road. A tilt steering wheel and available adjustable pedals should help most drivers tailor a comfortable seating position, but some might prefer a telescoping steering wheel to bring the wheel closer to the driver.

When it comes to storage, the Routan has two glove boxes and some cubbies in the center stack for small items storage. A total of 13 cupholders are found throughout the van. The standard console has four integrated cupholders and a small storage bin. The SEL's premium center console has four cupholders and a small bin on top that slides back to reveal a larger storage bin below it. The lower bin also slides back. With both layers slid back, the top level moves back a total of 21 inches, which allows parents up front to pass drinks and sandwiches to the kids in back. The premium console is also removable to allow easy access to the back seats.

In the far back, the Routan has a deep well behind the third row, which makes hauling groceries easier. Even with all seats up, the Routan has 32.3 cubic feet of cargo room behind the third row. The third-row seat is split 60/40. It folds into that well in one or two sections. Three straps are attached to the back of each seat and they're marked 1, 2, 3. To fold the seats into the floor, first pull strap 1, then pull strap 2. You have to give strap 2 a good yank and help the seat along with your other hand. It can require leverage that some moms might not have. Strap 3 pulls the seats back up. A better option is the power folding third row seat, which can be set to four positions, including what VW calls the tailgating position. In this position, the seatbacks act as seat bottoms and the bottoms act as backs facing the rear of the van.

While Chrysler offers three seating options for the second row, VW offers two options without nearly as much utility. Standard seating in the S model includes a removable, reclining two-passenger second-row bench seat with covered storage bins in front of the seats. The front seats must be moved far forward to allow access to the storage bins. SE and SEL models have two captain's chairs. These seats also recline and the backs can fold flat on top of the bottoms. The seats in both options can be removed, but they're heavy and you need somewhere to store them. With the second-row seats removed and the third-row seats folded, the Routan has a flat load floor, 144.0 cubic feet of cargo volume, and enough space to fit a 4x8-foot sheet of plywood.

Also offered are single and dual rear DVD entertainment options. Both have a nine-inch DVD screen in the second row and the dual system adds one for the third row. When the vehicle is in Park, video can be sent to the front navigation screen. Video game systems can be plugged in, and each row can watch or play something different. Four sets of headphones are provided. Unlike the Chrysler, the Routan does not offer Sirius Backseat TV.