In-depth reviews

Volkswagen ID. Buzz review: running costs & insurance

Prices may be high but zero road tax and a decent length warranty are always appealing

Overall rating

4.5 out of 5

Running costs & insurance rating

4.0 out of 5

Insurance groupWarrantyService intervalAnnual company-car tax cost (20%/40%)
TBC3yrs/100,000 miles2yrs/unlimited milesFrom £228/£456

The ID. Buzz is far from the cheapest electric family car on the market today, with prices starting from over £57,000, rising to nearly £62,000 for the top-spec model. Thankfully, low running costs should help make up for the steep price tag. Like all electric cars and vans, you pay zero road tax for the time being, company-car tax is much lower than for any petrol or diesel alternatives and even servicing should be relatively inexpensive as well. 

Volkswagen ID. Buzz insurance group

Unfortunately, we don’t know yet what insurance groups the ID. Buzz falls into, and considering it doesn’t have a direct sister model like the ID.3 and Cupra Born, it’s hard to gauge its potential insurance ratings. You can buy fixed-price insurance from Volkswagen, which won’t go up or down in price over the first three years, and you’re not tied into a contract so you can always change your cover if it becomes cheaper elsewhere later on.

Warranty

The ID. Buzz is covered by a three-year/100,000-mile warranty. You can even extend that if you wish via a one-off or monthly payment, but as is, it should provide you with plenty of coverage if you’re on a three-year finance deal. Meanwhile, the battery itself is covered for eight years or 100,000 miles, whichever comes first.

Servicing

Like all electric cars, the ID. Buzz should be generally cheaper to maintain and service than any combustion-engined alternative. Not just because it follows the same fixed service schedule as the rest of Volkswagen’s ID. family of EVs, which means you only need to get it looked at every two years. Volkswagen currently includes the first MOT, three brake fluid changes and three pollen filter charges in the purchase price of the ID. Buzz.

Road tax

As with all zero-emissions cars, the ID. Buzz doesn't attract any road tax. That will change in April 2025, but for now it's one less bill to worry about. Electric cars also avoid the London Congestion Charge and enjoy only 2% Benefit-in-Kind (BiK) company-car tax for the next few years.

Welcome one and all, I’m Ellis the news reporter on Auto Express, the brand’s former online reviews editor and contributor to DrivingElectric. I’m proud to say I cut my teeth reporting and reviewing all things EV as the content editor on DrivingElectric. I joined the team while completing my master’s degree in automotive journalism at Coventry University and since then I’ve driven just about every electric car and hybrid I could get my hands on.

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