Looking at these vans on the 04 plate upwards what bhp models is there?
is the 84ps 84bhp and the smallest engine they do?

If that's a 1.9TD, then I would expect it was.

yeah just been looking at a 1.9,

From the 1.9 there was the 84, 102, 135 & 174 i think on the newest models
the 135 & 174 have gone and there is a 140 & 180.

When I was looking a few years ago they also did a V6 with over 200 bhp (think it was 240) they are rare though.

174 remapped to 217 here, thanks….

Not that I want to bragg or anything…. just for info's sake you understand….

ohh and are the T5's 04plates upwards?

If it's the 84bHp one, DON'T BUY IT!

Looked at some VWs and some Renault/Opel/Nissan vans with that size engine when we were buying ours. Way under-powered. 105bHp on ours is barely enough in the mountains (awesome on the motorway though).

Blower – yep – early 2004 onwards.

The 1.9s do struggle a bit – it's a lot of weight to shift. Get the 102PS at the very least or you'll hate it.

130 and 174 are much quicker and mpg is actually similar because they don't have to work as hard.

174s are nippy for vans but they are still vans that weigh around two tonnes and roll all over the place. I like them – they are the best vans around, but I do find they are often driven as if they are some kind of performance car. They aren't. Even a modest car can outdrag a 174PS T5, and many down here (there are HUNDREDS of them!) have silly massive alloys to make the ride much worse.

Decent vehicles but being taken over by slightly chav surfers.

174 remapped to 217 here, thanks….

Is it not too much? I have a Sportline X Line, and find it great but always concerned about speeding…

I think the 174 is bordering on OTT for a Transporter – wheels scrabble all over the place, the brakes barely cope and the chassis is way off a performance one! Good in a straight, dry line but not fun on corners. They also spin all over the place anywhere even remotely off road (like a grassy car park) unless the 4Motion version.

hmmm gonna be hard to find a 130bhp i reackon with low enough miles…

How low mileage? My bro in law has the 130 and it's very good. There were plenty to choose from when he got his.

We have the 1.9 TD version and yes it does struggle. As it's not an ECU engine fuel economy is not as good as a small diesel should be. Power is virtually all out by 70, 80 and your bollocking it. 4th and 5th gears are almost identical judging by the rev counter. A 2.5 Blue I'd TDI is I think 88, but is exactly the same as the silver I'd version. Just without the intercooler, a simple addition for a coupe of hundred quid and hey presto 102/105bhp.

50,000 miles ish maybe..

Budget? Just did a national search on 130s under 60k miles and 52 came up. They start at around £8k.

hmm think my budget wont stretch to that 7k budget here..

I think the 174 is bordering on OTT for a Transporter – wheels scrabble all over the place, the brakes barely cope and the chassis is way off a performance one! Good in a straight, dry line but not fun on corners. They also spin all over the place anywhere even remotely off road (like a grassy car park) unless the 4Motion version.

My 174 is nothing like that brakes are fine, doesn't scrabble for grip, it doesn't corner like a Porsche but then it's a van but it's handling for what it is is fine, but it does have bags of torque and fully loaded can overtake quite safely where needed and multiple vehicles in one hit.

Currently driving a loan van which is the 1.9 102bhp and it's ok not a patch on the 174bhp and it doesn't seem that much more economical if at all.

Have you done a proper emergency brake in it? Honestly it's not a thing you want to do often – dives and weaves badly.

They are brilliant vans – the best by far. But they are vans. You seem to realise that but many don't and try and tailgate everyone and do silly overtaking. I've had T5s being really lairy behind me several times seeming to think they are 911s. They take over 12s to get to 60 – that's similar to a base spec Focus. Yes there's a fair whack of torque that helps a lot but it's still not anywhere near being a performance car.

Great gearshift though – makes all other vans look prehistoric. We very nearly got a California 174 earlier this year but decided to stick to hotels and cottages for now.

I have no need to drive a van like a 911 nor the desire 🙂 Not done an emergency stop have breaked hard a few times seems ok no cause for concern.

The ingear acceleration is more impressive than the 0-60 which can be the case with a diesel.

Forge – I know, I have a quick diesel car which replaced a fairly quick one. Before that I was a petrol head through and through and thought diesel was the fuel of the devil.

If you do brake hard ("braked" hard BTW), prepare to wrestle with the wheel a bit and watch the light back end – it gets a bit lively.

forge 197 **Slight hijack, sorry**
Were you out on the STW Peak ride at the end of March? I bumped into them all 'resting' at Lockerbrook and asked about for you – was out riding while Vamoose 'popped my top', and wanted to say a quick thanks for the gear top thingy. They all looked a bit confused. Thought I'd seen you on a list of expected folk.

I think 'low mileage' on vans is over-hyped. Apart from major servicing such as cambelts, (cost implications) if its got good service history, then its not something to worry about. They are commercial vehicles and generally rust and damage end a vans life before the engine. If I were to buy another van I would focus on condition rather than mileage.

Bought my van with around 55,000 on the clock, still means I have to cough up £400 for a cambelt later this week as although its good for 240,000 miles, it also needs replacing every 5 years.

Surf-Mat – plenty of weight in the back of mine 😉 But I'll give it a go 🙂

Boxelder – Oh yes I was supposed to be there but I had/have tendonitis in my left quad and the physio advised a rest up which I was doing so I wasn't there will be at one of the northern group rides soon but then seem to fall on other riding events, glad the gear thing was all good, drop us a mail with some pic's the van must have come on some by now.

I thought long and hard about this and chose an 03 T4 2.5 88bhp instead.

Kept reading about T5 issues and the only bloke i know with has had £4000 worth of warranty work by 80,000 miles! (130bhp i think).

It may only have 88bhp but for carrying me and the wife and bikes its plenty pokey enough.

Mines a 04 1.9Tdi 104bhp… remapped to 130bhp. Returns approx 38mpg and drives more like a car than any other van I've used. Its just been lowered 40mm and it's done wonders for the handling.

Its a Kombi so has 6 seats and room for as many bikes. Couldn't go back to a car now, its just so easy to throw the bikes and camping gear in the back.

My 130PS T5 is great to drive – bought it a year ago with 12 months warranty left – and I am glad I did. Excessive driveline clunk has resulted in 2 dual mass flywheels, a clutch, a driveshaft, and as none of the above fixed it, the dealer has just cleaned and greased the input shaft (gearbox out job). Totally fixed the problem – if only they'd tried that the first time round.

Anyway, if you can get a van that is less than 3 years/60,000miles, it will have warranty left. After that and you're on your own. The later vans (post 2007) are meant to be better (quality), but then you only tend to hear about the bad ones.

You have a point Spooky im steering towards higher mileage ones now by the looks of things…