Viewing 40 posts - 1 through 40 (of 47 total)
  • VW Transporter… sorry.
  • Capt.Kronos
    Free Member

    I was resisting the lure of these, and planning on a Vito next. However the boss (aka Dad) was chatting to a supplier who was bitching about them rusting like hell, and who have switched back to more expensive Transporters as a result… and rates em.

    Given a few folk on this here forum have Transporters I was hoping for some info. Planning on a Kombi van so I have back seats for the odd occasion I need them (this would be my only car so it has to fulfil non-work duties too). I do a load of miles and need to overtake of occasion (Lakes… tourists… really can do without sitting at 25mph and slowing for corners all day through the Spring – Autumn) hence thinking along the lines of the 175bhp engine.

    Anyhoo – what I am wanting to know is:

    mpg (hippy at heart see)
    reliability
    driveability
    liveability withability 😉

    For sh1ts and giggles I have the motorbike, but it will get a lot of miles and needs to be comfortable, as quiet as possible inside (does the optional extra load lining help?) and reliable enough to deal with my 35000 miles/year.

    Oh aye – I am taking it the company car tax is as per commercial vehicle (and so borderline non-existant?)

    Any alternatives of not-quite-fullsize-vans with back seats that are worth checking out would be welcome. I don't want to go to full transit size as parking would be a bitch, but can't find many of the smaller vehicles which get a crew cab type set up. A Caddy-Maxi would make more sense in many ways… but I would then have to face up to the full company car tax as it would have too many windows (I think?)

    PS – Berlingos are waaaay out since the pedals and my feet do not get on, so don't even go there 😉

    Capt.Kronos
    Free Member

    Sorry – that was supposed to go in Chat, but since I also plan to carry my mountain bike in the back when loaded up with tools for work… I guess it is also bike relavent 😉

    Brycey
    Free Member

    I've had similar thoughts. Had a 175 on demo for a week, got about 30mpg out of it, hilariously fast though. The T5 is now out of production, and the word is the T6 will have 180 from the 4 cyclinder 2.0l engine (rather than the 5 cylinder 2.5 in the T5).

    They are very refined and easy to live with. My old man has a Caddy Maxi and there can't be much in it length wise, I prefer the Transporters driving position.

    Only think stopping me is the other half who won't give up her hot hatch for it, and I can't make it fit my car policy at work. Got to be the ultimate biking wagon – just look in the team pits/trail centre car parks.

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    forge197
    Free Member

    I've just got a 174 but I've only done 400 miles in it since pick up so not sure on the MPG, but I do know that just under a quarter to full was £72 😯 so I am hoping to get a fair few mile out of that.

    Driveability it's fast enough to make you smile and think a van shouldn't be this much of a laugh.

    It's got a great turning circle, and I've parked up at Services, Halfords, Supermarket and local grocery store all seemed pretty easy.

    Reliability and Liveabilty can't comment ask me in 12 months

    http://www.vwt4forum.co.uk and http://www.brick-yard.co.uk/forum/ are a good read for all things Transporter

    Dimmadan
    Free Member

    You will be hard pushed to get more than 34mpg out of any Transporter but are very reliable if looked after.

    mikertroid
    Free Member

    Dimmadan,

    Rubbish!! Just got 41mpg on my last tank. I just stay below 75 on the motorways. Normally get 36-38 mpg if I hoof it.

    I've got a T5 130 and it's great. 3 years, 40000 miles and apart from the crap sliding windows I have no complaints.

    coatesy
    Free Member

    Driven the Vito and transporter, own a caddy.Happily have either of the VWs, but thought the Vito was a horrible thing to drive(2006 model, hope they've improved since then).Definitely a try before you buy thing.

    FoxyChick
    Free Member

    Sorry Rob…but you are not allowed to buy a camper van before we do!!
    SIMPLES!!! 8)

    Dimmadan
    Free Member

    You are very lucky then as everyone I know who has or had one has said what I said.

    We have 4 x T5 at work all have been looked after and not ragged (we have tracker systems fitted to them all) and we have only ever got more than 34 mpg when carrying no load at 50 mph all the way back from Exeter to Cheltenham and even then it was only 38mpg

    jimbobrighton
    Free Member

    I've got the weedy 85PS 1.9 and I get a solid 38 combined out of it.

    superreliable, nice enough to drive, comfy.

    however….

    You'll get stiffed on tax for a combi. I was going to get one as my compnay car, bu then the tax man decided the combi was the same as a car, and it would have hit me super hard on tax. Hence I ended up with three seats in the front, ansd therefore tax costs about £500 a year.

    If you have any seats in the back, the tax man thinks it's a car as far as purpose goes, and you get stiffed.

    I love my transporter though, it's bloody brilliant.

    Leigh
    Free Member

    i would say you can get 38ish miles to the gallon,
    we can get 33 out of are VW lt35 if driven carefully

    Capt.Kronos
    Free Member

    Won't be too many motorway miles, mostly A, B and unclassifieds – unless I am on a road trip (hey, the M6 is miles away!)

    Sounds good though! The 180bhp 4 pot if that happens sounds potentially interesting 😉

    Angela m'dear… I don't think it is going to be this year. The Vitara is only just 18 months old, so I was planning for spring the year after next (change at 3 years), however my father keeps asking if I have looked into them any more so may be deciding to dispense with some company funds sooner than I was thinking (and as it could be more tax efficient). But since he keeps hassling me about it I thought I would ask some questions 😉

    Given I only get 32mpg out the Vitara though it sounds not too bad! Especially given that I could actually get some more of my work gear in there and carry an extra 30l water tank with me, which would be damn handy!

    Capt.Kronos
    Free Member

    Jimbo – that is arse 🙁 Probably decided since so many folk are getting crew cab pickups for company cars they will change the rules.

    Bollocks…

    GaVgAs
    Free Member

    I am pretty sure the newer t5 Transporter and Vitos are both Galvanised so dont rust!

    I work for a company that has 6 vitos,they have given no trouble and get hammered daily!

    Iam a Transporter fan at hart though! 😉

    Check out Transporter and Vito in the search engine 😀

    Dimmadan
    Free Member

    Yep, it was a loop hole in the tax law so crew cab pickups are now heavily taxed if purchased as company cars.

    This sucks as we have a policy at work that means after 3 years a company car is replaced and can be sold to the staff dirt cheap.

    Waiting for a T5 to come up instead now 😆

    rickmeister
    Full Member

    SWB 174 Sportline remapped to 213, factory combi and its £215 tax per year, diesel car on the logbook. 24k miles, no probs. 30-34 mpg but it does have a drink problem if driven hard. Fits a zzr 11 and XT 600 in the back. 5 people, 5 bikes and all the kit for a week inside, flattens hills… good bit of kit. Tried a Vito Sport-x but the rust issues made me choose a T5.

    taka
    Free Member

    03plate ldv 400 "convoy" 2.3l ford, crew cab, double axel,ex MinisteryOfDefence only cost us £3000

    mikertroid
    Free Member

    rickmeister, how do you do the 215 tax?

    I pay 440 for my combi.

    Mind you a couple of hundred quid is small beans when you look how slowly these depreciate.

    taka
    Free Member

    oh yer £110 tax

    Capt.Kronos
    Free Member

    Was having a look and the only Kombi I could find listed on car tax calculators was bringing it in as a standard commercial… though not sure if that is right (so long as you have a 1 ton payload it counts, according to the government site, and I am pretty sure the Kombi has less than that???)

    If that is the case then it should be about £100/month company car tax, which isn't too shabby.

    Best get some definitive answers I think (not that I can afford the Sportline!)

    xcstu
    Free Member

    The t5 sportline does look the nuts 😉

    Capt.Kronos
    Free Member

    And if they were closer to the £20k mark I would probably be angling for one… alas, bit too rich for my blood 😉

    TheLittlestHobo
    Free Member

    Right. Some actual information that isnt from someone trying to justify the fact that they laid out mega bucks on something its not quite as the rumours are cracked up to be.

    I have sold more VW Transporters than i care to remember and i also sell Mercs. Truth be told i will always have a soft spot for the VW's BUT there are a few things you need to realise about the VW myth

    1) The T4 was the best van i have ever sold. It was so far ahead of the competition that it was the nicest vehicle i ever had the pleasure to sell. The 2.5tdi engine with 102bhp was powerfull fr the time and fantastic fuel economy.

    2) The T5 is not the advanced vehicle the T4 was. It is On a par with the rest. Very good, but not exceptional

    3) The T4 and T5 have always been internally and externally galvanised.

    4) T4 & T5 customers tend to spend a lot of money rust proofing their vehicles and looking after them than other marques so they tend to stay in good conition. Also helped by the non commercial market being so popular.

    5)The vito is also fully galvanised from 2006 onwards. I have not seen a jot of rust on a vehicle after this vintage other tan for outside reasons.

    6) The VW has as many inherent faults as any other vehicle. Their variable servicing is a joke. Its supposed to be upto 20k plus but in real terms can be as little as 14k

    7) My vitos are regularly coming in for servicing at 23k and i had two sprinters in the other day at 30k. Asked service dept if this was normal and they confirmed it is.

    8)The reason Rick pays cheaper tax is becaus his vehicle has the dpf filter fitted and it reduced the emmissions to a low enough figure to qualify. I bet yours is one of the last of the 130's before the dpf came out and reduced the emissions mikertroid. We got a lot of 130's traded in for this reason about 18mths ago. The truth is the 5cylinder engine peaked at the 102bhp. From that point on its emmisions went up and its fuel economy went down. I have spoken to enough customers and run enough of them myself to know that 30mg is the realistic figure. If you are claiming more then you are driving like a nun or you have a pre DPF or your doing both. The dpf is strangling the engines to get the emissions down and in turn its reducing the fuel economy. The reson they have gone 2.0tdi (I presume the engine they use in the passats) is because they cant keep strangling the engine and had to draw a line somewhere to meet euro5 emmissions. The 5 cyclinder 2.5tdi has had to go ad blue for the Crafter range which is laughable.

    Then we get down to which is the better drive etc.

    Make your own mind up on that one as thats your own pinion.

    pjbarton
    Free Member

    i get about 40mpg on my 120,000 mile ex aa kombi T5 in sexy silver… well, silver.
    great vehicle for any outdoor types – it's very liberating being able to throw a load of bikes (me and GF have 2 kids) even if you're not sure if you'll need them. We got a 12v fridge and we nip off and make sausage sandwiches in strange places.

    All doable on other vehicles but we just seem to do more. Kids call it the adventurevan

    rickmeister
    Full Member

    nicely put Andrew….

    pjbarton
    Free Member

    on the downside, i'm having an issue where the power drops right down (a restart fixes it) – not sure what that is, may be down my blanking off of the EGR filter (although I did it to fix that very issue – worked great for 6 months)

    any experts on here? thelittlesthobo?

    TheLittlestHobo
    Free Member

    Not mechanically minded, sorry. I do remember lots of egr valves needing replaced and the service manager getting peeved with it.

    If you want good advice, call the carlisle dealership and ask to speak to Dave Hodgson 01228 511317. The guy is a little millitant but there nowt he doesnt know about VW's. If you approach it right he will tell you what he thinks it is. Dont tell him i sent ya though 😉

    steveh
    Full Member

    I've had a T5 Kombi and the 2.5 130 is all you need and will give you ~20% better mpg for very little difference in real world driving. I got 40mpg per tank on mine every time pretty much over 20k miles. The lowest mine got was 36 on a massive fully laden road trip through france with 4 people, 7 bikes and all the gear. Really nice to drive long distances in.

    The T5 is NOT out of production there is no news on a T6 yet, the 2.0 170bhp (never been 180 to my knowledge) has loads of problems and now get a new engine map on service which reduces the power and isn't in Transporters or going to be to the knowledge of vw dealers.

    A t30 or t32 (3000 and 3200kg total weight with load) transporter kombi will have the payload you need to get into the van tax bracket and I think all the 2.5's are one of these, unless you need the higher payload the t30 is nicer to drive (softer suspension).

    I've had a load of vans and the t5 was the best by far, if you've got any questions drop me a line.

    pjbarton
    Free Member

    Cheers TLH, could be useful

    steveh
    Full Member

    pjbarton – If your van is ex aa it'll be a 1.9 104bhp, the 2.5's have a failt with the injection system/fuel filter which can lead to the problem. The problem is often a gunged up turbo which means that the variable vanes inside can't work properly and the fault code you get is high boost pressure (can't respond to engine changes fast enough hence too much boost). The official fix is a new turbo, some people use carb cleaner or similar to clean the turbo out but I wouldn't do this if your not confident.

    Best way to check is to buy a £30 Vagcom unit from ebay and connect it next time it happens this will give you the fault code and confirm the above or give you somewhere else to start looking.

    TheLittlestHobo
    Free Member

    Steveh. One of my customers has a price for the supply of T6 already. I am down for mystery shopping a dealership out of area next week as it goes. Anyone else on here fancy doing it for me would be saving me some time.

    The dealers have this knowledge now and i have a copy of the phase out email sent from VW headquarters to area managers and subsequently dealership managers back in September 2008. How do i have this? Well lets just say i went on my bosses computer and took it before i moved to merc. It asked for suggestions by the managers for the phase out ideas. Things like the colour coded bumpers and electric packs they are funnily enough offering atm. You remember the phase out of the T4, they added the carravelle front end and electrics, well they are just doing the same thing. I believe the munich motor show had a T6 camper on display. I will have a little look and see if i can find it

    TheLittlestHobo
    Free Member

    the 2.0 170bhp (never been 180 to my knowledge) has loads of problems and now get a new engine map on service which reduces the power

    I know, best news i had in ages

    steveh
    Full Member

    There have been a couple of pics about of the supposed t6 but really only a t5 with a face lift really. The T5 has only been out for 5-6years which would be very short life for a van according to the vw dealer i speak to a bit it's essentially a t5.5 that's coming out not a t6.

    rolfharris
    Free Member

    I drive vans quite a lot- work vans, hire vans. Never driven a VW but have driven several Vitos.

    They drive like a sack o'shite. And the older they get, the more the gearbox feels like you're stirring porridge- they are atrocious. The engine may well be good for 200,000 miles but the rest of them aren't.

    My personal preferance is the Vauxhall Vivaro. Lovely things.

    mikertroid
    Free Member

    Tlh

    interesting stuff. Mine isn't PDF but I don't drive like a nun either!

    If I'm chilled I'll get 40+ mpg, if I'm in a hurry I'll get 35.

    Had a couple of t4s and much prefer the t5.

    Are VW going label the new one the t6? It's only had a new grille and engine!!

    Next van will be a LWB Sportline 4motion kombi. Not quite yet tho'!!

    Capt.Kronos
    Free Member

    Cheers all, getting some useful info 🙂

    If there is a new version just around the corner then it may be worth holding out to see what that is like… or to pick up discounted "old" stock later on.

    So a T30 with 130bhp is pick of the bunch at the moment then? Just so I can get some kind of idea on costs and the like. I will have to pop into a dealership next time I am passing one, but that means either Carlisle or Preston I think, both being a bloody long drive (though I am up Carlisle way more often than south of Lancaster.)

    TheLittlestHobo
    Free Member

    PDF 🙂 DPF Diesel Particulate Filter.

    TheLittlestHobo
    Free Member

    Oh and Rob, if you REALLY want a VW contact me before you do. I will give you a price for the Merc and you can rest assured it will be like a red rag to a bull with my local competition. They will fall over themselves to beat their price down 😉

    Brycey
    Free Member

    VW Edinburgh told me last week no more factory T5 orders are being taken, the facelifted T5.5 (T6, whatever) will be on the roads soon. They also said all power outputs will be from the 2 litre, so perhaps it's 180PS. Anyway, time will tell, there's always a lot of rumours flying around about Transporters which I suppose reinforces how popular they are.

    mikertroid
    Free Member

    TLH
    whereabouts in the country are you? Just thinking ahead….!

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