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As it says above. I've had VW T4s for the last 9 years and the current one will be going at the end of the month.
I'll be using the van for mainly leisure use, family picnicking, cycle and watersports kit lugging and just enough business use to get it through on the accounts. The main criteria are under 5years old and 50000 miles, with a load bed of 3m minimum.
I've narrowed the choice of replacement down to the following:
VW T5, They've got the image, build quality and fuel consumption going for them but are piggin expensive for a good one (especially on pistonheads)
Merc Vito, Plenty about but I'd need a Long rather than Compact to get the windsurfing kit in
Toyota Hiace, good build quality but are the bulkheads a bit hard to remove?
Hyundai I-Load, bit of an outsider and I don't know too much about them but maybe some good deals?
I haven't ruled out buying new with a bit of finance as there's probably dealers out there quite keen to shift stock but if any of you out in STW land have anything suitable for sale I could be swayed.
Love my Vito. Well until I needed to replace the clutch, dual mass flywheel and many more things the other week 🙁
Drives very well, but as you say, you'll want a longer one.
Rust can be a problem on older ones.
Good & bad news is that they don't hold their price like VW (almost half the price, like for like).
Would/will probably still get another but newer Vito unless I got lots of money suddenly, then I'd get a VW 8)
Vw here. liking it wery much. vito was my other option but rear wheeled drive ruled it out for me.
VW Transporter Kombi 5.1 here and very pleased with it so far. Had it less than a year. Leaky side windows a bit a pain but other than that not a single complaint.
Good & bad news is that they don't hold their price like VW (almost half the price, like for like).
I'm not too worried about resale values as I just want a vehicle I can rely on for the next 10 years or so. My current annual mileage is under 4000 and I can't see that changing in the foreseeable future.
Got ourselves a T5 2 weeks ago abolutley love it so far! Feels very "car like" mind you it is chipped and lowered! 😉
Leaky side windows a bit a pain
I agree. Don't get a t5 with sliding rear windows. Thought they would have fixed this common issue in the facelift model.
We've had a new T5.1 (or whatever the designation of the new facelifted ones are) for a few months now, and as far as I can tell, it's about perfect. So far we've had 3 T4s, a T5 and now this new one, and it's miles better than any of the previous ones.
As far as reliability goes, we had no issues with the T4's, a slight issue with the clutch on the T5 which was warrantied for us, and the new one seems to be as solid as the rest.
Our vans do huge amounts of miles up and down the country, the T5 was on 215,000 when we sold it on.
Also, I hugely recommend considering a 'Kombi' (i.e. with side windows and a second row of seats) our car's pretty much been replaced since getting one!
Also, working with a lot of people in trade industries we here a lot about other vans, in our experience Vito's seem to be nice, until they go wrong, and then they cost a fortune. The Toyota is a solid van, haven't heard any complaints about them, although they're not exactly desirable.
Oh yes, and if you get the 177bhp model and get it chipped, it's a great machine for surprising your average boy racer in...
Had a 54 plate vito. Hated it. now have a 57 plate trafic and love it.
LWB crew version. 6 seats in front and 6 bikes in back no problem. (well you have to take some wheels off, but 5 fully assembled is ok)
The LWB Dispatch / Expert / Scudo might also match your requirements (I've not checked the length but twin front seat model would gain some extra length down the middle as gearlever is on dash and handrake on rhs).
If looking new you can expect 20% to 25% off the list price (and that was on a special order combi - might get more on a panel van in stock).
We've been running them for 12 years. Our old one did 133,000 with no major problems (apart from being written off by a wayward BMW). New shape one is just coming up to 3 yrs / 30,000. Only issue so far is creaking front ARB replaced on warranty.
Very car like to drive. We like the 1.6 engine but is quite slow if that bothers you (v. slow when new - took 5000 miles to loosen up) 2.0 is much faster and gets 6spd 'box.