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....without having to trawl through the scammers on Vantrader and Ebay ?
Forgetting about the VW vs everything else debate, a T5 is what I would like and top end of my budget is at £6K.
Every time you see one on the above sites, its too good to be true.
Im not wasting my time contacting you about your "2007 plate with camper conversion at £5250", I know you are a scammer *
Are there any other reputable sites where I should be looking for such a vehicle (probably a 1.9 SWB with seats in the back).
Thanks
* if you are not , then i've missed out on the bargain of the century there !!
Answer to your initial question; NOPE
You could try the T4/T5 forum 🙂
does the odometer go high enough to record the number of miles that are going to be on a 6grand t5?
You'll probably have to trawl through the sites for a bargain. But because they're so popular people want lots of money for them.
Best bet is look in all the local places. But most for that money will be pretty high mileage. I'd love one, but they're so much more than anything else.
You'll get a money-pit with a VW badge on it for under 5 grand, I'm afraid
I would say yes!
I was looking all last summer and was aiming for a 2007 with 70k miles for £7k inc vat. After looking for a few months I settled on a 2005 with 80k for £5.5 inc vat.
Needed £400 in the body shop to remove a from the side, but has FSH. This is a base white van, 84ps and no mod cons. Expect to pay a lot more for non white / tailgate / elec windows / air con.
Had it 11 months now and use it as my only vehicle. So far has cost me new pads and discs and a £240 service, now on 94k miles.
You'd probably get a reasonable T4 for that. In fact there's one near me being sold at a local garage. Think it was a stw'ers van previous to that as I'm sure I've been in it with bikes out to a ride.
<slopes off to T5 classifieds>
All this constant STW T5 chatter and worship in recent weeks ... months ... years ...
</slopes off to T5 classifieds>
My mate found a very nice T5 for exactly 6 grand. Oh how loudly he mocked me and my expensive van now that he'd joined the club for a few grand less.
Within 48 hours the block had cracked.
Same question about a vivaro/trafic?
You'll get a great Transit van for that kind of cash.
With the change spray it black and put VW emblem on front and a few stickers on the back if you must insist on being "cool"
I got a nice T5 3 years ago for that sort of money. It's been pretty good, bust has turned into a money pit in the last year. *Sighs*
"You'll get a great Transit van for that kind of cash."
define great ..... your at the lower end of the transit market as well......still looking at star ship miles or a grotty body on transits.
i still stand by my for cheap vans go french mantra - interiors dont take tradie wear so well though but are perfectly adaquate for personal use.
in what way a money pit tomd ?
DMF
Clutch
Splined connection thingy between the gearbox and driveshaft
Clutch slave cylinder
Some bit of the suspension
Central locking
I bought it for £6k and I've had 3 years out of it so it's not awful in that context, but starting to get annoying. . It's 10 years old also so stuff will go wrong. On the plus side it still looks and drives really well, which I think is where it tops the vivaros, transits etc.
I wouldn't say 6k for a transit isn't doable! I got an ex RAC on on an 08 plate with 115k miles for that and the amount of maintance history reports it came with was crazy plus full service. It's a great van and I'm using it for work quit happily.
And yes finding a nice T5 will be like finding hens teeth I spent 2 months looking till I went the ex rac/AA type of vans.
Good luck.
thats not a money pit.
clutches are wear and tear - it just so happens that clutches on the t5 are expensive and need ancillarys .... the mechanic i use always has 1 or 2 t5s kicking about his yard getting clutches done
money pit was my old golf where the engine starved its self of water and warped the head.....
yeah it's not awful it's 10 years old after all and the £1500 odd it cost in repairs last years wouldn't even cover the finance on a crappy small car. However, that was it's 3rd clutch. The first one lasted 70k miles, the second only 20k. This could be random bad luck, or related to my wife starting to drive the van and her ability to change from 2nd > 1st at high speed rather than 2nd > 3rd 👿
Edit - this rare talent probably also counted for the splined connection thingy! So what I'm really saying is get a T5 but don't let your wife drive it.
Edit - this rare talent probably also counted for the splined connection thingy! So what I'm really saying is get a T5 but don't let your wife drive it.
Bingo - /end moneypit 😆
i think its definantly a wife thing.
mines has a tallent for not telling me about a noise the car makes because she things i will stop her driving it till its fixed .... she is right for the most part - and will drive it till it dies on her.... .
i now have to take her car out weekly and drive it just to check for expensive sounding noises.....
im fairly fortunate in that one of the guys who works for us is a mechanic as well, so I can get jobs done for around £10/hr.
Have seen a few slightly above my price range, that have had the work
tomd describes, done recently, so i might have to spend a few pennies more.
Is it true that if it is a commercial vehicle then it has a different speed limit on the road. If so, how would you go about changing its purpose of use ( this would be for domestic driving at weekends etc)
the only way to get the higher speed limits in a vehicle already registered as a commercial van is to get it reclassified as a motorhome ....- with a motorhome conversion in place obviously.
real world - be sensible pay attention and drive to conditions its likely you wont have any issues.
YMMV !
Is it true that if it is a commercial vehicle then it has a different speed limit on the road.
Sure is. 50mph on single carriageway nsl and 60 on dual. 70 on motorways. Contact the dvla and enter the "I'm sorry I'm not sure who would deal with that" telephone transfer abyss.
Full service history and seems very clean. Ok, 500 quid over budget but it's 2008.
Is it for your plumbing or building work OP?
errr iolo what is so great about that van ? its got high milage , its RWD meaning reduced load space as floor is higher, it likely has a towing diff which means high revs at motorway speed.
its cheap for a 2008 granted but its pretty crap for a bike van.
Wife has just chipped in with an oh no...not that colour.
Looks to be pretty well equipped though must admit.
It's not for work purposes, just always fancied something to use on weekends / holidays etc to be able to chuck everything in , including the kids , bikes , tents etc.
Will probably sell the CMax too and get a little 60mpg runabout with £30 a year tax for commuting.
Just something about VW that I can't quite put my finger on , that just says yes to me.
Although I did say I'd never buy a ford, or a Skoda and I've had both of those.
One here for 4k needs a side door but not bad for that money, nowt to do with me by the way!
Seems to be some reasonably priced T5's on here [url= http://www.transporterland.co.uk/140410/used-commercials.htm ]Linky[/url]
Anyone have clue what to look for amongst that lot? Can you take any of them and just drive or are you buggered with that commercial vehicle situation mentioned above?
Edit: sorry, above OP's price bracket but selfishly still interested in opinions
That is awesome 8)
It's definitely possible but hard! The only way is to be all over ebay, gumtree and autotrader at the right time to find the cheap ones that come up.
Geoffj......you dissing my van
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Only tradesman, kidnappers, travellers and lifestyle wannabes need a van.
Actually scratch that.
Only tradesmen.
I just want something I can put 4 bikes into and drive the family to a CP for a ride. A van fits the bill but I guess that makes it a lifestyle thing.
Yes, when I borrowed the pickup from work to take some stuff to the tip, with the wife and boy in the passenger seats, I did feel decidedly "pikey"
Didn't help when the boy started running around like an idiot on the flat bed with his top off. ( we were stationary and parked up at this point)
Could have been worse, the wife could have joined him.
My tuppeneth on T4/T5 (admittedly I own a 153,000 mile T4).
The dealer I bought it off said that T5's eat clutches. The bloke at my local T5 camper converters has swapped his T5 for a T4, in his words "T4"s last".
A mate of mine has a 2004 T5 with less than 80k for £6200.
so I would say if you take your time they are available
a man with a picasso is slagging off folk for having a van ? quality.
i find my van invaluable for moving bulky dirty stuff - of which bikes are one of the many bulky dirty items......
dont see you getting an engine and gear box in the back of the picasso in a hurry .... or a central heating boiler.
tip runs
Trips to builders merchants/BnQ (of which i do alot)
Taking loads of bikes while someone else takes a car full of people
Is there some way of hiding hora's posts? Most forums have that function, I ignore the threads but it's everywhere.
There's a reasonable trade in ex airport taxis with galactic mileage, a couple of friends have bought them. 7 seats though so it depends what you want the van for.
Only tradesman, kidnappers, travellers and lifestyle wannabes need a van.Actually scratch that.
Only tradesmen.
Repressed van need right there. If we start from the assumption that I need expensive bikes and trips away all over the place then I NEED a van.
I've had a van for over 5yrs, I regularly ask how people manage without a van..
Aye vans rule. It is a bit of a luxury, but makes the whole biking experience easier and more enjoyable. Especially weekends / weeks away.
Mugboo - No particular history of t5's being hard on clutches. The one I currently have has just had a new clutch at 130k which is not exactly out of the norm and one I had before was on 170k and still on it's original clutch.
I'm not saying they do not have problems (like everything they do) but clutches aren't really one of them.
Made love in the back of my van the other day. Had to test our new folding, memory foam mattress. Then cleaned up, got changed, popped out the stove and had a bacon sarnie. Cars are dead to me.
My 07 Picasso cost 1600. If I was to buy a decent van it'd mean 10k+
Your point? 😉
What grown woman would shag in the back of a bike carrying van?
I make her park her bike first, then I park mine. 😉
My 07 Picasso cost 1600. If I was to buy a decent van it'd mean 10k+
And if you were to buy a decent car what would that cost?
Define 'decent'.
Its done 13k since November and flew through a recent main dealer mot.
Are you saying I need to buy VAG?
My 07 Picasso cost 1600. If I was to buy a decent van it'd mean 10k+And if you were to buy a decent car what would that cost?
Yet you dont see what is wrong with a picasso?
Enlighten me.
What do you drive and how much did it cost?
My blingo was 3500 at 3 years old with 35 k on clock.
Been so good im looking to buy snother to replace the jeep.
I've had some motors in the past that others have said "ooh you don't want to touch one of those they always go wrong" etc etc, but these have always been proved to be the most reliable. I've had diesels since 2006, and the only reason I've had to change them was getting bored and wanting something different. Had a Megan Scenic on 67k for 3 years that I traded in for an Octavia and managed to get up to 153 k in that time without a single issue. Plenty of people questioned thr reliability of the French car, but this one proved them wrong. Didn't service it much, but it got an oil and filter change every 10k whether it needed it or not.
On that note does anyone have any real-world experience of the Merc Vito 109 CDI comp ?
Trail rat. A 3yr old at 3, 500. Bargain. 1.4 or cat C? Beats my bargain.
Would love to know your secret- divulge as book/autotrader are alot higher.
This one on ebay looks quite good at £4500 got 162k miles on but 1 owner so its probably been reasonably well looked after, probably had a clutch at that mileage too.
It was a gamble hors
I drove round local back street garages .
Found it in a car garage up for 3900 no vat.
Enquired about s test drive, it had a flat battery , so knew he hadbeen sitting on it s while.
Drove fine 1.9d tractor diesel engine (dog slow but no turbo , dpf or dmf to go bad) , no service history bar the first but thought what the hey - its hpi clear and drove fine - what harm can they do missing 1 service. Bought it serviced it and lived happy every after
As i said been so good im looking st another 1.9 d for mrs t-r
Do you really need van, or just big size? Ford Galaxy for £10k would get a great car.....fold down those seats and you have a van...
Sounds like it paid off- I gambled and travelling 200miles for my snotter.
Have you changed the cambelt yet (as a precation)
changed it twice - and a waterpump.
45k is the belt interval on the 1.9D
tend to do it on my cars when i get em straight away anyway - the only time i didnt was when i had a stamp and reciept in the book saying it had been done in the last 10k.... 10k later... . waterpump failure.
just getting back on topic -
yes, it is possible to find a decent t5 for under 6k ...it's just difficult and time consuming. i was looking for over a year!
i've had mine for just under 3 years now. bog standard white swb with fsh and one owner (carpet fitter). it was just under 5yrs old and had 49k on the clock when i got it.
saw it on vantrader as a "just arrived/ not yet priced" trade ad. left work immediately, swung by the bank and waived £500 cash under the chaps nose to secure a £5750 cash/ no vat deal. turned up the following day with the balance (in cash) before he had time to change his mind 😀
since then i've converted it, nothing flashy mind, but ideal for the 3 of us to camp comfortably for weekends/ festivals, etc.
good luck with the search.
I have a Trafic, its an 02 plate, and Ive had it since 05 when I brought it from my father, who brought it new.
It had done 35k when I brought it and has done 115k now.
Still drives brilliantly
I have used it to camp in, tow my car about, take motorbikes and pushbikes in, and generally as a mobile shed.
My Mrs wants me to change it, but I just cant imagine being without a van.
Its had an expensive start to the year, cambelt went at Christmas, which was £700 ish to fix with the head etc
and I had the gearbox rebuilt (before it failed) with a new Genuine clutch, clutch release bearing and slave cylinder and a few other bits which was about £1300 in total.
So I`ve just done £2k on a van that's probably worth £2k, but I could go out, spend £6k on a newer one with similar milage and still be facing the same set of bills again !!
And anything I buy will probably have had a much harder life than the one I have got.
The lower limits is a pain, and I got stung twice on the same journey 15 mins apart which was a quick 6 points and £200 🙁 for a speed that would have been passable in a car.
I fancy a T5, but not the "Scene Tax" that goes with them, Caddy Maxi Life is another one on the radar but again you are looking at £23k for a 140hp TDi new 😯
£16k would get me a brand new LWB Trafic, crewcab with tailgate and all the toys...... the same thing in a sportline T5 would be £28-30k 😥
Love both my Trafic Crew (which doesn't have issues with speed limits) and the Caddy Maxi Life.
Only real difference is in physical size/economy.
Trafic is the LWB which will take 6, 6 bikes and all the kit. but at around 30mpg.
Caddy will take 4 with 4 bikes and ALL kit, front wheel off, 3 with 3 bikes front in with ALL kit, or 5 with 5 all wheels out but not as much kit.
cr500dom tbh it sounds like you've got a keeper.
Is it possible to find a [s]half decent[/s] VW T5 for under £6k....
Yes.
Is it possible to find a half decent VW T5 for under £6k....
Good luck! 😀
I got my 54 plate T5 SWB for 4.8k and, although it has a couple of dents and 130k on the clock, it's a good, solid van* that really needed nothing doing to it before it could be used for bike transporting**. It even had a second row of seats installed, so gains points for flexability there.
It did take a while to find though.
* touch wood.
** That's not stopped me from taking it apart and insulating it, putting side windows in, carpeting it and generally making it look a bit nicer.
*** edit: Damn double posts.
Have a picture of a kitten instead
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Only tradesman, kidnappers, travellers and lifestyle wannabes need a van.Actually scratch that.
Only tradesmen.
And then
My 07 Picasso cost 1600. If I was to buy a decent van it'd mean 10k+Your point?
You are a monumental weapon...
Matt oitandabout. Tell me more about the galaxy, can you wheel a bike straight in with the back seats down?