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Balanced viewpoint
They hold their value well vs They are overpriced
In the theme of recommending bikes you own... get a Sprinter van... 
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So I sat down with my wife and started to explain why this purchase was a good idea.
New wife tbh.
I brought home a rusty 30 yr old van as a surprise. We had fish n chips and champagne (cava) in it that night. Back of that 1st camper with some fairy light and an audiobook was the happiest place in the world.
We've had 5 Campers since then, feels wrong without one, all this chatter about driving positions and nonsense. We've had such awesome nights in our van within a days drive. Loads of little corners to explore.
Get one, life really is short.
for me it has to be a mercedes sprinter over a vw.
had both, one seemed to be lying about reliability, the other had crap paint.
i will always go for a merc now, you just have to factor a spray job into the cost or they look like they're rusty. although that seems to be true for the newer t5s now anyway.
loads of my mates have vw and they all love them to bits, but i have spent nothing but brake pads and tyres on my merc taking it from 100 to 180 thousand miles whereas my brother is currently having his engine rebuilt at 100k.
i have a swb sprinter so the footprint is just a little wider than a t4 but has loads more space and i get 30mpg average. 35 on the motorway
You can't get dried, changed, prepare food or lounge around in an estate.
You can't 'really' do much of that in a T5 either, unless you're a 4ft midget.
Having a proper awning on the side (with front & sides) made it easier to do things like this, but then it was just a slightly heavier duty tent bolted onto the roof that rolled back into a tube. Plus it made you look like a plumber with a pipe holder on a roof rack.
You can't get dried, changed, prepare food or lounge around in an estate.
You can't 'really' do much of that in a T5 either, unless you're a 4ft midget.
Well, having lived in one for six months, I can and I'm 6'1". I can't stand up straight, obviously, but I don't need to, because I can do it all sitting down.
One thing you do need to know about a T5 is that the nut on the gear linkage, found in the engine bay, can work loose, making it impossible to select a gear and feeling like your gearbox has died. It is however easily fixable in about 2 minutes. I know this now after a slightly worrying three quarters of an hour on Sunday waiting for the RAC...
You can stand up in a T5 and your 6ft1? Obviously you've got a higher topped model then.
[i]"Well, having lived in one for six months, I can and I'm 6'1". [b]I can't stand up straight[/b]"[/i]
Over the years I've had a Sprinter, Astravan, Movano, three years ago while I was looking to change to my current van I decided to have a Vw Transporter as I like Vw, I've had a classic Beetle, numerous Golfs and a Passat which have been great cars. However I ended up with a Vauxhall Vivaro Sportive CDTI as I couldn't get over the fact that the Vw equivalent (spec wise) was £8000 more! The Vivaro has been a great van, really nice to drive and does an average of 38mpg for most of my driving!
I have however just ordered a new van, I did look at at Vw and Mercedes with the Mercedes being vastly better and I almost ordered one but whilst driving home I passed the Ford garage and called in. I couldn't get over how nice the new Transit Custom is, great styling, 155bhp, 6 speed box, fully loaded, the only thing I didn't go for was the Satnav and lane assist. It's still about £6000 less than the Vw equivalent!
Ps My Vivaro is for sale if anyone is interested 🙂
And speaking of Mercedes how about a Vito?
I know the old ones get a bad press but there seems to be a lot of newer ones around albeit they don;t seem to have the same following in terms of owner's forums and so on. Price wise they compare favourably to a T5 is this because they are still a bit crap?
You can't get dried, changed, prepare food or lounge around in an estate.You can't 'really' do much of that in a T5 either, unless you're a 4ft midget.
I've lived in a T4 and had no problems with doing all those things.
Two of us manage to get changed/sleep/lounge/sort food out/eat etc, easy enough in our current T4 Multivan.
I brought home a rusty 30 yr old van as a surprise. We had fish n chips and champagne (cava) in it that night. Back of that 1st camper with some fairy light and an audiobook was the happiest place in the world.We've had 5 Campers since then, feels wrong without one, all this chatter about driving positions and nonsense. We've had such awesome nights in our van within a days drive. Loads of little corners to explore.
This is the approach that might work, a "Banganomics" based Demonstration of the merits of Van / Campervan ownership to 'Er indoors.
Buy the sensible family car that she'll be happy enough with day to day then set aside a small budget for an older panel Van as an "on the side little project" for you to convert, Sprinter, Transit, Ducato, Master, Vivaro, Movano... There are lots of options, Forget the T5 for now, what you are looking to do though is demonstrate the potential of a van, that pitch for the "Dream Van" comes once you've proven the point... Baby Steps.
they don;t seem to have the same following in terms of owner's forums and so on. Price wise they compare favourably to a T5 is this because they are still a bit crap?
you answered your own question there.....
they didnt market them with the aspirational lifestyle of the camping/surfing/cycling like vw do on the tv... they showed them as work horses for the tradesman.
coupled with rust issues due to not galvanising the body work - and not sorting this out till 2008 !
I have however just ordered a new van, I did look at at Vw and Mercedes with the Mercedes being vastly better and I almost ordered one but whilst driving home I passed the Ford garage and called in. I couldn't get over how nice the new Transit Custom is, great styling, 155bhp, 6 speed box, fully loaded, the only thing I didn't go for was the Satnav and lane assist. It's still about £6000 less than the Vw equivalent!Ps My Vivaro is for sale if anyone is interested
We've got a new Transit Custom on the way too - can't wait. Also a Vivaro crew cab up for sale when it arrives!
[i]Two of us manage to get changed/sleep/lounge/sort food out/eat etc, easy enough in our current T4 Multivan.[/i]
This.
[i]Two of us manage to get changed/sleep/lounge/sort food out/eat etc, easy enough in our current T4 Multivan.[/i]
This.
Say "If you really loved me..." and then start to cry.
😉
I love Transits, however I just couldn't buy one to turn into a person-mobile. For some reason they just look commercial and any other use makes me thing 'ratcar'.
A T5 though- just seems more lifestyle applicable. Possibly because you see less T5's used for commercial use/Transits are more populace in this area?
Possibly because [s]you see less T5's used for commercial use/Transits are more populace in this area? [/s]good marketing.
new transit customs look great
Transit Customs look nothing like a standard Transit though especially the Limited version, I think they're much nicer looking than the Tranporter (which I also like btw)
Also going off what I hear from 2 garage owners I know, the Vws aren't the most reliable either?
my t4 just passed it's mot with 210k on the clock. only a bulb. it is an 88bhp tdi and has been very reliable really, i got it with 165 on the clock, and i did all of the belts, the clutch and dmf and a halfshaft since i got it. averages 37mpg. transits do drive much better though especially the new ones.
Just checked the price of a new Transit Custom, not a particularly cheap alternative to a VW, slightly bigger van I guess though however I suspect that that's the appeal to many of the T5 that it's big enough for a family, bikes etc but slightly smaller all round than a Transit, Vivaro etc..
Transit should get better as a second hand option with the depreciation and so on.
The thing is, the price on the screen is the price you pay with VW whereas the sticker price seems high on the ford but by the time they've applied various discounts it comes out considerably cheaper!
The Transporter premium price thing is all relative. If you are buying second hand and can afford the initial outlay the Transporter will be easier to sell and will depreciate less if you want to change.
porter_jamie how much did you pay for it and how much (if any) oil does it use per 1,000?
"The Transporter premium price thing is all relative. If you are buying second hand and can afford the initial outlay the Transporter will be easier to sell and will depreciate less if you want to change."
and like all VW when they go wrong , parts cost a fortune. - but since you paid a premium and paid a fortune to fix it , you feel you can justify a ransom to sell it
I've read this thread and the conclusion appeared to be the same as the in the magazine!
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IMO that looks every bit as good as a Transporter
Are T5s in a different league to T4s?
Not in a different leage but the T4 1.9 is a bit under powered the 102 2.5 T4 drives really nice. The T5 feels a bit more modern, gear change is better etc.
The problem is they stopped production of the T4 in 2003 so the newest one your going to find is already 11 years old. getting hard to find with lower miles and people want mental money for them 🙁
and like all VW when they go wrong , parts cost a fortune. - but since you paid a premium and paid a fortune to fix it , you feel you can justify a ransom to sell it
Exactly 🙂
Although, with the T4 and T5's being bought by a huge leisure community there are loads of cheap parts and online how to guides meaning a lot can be tackled yourself.
Hora
i paid £2500 for it about 4 years ago, but it was from a mate, and it was very scabby - i must have dug about 3 kilos of random screws and fixings out of the back, and it has a few dents. i put in a rear seat, using geniune fixings from a vw dealer which were terrifyingly expensive, and also side windows which were only 85 quid each, got a handy mate to fit them as i didnt have the nerve to cut the panels out!
it doesnt really use much oil. i do check it once a week. it does use a really really tiny little bit of water, worryingly, but in 40k+ miles it has never ever overheated, including an alps trip mid summer fully loaded and booting it up mountain passes etc. i think it is probably a tiny weep in one of the hoses, not a head gasket or anything.
Only just found the thread. Utterly love our 56 plate Caravelle. 5 or 7 seats, bags of room in the back in 5-seat mode - can get five bikes in easily with front wheels off. Took it camping last summer with all seven seats in (second week in villa with my parents) and there was bags of room with the bench seat folded flat, even with riding kit and a huge family tent.
A little disappointed with the fuel consumption, though it's about the same around town as the Mazda 5 it replaced. To that end we're having it re-mapped by Pendle Performance at the weekend as we should get around a 10% improvement in efficiency for those long French motorway trips...
The new transit looks nice but it wont be long before it becomes the new pikey van of choice! So you can rule that one out..
New transit custom does look great but that engine is heavy on fuel and supposedly only gets low 30s mpg if your lucky.
In hoping the T6 when it arrives will bring the kind of technological advances that has happened in the diesel car world which has led to powerful estates like BMWs etc get high 50s to early 60 mpg while still having plenty of pep.
A 140bhp T6 that did high 40s mpg on the motorway would be awesome!
We have 3 T5's at work, had a lot of problems and trips to the garage, warranty repairs etc but that could be because they have several drivers who hammer them. I swapped to jap stuff like Toyota Hiace's a few years ago for this sort of family, bikes, camping, tip, transport stuff. Never seem to go wrong. Usually ex disabled minibus ones that already have windows and removable seats - would not go back to VW's now although of course kids/mrs all think T5's are cooler looking but I refuse to be a sheep. A friend just got a Hyundai iload Kombi, pretty rare on the roads but long warranty and drives really nice.
I bought a T5 2.5 130 LWB Minibus to use as a bike bus and weekend cruiser... It's currently sitting on 303000 miles and runs like a dream.. Ive removed the last row of seats and the single from the second row. Ive built a rack(from ikea !! ) that takes 5 bikes fully built. So thats 5 bikes, 5 people and enough space for stuff for a weekend..
not a bad purchase for £5000 🙂
" it's a van, if you think I am driving a van you have another thing coming"
My wife's daily driver
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She uses it for everything with no problems and loves it!
HTH 🙂
I don't think the new Transit Custom will become a pikey symbol...its only available for the lighter variants.
Crewcabs and tippers are still the older mk.7 model and I think the smaller Custom is going to stay as a separate line. Reckon Ford are aiming for those wealthy plumbers/builders that run about in chromed up 170bhp Sportlines! (and mtbers perhaps)
I get 37mpg from my new Transit Custom and I don't drive it gently. Its been doing quite a lot of crappy little stop start journeys too. STW did have the smaller engine size, which may be the reason for the lower mileage possibly.
I've found it MUCH quieter and nicer to drive than the T5, really nice interior, well thought out with lots of bottle holders, under seat storage, and other useful things like side lights and a heated windscreen (which didn't know Ford had the patent on that). Hands free thingy is ace too.
Cons: Looks pretty nice apart from one certain angle. No speakers or air vents in the back and only slanty open windows. Nice and powerful but needs high revs than I'm used to in vans in 2nd gear which is annoying (and embarrassing sometimes 😳 )
With the 6 seater and bulkhead, you can get a bike (29er full suss) in straight without taking any wheels off in the long wheel base.
As someone mentioned, you probably won't have to pay list price.
singletracksurfer - any chance of a link to the one you have? Which engine and body style?
Glad to hear your getting 37mpg,i drive like an oap so hopefully I can get a little more!
The Mid engine (125?) Custom limited (the colour coded/matched one) with some optional extras, the ice (steering wheel with hundreds of buttons, cruise control, upgraded stereo, parking sensor, sat nav etc) pack.
I'm pretty sure they all have the same 2.2l engine but the Limited and Sport both have a higher output at 155bhp. The trend is about 110bhp and the eco one has stop start technology
Singletracksurfer, if it's the Limited, it has 155.