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nosedive - post 2008 vitos have a fully galvanised body instead of just painted.
doctor rad - spoken like someone justifying an obscene amount of vag tax. The only logical way i can see a caravelle making sense is to buy it splitting new from the factory as you don't pay over inflated used prices for them - but you get the benefit of the over inflated used price when selling
seriously if your looking at the newer market i suggest you don't discount the custom - its not a mk7 commercial transit - at least test drive one , i was surprised. the 155 is tall geared ill admit in 4 - 5 -6 but still pulls plenty on the a9.
but equally i still think they are a bit spendy - as ford are still controlling the used market and keeping the residuals high due to how new they are
I just need 4 seats total. I looked at caravelles, and also looked at new transit custom 9 seat kombi, and also an i800.
What puts me off is that the 3rd row of seats would practically never be in the van, most of its job would be getting me, kids and bikes to local tracks and I would need the 3rd row out to do that. I dont really have anywhere to store them so I would be faced with buying the vehicle and then selling or chucking the 3rd row of seats which would probably make it difficult to sell the van on again.
tempting to convert something but I'm a bit put off by the insurance implications. Also tempted by buying a 5 seat kombi something with fixed 2+1 seats and binning the single seat so I can sleep in the gap left. Also tempted by getting a monster LWB something that has 6 foot behind the seats and I wouldn't have to worry about it. I think Mrs Nosedive envisages something vaguely nice looking though, not 6 metres of ex-police Vivaro blocking the street up.
im in the same boat , having done the small van thing i think im ready for the LWB Kombi what ever it is as its just more convienant. We rarely take the car to town anyway as its a nightmare.
i wanted to like the vito as i like mercedes auto boxes (parents had a c220 and an e330 both were lovely to drive) - was a sport dualiner we drove and even then it still felt like a van - boomy and noisy at speed
I will admit the newest vw drives very well and is less van like than the vito - but i would put the new custom on par through the test driving i have done.
I was curious to see what a Caravelle is, so had a quick look at the Volkswagon website. I was surprised to see how much they cost. The cheapest is £30k+VAT and the 'Business' model is £56k+VAT. It's been few years since I bought a new vehicle, so I'm probably out of touch. Is this a typical price for this type of vehicle?
vito sport (mid range )dualliner lwb is between 26-29 + vat with apparently no leyway
custom limited(mid range) KOMBI LWB is also 28 + vat book - although they were offering them out at 23+ vat and can be had at the bulk resellers for 19+ vat.
vw Kombi is book price no leyway and a fair waitlist. starting price is 20k + vat how ever almost everything is an optional extra - highline is an extra 2500 + vat and only adds limited options , still a fair bit of box ticking to get close to the vito and transit in terms of equipment.
I just bought a long wheelbase Vauxhall Vivaro "Sportive". The new ones are rock solid and well made (avoid vans pre-2010) - and are cheap. My new one cost 12,500 + VAT from Arnold Clark. That was about 8k cheaper than the equivalent VW. It has alloy wheels, A/C, 115bhp, 6-speed box and so on.
It's about to get fitted out as a camper van by the same folks that did Hannah's and Danny's vans recently and then re-classified as a camper (so it can go 70mph on an A-road!!). They (Vanguard in Fort William) do a mountain bike conversion that has a "garage" area at the back.
forgot to say, I also looked at renault trafic - same van (mine has renault logos in the engine bay!) but was £1k+VAT more expensive because it had a 5 vs 3 yr warranty, reversing sensors and automatic windscreen/lights - all stuff I didn't need.
@trail_rat - [i]shrug[/i]
We need six-seven seats several times a year, an I like the option of having the bigger boot my sliding the bench seat forward. In any case, we didn't buy new, though we may have over-paid a bit in order to secure what we wanted.
when you say Caravelle you mean Multivan?
here in Scehrmany the Multivan is the one with sliding seats, rails in the floor and lots of plastic/finishing. the Caravelle has fixed seats, basic panel co verings and maybe an extra A/C thing for the rear.
had a look at a few multivans and discounted them. not that much space in them. if you want to use the bench seat for sleeping you need the weird table thing in the rear which eats up space. putting the bench into bed mode requires lots of pushing and pulling and leaves you with very little room to do anything else.
had a look at a six seater LWB with closed rear panels. will go and have another look on thursday and will prob buy it.
as said above... enough space behind the 2nd row to lie down (and not have to stow the bed away), can seat six people.
also think many of the Multivans are overpriced for what they are and the mileage on them.
prefer to kit the motor out to my specifications.
What nosedive wants is a panel van converted to house 4 captains seats and a roof tent. Problem solved. Next.
Yes! Exactly what i need
One of the best conversions I ever used was a guy that had a ex-rac van, it had 4 captains seats and a table that all the seats could sit round via spinning bases, it also had a fully removable rear utility thing, sink, stove, grill, storage that used to come out and live in the garage most of the time And a roof tent. So useful.
I might just look for a post 2008 vito dualiner and worry about the rooftent and spinning seats later. Mrs nosedive is on the edge of accepting all this as it is
I've done some miles in some of the vans mentioned.
Vito- noisey, managed to feel bigger than it was and the side door fell off amusingly, can't remember the engine but it was too low geared for my liking (2009)
Toyota hi ace - Did 100k in one over 2 and a bit years, reliable but a twenty year old design and felt it. Passenger seat is suitable for midgets only.
VW transporter-nice van but showing its age now.
Vauxhall vivaro- we had two 2012 vans nice to be in and drive but both vans broke down with alarming regularity, one needing a new gearbox at 30k. Utter crap.
Transit custom- nice modern van, lots of nice touches, like the bulkhead is insulated for example, we have 3 and their doing pretty well.
nosedive, a Vito Dualiner Extra LWB has around 6ft behind the 2nd row of seats so you can kip in the back withour removing any seats.
I got a 120CDi (3l v6) new in 2006 with loads of extras, comfort pack (nice linings etc) alloys, privacy glass, auto box was standard, cruise control, AC, tailgate.
It's been fantastic, no rust, very reliable, very fast. Would definately get another.
I can get an MX bike in the back diagonally with taking a seat out, loads of MTBs, tip the rear seats forward and I can get 2 road motorbikes in.
And that's a Caravelle bought! Hopefully get it Wednesday, very excited!!
I think a lwb will be too long for my drive. I see there is mid length vito though. 1600mm behind the rear seats. Looks ideal. Now just need to find one!
I think from when I was looking there is only SWB or LWB Vitos.
No advert I'm afraid. It's a now ex-demo that we got to before it went on general sale. 13 plate, silver with a whole host of extras. Less than I thought I'd get a 10 month old one for. Can't wait to pick it up this week. Need tow bar and roof rack/ bars fitting. But can't work out if it's rails and use thule bars or VW bars that will look like a builders van!
Can't wait to see a picture Spud, how many people do you think it would sleep at a push? 2 adults and 2 small children?
No idea really, we've not bought it for sleeping. More versatile family wagon. But I think 4 inc 2 kids would be tight.
My dad ahs just taken in a clean, low mileage Tailgate T4 SWB and I'm very very tempted. It'll be a shade more economical and practical than my Rav, but there is certainlly a fashion tax - even at mates rates it's a lot of money for an 11 year old van..
Anybody know where to get cheap euopean breakdown cover for anything over 10 years old?
Not at the moment. Roof is for kayaks for summer Hols only. Need tow bar for caravan anyway so may as well utilise that. Tailgate rack would be good once away but not when towing. I'm chuffed to bits with it so far. Obviously very different to out going Merc estate but much more practical.
Any pics spud? There is still a slim chance it could happen here