VW Transporter Sportline Kombi

Where is the best place to get one in yorkshire and is there any info I need to know about them. Should I get a new one or go for a 1 year/2 year old one.

Have a look on http://www.brick-yard.co.uk/forum/
plus the t5 bit of the t4 forums (been thinking of a T4 or T5 kombi m'self)

Lots of people happy with them, but equally some with problems, usually being fixed under warranty but could be expensive otherwise (the 1.9/104ps engine seems to be a bit more robust). Main thing seems to be have a decent amount of time/mileage left under warranty, so mebbe not an issue in your case. Mileage warranty is 100k, seems to be more than a few being sold at the 95k mark (or at least, at the price I'm looking at)

You want to be looking on Autotrader, http://www.volkswagen-vans.co.uk/ dealer search and the two forums mentioned above BrickYark and http://www.vwt4forum.co.uk in your search for a van.

There is a lot of FUD around the 2.5 engines on the T5 and there is some evidence of common issues equally as with all forums this isn't counted with all the "I have a 2.5 and it's been fine today" as it would fill the forum.

There are plenty of high mile 174's and 130's 160k+ miles have been seen with limited issues.

I have a 174 2.5 not a sportline but it's the same engine it does like to drink diesel for sure, but it's a great engine loads of torque and even with the camper conversion, fully loaded I can overtake where safe to do so on a country lane for example with utter ease.

Sportline kombis are fairly rare and carry a very large premium over non sportline vans when new or second hand. The mods to the van to make it a Sportline are fairly minimal and can be done by many places for a lot less than the extra price to buy an off the shelf sportline. So it might be worth considering buying a standard 174 (if you really need that the 130 is the best option all round) and getting the mods done yourself.

My T5 is the best van I've ever owned (10+) and they are nice to drive. common problems with 174s include driveshafts, auto boxes are a bad idea as they don't like all the torque and turbos but they are 2.5 rather than just a 174 problem.

as with steveh, you'll pay a shed load for a sportline whereas you can get a standard panel van, have windows popped in, lined/carpeted/floored and seats for well under 2k. if you do it yourself nearer 1k.

but of course if you've got the cash…!

I broke a driveshaft on my 130, so not limited to 174s. If you are really unlucky, this will smash your diff and cost an arm and a leg

Also water pumps last around 50000 miles, when they go they fill your sump with water and the symptoms look like a failed head gasket

still best vehicle I have owned, but I am into vws….

What do you guys think of the new facelift (5.1) 2 litre 184ps model? more robust or a small engine and big power jsut waiting to go wrong?

My choices are down to the trafic sport or a transporter shuttle SE!!

EDIT: sorry for the post hijack

Good luck finding a 1-2yr old one. I sold the first one to come into the UK. Customer waited till the day they were available to order and it cost him £29,995 + VAT. That was less than 2 yrs ago i think. You are gonna pay a big premium for one and all you are getting over a standard Kombi is the leather and the bling.

If you are set on the VW then as stated the 130 is as good an everyday engine as the 174 (I could never really justify it over the 130 unless the customer insisted) and cheaper/readily available.

The sportline isnt even trimmed any better inside (Leather trim is not expensive to do these days). Its just a van with seats in the back.

Oh and be carefull on the how the vehicle has been registered. The Kombi is technically a commercial vehicle. Some however were registered as private cars for some reason and you get stung for RFL. The 2.5tdi engine is a dirty engine and the emissions are high. I think if they fall into the Private car catagory they end up costing £300-£400 per year tax. Thats why the later ones (Porbably what you will get) got the DPF filter which means they are cleaner (Not as powerfull or frugal on fuel) and get cheaper rfl.

Regarding the 2l 184ps engine. The reason the 2.5 was so popular was because it was a 5cyclinder lump with bags of torque. I dont think the 2l engine will respond anything like that. I dont think it wins any friends in the passat (pal has one and struggles for 40mpg in his estate version) so in the transporter i think it will be overworked imo. If you are a car type customer this may not be too much of an issue but for commercial customer running at 3.2t everyday will be dissapointed (again imo)

Thanks

Thats exactly what I though.

It will be a renault trafic sport 2.5 175ps then, plus its nearly 8k cheapeer

Renault traffic will be worth chicken feed in comparison to the VW after 3 years. It will not wear as well as the VW either. You aint comparing apples with apples.

I'd like a Transporter like the sportsline but cheaper by the sound of things. It's going to be the family car so I want all the mod cons, and a good paint job. Where can I get one from.

Best bet if you want to diy is to find yourself a 174 bhp transporter and ideally a kombi one. That way you just have to add the wheels, spoilers and lower springs. This is the half way house of diy to get the best finish.

The other option is to get a bog standard panel van and do it all. The most difficult bit with this is getting genuine seats or those that have the same functions. It's easier to get removable seats but they don't tend to fold or be split the same ways etc. Windows are very easy £400ish for a pair of genuine vw sliding ones (the older ones of these leak but the new ones are supposed to have fixed this problem).

Decent 174's are still pretty rare so you'll have to do some digging around to find one.

Nasher – My only concern with the 2.0 184 engine is that vag group have had to remap a lot of the 2.0 tdi 170bhp car engines via a software update due to reliability problems with them. They may ahve them sorted now but this version clearly has even more power so would make me nervous.

Gawd more worms out of the can!!!

I hate looking for vans!!!!

I may try to find a new "old style" T5 shuttle hopefully will be a bit cheaper than the 5.1

Where is best to look for dicounted VW's? if there is such a thing

I on the other hand love looking for them 🙂 What do you want? Does it need to be new? I saw an 06 shuttle with 35k on go for 9k + vat at an auction today.Nice silver and in good nick too.

I was thinking new as i dont want the hassle of getting MOT and after lookinga tfinance deals, HP. leasing etc it was very little per month having a new one as opposed to getting a bank loan.

Essentialy i want a LWB, biggest engine and air con!

I go to the BCA auctions in blackbushe but all the VW's are 1.9's too small for alpine towing.

is there a company that dose pimped transporters

TheLittlestHobo – that's an eye watering price.

roughneck – plenty of companies around that do pimped transporters have a look around vwt4forum

I once looked at these and went to the main dealer
they gave a dam good deal and worked out cheaper to buy new
rather than seconhand.
Problem with these type of vans is that the second hand ones
are normaly used for Airport or high end taxes
and come with high milleage.

Sorry for the ignorant question, but is the Kombi basically a van that's got the "mod cons" of a car?

Rubbish, Reno is as good as the VW, Plus Reno seats are a lot more comfy for longer trips.

http://search.autotrader.co.uk/es-uk/www/vans/advert+search/N-244,Ne-7-8-27-64-105-133-146-236/advert.action?R=201003350501176&distance=27&postcode=M503TS&channel=VANS&make=&model=&min_pr=&max_pr=&max_mileage=&vehicleYearOfManufacture=2010&vehicleRegLetter=&make_keyword=VOLKSWAGEN

Crell – Kombis are the versions of the vans which have seats in the back and side windows. proper Kombis are the factory conversions like this. MOst vans nowadays have most of the mod cons of a car only air con and electric windows are extras and these are unrelated to the kombi or standard van versions.

The Kombi VW is very much just a Van with seats & windows. In every way it is exactly the same cab as the van and the back hasnt got extra trim either.

A potentially significant difference between the Transporter and the Kombi/Caravelle/Shuttle is that the latter are not subject to the lower speed limits applied to commercial/goods vehicles whereas the former is.

Although I believe you can change this by adding seats to a Transporter and informing the DVLA..

There are plenty of Transporter Sportlines including combis advertised atVanlocator[/url] There are franchised volkswagen dealers and independent van brokersw – some of who specialise in Top end Transporters

I was thinking new as i dont want the hassle of getting MOT

A new van just to avoid the MOT?! Madness…with regular servicing an MOT shouldn’t be that much of a hurdle. I haven’t had a car fail an MOT for around 6 or 7 years, thats with DIY servicing and no pre-mot check apart from me checking the obvious stuff. In that time we’ve had four cars and a van, none younger than 6 years old, the oldest was 10 years old.

if you are looking for a van a local vw commercial dealer should be able to help you out was sat in mine today whilst the salesman called round loads of other dealers for a fella.

A potentially significant difference between the Transporter and the Kombi/Caravelle/Shuttle is that the latter are not subject to the lower speed limits applied to commercial/goods vehicles whereas the former is.

it is not as simple as that when it comes to kombis.

as mentioned above (’bout tax) some are cars some are plg (commercial)

commercials can only do 60. but get cheaper tax.

How much warning do you get for the driveshafts?

My 130 T5 Kombi feels like the wheels need a re-balance, but I’m wondering if that could be a hint of driveshaft wear?

My 130’s ace: Can be thirsty if you’re heavy on the loudness pedal, but drive it steadily and I’ll get 40s on the clock (hi 30’s in real life).

Van speed limits

http://www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/roadsafety/speedmanagement/vanspeedlimits

Just had a look at the Vitos and there are some very nice 150hp ones out there.

Van speed limits

http://www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/roadsafety/speedmanagement/vanspeedlimits

wow – I never knew that. So why do I never get pulled over doing even over 70 on the motorway in my LT? Always just drive at the posted limit (or perhaps a little over…)

I never knew it either, the I was doing a steady 70mph on A14 few year ago and got clocked by camera van
🙄

Then later that day one of my colleagues in his Kombi got done too, it’s nothing to do with what your vehicle is used for, it’s how its classified, if it’s not car derived i.e. not a fiesta, corsa without seats and windows and has a GVW more than 2000Kgs it’s automatically classed a commercial. Just because it has windows and seats doesn’t de-classify it to a PLG, so either register it (if you’re buying new) as a PLG and pay huge road tax bills due to the filthy engine or be careful on dual carriageways. On a motorway you can do 70mph btw.

I did 60K in a year that Crafter and it was a 184ps with steptronic, averaged 15mpg and was it was blighted with the semi/auto box that Mercedes designed for the sprinter that had only been released six months before Mercedes canned it, dreadful piece of engineering. Even with the huge power and torque in 6th gear on a motorway the slightest touch of the pedal and it would drop into fifth at about 4200rpm and scream it’s knackers off, within days of getting it I used to just put it straight into manual and up/down shift, dreadful box. The van was a great van, really well built, loads of room and the T5130 I had before it felt really old and outdated. The leg room in T5 is dreadful, i’m 6ft and couldn’t get the seat far enough back without removing the bulk head. It also went through a litre of £15 oil every 900 miles, which VW said was acceptable, adds an extra fiver to every fill up.

Second chance around i’d buy a Renault, they may not have the kudos and coolness but newer ones are built as well, very quick and having the Nissan tie up means they have reliable and frugal engines. They can look just as nice, may not hold the value as well but don’t have the hideous cost price either.

Fancy a vito, think again, one of the most poorly built vans out there, look on VOSA’s recall website, there isn’t another vehicle out there with as many recalls as the vito’s and sprinter….

holy thread resurrection Batman 🙂 I wonder if the OP got a new one in the end?

IIRC the speed limits are not related to the taxation class, but the body type. Have just had my converted T5 re-registered as a motorcaravan, hence I can now legally do 70mph on dual carriageways. But I have left the taxation class as light goods so I pay less road tax.

I have a VW T5 Kombi that The Littlest Hobo helped me with and its a great van. Sportline Kombi’s only have one door, if your towing in the Alps, rear passengers will be getting out into the traffic… I have a factory Kombi, specced with two doors and then, with help from TLH, Sportlined it.

Re 50/60/70 mph, its a very grey area indeed. The least gray bits are, T5 chassis WVW2 are car designated, Class M1 passenger carrying and taxation class Diesel car. All vans are WVW1 and N1 designated and 50mph limited. Most aftermarket conversions apparently come up as Kombi’s but chassis and designation are still vans and speed limited.

After extensive research, all T5.1 (new style), appear to be WVW1 and N1 classification as teh type approval regs changed.

More here: Van speed confusion

Lastly, a big thanks to The Littlest Hobo for my van deal and I am glad I went for the 174 (now 217). Great van…