Advice needed: life expectancy. 2019 Vw T6

[gidus4]

Hi, I'm new here to the forum, I got recommended through reddit users.
I'm from Belgium and I'm currently in a bit of a dilemma. I own a 102hp Transporter (76kw) 2l TDI with 176 000 km's (or 102 000Miles).MT. (I do about 60 miles a day on regional roads.)
I really love the car. I commute and travel with it daily. I bought it at 11 000km's (6k miles) as a ex-demo car from the dealership. During my last service I asked the mechanic how much life it still got and he told to me to get rid of it whenever I could. I appreciated his honesty but was a bit in shock because I hoped to do at least 300 000km's (186k miles) with it. But he said these engines were not made to go this far. The car has always been serviced on time (with longlife vw service).And during that time only a marten caused some trouble. What do you people think? I have already seen T6's for sale with higher mileage so in a way I think it's possible? I really want to keep it as long as possible but I don't want it to be a deep money pit.
Car drives perfectly and currently I have a check engine light for Glow plug cylinder 2 so I have to sort that out soon.
Thank you for reading and looking forward to your advice/expertise.

Gilles

 

[t6blo]

Welcome Giles.

Maybe the mechanic has seen a few failures in his time - or he was on a commission to sell new vehicles.

There are lots and lots of higher mileage Transporters out there and they are generally regarded to go on and on if serviced correctly and looked after.

Only you can decide but 100k is not a lot of miles for a modern diesel.

 

[JOG]

Hi Gilles

If the van is maintained, you’ll happily put 250k miles on it. Any issues should have revealed themselves by now. You mechanic should have more faith in himself or suggest what parts you should be worried about failing

 

[T6Paul]

I would expect double that mileage. If he has identified a specific component that is about to fail I’d get that replaced? Otherwise, if you’re concerned you could change from long life to standard annual servicing. Long life was designed to reduce fleet costs over the first 3 years but does not help to prolong the engine life. Frequent oil changes are better.

 

[eetmw]

My T6 is close to 240,000 miles and runs like new. I baby it with very regular oil changes and major/minor services.
Fingers crossed!
I’m about to drop our older golf (2005) in to have a new turbo fitted and my view is i have no problem paying for these fixes so long as it’s less than the depreciation or cost of a replacement vehicle and so long as it remains reliable (and is not taxed off the road) I’ll keep it.
Good luck
Toby

 

[T6ChrisO]

Barely ran in at 100k. Look after the engine and it will look after you. My friends is near 300k and still going. Mines on 145k

 

[Bav]

You should probably trade-in... your mechanic …unless, of course, there's something specific about your van that he has concerns about, in which case he needs to be specific about the issues.

 

[DaveD]

My T6 is close to 240,000 miles and runs like new. I baby it with very regular oil changes and major/minor services.

That's the key, regular servicing. (In my non expert opinion!)
I change the oil and filter in mine every 8 or 9 thousand miles, the cost is insignificant in the grand scheme of things. I've owned other cars, petrol and diesel, past 200K miles doing the same thing and never had any issues with them.

 

[CJW]

Just had a wheel alignment and the mechanic was a transporter enthusiast too. He said his 2009 T5 is on 350k and he has no plans to retire it. Mine’s on 165k and runs very well.