My first post on here, but start as you mean to go on… Hello from another newbie, based on Anglesey. I thought I would start with a giant whinge..
A couple of years ago I converted my Caddy to a camper, with the usual sound deadening, insulation and carpet lining blah blah, and really enjoyed the process, and the subsequent camping trips. However at 6’ 3” the standard Caddy is a bit of a challenge sleeping wise so decided the obvious next step would be a T6.
Since summer I have been looking for a PV within budget which equates roughly to around 3 years old and 30ish k miles.
On Thursday I went to test drive one at a large multi site dealership… and here the whinge begins…
First up I noticed the white van had slightly different shades of white, and the front passenger wing was clearly a later ‘upgrade’, presumably to replace the bent one VW had used originally (I must assume this as the dealer assured me that the vehicle had not been subject to any crash repair that they knew about because they don’t buy that sort of thing…). The offset to one side of the bumper under the headlights must therefore also be factory standard, as well as the cover on the driver’s side A pillar having a huge bulge in it. The worn hole in the driver’s seat covering may not be standard, but is possibly an after market upgrade?
It seems that the previous owner must have had a massive right arm as the strength needed to get the Driver’s door to shut properly was immense, in fact it is testament to how well VW built the internal door card and handle as it was still attached to the door after I managed to get it to shut. Looking at this on the outside, the edge of the door only lined up with the body at the top and began to meander away from it the further down you looked.
The actual drive went okay, although having not driven a T6 before I had no reference. The seat recline no longer functioned (the little wheel went round but nothing moved, so that was nice..), therefore the driving position wasn’t great. The button for locking the doors internally didn’t work, and the heater was set to full but didn’t seem to be particularly warm… and the various scratches on the dash seemed a bit random to be factory standard.
A poke around the engine bay revealed some random tissues left in there (which were soaking wet?) And a bit of tell tale white sludge under the oil cap and in the filler tube (although that might just have been caused by condensate as they have had the vehicle for over 250 days according to Carguru).
Further inspection of the exterior revealed that the rear barn doors didn’t line up, the gap at the top was about 3mm and around 12mm at the bottom. And there was a funny smell in the back, which may have been related to the bird droppings between the ply floor liner and the metal edge, I think you can get replacements for these from VW, called Vogelsheisse. The wheel trims (for this was a Trendline) were to put it bluntly ‘Fubarred’, the previous owner clearly made hitting kerbs an important part of his day.
Oh, and there was a dent in the sliding side door. According to the sales guy all of these issues were ‘cosmetic’, bless him, God loves a trier.. All of this could be yours for a smidge under £22k inc VAT.
Seriously, I mean SERIOUSLY, is this what I should expect for my budget? After my 80 mile round trip to see this I was quite despondent (and particularly grumpy), but I guess I will keep looking…
A couple of years ago I converted my Caddy to a camper, with the usual sound deadening, insulation and carpet lining blah blah, and really enjoyed the process, and the subsequent camping trips. However at 6’ 3” the standard Caddy is a bit of a challenge sleeping wise so decided the obvious next step would be a T6.
Since summer I have been looking for a PV within budget which equates roughly to around 3 years old and 30ish k miles.
On Thursday I went to test drive one at a large multi site dealership… and here the whinge begins…
First up I noticed the white van had slightly different shades of white, and the front passenger wing was clearly a later ‘upgrade’, presumably to replace the bent one VW had used originally (I must assume this as the dealer assured me that the vehicle had not been subject to any crash repair that they knew about because they don’t buy that sort of thing…). The offset to one side of the bumper under the headlights must therefore also be factory standard, as well as the cover on the driver’s side A pillar having a huge bulge in it. The worn hole in the driver’s seat covering may not be standard, but is possibly an after market upgrade?
It seems that the previous owner must have had a massive right arm as the strength needed to get the Driver’s door to shut properly was immense, in fact it is testament to how well VW built the internal door card and handle as it was still attached to the door after I managed to get it to shut. Looking at this on the outside, the edge of the door only lined up with the body at the top and began to meander away from it the further down you looked.
The actual drive went okay, although having not driven a T6 before I had no reference. The seat recline no longer functioned (the little wheel went round but nothing moved, so that was nice..), therefore the driving position wasn’t great. The button for locking the doors internally didn’t work, and the heater was set to full but didn’t seem to be particularly warm… and the various scratches on the dash seemed a bit random to be factory standard.
A poke around the engine bay revealed some random tissues left in there (which were soaking wet?) And a bit of tell tale white sludge under the oil cap and in the filler tube (although that might just have been caused by condensate as they have had the vehicle for over 250 days according to Carguru).
Further inspection of the exterior revealed that the rear barn doors didn’t line up, the gap at the top was about 3mm and around 12mm at the bottom. And there was a funny smell in the back, which may have been related to the bird droppings between the ply floor liner and the metal edge, I think you can get replacements for these from VW, called Vogelsheisse. The wheel trims (for this was a Trendline) were to put it bluntly ‘Fubarred’, the previous owner clearly made hitting kerbs an important part of his day.
Oh, and there was a dent in the sliding side door. According to the sales guy all of these issues were ‘cosmetic’, bless him, God loves a trier.. All of this could be yours for a smidge under £22k inc VAT.
Seriously, I mean SERIOUSLY, is this what I should expect for my budget? After my 80 mile round trip to see this I was quite despondent (and particularly grumpy), but I guess I will keep looking…
