Buying advice - transporter shuttle

[Pr1c3y]

Hi everyone

First post on this forum. Have recently put a deposit down a 2020 transporter shuttle (linked below) after finding out our young family of 4 is becoming 5! It seems to tick all the boxes for our growing family & can’t bear a soccer mums car.

The van itself has full VW main dealer history and seemed to be well looked after (including DSG service at 40k miles), the garage seems to be reputable & van seemed good on the test drive but not being very mechanically minded would appreciate any second thoughts or anything I may not have considered about the van.

I did look at Kombi highlines but unfortunately could not find one within our budget that ticked all the boxes like the shuttle did.

Does anyone in this forum run a shuttle as a family vehicle and how do they find it?

The main requirements of a van were:
Automatic
LWB
Sliding doors both sides
Reverse camera
ACC

Vehicles For Sale in Oxfordshire - Wheelers Chipping Norton Limited

Vehicles For Sale at Wheelers Chipping Norton Limited in Oxfordshire. Contact us today to view our inventory or arrange a test drive.

www.wheelerschippingnorton.co.uk

 

[dubber36]

The Shuttle makes a brilliant all purpose vehicle. Perhaps only bettered by the Caravelle with its sliding seats, but they are generally short wheel base and cost a fair chunk more.

The good thing about Shuttles and Caravelles is they are classed as cars, therefore can travel at car speed limits. However being cars and over £40k when new, they are subject to 'posh car' road fund licence for the first 6 years.

The double bench in the front is not especially comfortable, so unless you need all of the seats, a swap to a single would be first on my list.

 

[T32Rich]

Hi everyone

First post on this forum. Have recently put a deposit down a 2020 transporter shuttle (linked below) after finding out our young family of 4 is becoming 5! It seems to tick all the boxes for our growing family & can’t bear a soccer mums car.

The van itself has full VW main dealer history and seemed to be well looked after (including DSG service at 40k miles), the garage seems to be reputable & van seemed good on the test drive but not being very mechanically minded would appreciate any second thoughts or anything I may not have considered about the van.

I did look at Kombi highlines but unfortunately could not find one within our budget that ticked all the boxes like the shuttle did.

Does anyone in this forum run a shuttle as a family vehicle and how do they find it?

The main requirements of a van were:
Automatic
LWB
Sliding doors both sides
Reverse camera
ACC

Vehicles For Sale in Oxfordshire - Wheelers Chipping Norton Limited

Vehicles For Sale at Wheelers Chipping Norton Limited in Oxfordshire. Contact us today to view our inventory or arrange a test drive.

www.wheelerschippingnorton.co.uk

Nice looking Van, all you can do is be thorough with your history checks and Test Drive. There will always be something you wish was added, but if it suits, then go for it, you can always "upgrade" stuff later.
Plenty of advice on here for that

 

[Pr1c3y]

The Shuttle makes a brilliant all purpose vehicle. Perhaps only bettered by the Caravelle with its sliding seats, but they are generally short wheel base and cost a fair chunk more.

The good thing about Shuttles and Caravelles is they are classed as cars, therefore can travel at car speed limits. However being cars and over £40k when new, they are subject to 'posh car' road fund licence for the first 6 years.

The double bench in the front is not especially comfortable, so unless you need all of the seats, a swap to a single would be first on my list.

Agreed this is one of the first things my partner noticed especially on the outside seat feels like to have to sit sideways to accommodate the pillar

One concern I did have is I did a ‘car check’ beforehand and the annual tax (see picture attached) is £360. But when speaking to the dealership they have assured me it’s only £200 (unless they only tax it for 6 months)?

EDIT have just checked the paperwork and is 12 months!

 

[Pr1c3y]

Nice looking Van, all you can do is be thorough with your history checks and Test Drive. There will always be something you wish was added, but if it suits, then go for it, you can always "upgrade" stuff later.
Plenty of advice on here for that

Appreciate the help. I already have a few mods lined up so long as we get the price we want for our current car will be straight on those.

 

[mbh]

Benefits of a lwb shuttle is you have the option to have a full width bed in the rear and still maintain 5/6 travel seats in the first two rows. Know a couple who did just that. Even had a pop top installed for offspring to sleep up top.

 

[Pr1c3y]

Benefits of a lwb shuttle is you have the option to have a full width bed in the rear and still maintain 5/6 travel seats in the first two rows. Know a couple who did just that. Even had a pop top installed for offspring to sleep up top.

Great idea I’m sure once the sproglets grow we will look at doing something similar

 

[Dobbingtonio]

We bought our shuttle last September. Started converting it now, but just having a vehicle of that size made a massive difference with 2 kids and dog… so much easier just to sling everything in the back and hit the road!

From experience, I’d give those roof bars a good once over before you leave the dealer. One of ours had a corroded seal and dripped water (for an unknown period) in behind the trim panels. We only noticed during heavy rain when the seatbelt was soaked. All sorted and no lasting damage to the van, but worth a check.

 

[Pr1c3y]

We bought our shuttle last September. Started converting it now, but just having a vehicle of that size made a massive difference with 2 kids and dog… so much easier just to sling everything in the back and hit the road!

From experience, I’d give those roof bars a good once over before you leave the dealer. One of ours had a corroded seal and dripped water (for an unknown period) in behind the trim panels. We only noticed during heavy rain when the seatbelt was soaked. All sorted and no lasting damage to the van, but worth a check.

Perfect will be sure to check those out next time we view the van.

Any storage for the kids toys etc?

 

[JOG]

Probably the best sprog-mobile you can buy! More bang for your buck than a soccer mum’s car!

(Two septic tank references there for our friends across the pond!!!)

 

[Rico26]

We had an 8 seat shuttle before we were able to track down an illusive lwb Caravelle.

Was a great family bus, we were even lucky to have sliding windows in our Shuttle.

 

[WinFreak]

We've got a 2022 LWB Shuttle and it's so much nicer inside than our kombi was, the only downside I can think of is the door cardy type panels in the back with the heaters in etc take up a lot of room so I can't fit as many bikes in as I could in the back of the kombi