Decisions, decisions…. Daily Driver

[dubber36]

Kind of echoing @TallPall_S

I always wanted a van, so looked at Kombi's but eventually took the plunge on a 3 month old Caravelle. I used all 7 seats once, 4 on a handful of occasions and just me most of the time. I did a few mods and really enjoyed it. However I had it on PCP and wanted to get off the whole new car merry-go-round, so sold it about a year ago and bought a 2012 535D with the equity.

I missed the van at first in an emotional way rather than practical. The 5 is really comfortable, reasonably quick and still does mid 40's mpg. It does virtually everything it needs to except for carry bulky things. But on the odd occasion I do have something to shift, I hire a trailer and hang it off the bag of out Tiguan.

 

[Sackmycook]

I’ve owned my current van for almost 2 years. Had my previous T6 for 2.5 years before that (with a Mini JCW for a year in between) and a Caddy for a couple of years before that.

It was never intended to be a camper van, just a day van - somewhere to chill out after a walk, have a picnic lunch etc etc.

But at this point I’ve pretty much bought, installed, not used and then removed and sold or am currently selling anything that deviates from a factory Kombi inside.

All of this has just not been used so has been/will be removed:

Table
Swivel bases
Kitchen pod with hob and sink
Leisure battery & DC-DC
Solar panel and MPPT
Inverter and 240v sockets
Ecoflow
Wi-fi hotspot
12v electrics like USB ports
Relocated Kombi bench

It has always been my daily driver and the majority of time that is a commute to work during the week where I am the only occupant or at the weekend when I take the wife to the shops

But now I am not using it for anything other than daily driving duties, I am questioning whether I would be ‘better’ just reverting to a car.

I also don’t seem to enjoy ‘modifying’ stuff anymore - it never seems to go right and as proven above, is normally a waste of time and money.

Just need to decide whether to….

A. Sell it and buy a car
B. Keep it as the daily driver

As I own the van outright, I would not be looking to put anymore money towards it - so whatever I get for the van would be the budget for a car. So would be about £28k if I trade.

Any suggestions for a daily driver?

After selling my T6 I've eventually landed in a T-cross. Really pleased with it and the interior is so familiar. I've got most of the toys with the SEL spec including LED lights. Just had a towbar fitted and bought a nice trailer from another Forum member for when I need extra capacity.

 

[TallPaul_S]

So would be about £28k if I trade.

Any suggestions for a daily driver?

Right then, I'm going to assume (given than you had a JCW mini) that you appreciate performance cars and that you're not doing mega miles.

Between £25 and £30k:

2018 BMW M4


Auto Trader UK - New and Used Cars For Sale

Jag F-Type V6

Auto Trader UK - New and Used Cars For Sale

Something more practical? How about a 460bhp C63 AMG?


Auto Trader UK - New and Used Cars For Sale

I could carry on for days.

Yaris GR
Porsche Cayman
Tesla model 3 performance

My choice for that money would have to be a Yaris GR. They're a future classic, given that they're a full on Rally Homologation special.

 

[t6blo]

If you don't need the carrying capability, or the other aspects of a T6, then (and this will go against a lot of the posts), then why on earth would you have a van?

T6's are nice, but let's be honest - they drive worse than a car. They're more expensive than a car for the spec/what you can get for your money, they're noisier than a car inside, etc. etc.

For 28k you could have all sorts of silly power estate car, or small fun hot hatch (GR Yaris) for example.

I bought my Caravelle for £45k and it pained me to see what I could get for the same money as a car (2018 RS4, for example...).

If I didn't want the ability to camp in the van and put bikes in the van, would I have bought a £45k van? No, of course I wouldn't!!

Obviously some own T6's for the 'scene' and don't own them as a van - if you're into that then that's great but that's not me. There are a thousand other cars I'd rather have on my driveway, but my needs dictated I needed a van or van based car, and with the extremely limited choice in that market, the T6 ended up as the only choice.

You’re right, out of everyone on this forum I am in the demographic that doesn’t ‘need’ a Transporter. But I love the look of them, am quite happy driving them (DSG 150 goes well enough) and have always been into Vdubs.

Kind of echoing @TallPall_S

I always wanted a van, so looked at Kombi's but eventually took the plunge on a 3 month old Caravelle. I used all 7 seats once, 4 on a handful of occasions and just me most of the time. I did a few mods and really enjoyed it. However I had it on PCP and wanted to get off the whole new car merry-go-round, so sold it about a year ago and bought a 2012 535D with the equity.

I missed the van at first in an emotional way rather than practical. The 5 is really comfortable, reasonably quick and still does mid 40's mpg. It does virtually everything it needs to except for carry bulky things. But on the odd occasion I do have something to shift, I hire a trailer and hang it off the bag of out Tiguan.

Bought my van outright so not a factor for me, but appreciate why you would do this.
85% it is just me in the van commuting.

After selling my T6 I've eventually landed in a T-cross. Really pleased with it and the interior is so familiar. I've got most of the toys with the SEL spec including LED lights. Just had a towbar fitted and bought a nice trailer from another Forum member for when I need extra capacity.

View attachment 232481

Keeping it vdub

Right then, I'm going to assume (given than you had a JCW mini) that you appreciate performance cars and that you're not doing mega miles.

Between £25 and £30k:

2018 BMW M4
View attachment 232479

Auto Trader UK - New and Used Cars For Sale

Jag F-Type V6
View attachment 232480
Auto Trader UK - New and Used Cars For Sale

Something more practical? How about a 460bhp C63 AMG?

View attachment 232482
Auto Trader UK - New and Used Cars For Sale

I could carry on for days.

Yaris GR
Porsche Cayman
Tesla model 3 performance

My choice for that money would have to be a Yaris GR. They're a future classic, given that they're a full on Rally Homologation special.
View attachment 232484

Yes, I’ve had plenty of ‘fast’ cars (and motorbikes), only do about 5k a year and in many ways I now prefer the slower van. I’ll use all the power available so in a faster vehicle I am likely to be banned or kill someone. Somehow the van doesn’t get me riled up like a fast car/bike does.

See previous post further up the thread, insurance on all of your examples will be unacceptable. I’m also against paying the newer car road tax surcharge whatever it is called.

Thanks but this actually helped me further appreciate the van

 

[TallPaul_S]

There's plenty of high spec cars out there that aren't mega powerful too, if you wanted something nice but not necessarily fast.

If you want to keep the van then that's great but I'd be looking at cars and trying to narrow down exactly what I wanted. If I didn't want a van I would have kept my £18k Skoda Superb estate, which was better specced, more comfortable (although I will say the T6 seating position is better for long journeys), more economical, and was paid off so I would be £450 a month better off (+ the easy four figures I've already spent on the van)...

It'll be worth it in the long run, I keep telling myself, when I can just decide to bugger off to somewhere nicer than SE England for the weekend at the drop of a hat, and only have to pay £20 a night for a campsite, rather than £120 a night for an Airbnb (aka a shed)...

 

[dubber36]

Bought my van outright so not a factor for me, but appreciate why you would do this.
85% it is just me in the van commuting.

My point was not so much about the money, more that I had found there is a life after vans.

 

[t6blo]

My point was not so much about the money, more that I had found there is a life after vans.

Understood. There may well be