What to Get????

[CHEWYDOG]

Hi All
I'm new here but been viewing for some time,.I've not had a transporter since my 07 4motion Company vehicle

Now im in the market for something to create but it's a minefield as a lot has changed

Questions I need help with

What colours are most popular, I've been looking at metallic grey, starlight, ravenna blue or white, I've been told to avoid Black, Red and Silver

Do I really need a highline?,
A startline with AC is cheaper, I've never used buttons on a stearing wheel, if I need to defrost a windscreen I just put the blowers on for 5 mins, BUT do startlines have a good or bad resale value?

Is it better to but T5 or T6 or T6.1,
I've read that the 6.1 has a less than desirable dash and is the space for the left foot gone all together?

I'm.considering a 4motion but are they desired or a costly fix if they go wrong, would a.good set of cross climate tyres but as good an option

I've been looking at swb panel vans as I want to line it, fit no leaky windows and have it as a van but but put in a bed and kitchen pod when needed as a day van
Or should I just go for a Kombi?

Oh and my biggest ponder is do I go new ish about 50k.for 24+k or 100k for 15 to 19k, not sure if.its worth upgrading a 16.to.18 plate panel van with.100k

Your expert thoughts would be appreciated thanks

 

[dave hart]

hi mate think mine is starlight silver i keep away from black and red dont mind white i went for highline 5 speed it was a van now a day van added lots of bits ie wheels bf goodrich tyres

 

[CHEWYDOG]

hi mate think mine is starlight silver i keep away from black and red dont mind white i went for highline 5 speed it was a van now a day van added lots of bits ie wheels bf goodrich tyres

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That's very nice, I don't mind silver, but was told.its not popular but then again he had whites and greys for sale??
I've seen one that's looks sweet with the bottom half wrapped in a darker silver grey

 

[Lubrown]

Is it better to but T5 or T6 or T6.1,

I love the fact my T5.1 doesn’t have any of the EGR/adblue nonsense that seems to affect peoples enjoyment of their vehicle. Not sure if early T6s escaped?

And the money saved by buying a slightly older version could be used on upgrading the stuff all series suffer from - crashy suspension.

FWIW ours is Silver too and although neither of us have ever liked silver cars it’s actually grown on me with the van. Get lots of compliments on it so others seem to think silver is alright.

 

[Ayjay]

I've never had a 4 Motion and would have liked one when I bought my van but not at the extra £10K or whatever that they seemed to be costing at the time. As to tyres, I'm far from an expert but IMHO a 2WD with good all season tyres would be better than a 4WD with poor tyres. Personally, I'm still waiting for the original tyres on mine to start showing a decent level wear before I replace them with Michelin Cross Climates (not sure yet whether to go for the SUV, camper or van versions though!).

 

[DaveD]

I love the fact my T5.1 doesn’t have any of the EGR/adblue nonsense that seems to affect peoples enjoyment of their vehicle. Not sure if early T6s escaped?

Indeed they did, I'm happy living in the sticks with my 2016 Euro 5 T6, which is very modern compared to my 1976 John Deere!
Obviously very different if you need to enter a ULEZ or similar, but I can happily live without all of that.

 

[Paynewright]

All models seem to have problems - DMFs, EGR valves etc however the one engine I would not get is the 204 bi-turbo. There have been a few expensive horror stories on the forum (and internet in general). There are things you can do to mitigate engine failure on the 204 but there are technically illegal (EGR blanking & mapping out)

I know everything has to be put in context as we never know the base count of vehicles / engines out there most running faultlessly.

Just my personal opinion, and if I was starting again I’d go for a LWB TSI petrol as a base vehicle.

 

[CHEWYDOG]

All models seem to have problems - DMFs, EGR valves etc however the one engine I would not get is the 204 bi-turbo. There have been a few expensive horror stories on the forum (and internet in general). There are things you can do to mitigate engine failure on the 204 but there are technically illegal (EGR blanking & mapping out)

I know everything has to be put in context as we never know the base count of vehicles / engines out there most running faultlessly.

Just my personal opinion, and if I was starting again I’d go for a LWB TSI petrol as a base vehicle.

I'm looking at a 102 or 110 and get it mapped, I want the best fuel economy I can get and think that is the best option?
It has to be a SWB for work as it will be a van as well as a day van
I was told the petrol is thirsty and a LWB aren't as sort after?
As I mentioned it's a minefield and every bit of advice is conflicting

 

[CHEWYDOG]

Indeed they did, I'm happy living in the sticks with my 2016 Euro 5 T6, which is very modern compared to my 1976 John Deere!
Obviously very different if you need to enter a ULEZ or similar, but I can happily live without all of that.

So what year would a euro 5 T6 Be? 2015 2016, I'm guessing that would be a 5 speed,
One mechanic said although it's frowned upon he knows a guy who does mapping and could map a 102 euro 6 for better performance and also turn off adblu and egr?, so they won't work, hence will never go wrong, not sure if it's real or not

 

[DaveD]

So what year would a euro 5 T6 Be? 2015 2016, I'm guessing that would be a 5 speed,
One mechanic said although it's frowned upon he knows a guy who does mapping and could map a 102 euro 6 for better performance and also turn off adblu and egr?, so they won't work, hence will never go wrong, not sure if it's real or not

Mine is an early 2016 model, but I believe that some Euro 5 vans were registered later in 2016. As I said, many people need Euro 6 to be ULEZ compliant and it's possible that a Euro 5 won't hold its value as a result, but that's not an issue for me.
Lots of debate about mapping / deleting EGR and Adblue, as you'd expect, there are two sides to it.

 

[gilesjuk]

I'm also wondering what to get. I want Euro 6, T30, 150bhp highline with less than 100,000 for around £23,000. Probably expecting too much. There was one locally for around that but the seller was jerk. If I was okay with a DSG then I could get one easier but I really don't like autos.

 

[Rob1978]

I'm also wondering what to get. I want Euro 6, T30, 150bhp highline with less than 100,000 for around £23,000. Probably expecting too much. There was one locally for around that but the seller was jerk. If I was okay with a DSG then I could get one easier but I really don't like autos.

I had never owner an auto before my t6 dsg and love it now, great round town and I drive it in manual on twisty country roads, i recommend trying one before ruling it out. Good luck with you search

 

[gilesjuk]

I had never owner an auto before my t6 dsg and love it now, great round town and I drive it in manual on twisty country roads, i recommend trying one before ruling it out. Good luck with you search

I'm not against autos from a driving perspective, just from a servicing and reliability perspective. I'm feeling like I have to compromise on something anyway. All going well and I get my first pay from my new job this friday I might be going to look at a 2018 highline T30 with about 56,000 miles on it, nav, 3d display etc. The only thing I don't like (other than it being nearly 4 hours drive away) is it having barn doors.

 

[Ali-G]

The only colour I would definitely rule out would be black.

 

[gilesjuk]

The only colour I would definitely rule out would be black.

Just due to taste or is there some issue with the paint?

 

[Lubrown]

I'm not against autos from a driving perspective, just from a servicing and reliability perspective

FWIW my 2.0 tdi (150) 2014 golf estate has a 6 speed dsg and it’s been fantastic. Only maintenance so far has been the gearbox oil changes at 40k miles. It’s done106k miles now and still on original clutch pack with, touch wood, no signs of it needing attention yet.
I had the oil level in the vans manual 5 speed gearbox checked as transmission noise seemed higher than I thought it should be (but when you look at the soundproofing vs a car you can see why that is) and although the level was OK it was a bit sparkly. This was at 36k miles!

Just due to taste or is there some issue with the paint?

My previous golf was black and it showed up every little scratch and always looked dirty too. We take our van down some narrow lanes and so it gets the odd bramble scratch but they don’t show up much at all on the silver paint.

 

[T6Plumber]

I wash my van once a week & strongly feel that Deep Black is the best colour by a country mile when it’s clean.

It’s the 10070 minutes in between that let it down sadly.

 

[gilesjuk]

My previous golf was black and it showed up every little scratch and always looked dirty too. We take our van down some narrow lanes and so it gets the odd bramble scratch but they don’t show up much at all on the silver paint.

I had a MK2 Golf GTI 16V in diamond black and it was fine, no issues with scratches. Although if it's ever been cleaned with a car wash machine it can have those scratches from that which show in reflections.

 

[gilesjuk]

FWIW my 2.0 tdi (150) 2014 golf estate has a 6 speed dsg and it’s been fantastic. Only maintenance so far has been the gearbox oil changes at 40k miles. It’s done106k miles now and still on original clutch pack with, touch wood, no signs of it needing attention yet.

I guess it depends on what the van has been used for. A DSG used by the RAC/AA for towing might be less of a good idea. It's true that a manual gearbox can have more wear issues due to poor shifting, clutch adjustment (especially in the cars that used those auto-adjusting clutch cables).

 

[Ali-G]

Just due to taste or is there some issue with the paint?

As said above, black shows every single mark/speck of dust.
Black can look nice when it's just been washed but it doesn't last very long, it's just such high maintenance.
I had a black BMW once, but after I sold it I vowed that I would never have another black vehicle, it would be a deal breaker for me even if the vehicle was 100% what I was looking for.
White or silver are the best colours for staying looking clean for the longest.