New (second hand) 2008 Multivan owner

[bigtfuzzywarbler]

Evenin'

After months of research and searching we have just put down a deposit on a 2008 Multivan Comfortline. Will be picking it up this Friday.

Thanks to all those good people who post on this forum. It has been extremely useful reference and a great way to find out about the issues associated with the Multivan, positive and negative.

Their achilles heal appears to be the auto transmission, and for this reason we went for something with relatively low kilometres. Proposing to upgrade the transmission oil cooling system as well. Open to advice or tips on other ways to maintain the transmission for a longer life.

Anyway, we are quite excited. Like many of the used Multivans this one has no radio/CD so I have posted a wanted to buy on the forum for a replacement unit. There must be some lying around somewhere.

Thanks again

bigtfuzzywarbler

[Transporter]

Congratulations and welcome to the forum mate. Now, you need to find a good automatic transmission specialist who understand and has experience with the VW A/T.

[bigtfuzzywarbler]

Thanks. Will start looking around. Limited pool here in Hobart though.

[Sharkie]

Anyway, we are quite excited. Like many of the used Multivans this one has no radio/CD so I have posted a wanted to buy on the forum for a replacement unit. There must be some lying around somewhere.

There currently are 2 pre-facelift 6CD shuttle OEM Multivan radios on eBay. Only $170.

BRAND NEW VW 2860 6 stacker CD head unit for multivan | eBay

[Silver Caravelle]

Congratulations bigtfuzzywarbler on the purchase. I also have 2008 model.

Regarding the 6 speed tiptronic. I gotta say I have not seen a large weight of evidence to the suggest there is a large proportion of 6 speed tiptronic boxes are on the nose. Certainly the older T4 models had their issues. But not these T5's. I recall these boxes are in a number of different makes and appear to be not out of the ordinary in terms of failure rates.

Having said that, I will probably get a transmission service (Fluid and filter etc) done at about the 80K mark (Just done 45K).

P.s. I never had any problems with my previous T4 Caravelle with the auto. Probably just lucky on that count!

Regards,

Scott

[bigtfuzzywarbler]

Thanks Scott

Yes, might even bring forward that service. Just in case. I struggled to get a clear picture on whether the gearbox issue was a systemic design flaw, or just a function of poor servicing/maintenance and people trying to pull too much the T5's gutsy engine. Anyway erring on side of caution.

No matter which make/model you get there will be a forum somewhere with people either singing its praises or condemning the vehicle and those who drive it to hell.

Up to this point we have had a 504 wagon and presently a Volvo 850 Wagon, both of which are would by some considered expensive Euro crap "that'll costya". However, in reality, were incredibly reliable and practical vehicles.

fuzz

[Silver Caravelle]

Gotta love the 504. Had a couple and did huge miles. Very comfortable, economical and extremely simple to service. Way ahead of their time. There is a lot to be said for pulling out an alternator, starter motor etc in a matter of minutes. Still plenty of them in Africa and Middle East 'wired' together!

All the best with the new purchase.

Cheers,

Scott

[BobD]

Mine is one of the Multivans with transmission failure at just over 100,000km. For the record, it was serviced by the book by the dealer I bought it off and occasionally used for towing a 1700kg caravan when on holidays in the SW of WA.

Servicing by the book means never changing the oil and since there is no dip stick you can't even look at the colour of the oil. My oil was brown and burnt, hence the failure. The dealer now says that they will change the transmission oil at 30,000km intervals and I dare not use it for towing any more, even though it is a fantastic tow vehicle. I now use my 1992 Patrol with 450,000km and a manual transmission for towing.

If you find out how to fit an extra oil cooler let me know. I can't see anywhere where there is a space to put one and I don't know where you would connect it anyway. The dealer has no idea about extra oil coolers. Noone on the Forum offered any serious suggestions when I asked in an earlier post.

I love the car and just bought the car after the novated lease expired. However, I have spent several thousand dollars on repairs since the transmission was replaced and I hope it is now good for another 100,000 before the next round of problems. At least the repairs are all in pretax dollars because of the lease arrangement.

One really silly item was the interior door handle on the drivers side failed a couple of weeks ago, which is apparently common according to the dealer. The repair is apparently replacement of the door trim at a cost of over $900 and a few days off the road waiting for parts. I had it done since I still had the lease but next time (the passenger side will no doubt go soon) I will be checking out alternatives much more thoroughly before getting a dealer to do the repair. My car is just on 4 years old and has 120,000km.

[Cousin]

Bob, I had to reco my transmission Xmas just gone
At that point there was no after marked trans cooler available
The place that did my trans said the problem is that coolant is used to cool the trans oil, which makes it difficult to fashion an aftermarket item
But I did come across someone recently talking about aftermaket transmission coolers for the T5, sizeable ones targeting vans for towing
The bugger is I cannot remember where I read it (gotta eat more Blueberries!)
Ask around, they're out there
If I remember where I came across them I'll post
And I'll be changing my tranny oil every year (50,000 ks) just to help things better, hopefully
I really don't want another 7.5k bill
Funny though, I've heard a few say after driving a DSG van they actually prefer the older auto

M

[Transporter]

Bob, I had to reco my transmission Xmas just gone
At that point there was no after marked trans cooler available
The place that did my trans said the problem is that coolant is used to cool the trans oil, which makes it difficult to fashion an aftermarket item
But I did come across someone recently talking about aftermaket transmission coolers for the T5, sizeable ones targeting vans for towing
The bugger is I cannot remember where I read it (gotta eat more Blueberries!)
Ask around, they're out there
If I remember where I came across them I'll post
And I'll be changing my tranny oil every year (50,000 ks) just to help things better, hopefully
I really don't want another 7.5k bill
Funny though, I've heard a few say after driving a DSG van they actually prefer the older auto

M

Together with the large transmission cooler and thermostat for it, I would be installing the transmission oil temperature gauge with the buzzer.

[Sunny43.5]

Hey there BobD I wrote recently regarding these trannies the dealer here in Brisbane told me that if a problem arises then the only repair is a new box as they are "sealed" from factory , if this is the case I reckon VW should shoulder some responsibilty as if you can,t change the fliud then its their fault not yours !!! Howard

[Tornado T5]

You can change the fliud, it's just that it's not specified in the routine service schedule and is an expensive dealer charge. I actually did mine as a preventative measure on a perfectly functioning auto only to have it replaced several weeks later after flaring began and VW authorised a changeover. Can't say it was caused by the service or shear coincidence. And I do regular towing although it's not particularly difficult stop start work/metro work but rather decent runs between regular stops in a rural environment and the load gets lighter as I progress. This to me raises the belief that having taken the sealed for life method VW should have ensured it is overcooled in all conditions apart from deliberate abuse. This then also raises another issue on what is considered "normal" use vs abuse.

[Sunny43.5]

In one of the other threads somewhere one reader said that because the box has lots of plastic solenoids etc. if you change the fluid it can make matters worse as the gunk that sticks around the solenoids if cleaned causes them to fail . Seems pretty dumb system to me . But I still stick to my previous statement if its not part of service routine then they should be responsible as it is an admittance that they don,t believe it need servicing . If the box is supposed to be this way then they should bear some responsibilty or a least allow a regular service , how can manufacturers allow for every type of driving condition towing hills etc . Remember this is Australia and our climate is varying from cold to extreme heat in summer , the Europeans don,t have our climate and probably dont drive on road conditions like we do so differences will need to be allowed for .
Here,s an example and it is the truth , from my recommendations a friend of mine bought a T5 dual cab TDI 128 manual . His need was he fitted a fith wheel to tow a custom made camper trailer , he spent thousands of dollars converting the ute plus lots of other extras . The problem he had was the van would not pull the load uphill from stop start with out slipping the clutch even though the load was below the rated maximum allowance . When taken to a dealer for them to drive as per VW,s request the service guy drove it and had to do exactly as described he slipped the clutch to get the vehicle to get up some hills and tried to cover the fact from the owner . End result was that VW bought the van back and paid compensation for the extras he had fitted to the T5 . What does this prove that not all specs are able to be matched as written . My own case is that after writing off my 2.5 petrol T4 in 2005 I decided to buy a new van , the dealer told me that there was no more 2.5 petrol,s and that the new T5 with a 2.0 litre petrol was the same power output 85kw as the old 2.5 . I hate to tell the truth here but my son has a 2.5 petrol T4 today and it eats mine for lunch. We live near the top of a long steep hill from a bottom start mine is struggling to get to the top , the speed is down to 35 kmh and in second and just makes it . My sons is still in third and pulling strongly 60kmh , my van 120000kays sons 240000 kays . Whilst I still love our VW vans I thought this was a bad mistake from VW the other thing was engine revs 2.5 at 100kmh 3000 rpm 2.0 at 100 kmh 3550 rpm so it seems performance was gained by ratio change causing the 2.0 to rev higher obviously this would shorten engine strength and life because its working harder . If my van was being used to its design capabilities ie hauling its load capacity I am sure I would have sold it by now as there is no way the 2.0 would cope with a load based on what I currently experience , I carry a maximum of 200kg total in the back daily , so its far from its capacity . Howard PS I still tolerate its engine shortcomings because I still love VW vans same goes for our other T5 128 TDI with auto .

[bigtfuzzywarbler]

Hmmmm....interesting discussion above, thanks. Given me lots to think about.

Anyway, drove it back from Sydney to Hobart, and taking advantage of our new van via an epic half day IKEA session (Don't go to IKEA with a $4 k order on a Saturday while trying to entertain a 5 year old. I get an unhealthy tension in my body just recalling the event).

Great car, pleasure to drive, good features, efficient....you all know the story, that's why you have them. oh..and grunt...not zap...grunt. Eats hills.

Family loves it, although the children are sad to see the old 850 wagon potentially leaving us.

Drove up Mt Wellington on Sunday and after snow fights and general falling over all five of us piled in the back for hot chocolate and marshmellows.

Leave it at that for now.

fuzz

[MultiplexMan]

Door Trim

...One really silly item was the interior door handle on the drivers side failed a couple of weeks ago, which is apparently common according to the dealer. The repair is apparently replacement of the door trim at a cost of over $900 and a few days off the road waiting for parts. I had it done since I still had the lease but next time (the passenger side will no doubt go soon) ...

I found this "update" when visiting my local wrecker. You only need to replace the hand grip and the plastic insert behind it. $10 from your wrecker or ~$70 for the complete door card. I'll post some pics when I'm on R&R.

The original hand grip cover was a bad design. Closing the door can actually lever the cover trim off! I had at least three replaced under warranty, and I have one that has snapped one of the retaining barbs.