T6 TDI or TSI .

[Tornado T5]

Thanks for the info. I have the brochure for this seat and it shows from leading edge of seat cushion to back of headrest is 680mm and when folded the seat itself takes up 380mm plus the length from the front seat legs to floor anchor as you obviously know. What it doesn't list is the overall length in the folded position from seat to the front floor anchor mounts.

Found this in the UK which is perfect REAR SEATS : VW T5 Parts, Volkswagen Transporter

One local dealer back here said it's virtually impossible to even order Caravelle 3 seater units from VWA and then forget the cost of an engineers report and installation. They really don't make it easy to buy one of their vehicles and I'm talking upto $70K for a van, the UK brochure shows a 2nd row 3 seat option with individually folding seats called

2-seater bench on the passenger side and individual seat with Easy Entry on the driver’s side in 2nd row of seats

[Sunny43.5]

It goes without saying typical of VWA not having what the rest of the world seem to have at their fingertips .

[SnowMotion]

Giving VWA the benifit of doubt, it may be an ADR issue.... But honestly I suspect not.

Also, if you get this seat make sure the installer is on the ball.
Looking closely at mine today it is mounted slightly twisted (not square to the vehicle) and not centered correctly either. About 10mm too close to the door side so the armrest contacts the side of the car behind the sliding door when in the up position.

I think I need to talk to the dealer about this install as it is a bit poor.

[Sunny43.5]

I used to manufacture and install rear seats for vans 4wds etc many years ago and it is a nightmare of regulations , strange thing is fitting and placement are fairly straight forward . Testing seats well that's a whole different ball game , like the old saying standing under a cold shower tearing up $100 bills . You can build a seat using ADR's for guidance then you have to mount them on a test bed and that's the fun part watching weeks of work getting destroyed in a few moments . If it goes well then celebrate if not you have to start again with a brand new seat with modifications to counter what fails at test time . The reason Snowmotion's seat may be out of alignment could be that the mounting bolts may have been to close to a chassis rail or something else so they had to get it as close as they could to the optimum point . I used to get people asking for seats to be placed where they wanted them but it is not that easy all sorts of things need to be taken into the equation . Mounting points require suitable space under the floor , aftermarket seats or even factory ones fitted to a non factory specked van will need appropriate sized reinforcing plates under the floor so those chassis rails can cause mayhem . Then seat belt mounts / child restraints its a big and complicated job .

[Tornado T5]

This is what I have now but need a 3seater and would like to foward fold for when I need more space. Very well mounted and quick release but heavy.

[Sunny43.5]

Yes problem for seats that have seat belts attached and child restraints they have to be sooooooo much stronger than seats that have external seat belts , so they will have much heavier steel and reinforcing . Back in the late 90's we built one of the very first side folding seats for Maxi Taxis , all previous seats had quick release mounts weighed a ton and had to be man handled out of the way for a wheel chair . ours folded up to the side wall and was much better for use and space but again strength was critical .

[Tornado T5]

Hi Sunny, I need a rhs sliding door so side folding seats while better for increased load space won't be an option this time. The Vito Crewcab has a 3 seater split into 1 single and 2 seater which can be folded forward seperately leaving little instrusion by the floor mounts. I've decided what I need is VW's LWB body/wing doors and 4motion, Merc's 119 power, 7speed auto and Crewcab layout and I'd be very happy. But wait VW offers a Crewvan with 150kW and 4motion and I'd begrudgingly accept a dsg...but not in Oz.

[aSimpleLife]

Doesn't seem to be much love for the T6?

While I have decided to keep my T5, I keep an eye out for any new or demonstrator T6 bargains that might appear.
Being a business changing over is not so painful and I am assuming that my existing fitout wouldn't be too hard to change from T5 to T6?
I'd thought with all the bad press VW have had there would be some great deals...but it doesn't appear to be the case.
But I also expected to see plenty of T6 action on the forum...and there was early on...but it now looks dead as a door nail...like at Crafter levels.
I'm not sure if anyone has even bought one?
Can I take from that that there's not much about the T6 that excites anyone?

[FUNBUS]

I've got a T6 on order and I'm super excited. Trouble is that it's somewhere between 4 and 8 months delivery time.
I still haven't seen a new T6 on the roads anywhere so there can't be many about yet.

[Kiels3927]

Saw a Multivan two tone blue & something last week.

[Sunny43.5]

I remember back when we bought our first T5 128kw in 2004 I was chased down the highway after filling up with fuel . The guy spotted us pulling out and wanted desperately to have ride in one . I suppose the T6 is hard to distinguish from a T5 so they will be hard to spot , T4 to T5 was such a huge change .

[Tornado T5]

Can I take from that that there's not much about the T6 that excites anyone?

I've driven one as a test drive and they do drive better then my 2007 T5, even the dsg while reversing into a tight spot, or up against a rear wall behaved itself better then I expected. But you're right, I'm not as excited about replacing my van as I was when I bought my T4 and the current T5. Maybe because externally not much has changed and while the dash is all-new, it looks familiar and the rest of the interior is similar or unchanged to a T5GP.

You're right Sunny, I went from a 75kW petrol/LPG T4 to a 128kW tdi T5 that ran rings around the T4 for comfort, power, space, towing ability, looks... etc...

on the T6. VW Aust. has a very limted selection choice, things are sold in "packs",... for comparison just look up the UK VW website's T6 spec sheets and options, as their regular Transporter vans are sold more in line with the car range, i.e. Startline, Trendline and Highline, or try ordering in Australia a Crewvan (kombi in the UK), tdi 400, LWB, DSG, 4motion.... you can't...I even flirted with the idea of buying a crewvan Hiace and a new Ford Mustang GT to make up for the dreariness of driving the Hiace.

[Tornado T5]

Top-selling utes and vans: Deep-dive into Toyota HiLux, Ford Ranger and beyond

I thought this was interesting regarding van sales in May. Obviously the VW is rare on the ground, eg if you want wing doors it's almost guaranteed to be factory order atm, however the Trafic & Transit are manual only. IIRC the auto:manual split historically has been 60:40 so manual-only vans are very restricted in potential sales. Just about all rental fleets only buy auto.

Vans 2.5-3.5t

Sales here grew 16.8 per cent to 1838 units last month, led as always by the Toyota HiAce (668, down 2.3 per cent) and the Hyundai iLoad (572, up 29.4 per cent on the back of better supply).

But it’s the battle of the Euros that’s entertaining. King in May was the Volkswagen Transporter (164, up 59 per cent), ahead of the Renault Trafic (146, up 23.7 per cent) and Mercedes-Benz Vito (95, up 9 per cent). The Ford Transit Custom grabbed 81, down 12.9 per cent.

Rounding out the numbers were the LDV G10 (53) and V80 (43), both from China, ahead of the Italian Fiat Scudo (16).

The YTD champion is the HiAce, ahead of the iLoad, Trafic, Transporter, Vito, Transit Custom, LDV V80, LDV G10 and Scudo.

[FUNBUS]

Saw a Multivan two tone blue & something last week.

I reckon those 2 tone generation sixes look great. I really like the red and white combo. It's a shame they don't come in 4motion in Australia. If they did I would have ordered one of them instead of the Multivan.

[Sunny43.5]

In both our T4's back in 2000 the best engine and I believe to this day was the 2.5 petrol , technically it was half of the V10 Audi donk . Had more guts than my current T5 petrol has by a mile , dealer conned me by telling me the T5's 2.0 petrol was as powerful as the old 2.5 yeah right buddy . The con job was that VW lowered the final drive ratio so 2.5 at 100k 2800rpm 2.0 T5 at 100 k 3400 rpm . Yes it was good but did not have the grunt of the old one , that's why I would love VW to allow the 2.0 TSI back in the Transporter range of the T6 .

Conspiracy theory time maybe VWA got the jitters with the diesel gate and all those other problems when their sales plummeted faster than the Titanic , so maybe they were concerned that they would be stuck with unsellable stock and decided to keep options to the bare bone .