Buying advice

[HAF]

Hello,

We are moving to Melbourne from the UK later this year. We are serial vw owners having had many varied models, currently we have a T5 Sportline, mk4 golf gtdi, mk2 golf (which I'm hoping to import).

I will be looking for a T5 van ideally with seating for our three boys in the back..once we arrive in Victoria. Could anyone advise me where to start looking for them online? If I saw the right vehicle I could potentially buy it in advance of our arrival. Failing that I would like to get an idea of what they are worth and which models are available and best out there.

Thank you in advance for any info..

[h100vw]

www.carsales.com.au would be the easiest place to look, then gumtree and facebook groups.

Cheers

Gavin

[Mustillo]

Buying advice

Hello,

We are moving to Melbourne from the UK later this year. We are serial vw owners having had many varied models, currently we have a T5 Sportline, mk4 golf gtdi, mk2 golf (which I'm hoping to import).

I will be looking for a T5 van ideally with seating for our three boys in the back..once we arrive in Victoria. Could anyone advise me where to start looking for them online? If I saw the right vehicle I could potentially buy it in advance of our arrival. Failing that I would like to get an idea of what they are worth and which models are available and best out there.

Thank you in advance for any info..

I hope you get that mk2 over here! Not enough of them on the road and they hold their value quite well.

Your best bet for car purchasing and getting a good idea of value is Carsales.com.au and also Gumtree.com.au

Also try VWWatercooled.com.au I believe there is a marketplace.

Using Carsales you will get a good idea of what Volkswagens are available filtered down to your area and price range, you may be shocked at how little there are compared to the UK

[HAF]

Thankyou both. I see Gumtree seems alot more popular for vehicle sales in Aus than here. I will have a look at carsales also. Cheers

[Sunny43.5]

Just a quick one with Gumtree there have been quite a few cases of fraud where sellers have done some underhanded tricks when selling cars , I think in one instance a seller managed to con deposits out of multiple buyers for the same car !! and then does a runner then the ad pops up again sometime later under different details so the scam continues it pays to be vigilant .

[jonathan_k]

...otherwise known as scumtree.

Highly recommend *not* buying a second hand vehicle online -- even from a dealer -- without someone on the ground to help you... you did send convicts down ahead of you after all .

I'd look for a T5.1 with less than 80,000km as in my hunt for a Transporter I noticed that the value drops rapidly after 100,000km, this is true for a lot of cars but seems especially so for the Transporter.

Anyone else notice that relative to the number of T5.1's on the road, there are a suspiciously small number of 2.0TDI bi-turbo's with more than 150,000km for sale, even less of the TDI400 132kW variety.

[Bryn23]

...otherwise known as scumtree.

Highly recommend *not* buying a second hand vehicle online -- even from a dealer -- without someone on the ground to help you... you did send convicts down ahead of you after all .

I'd look for a T5.1 with less than 80,000km as in my hunt for a Transporter I noticed that the value drops rapidly after 100,000km, this is true for a lot of cars but seems especially so for the Transporter.

Anyone else notice that relative to the number of T5.1's on the road, there are a suspiciously small number of 2.0TDI bi-turbo's with more than 150,000km for sale, even less of the TDI400 132kW variety.

The reason for the low number of Bi Turbos, is that the Commercial guys just buy the cheapest "Runner" van with the smallest engine, management don't care as they don't drive them, its about numbers, they like the lower cost.

Self employed trades, will normally spend a little more on the van and upsize the engine to bi turbo or even up to 132kw, but then they hold onto them longer.

The days of diesels lasting 500,000km is long gone, small blocks and turbos, together with emissions control getting more complex are proving this with these engines.

[Sunny43.5]

Shame isn't it that we are victims of technology , I live by the saying there is no substitute for cubes . I,ll never understand why in a commercial vehicle that we are often overlooked for engine sizes , Transporters have gone from V6 options and 2.5 petrols and then 2.5 Turbo Diesels now we have small capacity 2.0 engines and they expect them to have the same grunt as a big engine . I remember in a video done in Germany about the T6 and the reviewer stated that the engine in one of the test vehicles would be hard pressed to actually perform with a full load as it was designed for .

[Rebuild]

Looks like to avoid 2010-2011 180's going by this,

http://www.vwwatercooled.com/forums/f136/vw-t5-1-excessive-oil-use-117160.html

[Mustillo]

Umm, yes welcome to the days of plastic intake manifolds which carbon up like a bitch, emissions is a scam and ruins nice cars, gumtree I wasn't recommending ever buying it online alone, in person is best


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[Bryn23]

Shame isn't it that we are victims of technology , I live by the saying there is no substitute for cubes . I,ll never understand why in a commercial vehicle that we are often overlooked for engine sizes , Transporters have gone from V6 options and 2.5 petrols and then 2.5 Turbo Diesels now we have small capacity 2.0 engines and they expect them to have the same grunt as a big engine . I remember in a video done in Germany about the T6 and the reviewer stated that the engine in one of the test vehicles would be hard pressed to actually perform with a full load as it was designed for .

Yup, we tend to be the guinea pigs these days, and it costs us money to fix their mistakes,

Your not wrong, there is no substitute for displacement/cubes, a larger displacement with less boost will survive a long time if maintained.

What we are seeing now, is these smaller engines, that have been reduced in sized with increased boost, which increases the pressure on the blocks, leading to early stress failures.

I thought my 2007 Hilux 3 litre four cylinder was undersized, now they have reduced the size of those as well in the new model, time will tell on those new engines as well.

[Tornado T5]

Yup, we tend to be the guinea pigs these days, and it costs us money to fix their mistakes,

Your not wrong, there is no substitute for displacement/cubes, a larger displacement with less boost will survive a long time if maintained.

What we are seeing now, is these smaller engines, that have been reduced in sized with increased boost, which increases the pressure on the blocks, leading to early stress failures.

I thought my 2007 Hilux 3 litre four cylinder was undersized, now they have reduced the size of those as well in the new model, time will tell on those new engines as well.

I can't remember where I read similar comments and the engineer of the European brand said that with tougher emission standards in the future his company was going back to larger engine displacements with lower boost. The current engines of smaller displacement and high turbo boost will struggle to meet future standards.

[Sunny43.5]

Thank you Tornado I am not alone on this one , I know with my humble 2.0 petrol T5 [yes a rarity pity they didn,t whack a turbo on this one } The poor little engine has repeatedly had times where I found myself almost being stuck because the engine would not get up a hill , one customers home was down a steep driveway . I drove down and leaving the property was a real effort , the first attempt got me around a third of the way up before I rolled back to the house . The engine just did not have enough power to pull the weight of the van up the drive , after several more failed attempt's and a nice smoking clutch I was about to give up . reversing was not an option because the DMF had already been knackered by trying to back up a street with similar problems . Any way I reversed into this poor sods garden bed to get a bit more distance on the flat part before heading uphill , I just made it to the top with the clutch shuddering and engine almost stalling . My old T4 2.5 would have eaten the hill with ease .

[Craigs902]

You could join the RACV https://www.racv.com.au/ I'm sure if you find a vehicle they could check it out for you once you become a member.

[LogicprObe]

The reason for the low number of Bi Turbos, is that the Commercial guys just buy the cheapest "Runner" van with the smallest engine, management don't care as they don't drive them, its about numbers, they like the lower cost.

Self employed trades, will normally spend a little more on the van and upsize the engine to bi turbo or even up to 132kw, but then they hold onto them longer.

The days of diesels lasting 500,000km is long gone, small blocks and turbos, together with emissions control getting more complex are proving this with these engines.

My T4 has got nearly 500k on the clock..............and it's a petrol!

That said.........the single turbo model has more than enough power to drive around Australia.............considering 110kph is the highest speed in most places...........that's about where I'm changing from 5th to 6th.
Anyway......I reckon the DMF is the thing to look for.