UKC

Is it worth the extra expense (investment?) and why?

In reply to Šljiva:

Extra expense compared to what?

If you mean for a camper van, then I would say "possibly".
First of all the conversion irrespective of the base vehicle has to work for you, have the correct features etc. If it doesn't then you will never be happy with it. Assuming it does then there may be a premium to pay for a VW, but I contend that well looked after you will see this as a return later in much reduced depreciation.

I have a T5 Jerba Tiree chosen mainly because it's the right conversion for us. I would have been happy with other vans, but the features didn't work for us.
One example: we need to carry 4 road bikes, and still access the boot area without unloading them, I can do this on a T5 with an Atera Strada towbar mounted rack. This was not possible with any other van.

In reply to Šljiva:

Which kind of van?

Is a T1 or 2 worth it..?

Totally!

In reply to GarethSL:

Looking at a T5 - using 86inch's argument on the residual value. All other things equal, would probably keep for about six years as looks like I'd be caught by the proposed extension to the low emission zone, where anything but the newest T6s won't be suitable, and that I can't afford at the moment.

In reply to Šljiva:

VW's are much less prone to corrosion than other makes especially if you want to keep for 6 years. I would recommend getting a custom conversion from a reputable company working to your spec. With price of van and conversion we could have sold the van straight away with a handsome profit

In reply to Šljiva:

No.

Look at what you can get for the same dosh in a Trafic / Vivaro / Primastar. And also look at the internal volume. Those 'slab sides' pay dividends. And they are higher. Check carefully for known design faults but generally they don't break any more than VW's

In reply to Šljiva:

Yes.

I get a new Caddy every 3 years.and wouldn't go past them.

Good,solid build quality,door shuts with a clunk,and haven't been to a garage in 9 years.

Cost a bit more ,but it's worth it imo.

In reply to Šljiva:

VWs build quality is no better than Ford's and in the last five or six years the reliability has gradually got worse.
I'd get a much better value and more reliable Transit.

In reply to andymac:



Then why get a new one every three years?

In reply to ianstevens:

Cos I want too.
I'm self employed.and I like getting a new van
Also don't have to deal with MOTs.

In reply to Šljiva:

Not worth the extra.
I have a VW Touran. Whilst it's very practical, with many great features. Reliability is poor. It's 4 years old and with average mileage. Needed a new water pump recently, it was leaking onto the cam belt, which apparently may have caused the belt to fail!!
This was about a £600 job to fix (covered by warranty).

There is some rust on a rear door, that's very poor at this age.

Customer service: Many years ago I had a couple of VW's and remember poor customer service back then, but thought maybe things had changed, wrong. When explaining the water pump / water leak problem, VW said they'd have a look at it at my expense (it's covered under their warranty). Naturally I complained about this, but the response was unhelpful, it took a meeting with the service manager to have an initial inspection fee 'waived'. Once they found the fault it was rectified promptly and seems they've done a good job.
Whilst driving home from the dealer, I noticed a rattling sound, turns out the mechanic has left a few tools on the windscreen wipers! When I call to let the dealer know this they hung up on me. When I called them back they asked when i'd like to return them. No thanks, i'll keep them.

VW's are very practical, useable vehicles that have some brilliant design features, better than many other manufacturers. But don't expect better reliability.
I hope that's helpful

In reply to kevin stephens:

Less prone than a Ford or an LDV but not all vans.
I run a fleet of 6 Renault traffics and they are fully galvanised.
The newest is 5 years old, the oldest is 11 years old.
I used to change vans at 5 years or 100k depending on what came first but these have been so good I have not had reason to change them.

Actually I did scrap one, it was a beater I got from the auction for the apprentice, 1k for an 8 year old Van with 140k on the clock.
Even that lasted another 3 years and was scrapped when the turbo and one of the injectors failed at 198k.

In reply to Dax H: Thanks for all the views, pretty much an even split.

In reply to kevin stephens:

Have you got a raising roof? What kind of budget did you set aside?

Looking to replace my van and with a family I want something a bit more reliable/less prone to falling apart/not starting/having to travel with jump leads and a tool box at all times.

In reply to Šljiva:

We've got a T4 Camper (03 plate) and it's been fine reliability wise. The main reason we got the VW though is because they hold their value well. Yes it's a lot of money up front to buy but when we decided to sell the van we'll get back a lot of what we invested. So in a way they are pretty cheap.

In reply to Šljiva:

I used to have a T4 and spent 5 years throwing money at it, although I came to the conclusion it must of had a hard life before I got it. When I sold it people were biting my hand off for it despite having a huge list of things wrong with it. I personally wouldn't buy a VW again.

Recently bought a Transit which seems to be quite well maintained, though does need a few things doing to it - the trade off with ford though is that the metal used in the bodywork is not as high grade and so keeping on top of rust is going to be a priority.

In reply to Šljiva:

What is the most common van on the road? Transits. For a reason. Nuff said

In reply to Cheese Monkey:

I thought that until I bought one.
Maybe it was a Friday afternoon Van I don't know but it was the most unreliable Van I have ever owned and had a quality amount of rust after 4 years.

In reply to Dax H:

Had 3 now and have been most reliable vans I have ever had

In reply to Lord_ash2000:

This is what's swinging it for me as i'll likely have to sell / upgrade in 5 years.

In reply to Šljiva: thanks all for opinions on both sides. Took the plunge, collect Friday, hoping for many adventurous miles

In reply to Šljiva:

Depending on its age make sure this has been sorted out, the T5 forum is a treasure trove of useful info

http://www.vwt4forum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=370277#/topics/370277?_k=cccf6q

In reply to Šljiva:
As a person that owns a vw van and have friends that have transits, citron berlingos and Renault traffics it all boils down to what you are going to do inside the van.

If you are going to spend £10k on a conversion then you want a base vehicle that will hold it's value. If you solely want a van to rag then a transit is more than capable.

VWs also tend to be more pricey to service, although suppose they are marginally more reliable, they also don't tend to rust as much longer term.

http://www.ukclimbing.com/articles/page.php?id=7393 is a fairly comprehensive article.