Anyone owned a T5 Transporter?

[JJ0063]

I don’t want to know how much you hate them if you’ve never had one, how overpriced they are or about VAG tax, I’m genuinely interested to know genuine owner/driver reviews of them. 
 

Over Christmas mrs JJ hired us a brand spanking new 71 plate T6.1 or whatever model it is, all singing all dancing camper conversion, highline model. We covered just shy of 1k miles through Wales over the course of 4 days and it was fantastic. 
 

I’m seriously tempted to sell my BMW for I’d imagine a 2005-2008 year model and build a bit of a camper.

What are they like to live with day to day? 
 

I am of course not expecting the sort il be able to afford to be anything like the 70k worth we hired - I have driven the older more basic spec in the past though. 
 

As a side note, anyone that has a T5 and is considering selling or fancies a deal, let me know!

[Matty]

I had a 2.5 lwb panel van from new for work. Had it 6 years and 180,000 miles. Not a bit of trouble, really good van.

[wuvvum]

If memory serves @Jerzy Woking had a T5 back in the day.

[mjrose78]

I've had a t5.1 for 7 years. They are pretty easy to live with day to day. It's the same size as our estate so easy enough to park. It's been reliable too, with no mechanical issues other than an abs sensor. Nice to drive and comfy enough long distance with the captains chairs. Buuuutttttt, prices have gone nuts over the last couple of years and I honestly wouldn't buy one now. But we don't use ours as a daily so you might have a different value perspective!

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[tommotech]

I managed to get mine for the right price, but requiring engine work it waits patiently in the project queue. It’s a 2009, swb with two sliding doors and barn doors at the rear. It has the 2.5 TDi 130 engine and is the 4-Motion version which I’m eager to get finished and turn into a day van. 
The reason I got it, apart from it being a bargain, is that the fleet of Transporters we have at work have been pretty good. The 2.5’s did have EGR issues from time to time and cracked exhaust manifolds, but drove particularly well and that 5-pot sounds fantastic, while being nicely balanced. These are really torquey with a good delivery of power across the rev range, driving position is good and the whole experience is almost car-like meaning Mrs T has no issues sharing the driving on long runs. 
I get that they’re not everyone’s favourite van, but I do like them. There is good parts support and modifications / improvements are easy to find and perform. There is also a good source of equipment from converters too, with endless layouts and options.  
There will always be horror stories of massive issues and repair bills, there is also hype for and hype against. Ultimately, it’s your money if you like them, buy one. 

 

[Erebus]

I've got one which I've had for five years and was my daily driver till last year.  Mine is a 2006 130bhp 2.5 with a full camper conversion.  I really like it and it was fine to use as a daily although it felt quite agricultural initially coming from a car.  The big problem for me is how ridiculously priced they are now.  I would suggest you go for a 1.9 rather than the 2.5 as they are more reliable, easier to work on and more economical.  Don't dismiss a 2.5 if it's cheap, but be aware the early ones are notorious for worn cams and cracked exhaust manifolds.  The 1.9 can be quite slow (one version only has 85bhp) but you can get 135bhp just with a remap.  Look out for rust and avoid ex-builders' vans that have had a hard life and are fucked.  

[Matts_Rusty_Bus]

I am currently running a 2015 Caravelle 140, it's done nearly 300k and is genuinely like new, it was used for taking old people to the European ports to join cruises in its previous life. It's got history for every part changed and its all main dealer. I got it for a steal in 2019 and it's a lovely thing to drive about, previous to this I had a T4 and the improvement over that is huge. Very car like to drive, 35-40 mpg and great visibility for a modern. It's a 7 seater, full leather tri zone climate etc.
There's a lot of dislike for Volkswagen and their supposed poor quality but I've had a lot of different types and swear that a well maintained example is hard to beat.

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[cort1977]

I've got a 2006 2.5 4motion one.  It's a 5 seater but really a basic panel van. 

I've just driven from London to Aberdeen in it in 9 hours, the 5 pot ones are good on the motorway, enough power and good driving position.  The 4 motion is good in snow with winter tyres and all right on beaches if you let the tyres down a bit.  They tow very well, I towed a car from Ireland with it and had no issues.  I think the long wheel base and short rear overhang make for a good tow car.  Mine is a LWB which can make it a bit of a pain in tight car parks and towns, my wife doesn't like driving it there but she's fine on the motorway for her token one hour of driving.

My van was stored for a while and is still very low mileage (60k) but I have had no big issues with it.  The only thing has been the typical new exhaust manifold this year, which together with some MOT messing about was a 600 quid bill.  It looked an absolute bastard of a job so I was happy to farm that out.  Access on the 2.5 is a pain, on the other hand it's a chain driven cam so no belts to mess with.  Basic maintenance is easy, things like servicing and brakes are straightforward.  There are various grades of unicorn jizz oil for the 2.5, supposedly some cam issues are down to not using the correct 507.01 grade oil.  Not sure how true that is but I make sure I get the right stuff just in case.  It's not too bad if you shop around.  The suspension is simple, McPherson struts up front so none of those bloody VAG wishbone bolts!

Mine can seat five adults, take 5 mountain bikes in the back, can transport ladders, sheds, canoes or furniture.  It's such a versatile thing.

If I had to commute in heavy traffic every day I wouldn't recommend it but apart from that I can't recommend it highly enough. 

 

 

[Erebus]

24 minutes ago, cort1977 said:

I've got a 2006 2.5 4motion one.  It's a 5 seater but really a basic panel van. 

I've just driven from London to Aberdeen in it in 9 hours, the 5 pot ones are good on the motorway, enough power and good driving position.  The 4 motion is good in snow with winter tyres and all right on beaches if you let the tyres down a bit.  They tow very well, I towed a car from Ireland with it and had no issues.  I think the long wheel base and short rear overhang make for a good tow car.  Mine is a LWB which can make it a bit of a pain in tight car parks and towns, my wife doesn't like driving it there but she's fine on the motorway for her token one hour of driving.

My van was stored for a while and is still very low mileage (60k) but I have had no big issues with it.  The only thing has been the typical new exhaust manifold this year, which together with some MOT messing about was a 600 quid bill.  It looked an absolute bastard of a job so I was happy to farm that out.  Access on the 2.5 is a pain, on the other hand it's a chain driven cam so no belts to mess with.  Basic maintenance is easy, things like servicing and brakes are straightforward.  There are various grades of unicorn jizz oil for the 2.5, supposedly some cam issues are down to not using the correct 507.01 grade oil.  Not sure how true that is but I make sure I get the right stuff just in case.  It's not too bad if you shop around.  The suspension is simple, McPherson struts up front so none of those bloody VAG wishbone bolts!

Mine can seat five adults, take 5 mountain bikes in the back, can transport ladders, sheds, canoes or furniture.  It's such a versatile thing.

If I had to commute in heavy traffic every day I wouldn't recommend it but apart from that I can't recommend it highly enough. 

 

 

It's not a chain driven cam, it's actually gear driven:

[MJK 24]

Does the 2.5 have rubber couplings to drive the alternator and AC like the Touareg with the same engine?

[Erebus]

13 minutes ago, MJK 24 said:

Does the 2.5 have rubber couplings to drive the alternator and AC like the Touareg with the same engine?

Yes.  supposedly the Gates couplings are supposed to be changed at 100,000 miles.

[cobblers]

I've had one as a daily for about a year, and I've worked on dozens. Drive well, comfy enough etc, honestly they're bang on. Not the "WONDER VEHICLE" that some fanboys would have you believe but they're generally good. They're fine to use daily in my experience.

Older ones are getting rusty, subframes suffer etc. Certain "scene" parts are bizarre money (£800 for a dented tailgate, for example)

I'm half looking to buy a 4 motion one at the moment, a DSG high top lwb panel van ideally, but they probably made about 9 in that spec so I won't hold my breath

[JJ0063]

Thanks a lot for the replies all. 
 

There’s something about them that I like. I’ve driven many vans over the years and although I love driving a Transit, I can’t think of having one as my ‘car’ if that makes sense. Transit Custom yes as they’re like a Focus to drive but a Mk7 proper Transit just wouldn’t cut it for me.

I’m fairly set on a T5, really like them and nothing I’ve read has put me off. My biggest issue is selling my BMW to be honest! 

[Mally]

My son's used a LWB Transit as a daily for more than 12 years.  MK6  for 10 years, now has a MK7

I don't get it either, but it suits his purpose, and mine when I need it.

Greater Manchester Clean Air Zone may wipe him  out eventually

[Jerzy Woking]

I had a 2008 1.9 for a couple of years. Pretty basic van when I bought it, first mod was to have it remapped to give around 140bhp which was much better.

Modified it a fair bit, rear seats, side windows and importantly, sound deadening the front doors and rear floor. Doors still sounded a bit tinny though.

Fitted 19 inch Range Rover wheels with proper sidewalls, so the ride was good, even on stock suspension. And still good when I had two, 220 kilo motorbikes in the back.

Had an ECU go pop, which was £1200.

Sold it as I no longer used it. Of course, as soon as I sold it, I had a need for a van. Bought a Vauxhall Vivaro 2.5, which was far superior to the VW in my opinion  but that is not what you asked...

[JJ0063]

Just now, Jerzy Woking said:

Bought a Vauxhall Vivaro 2.5, which was far superior to the VW in my opinion  but that is not what you asked...

Funny you should say that. 
 

During lockdown #1 I built a Nissan Primastar camper albeit the 1.9 DCI and it drove nice but it was terrible at the sane time. Electrical gremlins like mad - rad fan wouldn’t work regardless so ended up hard wiring it to a switch. If I drove it for more than 40 mins or so it just wouldn’t turn off - you could take the key out and it would just stay running. I don’t think I could have another.

[Jerzy Woking]

Yeah, the Vivaro had a couple of ocassional electrical issues. Never did get them sorted before @Fabergé Greggs took it off of my hands.

It was economical though, I recall it achieved 54 mpg driving down to Spain, but around 40mpg most days.

[Fabergé Greggs]

27 minutes ago, Jerzy Woking said:

Yeah, the Vivaro had a couple of ocassional electrical issues. Never did get them sorted before @Fabergé Greggs took it off of my hands.

It was economical though, I recall it achieved 54 mpg driving down to Spain, but around 40mpg most days.

The Vivaro was ace! Flippin ULEZ. 

[billy_bunter]

If you stretch to a T6 lookout for the petrol 2litre. Tiz a slightly detuned GTI lump and goes like the clappers   Unicorn jizz though....

[pervypaul]

I have this money pit. Thankfully I bought it cheap before prices rocketed. Sadly 2 weeks before lockdown 1 of the pulleys collapsed,  flung the aux belt off which snagged the 5 month old cambelt snapping it, and wrecking the engine in the process.

Cambelts are 4 year intervals on mine. 2.0tdi. Make sure you check or at least change the aux belt and pulleys at the same time, to avoid the same happening.

 

I did fall lucky with a new complete engine with 70k on it for 2200 quid,  but it did make me fall out of live with the big orange and white bus.

The 84bhp is gutless, but is the same set up as the 140bhp, both with remap to 180bhp. Which improves things drastically.

20" wheels and lowering springs ruin the ride, but they help you fit in with the vw scene.

They do drive nice enough, mpg isn't too bad unless you do a lot of stop start journeys. Parts are easy to come by.

If you  could get a 1.9pd engined van that's been looked after it'll run forever. Plonk a 5.1 or 6 face-lift on it and you get the best of engine and looks combo

[Carl1981]

First post here, I have a T5, 2006 2.5 auto, factory kombi.

we’ve had it over 4 years, it has AC, electric windows, 6 seats, great family transport! We’ve added a reversing camera (being a kombi there are no rear windows) and apple car play for convenience.

we’ve done about 70k miles in it, it’s been all over the UK and a couple of trips to France, all of which taken in its stride. Comfy enough on really long trips, with great visibility and reasonable ergonomics.

there isn’t much like it in terms of reasonably nice drive (based on the Passat), low depreciation, good reliability (if maintained properly) and flexible space.

one the negatives…
they’re expensive to buy and we’ve recently spent the value of the van again having the engine, suspension and brakes overhauled at a good vw/Audi specialist. They don’t last forever contrary to popular belief.

we added some sound deadening and extra door rubbers to reduce road noise at speed. It feels a bit less van like as a result!

they can be too tall for car park barriers and too big for some parking spaces, 25mpg is realistic around town. 

everyone thinks you’re a hipster or a #vanlife type when they see it!

 

having said that the missus drives it everyday and prefers it to her previous vehicles of choice (medium sized 4WD). We would definitely have another on the fleet! If we could still afford a good one that is!

[Crackers]

2 hours ago, Carl1981 said:

good reliability (if maintained properly)

If maintained properly, you say? 

2 hours ago, Carl1981 said:

we’ve recently spent the value of the van again having the engine, suspension and brakes overhauled

[Carl1981]

Obviously ours wasn’t maintained all that well!! 🤣

[JJ0063]

Heard on the grape vine that my work are getting a new van tomorrow for the maintenance team meaning the old one will be for sale.

 

It’s only a 58 plate Mk7 transit but it’s an ex BT one and only has 74k on the clock. It’s never failed an MOT in its life but they’ve been told it’ll likely need a small amount of welding on the inner sills this year so have replaced it.

Ive asked my grape vine contact to find out how much they’d want for it but I’ve got a sneaky feeling it’ll be cheap as they couldn’t even part ex it as it’s apparently too old. For my work to have to sell it privately will be a pain so if I can sneak in a cheeky offer above scrap value I reckon I could blag it

I probably wouldn’t keep it but if I could have it MOT’d and flog it as a low mileage van, I’m sure there’s some money to be made. 
 

They are only going on last years MOT advisory as far as I know so may even get another year out of it before welding.

[Agila]

If it was me I'd offer £400, it might take £600 to buy it but probably not worth the mess around. I know vans are dear but get it super cheap or don't bother.

I hate buying and selling vehicles though

[Carlosfandango]

I’ve had one for quite a few years now. Its a 2.5 auto that I converted to a camper. It’s a bloody great yoke. I did about 5k last October in France faultlessly (bar a bolt I spotted was missing from the rear suspension which I was able to get sorted locally for free) 
They really are easy to live with but overpriced in my opinion. Reliability wise it’s been great, with generally build quality good and parts not too expensive. 
I’m actually in the process of selling mine to fund another project but I’d have another in a heartbeat- but unlikely to afford it! 
 

(pic in Juan Le Pins last year) 
 

CFD 

[jon.k]

9 hours ago, JJ0063 said:

Heard on the grape vine that my work are getting a new van tomorrow for the maintenance team meaning the old one will be for sale.

 

It’s only a 58 plate Mk7 transit but it’s an ex BT one and only has 74k on the clock. It’s never failed an MOT in its life but they’ve been told it’ll likely need a small amount of welding on the inner sills this year so have replaced it.

Ive asked my grape vine contact to find out how much they’d want for it but I’ve got a sneaky feeling it’ll be cheap as they couldn’t even part ex it as it’s apparently too old. For my work to have to sell it privately will be a pain so if I can sneak in a cheeky offer above scrap value I reckon I could blag it

I probably wouldn’t keep it but if I could have it MOT’d and flog it as a low mileage van, I’m sure there’s some money to be made. 
 

They are only going on last years MOT advisory as far as I know so may even get another year out of it before welding.

That sounds like a good way to test whether you like having a van as your car, without risking your BMW.

I wouldn't be without my T4 now and I hope to replace it with a newer transporter some day,  but there are plenty of times when I look longingly at fast, comfortable cruisers rolling past on the motorway or on nice A roads.

[dave j]

5 hours ago, jon.k said:

That sounds like a good way to test whether you like having a van as your car, without risking your BMW.

I wouldn't be without my T4 now and I hope to replace it with a newer transporter some day,  but there are plenty of times when I look longingly at fast, comfortable cruisers rolling past on the motorway or on nice A roads.

Good idea! Last year i drove my brother's T4 a few times and each time I thought I wanted to buy one thinking it would be fine to daily drive a van... But then I would get back into my Octavia! Realised I still wanted to drive enthusiastically sometimes so I went off the idea again.

[wuvvum]

You could get one of these if you want to try out vanning - cheaper than a T5 because no scene tax, RWD and a 200bhp diesel V6 - yank the fuse for the traction control and you can get as enthusiastic as you want...

They did a 220bhp version as well but those seem to fetch daft money for some reason.

[warch]

8 minutes ago, wuvvum said:

You could get one of these if you want to try out vanning - cheaper than a T5 because no scene tax, RWD and a 200bhp diesel V6 - yank the fuse for the traction control and you can get as enthusiastic as you want...

They did a 220bhp version as well but those seem to fetch daft money for some reason.

Obviously if you want a Dub then nothing else will do, but those Mercedes vans are astonishingly quick, and becoming increasingly popular in the shineh work van sector.