VW Tranporter T5, Petrol Estate cars. - Sunday Morning Decision time: Van is dying.....

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Sun 15 Nov 2020 08:36
VW Tranporter T5, Petrol Estate cars. - Sunday Morning Decision time: Van is dying..... - Jetsam1

The day has come.

DMF, probably clutch as well and something going noisily wrong within the RHS wheel bearings (as I understand it). I have a friendly local independant who gave the heads up when it was in for a small job. Oh the electrics are starting to go as well.

Totting up the cumulative cost of all the parts and the labour we are not far away from what I think I would get for it if I tried to sell it on. It is a 2005 I've had 4 to 5 years out of and it has a hard life.

So, am looking to replace it with an estate car. I can't put too much in at the moment so am looking at mid to late 2000s.

Available cars in budget fairly locally: Toyota Avensis 2.0 Diesal (The petrol is a LOT more expensive....!!!)

Astra H and Forus MK3 1.6 petrols in abundance. Outside of that not so much. Astras I have had before and know the cars, Focus's my wife has had. I am looking for something as a stop gap for the next couple of years really.Partly why I would consider the Toyota diesal, as we have a Subaru Forester Petrol for short local things. Also I don't know if I may have to be back in the office next year so that would mean a serious commute again. Either way, car needs to be practical, carry a decent weight and I need to not be too precious about if it gets scratched or dented or just plain dirty.

Don't really want a commercial vehicle again.

Edit: Followed the advice and guidance from this forum to the letter with the Subaru. Found a good one even though it has had its little issues......!

Edited by Jetsam1 on 15/11/2020 at 08:44

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Thu 26 Nov 2020 18:57
VW Tranporter T5, Petrol Estate cars. - Sunday Morning Decision time: Van is dying..... - Heidfirst

That would cover 2 generations of Avensis - the T25 (2003>2008) & T27 (2009>).

Within that the T25 had a facelift mid-2006 which allso included a change of diesel engine family - pre-facelift 2.0 diesels will be 1CD-FTV & post 1AD-FTV.

1CD is belt-driven requiring belt changes at 60/65k but if looked after have a reputation for being essentially bulletproof. You would be looking at 14+ year old cars though so check for corrosion of suspension particularly rear.

AD series are chain-driven but had a few issues (by Feb 2009 production all should have been resolved) although a fair chunk of those probably related to cars being driven in ways that didn't suit a modern emission-equipped (although not DPF-equipped unless you come across a very-rare in the UK 2.0 D-CAT) common rail turbo-diesel causing carbon build-up. The AD series takes a long time to reach normal operating temp from cold. Toyota did have a free remedial programme for AD issues for 7 years/112k miles from 1st registration.

The T27 has an EPB which not everybody likes/adapts to especially as the switch is in an awkward position by your left knee. There have been a few actuator failures over the years with apparently a higher % (although still low) of failures on earlier cars than later & they are a £1k fix but perception of EPB unreliability is probably worse than actuality.

Also on T27 check for cracking on front doors by the hinges/check strap.

As for load carrying, the T25 the rear seat squabs can fold up behind the front seats allowing for protection from loads & allowing the seat backs to drop into the space created, the T27 rear seat bases are fixed.

Edited by Heidfirst on 26/11/2020 at 19:02

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Fri 27 Nov 2020 08:38
VW Tranporter T5, Petrol Estate cars. - Sunday Morning Decision time: Van is dying..... - craig-pd130

If you can find one, a Mondeo IV estate would be good. They are huge inside, and both the petrols and diesels are robust. If you've had Vauxhalls before then one of the previous generation Insignia estates (petrol) would be a great load-lugger too.

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