Caravelle - Questions - Alternatives?
Discussion
I have 2 kids, gf has 2 kids, considering ways of getting the six of us about. Plus luggage. And Bikes. Neither of us have much room at our respective houses to store the likes of a trailer securely plus they are a pain in the arse.
Have discounted the 7-seat mpv galaxy/Alhambra options as the rear most seats are pokey and leave very little boot space. Like the idea of Kombi vans as lots of boot space but would always men one kid sitting up front or splitting me and mine up front and her and hers behind.
So the Caravelle seems ace, me and her upfront and 4 kids in the back, but there are a couple of questions. I'll pop into a vw van dealer and ask if no-one has the answers but....
How much boot space would I get if the rear two rows were moved optimally to maximise said space? The pics all show the van laid out with maximum legroom but both sets of seats obviously slide so assume you can sacrifice legroom, even with six people in, for boot space? swb and lwb feedback appreciated
Whats the max roof load? Van its based on is 100kg I think which should be fine, even for 6 bikes and the racks and carriers. Yes, it will be a faff getting them on there but see plenty of folks at mtb trail centre car parks with a ladder......
Any alternatives that can transport 6 in comfort plus a whole load of gubbins. I have a 4 bike towbar mount for my f31 and could put 2 bikes on the roof of course and she can take her kids in her car but a better long term all in one is on the horizon. Plus I want to try and keep the beemer in good nick.
Have discounted the 7-seat mpv galaxy/Alhambra options as the rear most seats are pokey and leave very little boot space. Like the idea of Kombi vans as lots of boot space but would always men one kid sitting up front or splitting me and mine up front and her and hers behind.
So the Caravelle seems ace, me and her upfront and 4 kids in the back, but there are a couple of questions. I'll pop into a vw van dealer and ask if no-one has the answers but....
How much boot space would I get if the rear two rows were moved optimally to maximise said space? The pics all show the van laid out with maximum legroom but both sets of seats obviously slide so assume you can sacrifice legroom, even with six people in, for boot space? swb and lwb feedback appreciated
Whats the max roof load? Van its based on is 100kg I think which should be fine, even for 6 bikes and the racks and carriers. Yes, it will be a faff getting them on there but see plenty of folks at mtb trail centre car parks with a ladder......
Any alternatives that can transport 6 in comfort plus a whole load of gubbins. I have a 4 bike towbar mount for my f31 and could put 2 bikes on the roof of course and she can take her kids in her car but a better long term all in one is on the horizon. Plus I want to try and keep the beemer in good nick.
I hired a 9 Seat Transporter, seemed to LWB (not sure if it was a Caravelle).
The rear bench of seats didn't fold to the floor like an MPV, but the upright section does lay flat on the bench, as does the middle row. Which was handy for carrying large loads. The "boot" space is a very good size.
It had no openable rear windows, it had its own heater controls, but as far as I could tell, the AC wasn't linked to it. Meaning, the people in the back were boiling hot, whilst us up front were freezing cold with the AC on full blast.
It was also very uncomfortable, I had a bad back for a few days after driving it for four hours. The pedals were too elevated and the seats too firm.
I personally wouldn't recommend one.
Ford are doing a few "lifestyle" versions of their Transit Custom, may be worth a look.
The rear bench of seats didn't fold to the floor like an MPV, but the upright section does lay flat on the bench, as does the middle row. Which was handy for carrying large loads. The "boot" space is a very good size.
It had no openable rear windows, it had its own heater controls, but as far as I could tell, the AC wasn't linked to it. Meaning, the people in the back were boiling hot, whilst us up front were freezing cold with the AC on full blast.
It was also very uncomfortable, I had a bad back for a few days after driving it for four hours. The pedals were too elevated and the seats too firm.
I personally wouldn't recommend one.
Ford are doing a few "lifestyle" versions of their Transit Custom, may be worth a look.
I've got a swb 2.5 tdi caravelle as my daily. I've only got 2 kids, but do get the grandparent in the back for quite often. It's great for days out and picnics due to the captain seats at the bak and the pop up table.
Luggage space isn't vast given the size of the bus, mainly due to the rear doors - there's not any depth (dropping into) as you get in a traditional boot, so packing in shopping becomes an art of stacking stuff on top of each other and making sure to catch anything when you open it. Can be made a bit more manageable with a cargo net or similar.
The seats slide forward and back dead easily, so if you need a but more space you can shuffle everyone forward, so you can get a easy 1 meter deep space at the back and still travel comfortably.
Make sure you get one with front and rear parking sensors! Makes life ALLOT easier!
Can't answer anything related to carrying capabilities as the books are in the bus at the moment, but I'm sure you can find it online.
They hold their value well, so don't be scared if the higher mileage ones, mines done 230k and still drives beautifully (knocks wood).
Luggage space isn't vast given the size of the bus, mainly due to the rear doors - there's not any depth (dropping into) as you get in a traditional boot, so packing in shopping becomes an art of stacking stuff on top of each other and making sure to catch anything when you open it. Can be made a bit more manageable with a cargo net or similar.
The seats slide forward and back dead easily, so if you need a but more space you can shuffle everyone forward, so you can get a easy 1 meter deep space at the back and still travel comfortably.
Make sure you get one with front and rear parking sensors! Makes life ALLOT easier!
Can't answer anything related to carrying capabilities as the books are in the bus at the moment, but I'm sure you can find it online.
They hold their value well, so don't be scared if the higher mileage ones, mines done 230k and still drives beautifully (knocks wood).
I run a LWB Transporter which I converted with seats and windows as I found that the standard seats were too heavy to remove by myself and I frequently want to use it as a van.
I bought the seats and unwin tracking from Ebay and with two rows of seats in the back (max 3 per row) there was around 6' of bootspace - the great thing about the unwin tracking is the seats can be moved to suit the load and are "infinitely" variable.
The VW is the best all rounder and is priced accordingly the T4 are more reliable IF looked after the later T5 can generate high bills particularly the 2.5
Cheap alternatives - Jap imports mostly based on the Hi Ace - but they are smaller
I bought the seats and unwin tracking from Ebay and with two rows of seats in the back (max 3 per row) there was around 6' of bootspace - the great thing about the unwin tracking is the seats can be moved to suit the load and are "infinitely" variable.
The VW is the best all rounder and is priced accordingly the T4 are more reliable IF looked after the later T5 can generate high bills particularly the 2.5
Cheap alternatives - Jap imports mostly based on the Hi Ace - but they are smaller
I have a 20006 2.5TDi SW Caravelle and really enjoy driving it. The seats in this year don't slid, they only clip in at one set position, the seats are hard, but if set correctly will give a comfortable ride,although saying that, it is a VAN, and rides much better with a few people in the thing.
I agree with previous posters, parking sensors are a must, but can be retro fitted. The air conditioning is a joke, as the closest you can get cool air to the rear of the vehicle, is from the vents just in front of the side doors. The radio didn't have any speakers in the rear, so I had to put those in, and even had to run my own wires to the radio. Changing the oil & filter yourself is a bugger of a job, the whole under-tray has to come off to get at the drain plug, and the filter is tucked down the front of the engine in the most awkward place they could put it.
Mine is also an automatic, I bought it with 70k on the clock, the auto box soon developed a problem so I took it to the local auto-box specialist, his comments were..... "AH! a VW Transporter, how many miles? 70k..... your box is knackered! VW say that the g/box oil doesn't need changing, life time fill, there's not even a dipstick for the g/box, ha! well just long enough to make sure it's out of their guarantee, the oil needs to be changed every 40k to keep this auto box good. That'll be £3000 to refurbish"
Needless to say I wasn't pleased, and decided to shop around. I did finally get it refurbished somewhere else for £2000 (who said more or less exactly what had been said about changing the oil)
So to sum it up; Yes I like driving it, it does just what I bought it for, but VW engineering is not all it's trumped up to be.If was to buy something of this size again, I'd have a good look at the Hyundai i800
I agree with previous posters, parking sensors are a must, but can be retro fitted. The air conditioning is a joke, as the closest you can get cool air to the rear of the vehicle, is from the vents just in front of the side doors. The radio didn't have any speakers in the rear, so I had to put those in, and even had to run my own wires to the radio. Changing the oil & filter yourself is a bugger of a job, the whole under-tray has to come off to get at the drain plug, and the filter is tucked down the front of the engine in the most awkward place they could put it.
Mine is also an automatic, I bought it with 70k on the clock, the auto box soon developed a problem so I took it to the local auto-box specialist, his comments were..... "AH! a VW Transporter, how many miles? 70k..... your box is knackered! VW say that the g/box oil doesn't need changing, life time fill, there's not even a dipstick for the g/box, ha! well just long enough to make sure it's out of their guarantee, the oil needs to be changed every 40k to keep this auto box good. That'll be £3000 to refurbish"
Needless to say I wasn't pleased, and decided to shop around. I did finally get it refurbished somewhere else for £2000 (who said more or less exactly what had been said about changing the oil)
So to sum it up; Yes I like driving it, it does just what I bought it for, but VW engineering is not all it's trumped up to be.If was to buy something of this size again, I'd have a good look at the Hyundai i800
Edited by Gafferjim on Monday 12th January 11:39
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