Talk to me about VW Caravelle

[wolfie1978]

I need to replace my 2 series gran tourer with something bigger (4 children and 1 needs a SEN buggy) so we really need a van. I've been looking at the options available and i just don't fancy the offerings from Ford, Vauxhall, Citroen etc. The Caravelle seems to be the best option for us due to being able to slide the 3rd row of seats forwards and backwards and the space between the 2 seats in the second row. Budget is about £20k give or take so we're looking at vans between 2010 and 2012 and I would prefer petrol and auto but i think the petrol is a bit optomistic. Is there anything I need to keep an eye out for on these? Known faults, cambelts change etc

[Oli.]

You won't find find a petrol in that age, they only came into the country in 2018, and stopped the same year - Unless its an import. The 180BHP engine of that era is very problematic, due to high oil consumption - The only way over this is to replace the engine. Go for the 140, its bullet proof, and you can map it if you ant more power. Other than that full history etc is a must - they are pretty robust.

[wolfie1978]

Oli. said:

You won't find find a petrol in that age, they only came into the country in 2018, and stopped the same year - Unless its an import. The 180BHP engine of that era is very problematic, due to high oil consumption - The only way over this is to replace the engine. Go for the 140, its bullet proof, and you can map it if you ant more power. Other than that full history etc is a must - they are pretty robust.

Yeah I thought I was expecting too much on the petrol front. I have noticed in some of the adverts for 180's that the engine has been replaced, i'll avoid those engines then. Thanks

[SwissJonese]

Look for the T5.1 slightly upgraded look for around that age. Ignore the 180bhp twin turbo vehicles as lots of horror stories and really you don't need that much power in a van. Personally I went for a T5.1 T30 (weight capacity) with the 140bhp and 6 speed manual (you can get a Auto DSG if you want). Air-con was a must and can be hard to find (in a van anyway). Nothing really crazy complicated on these vehicles, just check cambelt + water pumps etc have been done as needs to be done every 4-5 years.

[ElectricSoup]

Have you considered a Mercedes Vito/V Class, OP?

[sjg]

wolfie1978 said:

I need to replace my 2 series gran tourer with something bigger (4 children and 1 needs a SEN buggy) so we really need a van. I've been looking at the options available and i just don't fancy the offerings from Ford, Vauxhall, Citroen etc. The Caravelle seems to be the best option for us due to being able to slide the 3rd row of seats forwards and backwards and the space between the 2 seats in the second row. Budget is about £20k give or take so we're looking at vans between 2010 and 2012 and I would prefer petrol and auto but i think the petrol is a bit optomistic. Is there anything I need to keep an eye out for on these? Known faults, cambelts change etc

Would you consider a Japanese import? They do large, flexible seating, petrol auto MPVs better than anyone, and you'd probably get much newer/lower mileage for your budget.

Have a look at Toyota Alphard/Vellfire, Honda Elysion, Nissan Elgrand.

We imported a Honda Stepwagon (bit smaller but still an 8 seater) and it's been brilliant.

[ElectricSoup]

Hyundai i80 also maybe worth a look.

[wolfie1978]

sjg said:

Would you consider a Japanese import? They do large, flexible seating, petrol auto MPVs better than anyone, and you'd probably get much newer/lower mileage for your budget.

Have a look at Toyota Alphard/Vellfire, Honda Elysion, Nissan Elgrand.

We imported a Honda Stepwagon (bit smaller but still an 8 seater) and it's been brilliant.

I considered all those before we got the bmw and the Mercedes r class before that. There simply is not enough room to carry the sen buggy when we have all 4 kids on board.

[wolfie1978]

ElectricSoup said:

Have you considered a Mercedes Vito/V Class, OP?

After the issues we had with our r class I refuse to buy another mercedes

[wolfie1978]

SwissJonese said:

Look for the T5.1 slightly upgraded look for around that age. Ignore the 180bhp twin turbo vehicles as lots of horror stories and really you don't need that much power in a van. Personally I went for a T5.1 T30 (weight capacity) with the 140bhp and 6 speed manual (you can get a Auto DSG if you want). Air-con was a must and can be hard to find (in a van anyway). Nothing really crazy complicated on these vehicles, just check cambelt + water pumps etc have been done as needs to be done every 4-5 years.

How do I tell a T5.1 from I assume the previous is a T5? Is this a facelift?

[SwissJonese]

wolfie1978 said:

How do I tell a T5.1 from I assume the previous is a T5? Is this a facelift?

Yep mainly just a facelift but quite a lot of people prefer the more modern look.
https://www.veedubtransporters.co.uk/which-transpo...

[wolfie1978]

SwissJonese said:

Yep mainly just a facelift but quite a lot of people prefer the more modern look.
https://www.veedubtransporters.co.uk/which-transpo...

Thanks, yes the 5.1 does look better

[Steve996]

We sold our 2012 Edition 25 Caravelle, spec’d to the hilt with 50K last year for your budget. Was the biturbo with DSG. We had it for for 5 years and it hardly missed a beat. For a family of 6 it was great. The edition 25 had middle row captains chairs and the sliding table which was great and very flexible for different layouts. Drove like the van it was but was quick and comfy enough.

[Ryan-nunm9]

SwissJonese said:

Yep mainly just a facelift but quite a lot of people prefer the more modern look.
https://www.veedubtransporters.co.uk/which-transpo...

Isn't the T5.1 more than just a face lift though? T5 had the 1.9tdi in 88bhp/102bhp or the 2.5 five cylinder tdi with either 130bhp/174bhp. I had the 174bhp for a while before it was stolen. I think only the 130 came as an auto in the UK although Ireland got the 174 Auto

T5.1 had the 2.0tdi with something along the lines of 104, 140, 180bhp choices - Not had much to do with these.

check out the T4forum Lots of info on T4 and newer

[Belle427]

I would guess the T5.1 got the more refined common rail engines which are much better.
I'd go for the 140 bhp version and put a nice remap on it just for the extra torque.
I have a lwb T5 that has the older 102 bhp pd engine in it and its not a pleasant thing to drive, very underpowered.

[wolfie1978]

Ryan-nunm9 said:

Isn't the T5.1 more than just a face lift though? T5 had the 1.9tdi in 88bhp/102bhp or the 2.5 five cylinder tdi with either 130bhp/174bhp. I had the 174bhp for a while before it was stolen. I think only the 130 came as an auto in the UK although Ireland got the 174 Auto

T5.1 had the 2.0tdi with something along the lines of 104, 140, 180bhp choices - Not had much to do with these.

check out the T4forum Lots of info on T4 and newer

Thanks I'll have a look

[wolfie1978]

Steve996 said:

We sold our 2012 Edition 25 Caravelle, spec’d to the hilt with 50K last year for your budget. Was the biturbo with DSG. We had it for for 5 years and it hardly missed a beat. For a family of 6 it was great. The edition 25 had middle row captains chairs and the sliding table which was great and very flexible for different layouts. Drove like the van it was but was quick and comfy enough.

I've seen a few of those edition 25's for sale and they look nice with good specs but it looks like they all have the higher output engine which I'm trying to avoid

[stevemcs]

i'd look towards a transit or vito, Transporters look good but they are far from reliable.

[arguti]

We have T6 Caravelle - our second - with 4 kids and dogs, bikes, etc - we went for LWB version - only issue is parking sometimes difficult because of less maneuverability due to overall length in tight multistory car parks but then again, narrower that Mercedes Vito or Hyundai and even my 7 seater VW Touran.

Very practical and the swivel seats on rails are brilliant- even with 4 noisy kids, they are not on top of you as with a our VW Sharan and Touran - we have 180bhp diesel with no issues but we only do low mileage - bigger family trips, etc when extra friends and kit on board, etc - bit of a luxury but excellent package overall - the difference in length between SWB and LWB is around 40cm but makes a huge difference in load lugging ability (such as picking up spare car engines, etc!)

If we were looking now, the Toyota ProAce or equivalent is a consideration although is more plasticky and low rent interior and wiring is attractive to rodents (soy based and we spent over £1500 having Toyota Prius wiring replaced which had been chewed by mice/rats with zero help from Toyota) as we live next door to a farm.

Resale value is good as well.

[wolfie1978]

arguti said:

We have T6 Caravelle - our second - with 4 kids and dogs, bikes, etc - we went for LWB version - only issue is parking sometimes difficult because of less maneuverability due to overall length in tight multistory car parks but then again, narrower that Mercedes Vito or Hyundai and even my 7 seater VW Touran.

Very practical and the swivel seats on rails are brilliant- even with 4 noisy kids, they are not on top of you as with a our VW Sharan and Touran - we have 180bhp diesel with no issues but we only do low mileage - bigger family trips, etc when extra friends and kit on board, etc - bit of a luxury but excellent package overall - the difference in length between SWB and LWB is around 40cm but makes a huge difference in load lugging ability (such as picking up spare car engines, etc!)

If we were looking now, the Toyota ProAce or equivalent is a consideration although is more plasticky and low rent interior and wiring is attractive to rodents (soy based and we spent over £1500 having Toyota Prius wiring replaced which had been chewed by mice/rats with zero help from Toyota) as we live next door to a farm.

Resale value is good as well.

Isn't the Proace just a rebadged Peugeot Expert? They also don't seem to have the available space behind the 3rd row of seats for the extra stuff we have to carry. SEN buggy's don't fold down as small as regular pushchairs due to having to be strong enough to carry an older child