Viewing a T5 this morning - anything to look for?
Discussion
Morning all. I'm viewing a 2006 T5 this morning and wondered if there are any major things I need to check?
It's a LWB 2.5, been lowered on 20" alloys and is in a sort of British racing green colour. 176k miles but looks really tidy in the photos.
I ideally wanted a SWB 1.9 or a 2.0 T5.1 but this one ticks a lot of other boxes so I'm going to view it.
I intent to fit a 2nd row of seats and use it to cart the kids and their bikes around, plus use it for bike park days myself.
Any advice? Thanks in advance.
It's a LWB 2.5, been lowered on 20" alloys and is in a sort of British racing green colour. 176k miles but looks really tidy in the photos.
I ideally wanted a SWB 1.9 or a 2.0 T5.1 but this one ticks a lot of other boxes so I'm going to view it.
I intent to fit a 2nd row of seats and use it to cart the kids and their bikes around, plus use it for bike park days myself.
Any advice? Thanks in advance.
I’ve not owned a T5, but at least you won’t have to deal with all the modern emissions crap that strangles the newer T6’s.
Lowered usually means cheap springs on cheap/standard shocks which give an awful ride, better to get some Koni shocks and decent springs, CRS Performance will know exactly what you need to suit your exact requirements.
Find out when the cam belt and water pump were last changed and factor that into your price.
The great thing about Transporters is you can get every spare part for pennies.
Enjoy
Lowered usually means cheap springs on cheap/standard shocks which give an awful ride, better to get some Koni shocks and decent springs, CRS Performance will know exactly what you need to suit your exact requirements.
Find out when the cam belt and water pump were last changed and factor that into your price.
The great thing about Transporters is you can get every spare part for pennies.
Enjoy
Thanks, from what I've read the 2.5 has a chain so no cambelt to worry about. The pay off is the engine is more complicated in its packaging so can be an expensive pain to work on! I'll ask about the shocks/springs but even if it came standard I'd be looking to lower it so either way I'd have the expense of that so it's fairly immaterial in this case. After years of newer cars/bikes with warranties I'm rather looking forward to having something I can work on as a project again and put my own stamp on.
Robotron70 said:
I’ve not owned a T5, but at least you won’t have to deal with all the modern emissions crap that strangles the newer T6’s.
Enjoy
But on that note bear in mind there may be quite a few parts of the country you may be excluded from without paying extra charges if its not Euro 6 in any 'C zones'. Enjoy
Like the 500 miles around Manchester if it comes in (presently on hold)
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/driving-in-a-clean-air...
Didn’t think it was chain driven either, it’s done on a series of sprockets. It’s a horrid engine
Top mounts
Brakes they eat calipers
Driveshafts, the short stubby section fails
Ac does it work, it has a stupid set up
Abs - any lights
Tyre wear, they eat the inside edges of tyres when lowered
Head lights, does the height adjustment work
Make sure someone has fitted the correct offset wheels and not discovery wheels
EGR system, make sure the cooler isn’t split
Cv boots, they split regularly
They all sound like a bag of spanner’s, I’d rather buy a transit, but they rust.
Top mounts
Brakes they eat calipers
Driveshafts, the short stubby section fails
Ac does it work, it has a stupid set up
Abs - any lights
Tyre wear, they eat the inside edges of tyres when lowered
Head lights, does the height adjustment work
Make sure someone has fitted the correct offset wheels and not discovery wheels
EGR system, make sure the cooler isn’t split
Cv boots, they split regularly
They all sound like a bag of spanner’s, I’d rather buy a transit, but they rust.
stevemcs said:
Didn’t think it was chain driven either, it’s done on a series of sprockets. It’s a horrid engine
Top mounts
Brakes they eat calipers
Driveshafts, the short stubby section fails
Ac does it work, it has a stupid set up
Abs - any lights
Tyre wear, they eat the inside edges of tyres when lowered
Head lights, does the height adjustment work
Make sure someone has fitted the correct offset wheels and not discovery wheels
EGR system, make sure the cooler isn’t split
Cv boots, they split regularly
They all sound like a bag of spanner’s, I’d rather buy a transit, but they rust.
Thanks for this. I'll try my best to check these. If was only MOTd in August and has only done a few hundred miles since so hopefully should be generally ok. I won't be doing that many miles in it, just days out with the kids.Top mounts
Brakes they eat calipers
Driveshafts, the short stubby section fails
Ac does it work, it has a stupid set up
Abs - any lights
Tyre wear, they eat the inside edges of tyres when lowered
Head lights, does the height adjustment work
Make sure someone has fitted the correct offset wheels and not discovery wheels
EGR system, make sure the cooler isn’t split
Cv boots, they split regularly
They all sound like a bag of spanner’s, I’d rather buy a transit, but they rust.
Re wheels I did notice one of the original failure items on the MOT was cracked alloy(s) so I wonder if maybe they aren't properly load rated. They're aftermarkets rather than OE disck ones.
loggo said:
So........Buy it ??
Unfortunately not. The absolute tosser who was selling it said he'd let me view it first and would send me his address in the morning, I spent all morning waiting for this and messaging him. He totally ghosted me and then changed the listing to 'sold' at about 2pm. R1 Dave said:
Unfortunately not. The absolute tosser who was selling it said he'd let me view it first and would send me his address in the morning, I spent all morning waiting for this and messaging him. He totally ghosted me and then changed the listing to 'sold' at about 2pm.
Could be that its sold.Or they were intending to try and pass off a faulty van to a buyer, but lost their bottle.
So could be a blessing in disguise for you.
^this.
Back in 2020 we were looking for one but couldn’t find quite what we wanted. And then lo and behold one popped up on autotrader, at a dealers about 200 miles away, which was just what we wanted.
Went along to see it the next morning and bought it. While we were there two other people turned up on spec to look at it but were turned away.
My advice, move quickly if you see one you want and be prepared to travel.
Back in 2020 we were looking for one but couldn’t find quite what we wanted. And then lo and behold one popped up on autotrader, at a dealers about 200 miles away, which was just what we wanted.
Went along to see it the next morning and bought it. While we were there two other people turned up on spec to look at it but were turned away.
My advice, move quickly if you see one you want and be prepared to travel.
Thanks all for the advice. He definitely sold it as it appeared on a friend's neighbors driveway. I don't understand why the spineless git couldn't have just told me he'd changed his mind and was going to let others view it and that it was sold.
Are the 2.5s really that bad?! I've seen so many nice vans out there with that engine it clearly sold well.
To the poster who said to move quickly, you're absolutely right; every time I see a nice one at a good price it sells before I can get to it!! Very frustrating.
Are the 2.5s really that bad?! I've seen so many nice vans out there with that engine it clearly sold well.
To the poster who said to move quickly, you're absolutely right; every time I see a nice one at a good price it sells before I can get to it!! Very frustrating.
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