Club 80-90 Forums

Hello everyone, its been a while since I last visited the forum due to health issues and life in general, hope everyone is fine.

Anyway, I still have my camper, its in very good condition though I rarely use it for camping but I still like using it as a day van for trips out. I am thinking of selling it and replacing it with a T4 Caravelle or T5 (if funds permit - decent T5's seem a bit pricey compared to the T4).

These seem to come in a variety of engine sizes - 1.9 TD, 2.4 TD and non Turbo 2.4 for the T4. I am not after speed or converting the van into a full blown camper but it would be nice to be a ble to cruise at 65 - 70 mph and carry 3 or 4 adults so I'm looking for balance between economy and power. I have seen a few Non Turbo 2.4 T4's available but have no idea about the relative merits of the engine types available regards economy, maintenace, no of gears, etc.

Any advice would be most welcome. Thanks!

Check out http://www.vwt4forum.co.uk/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; for tons and tons of talk on the merits of the various engines.

I dont know your budget but I have had T4 and T5.

My experience:
T4 2.4 non turbo. very solid engine, never owned one but friend has one and engine is the best bit. He is happy with it but it can lack guts on motorway hills and steep climbs.
T4 1.9 non turbo - gutless,

Our 2.5TDi T4 (ex AA) was 45 mpg on a cruise control 60-65 mph french motorways run. Plenty of power.

Our 2.5TDi T5 (still have it) has been fantastically reliable and its currently around 187k, I drive it every day and its been around France a couple of times.
Its not as economical as the T4 was but it has been more reliable. Its very car like to drive.

You may find the general concencus on the forum above to be ;
- get a T5 1.9 and remap it (1.9s are cheaper than the 2.5TDi) not my thing, I prefer the engine to left as is.
- buy a late T4 rather than a T5
- avoid early T5 2.5TDi's

My personal opinion goes against this. I see it as the 1.9 has enough power as is, it only needs remapping because people are sticking huge rims on it and filling it with camper interiors.
T5 1.9s are cheaper to fix - but the 2.5 doesnt have a cam belt (its a chain) thats why I bought the 2.5.

I have one of the supposedly dreaded early 2.5Tdi T5's - its a 04 and has 187k. Its like any car or van that you buy second hand. Its how its been treated in its previous ownership. Mine was used for light duty stuff and fully serviced, i have kept it fully serviced and replace worn parts as and when our trusted garage recommends it.

When looking, pay a great deal of attention to the service history, take your time looking through it, cam belts, water pumps, oil changes, filter changes etc.
Also big wheels mean the mileage shown is not the actual mileage as the mile dont clock up as much (unless they have fitted tyres to maintain overall diameter.

Take your time looking, theres a lot of dogs with shiney bits out there

Many thanks, lots of useful info there for me to think about. When you say a late T4, what year of manufacture and onwards is considered late and why is the later model better?

I had a quick look at the T4 forum link you posted and opinions seem divided regards late T4 v T5, is it just the general feel and drive of the T5 that makes it some peoples preferred choice?

When we were looking prior to buying Keif, looked at T4s and personally would go for the 2.5TD

2.4 was a little underpowered and noisey, 1.9TD was OK, but the 2.5TD doesn't have to work so hard.

SWB is more user friendly if used daily, but LWB has significantly more room

AngeloEvs wrote:Many thanks, lots of useful info there for me to think about. When you say a late T4, what year of manufacture and onwards is considered late and why is the later model better?

I had a quick look at the T4 forum link you posted and opinions seem divided regards late T4 v T5, is it just the general feel and drive of the T5 that makes it some peoples preferred choice?

T4's finished in around 2003. Late ones are considered 2000-1 onwards. Ours was a 1999 on a V plate.

Most of my comments earlier were really T5 looking at it now. The T4 is a good option also.

It's hard to make a preference - there is a lot of banter between the various owners, some cloaked hatred of T5s amongst the T4 owners, not so much the other way as many 5 owners previously owned 4's.
If i was forced to make a choice and had a gun pointed at my head - i'd say I have prefered owning the T5. I would happily have either though - If I could not afford a T5 I wouldn't be upset at having a T4 (I would just make sure I didnt have a rotten one because they do rot)