Should I go for a T5 Caravelle 130 2004

[T4dave]

I'm going to look at T5 Caravelle 130 Tiptronic , first reg in Dec 04, and the guy is looking for £14250. It has 32000 genuine miles on clock and looks every bit a nice vehicle.
The thing is though, I've read a lot on sites about owners having bad experiences with water pumps, leaking side windows, cam shaft sensors and probably the worst , oil in cooling expansion bottle .
Are there any particular engines to avoid and any good tips on what to look for ??

At the moment I have a 2001 T4 Caravelle 2.5 TDi automatic with 155K on the clock and thought it's about time to update , but I don't want to change out to anything where I start having problems.

Any of your views and thoughts please !!!!

Thankyou

[paul b]

I'm going to look at T5 Caravelle 130 Tiptronic , first reg in Dec 04, and the guy is looking for £14250. It has 32000 genuine miles on clock and looks every bit a nice vehicle.
The thing is though, I've read a lot on sites about owners having bad experiences with water pumps, leaking side windows, cam shaft sensors and probably the worst , oil in cooling expansion bottle .
Are there any particular engines to avoid and any good tips on what to look for ??

At the moment I have a 2001 T4 Caravelle 2.5 TDi automatic with 155K on the clock and thought it's about time to update , but I don't want to change out to anything where I start having problems.

Any of your views and thoughts please !!!!

Thankyou

I've got a 54 reg Transporter T5 1.9 TDI 86bhp version.

None of the problems you mentioned above have hit this van.

However the central locking didn't work due to corrosion in the CCU under the drivers seat.

I must say you may as well go for a 2.5TDI, my 1.9 TDI is underpowered and returns 34mpg, about as much as you can get from the 2.5TDI. The reason the mpg is so low is because I have to drive it full throttle everywhere.

I'd try and knock the price down £500.

[T4dave]

When I arranged to go and look at it he was asking £14500, I asked if he would move on the price , but he's only prepared to drop £250.

I think you're right about what the fuel consumption will be , but have to ease up on the heavy pedal ,........ well sometimes anyway.

We'll see what happens at viewing time

Cheers

[plymcabbietx1]

I'm going to look at T5 Caravelle 130 Tiptronic , first reg in Dec 04, and the guy is looking for £14250. It has 32000 genuine miles on clock and looks every bit a nice vehicle.
The thing is though, I've read a lot on sites about owners having bad experiences with water pumps, leaking side windows, cam shaft sensors and probably the worst , oil in cooling expansion bottle .
Are there any particular engines to avoid and any good tips on what to look for ??

At the moment I have a 2001 T4 Caravelle 2.5 TDi automatic with 155K on the clock and thought it's about time to update , but I don't want to change out to anything where I start having problems.

Any of your views and thoughts please !!!!

Thankyou

From my recent experience of T5 I wouldn't touch one with a 10 foot barge pole. I have a 2005 T5 130 tiptronic. 111000 miles. Had a problem with the gear box. Booked in to a specialist 45 miles away from my home in Plymouth. They are in Exeter. Managed to drive 4 miles. loud noise from engine. Turns out cam shaft totally U.S. Lobes worn. Buckets shot. Total cost of that repair £1200.00
Finally got the van to Exeter Gearbox and you guessed it The box needed total refurb. Total cost estimated for that job £2.5k - £3k inc. vat.
The problem with the tiptronic box is a common one by all accounts and after the refurb completed should not happen again. All in all an expensive couple of weeks. VW UK whilst sorry to hear of problem OUT OF WARRANTY!
Buy one if you wish but if your thinking of keeping it for a while and adding some miles to it BEWARE!!!!!!!

[plymcabbietx1]

Ive got a T5 130 on a 05 reg. I wouldn't touch one with a 10 foot pole....

111000 on the clock. Had to have cam replaced as lobes worn round and buckets shot to bits....

2 days later van had to go to gear box specialist as the box was hunting gears and sturggling to change and oil buring could be smelt.

Now looking a a £2.5k bill for rebuilt gearbox. Very common occurance by all accounts......( wish I'd known that) Thats on top of £1.2k for cam shaft replacement along with buckets and white metal bearings..

VW UK whilst very sorry to hear about my troubles said its out of warranty so couldn't help me... How's that for customer service.....

Any one want to buy a T5!!!!!!!!!

Other common faults I've come across are regular failure of window guides and regulators if they go a dealer will set you back around £400.00

Hope that helps with your desicion

[paul b]

Ive got a T5 130 on a 05 reg. I wouldn't touch one with a 10 foot pole....

111000 on the clock. Had to have cam replaced as lobes worn round and buckets shot to bits....

2 days later van had to go to gear box specialist as the box was hunting gears and sturggling to change and oil buring could be smelt.

Now looking a a £2.5k bill for rebuilt gearbox. Very common occurance by all accounts......( wish I'd known that) Thats on top of £1.2k for cam shaft replacement along with buckets and white metal bearings..

VW UK whilst very sorry to hear about my troubles said its out of warranty so couldn't help me... How's that for customer service.....

Any one want to buy a T5!!!!!!!!!

Other common faults I've come across are regular failure of window guides and regulators if they go a dealer will set you back around £400.00

Hope that helps with your desicion

I take it you used 505.01 spec oil or 507.00 to protect the camshafts?

If you did, and it still did the above it is terrible. If you didn't, there are numerous warnings about worn camshafts on 2.5 TDI VAG engines.

Not accusing you of anything, just getting the full story for the benefit of the original poster.

[plymcabbietx1]

Yes I do use the correct oil. I have the vehicle serviced without fail or exception every 10000 miles......
For the money it can cost its never worth taking risks...

[T4dave]

What can I say plymcabbietx1 , certainly not what you expect on a vehicle with that sort of forecourt price. As you've had this work done now, surely it's got to be ok for at least another 50,000.

I've never had to think in the past about specific oils like 'paul b' mentions, it's been either multigrade or synthetic , why all this nonse about conforming to a particular spec. It's like giving manufacturere a way of getting out of obligations to build a vehicle that lasts.

As I had five mins free , I called VW customer services and asked about any issues or recalls for that age (circa 05) Caravelle and yes you guessed correctly , they were'nt aware of any issues...... hhhhmmmm.

So now what , do I look for a later variant in the hope the issues on earlier models have been modified , OR go for non VW ? The thing is I've had a number of different VW's over the years with no issues and other stuff don't seem to hold their value the same.

I going to visit VW Taunton next week and see what they have and try and get some info.

Why don't I just buy an old Morris 1000 , get a set of plugs and have trouble free motoring for years ..... ha !!

Thank for you're replies , but maybe some re-think time is called for.

[paul b]

I'd still go for VW. They aren't all as bad as plymcabbietx1 suggests, although it can't be denied that he/she has had an awful experience with one of them.

Specific 505.01 oils (changed every 10k) are required if you want to protect the camshaft. I don't think the 2.5 TDI we're talking about is a PD engine, but putting PD oil in it would certainly add extra protection for the camshaft. VAG 2.5 TDIs do have a habit of eating their own camshafts.

I've just put Millers XFE-PD in my Audi, cost about £45 for 5ltrs. The van has Shell Helix Ultra VX in it, both of the oils mentioned are of 505.01 standard.

The van and Audi have been ran on PD oil, and so far (touches wood) I've had no problems at all with camshafts. The van is on 109k as well.

Hope this helps.