[cwphoto]

Hey Everybody,
Newbie here in the realm of T4s, but a VW lover(Golfs for the last 7 years). Stoked to be a part of the community. T:

Our family is expanding with our second baby on the way, and we're very keen on getting a T4 Caravelle 7 or 8 seater because we need the space and have dreams of family road tripping in Europe someday. I also surf, as does my brother in law, so that is a plus. I grew up doing family road trips all over America's west coast as my father personally designed and custom converted a 15 passenger Dodge 4x4 van into a sweet camper, so I'd love to do the same with my family.

As of now we don't yet own a T4, but I'm looking at a T4 Caravelle that's a 2.4D 8 seater with 230,000 miles on it for around £2900. I know the 2.4D engines are built to last, but what would your take be on one with that mileage? Recon engines run around £2800, or at least what I saw, and just wondered if it would be better to look for a T4 with less miles in the first place.
Looking forward to hearing your wise words!

-CW

 

[max1956bikes]

dont worry about mileage,ive just bought a caravelle with 32000 on it oringinal engine.it runs perfect.im sure we will get higher mileage on here.

 

[Chris_Allen]

Mine has done 230000 and it runs perfectly.

The 2.4D will really struggle on hills when loaded up - the seats on their own are quite heavy.

£2900 is a good price, is it a 96?

 

[tichy.cosworth]

welcome T:

 

[JIMMYJAMES]

You wont be dissapointed with a velle mate, mines converted to a dayvan/camper and its awesome T:T:T: Take a look at my build thread below :ILU:

 

[cwphoto]

Hey thanks guys, for the advice so far and the welcome!

So mileage is pretty irrelevant I suppose, which is kinda what I thought. The only other thing that 'worries' me about the van is that is has no service history and a bit of rust.

It's a 1998, so obviously rust would be starting to show in the arches, but my dad always warned me to never buy a vehicle that's rusty as it just gets worse, so I guess my fear of rust is engrained in my DNA. H: Is it very expensive to get rust dealt with or hard to do yourself? What's the average cost for a respray and underside Waxoyl or the like? I'm not that bothered with working on it myself, I actually enjoy it and find it therapeutic almost, but sometimes things are better just paid to have done.

The 'longterm plan' with getting a Caravelle is that we want a 7 or 8 seater that we can, as our kids grow and we don't need car seats anymore, convert it to a camper for travel around the UK and Europe. Of course, it'll be a bit of a surf bus as well...heheheh...but probably for just day trips for the next few years.

What would you guys recommend as the best base T4 to work from? I really only have a few prerequisites: Diesel(TDi would be nice, but SD is ok), SWB, no excessive rust or body work to be done, not a girly colour(it'll take too long for me to get around to a respray and I'll just look like a fruit driving a Barbie van!), swivel captains seats(would be nice, but not essential) and at least some service history.

Looking forward to your replies!

-CW

 

[elvis]

if your getting a 7-8 seater go for a lwb the boot space is brilliant i got a 9 seater lwb and had 3 bmxs a small ride on tractor ,a toddlers trike with a parent handle and bike for a 5 yr old in the bootT:.

 

[cwphoto]

Wow. That is a LOT of stuff!

I found a LWB for £4500 with 89,000 miles, but I think it would be too big for us as we're after a bit of a compact size, as it needs to fit in our drive. Heck, with the SWB I may still have to redo our drive...but a LWB would certainly hang out over the pavement. Plus, my wife will eventually be driving it as well and I think the LWB is just too big for her.

Thanks for the thought though. I probably would go for the LWB if I had the space to park it!...Watch, in the next 3 years we'll end up moving to a house with space enough and having two sets of twins! Ack! Just my luck!

 

[elvis]

when i got mine it was parked next to a touran and dwarfed it,
and driving it home i thought what have i done.
but its got power steering and apart from a poor turning circle its brilliant you soon get used to it and im terrible for hooning it around country roads.I:

 

[cwphoto]

Yeah, we have a Golf MK4 estate right now, and I'm sure it would look something like a Micra next to a LWB...But, there is one with low miles close by so I may just go check it out...

 

[cwphoto]

Ugh...just missed out on a '98 T4 Caravelle with 95,000 miles on it for £2000. Completely gutted! Anyone have one to sell for a similar price?...dangit!

 

[cwphoto]

Possibly might have a Velle in the next few days...Hoping! :gl

 

[cwphoto]

Still no Velle(or any T4 for that matter) for us, but we just had baby #2 on the 25th! Beautiful little girl!

Had another question: Are the 2.5 Petrol T4 engines as renowned for reliability and longevity as the 2.5TDi?
And is an LPG conversion anything anyone of you guys would recommend? Any pros/cons to that setup?

 

[Abyss]

Congrats on the new family member

I cant speak from experience, only what i have read on here in the last few months, im a derv fan, but have seen good things from the petrol heads. The longevity seems to be true with velles in petrol lasting over the 250,000 mark, but i guess this depends on how its been looked after, which is true of any fuel type, hence service history, if real, is worth looking out for. LPG is also a worthy upgrade favoured by some of the petrol gang, esp with the reduced running costs mpg, and lower tax, but get one converted to lpg already at your price range if u can as the kits arent cheap.
If the petrols are cheaper atm dont wait too long as the LEV for London kicks in these petrol versions will be in higher demand.

but then with a petrol you cant run on vege oil

 

[JIMMYJAMES]

There is a lovely late V6 petrol Velle on here at the moment for sale. If i had to choose again i would go for one and get an LPG conversion done on it T:T:

 

[cwphoto]

Well boys, just got home from Cardiff with our new T4! It's a sweet 2000 SWB 2.5TDi 1200 intercooler 102bhp remapped to 160bhp and with cruise control we just cruised on back up North! It is SWEET!

Thanks for all the help and I'm sure to be posting more Q's and such, seeking the wisdom here! Thanks again!