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High km's, used T4 - need advise before purchasing

602 views 5 replies 4 participants last post by  Fraseb01 
#1 · (Edited)
Hi all,

I joined as a new member today as I am looking into purchasing a used T4. I am going to look at a 1998 T4 tonight which has clocked 386000km's. This seems a lot to me. I will be using the T4 to do a fair bit of travelling around Australia in so I am wondering if this is too much or just general thoughts on it. It's a manual and the seller has not specified any major issues with it other than break pads which need to be changed. He is pricing it at $3400 Australian Dollar.

(just to clarify - we go by kilometres over here, so it is 240,000 miles)

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Thanks, Sam.
 
#2 ·
like with anything, millage / km's means little if it's been looked after(y)

over here rust is a big issue - what area is the van & has it lived there all its life? is it a dry state or the wetter areas?

engines are as reliable or fragile as any, the 2.4d (68hp) is a slugger (& slug), the 1.9d (60hp) also is slow but reliable and basically a golf engine so easily replaced.
petrol 2L is also a car engine but not too economical & the 2.5 petrol is similar but worse on fuel🤪 (save for the 2.8L vr6.... )

mecanically, t4 gearboxes can cause problems, the lower powered vans had the '02b' gearbox, easily identified by reverse next to 1st on the stick, and it's a van version of a low rated car gearbox (the 02a) so can suffer bearing failure that at worst case can kill casings as well - one of vw's cheapo designs:rolleyes:


suspension is simple if somewhat archaic, why vw reverted back to torsion-bars for the front is anyones guess:unsure:

front lower balljoints wear for fun (cheap though(y)) and if they fail can destroy the driveshaft (& sometimes gearbox casing!)

AU & UK parts pricing & availability will differ, here t4's are somewhat cheap to run (balljoints are ~ £10 each as example)

judst remember that like other vag cars, these are 'partsbin' specials so theres a lot of interchangability although some parts are more similar than identical:cautious:

other people will have diferent ideas about t4's, hopefully you can get a good idea in ownership:cool:

Rich. (owned, driven, welded, repaired & modified my '95 t4 over the last 10 years)
 
#3 ·
like with anything, millage / km's means little if it's been looked after(y)

over here rust is a big issue - what area is the van & has it lived there all its life? is it a dry state or the wetter areas?

engines are as reliable or fragile as any, the 2.4d (68hp) is a slugger (& slug), 2.5tdi (88hp & 102hp commonly with rare 150hp) is the factory powerhouse, great when good but can be problematic and expensive to repairo_O, the 1.9d (60hp) also is slow but reliable and the 1.9td (68hp) is slightly better, basically a golf engine so easily replaced.
petrol 2L is also a car engine but not too economical & the 2.5 petrol is similar but worse on fuel🤪 (save for the 2.8L vr6.... )

mecanically, t4 gearboxes can cause problems, the lower powered vans had the '02b' gearbox, easily identified by reverse next to 1st on the stick, and it's a van version of a low rated car gearbox (the 02a) so can suffer bearing failure that at worst case can kill casings as well - one of vw's cheapo designs:rolleyes:


suspension is simple if somewhat archaic, why vw reverted back to torsion-bars for the front is anyones guess:unsure:

front lower balljoints wear for fun (cheap though(y)) and if they fail can destroy the driveshaft (& sometimes gearbox casing!)

AU & UK parts pricing & availability will differ, here t4's are somewhat cheap to run (balljoints are ~ £10 each as example)

judst remember that like other vag cars, these are 'partsbin' specials so theres a lot of interchangability although some parts are more similar than identical:cautious:

other people will have diferent ideas about t4's, hopefully you can get a good idea in ownership:cool:

Rich. (owned, driven, welded, repaired & modified my '95 t4 over the last 10 years)

edited to add more engine waffle...

Rich.
 
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