[OZTomo]

Hi all I'm new to the site and forums W:
I'm in the market for a T4 and have read loads about them but was wondering...
What is the best/Preferred year for the T4 if there is one? :*
I'm looking for a 97-03 but I don't know why I chose 97 lol is there any difference between the 96 and 97?
I read that the T4 has 5 different body shapes and loads of different engines so I was wondering what is the preferred year for the T4.
After looking for ages and not finding anything I thought I'd make a thread about it.
Any comments (even bias) would be helpful thanks. T:

Sorry if this has been covered elsewhere in the forums but I have not come across it.

Tom

 

[David]

96 and earlier had different dash, no turbo on 1.9, no wing vent, different bumpers. Not all had Power steering, some had 14" wheels and smaller brakes. Drums on the back etc

Then a few years later the dash changed again to the groovy blue one (you can spot these by the triangular shape of the hazzard warning switch)

General consensus is to get the newest you can, unless of course you prefer the look of the earlier vans. There where a few special additions by the end which had the long nose of the caravelle plus electric windows, central locking and the likes.

 

[OZTomo]

Thanks mate that's exactly what I was looking for!

Wish I posted earlier instead of spending hours researching information that was of little help. Not even Wikipedia had anything useful on the differences.

 

[HedgeHugger]

I doublt you'll be able to be picky about the year, unless you have limitless time and money to get one dude... I:

Buy the youngest, best serviced, best condition one you can for the money. I'd take a one owner FSH sub-100k '98 over a six-owner '03 with 200k on it, but so wuold most people... Post 96 gives you a more modern interior, which makes a big difference, as that where you have to keep looking at it from! :ILU:

 

[JIMMYJAMES]

96 and earlier had different dash, no turbo on 1.9, no wing vent, different bumpers. Not all had Power steering, some had 14" wheels and smaller brakes. Drums on the back etc

Then a few years later the dash changed again to the groovy blue one (you can spot these by the triangular shape of the hazzard warning switch)

General consensus is to get the newest you can, unless of course you prefer the look of the earlier vans. There where a few special additions by the end which had the long nose of the caravelle plus electric windows, central locking and the likes.

My 1994 1.9td Caravelle has a turbo on it so thats not 100% true. Rest looks about right though T:T:

 

[David]

All comes down to personnal preferences and what you want the van for. 1.9td is cheap and easy to live with and can be tuned slightly but not sure if I'd want one for an every day drive if I was doing decent miles. 2.5 tdi comes as standard with 3 different bhp levels (you can tell visually by the colour of the badge, blue lowest then silver then red) good performance and decent mpg but more expensive to maintain (cambelt and water pump is a must and can cost upto £800) This engine is fairly easy to tune upto the 150bhp mark

Early special editions aren't that special, eg 800 special around 96 had power steering, armrests, couple of colour choices (paprika red seemed popular) 15" wheels and a tailgate rather than the 2 doors. All nice to have but not that special. 800 bit refers to the carrying capaicity.

There's a 4x4 synchro model, not nearly as capable as the old Type25 synchro but good for muddy campsites etc, obviously more to go wrong and the synchro parts can be pricey, so if you don't need 4x4 I would stay clear

Rest is personal preference, I like the 1.9td as it's just used as a camper and is plenty quick enough for that, but has the bonus that I can do all the work on it myself. Had a non turbo one which was OK, not quick but steady enough.

There's also a 2.4 non turbo 5 cylinder in older vans but not had much experiance of those and a couple of petrol options

There is also LWB and SWB available, the difference is only a foot but can make a big difference in a camper. Easiest way to spot the difference from a photo is about a foot of body work at the end of the sliding door runner on the long wheel base version

Rust shouldn't be a big issue on any age unless it's been really badly maintained, they tend to get a bit scabby around the wheel arches and the front of the sill where the stones flick up but easy enough to fix.

 

[burrellefx]

1999 float your boat?I:
ive got 2 and cant really fault either

 

[JIMMYJAMES]

ECU's are different on the later T4's and can have maps changed without soldering chips into the ecu. I'm not sure what year/month the year was but it is a variable to bear in mind T:T:T:

 

[HedgeHugger]

ECU's are different on the later T4's and can have maps changed without soldering chips into the ecu. I'm not sure what year/month the year was but it is a variable to bear in mind T:T:T:

2001+ I think... :ILU:

 

[OZTomo]

Ah right. I also noticed that the 96 models have a scrolling odometer and 97 and on seem to have the digital one but am not 100% sure its in all models.

Went to check out a 2000 2.5 TDi 88bhp with 196k and was only £1995! but the ''partial service history'' turned out to be a few receipts for repairs and no service history at all AND the name on the paper work wasn't the name of the guy who I was dealing with among other things it just wasn't worth it.

http://vans.autotrader.co.uk/makemodel/make/volkswagen/model/transporter/stock-item-id/at8a60d6e02e47bd84012e528f778a122c/advert

Will keep looking though.
Thanks all for the info it's been very helpful.

Tom