4Motion or not, your advice please!

[Nande2000]

Slightly different question from me.
Im looking to trade up to a Kombi from a Touareg. Love the T-reg, but boot not big enough any more (3 kids with all their kit).
Anyway, my budget basically stretches to a Startline 150 with a few options. Question is do i go 4motion manual or 2wd DSG ?
To start with i was dead set on 4motion, then I test drove a 6 speed manual 150 and didnt like the gearbox.
Where i live there is about 300 yards of ungritted road up to my house so when it snows it gets fun, but tbh i recon 2wd with AS tyres is just fine.
The main issue is towing my caravan, only do it maybe 5 times a year, but you can guarantee once or twice a year we end up leaving what was a well drained field which is now a bog

so...4motion or DSG ?

 

[czmate1999]

Stay with the T6 not the 6.1 and go for 4m with diff lock if a must or 2WD with good tyre. DSG with LED headlights a must.

 

[rover220]

If it came to it I'd rather have a manual with 4mo and led lights over a dsg without.

 

[Nande2000]

why are the led lights so important ?

 

[rover220]

Because standard are woeful.

 

[The Van Cave]

why are the led lights so important ?

The standard H4 headlights in a T6 are terrible, especially if the van will be your daily family vehicle, the H7s are better, the LEDs are very, very good, but I suppose it depends on what you're used to. Does your Touareg have Xenon or LED headlights or standard halogen bulbs? If the answer to that is Xenon or LED then you need LED in the T6 or you will wonder if you've even got the lights turned on, especially with the H4 headlights. If you're used to halogen headlights in the Touareg then you might find H7 headlamps in a T6 OK. You'll never be happy with the H4 headlights in a T6, regardless of what you have on the Touareg now, they are just terrible!

I went from Xenon in an Audi A4 to the standard H4 in my T6 and genuinely couldn't believe how bad they were. I immediately upgraded to aftermarket H7 headlight units and these were better (but still well short of the Audi Xenons). It wasn't long after having the H7 units fitted that I swapped them out for genuine VW LED headlight units. They are outstanding. The LED retrofit is expensive, so you're much better off finding a van that has them already.

 

[Nande2000]

Touareg has 25w Bi-Xenons i think. LED not even an option on the startline, H7s come as standard

 

[The Van Cave]

Touareg has 25w Bi-Xenons i think. LED not even an option on the startline, H7s come as standard

The H7s will be a big step down from the Bi-Xenons in the Touareg, but better than H4s at least. Are you looking at T6.1 or T6?

 

[Nande2000]

T6.1 new. Dealers desperate to sell new at the moment, big discount being offered.

 

[The Van Cave]

T6.1 new. Dealers desperate to sell new at the moment, big discount being offered.

Try and test drive one after dark! Even better, see if you can get a 24 hour test drive and drive it in all conditions that you're used to driving the T-Reg. Then you can decide for sure if those headlights are good enough.

Personally I would want LED, I do a lot of rural driving in the dark, but it's difficult as they aren't available on start line vans and it's start line vans that you're looking at.

 

[Nande2000]

Its something i never would have thought of. Its £1k to upgrade to LED in the Highline. How much is aftermarket ?
To go back to my original question, im 80% sure DSG is better for me. I hate towing with a manual box. Previous manuals i've had with manuals have always started to have clutch issues after 70k miles of towing; partially down to my driving style i guess.

 

[The Van Cave]

Its something i never would have thought of. Its £1k to upgrade to LED in the Highline. How much is aftermarket ?
To go back to my original question, im 80% sure DSG is better for me. I hate towing with a manual box. Previous manuals i've had with manuals have always started to have clutch issues after 70k miles of towing; partially down to my driving style i guess.

On the T6.1 I don't know if anyone has done an aftermarket upgrade using genuine LED headlights yet, but as a comparison it cost me £1200 to do it on my T6 and that was using all used parts sourced from eBay and would've been £1500 but for the £300 I got back for selling my aftermarket H7 headlights. Retro fitting companies charge £2.5k minimum for a retrofit of LED headlights on a T6. It may not be a problem for you, I only suspect it might be because you've been driving with good quality Bi-Xenons and will be used to that. If it were me I would want to drive the H7 T6.1 in the dark and make my own mind up.

As for DSG, I would have that on my next van, I too tow a caravan a few times a year and find it OK with the manual, but would much prefer the DSG, I just couldn't stretch to DSG when I was buying my van.

 

[Nande2000]

TBH i reckon it wont be an issue for me. I just got rid of an Audi TT that i was using for my 100 mile commute. it was 16 years old and cost me £1200, pretty sure that had Halogens and was never a problem; loads of other stuff was a problem, but not the headlights lol

 

[bootsam]

The LEDs also look cool and that shouldn't be overlooked. Some of us need all the help we can get.

 

[czmate1999]

Another thing to consider with the 6.1 is the lack of foot rest...

 

[JasonW]

When i bought i was on the cusp of the change from T6 to T6.1 - So had the option... I opted for the T6 and so glad i did....

I find the DSG is a pleasure to drive.... but like others have said... don't feel pressured by the dealer and test drive a few first....

 

[bobby69]

If you can I would go for dsg and 4 motion also go for the 204 or 199 depending on model
When I specked mine I went for the items I wanted that were not easily upgraded later
I do see a lot of post with people saying don’t buy unless it has led lights I personally don’t see what the fuss is about
Granted the h4 lights are crap but I don’t drive very often at night but I couldn’t justify the extra £1800 for them
There were other factory options that I personally preferred and if I had added the lights my build would have nudged over £60k
In reality it is only a work van a very fast and luxurious work van
Worst case scenario if you get the spec wrong you can always trade it in in 3 years and then do the spec you really want you’ll lose a few quid but usually get it right second time round I did

 

[DaveD]

To me lights are about safety, I often drive at night and let's be honest, in winter that can start soon after 4.00PM. There's lots of options I'd miss out on but decent lights are a necessity to me. When I got my T6 I was genuinely shocked how the headlights were. I think ChrisR is right, ask for a test drive in the dark if the van doesn't have LED lights, that way you'll know if they are good enough for you.

 

[bobby69]

I understand what your saying did you spec your van with led lights or have you done a retro fit

 

[Gwyn]

Why not go for a 150 (cheaper than a 199 / 204) with 4M and LED lights ( agree with everyone LED is a must ) you can always remap the 150, which would be a lot cheaper than upgrading the lights
Just a suggestion