Is this dayvan worth the advertised price?

[maggotlady]

We have found a VW Transporter T6 160PS 6 seat, 4 berth Surfwagon Day Van. It was registered and 2018 and has done 70,000 miles. It has a black elevating roof (no bed), a full width triple tested seat bed, double front swivel passenger seat. It had one owner and a full service history with VW. It's on at just under £30,000. I can't work out if this is a good price or not. It's just about affordable for us (we were planning on purchasing a panel van then converting over a few years) but this would get us started quickly although it's nothing like what we actually want eventually. We are complete beginners and have no idea what to look for when purchasing.

 

[DaveD]

The mileage and age makes me think it probably started life as a "work van" (nothing wrong with that) purchased second hand and converted to add value, I might be wrong.
You don't say if it's startline, trendline or highline, T28, T30 or T32, does it have aircon? Is it in generally good condition? All of these things will affect the value of the van.
Hours spent on research are never wasted, the more you can learn before purchasing a van, the better. you're on the right forum for that too!
Good luck and welcome!

 

[JOG]

The mileage and age makes me think it probably started life as a "work van" (nothing wrong with that) purchased second hand and converted to add value, I might be wrong.
You don't say if it's startline, trendline or highline, T28, T30 or T32, does it have aircon? Is it in generally good condition? All of these things will affect the value of the van.
Hours spent on research are never wasted, the more you can learn before purchasing a van, the better. you're on the right forum for that too!
Good luck and welcome!

Great advice

 

[maggotlady]

Thanks so much for your replies. It doesn't have air con (which was on our list as a must). It looks in good condition but we have only viewed online so far so we would need to see it. It doesn't say whether it's T28 or not. I will call them. We are also looking at a cheaper Transporter Kombi T30 from Salop Vans which has done 58,000 miles and has aircon (£25,000 roughly inc VAT). We would then need to start the conversion ourselves. Does this sound like a reasonable price? Has anyone dealt with Salop recently? The first van has 4 berths already and is only £4000 more but has done more miles (and we would want to take out the seats eventually to make room for furniture but we could use it straightaway). It's such a tricky decision to make as it could be so very costly if we get it wrong! What questions should I be asking if we are just starting out on this road?!

 

[DaveD]

Thanks so much for your replies. It doesn't have air con (which was on our list as a must). It looks in good condition but we have only viewed online so far so we would need to see it. It doesn't say whether it's T28 or not. I will call them. We are also looking at a cheaper Transporter Kombi T30 from Salop Vans which has done 58,000 miles and has aircon (£25,000 roughly inc VAT). We would then need to start the conversion ourselves. Does this sound like a reasonable price? Has anyone dealt with Salop recently? The first van has 4 berths already and is only £4000 more but has done more miles (and we would want to take out the seats eventually to make room for furniture but we could use it straightaway). It's such a tricky decision to make as it could be so very costly if we get it wrong! What questions should I be asking if we are just starting out on this road?!

We are all different and have different views, for me I refuse to pay more than five hundred pounds for any vehicle without air conditioning. It can (apparently) be retro fitted, it's not a project for a novice though. I'd walk away if it wasn't fitted, but others will probably disagree.

 

[t6blo]

It doesn't have air con (which was on our list as a must).

Then walk away - don’t compromise.

I know it is frustrating but it is alot of money and what you want will turn up. The market at the moment is tough - not much used stock and what there is either gets snapped up because it is a good van with desirable spec or it will languish on a forecourt because it has less than desirable spec or has ‘issues’.

I spent best part of 9 months seriously looking for another van, and missing out on several because they were snapped up. I could have easily bought a wrong’un and regretted it.

 

[Rioja John]

@maggotlady I bought my T6.1 from Salop Vans in November last year and I found them really good to deal with, had no problem’s whatsoever but there again I bought a new 71 plate van from them.

John.

 

[Crazymind]

Don’t make the mistake of buying it without aircon. Even in mild temperature 18/20 Celsius the cabin is very hot without.-.

 

[Salty Spuds]

The lack of aircon would certainly be a dealbreaker for us. Ours is on summer & winter.

 

[Alan Watts]

A quick Google, if it's the funkydubz van it's a T26 remapped to 160bhp. It'll probably be a 5 speed. That'll be pretty near or over the maximum gross weight with 6 people and luggage/camping equipment. Could be a safety issue for some

 

[Skyliner33]

A quick Google, if it's the funkydubz van it's a T26 remapped to 160bhp. It'll probably be a 5 speed. That'll be pretty near or over the maximum gross weight with 6 people and luggage/camping equipment. Could be a safety issue for some

View attachment 168394

That could be up plated though. I would be more worried about the 160bhp map 0n the 5 speed box and the (probably) 102bhp engine. As well as no air con.

 

[Rousie09]

Thanks so much for your replies. It doesn't have air con (which was on our list as a must). It looks in good condition but we have only viewed online so far so we would need to see it. It doesn't say whether it's T28 or not. I will call them. We are also looking at a cheaper Transporter Kombi T30 from Salop Vans which has done 58,000 miles and has aircon (£25,000 roughly inc VAT). We would then need to start the conversion ourselves. Does this sound like a reasonable price? Has anyone dealt with Salop recently? The first van has 4 berths already and is only £4000 more but has done more miles (and we would want to take out the seats eventually to make room for furniture but we could use it straightaway). It's such a tricky decision to make as it could be so very costly if we get it wrong! What questions should I be asking if we are just starting out on this road?!

I bought my Caravelle from Salop Vans earlier in the year and felt the price was great for the spec, Amanda didn’t try to get me to panic buy it by saying there was loads of people calling about it or anything like that. There wasn’t any negotiation on price but as it was priced competitively I wasn’t expecting any, they only deal in Transporters so know what their worth and how long things take to sell and i had turned up 4 hours after it went live online after travelling 200miles as I know how quickly these things go. They did give me 6 months free tax. Since buying it we discovered the passsenger heated seat doesn’t work (not something I’d expect them to notice before selling but also not sure if it broke since owning at as summer), they took the van back, gave me a courtesy, located the issue as a faulty heating element, ordered the part from VW who advised it wouldn’t arrive until next year so made safe and gave me my van back, they’ve just called today to say they have the part and will change the seat bases over whilst I wait. I would recommend them as a good company to buy a van from.

Similar to other people above I took about 8 months to find a van that suited my needs in my price range so I would advise you take some time to find exactly what you need unless you’re unable to wait! I would say air con, power, model and condition are not things to compromise on as a good base van makes life cheaper and easier depending on what you want to do with it. It will also sell much easier if you decide to change in the future.

 

[Rioja John]

I asked if there was any discount but Russ said sorry no, but he said that he would lower the suspension for us free of charge.

John.

 

[Texxaco]

Trust me, no air con is a no go, you will boil in the van without it. To retrofit isn’t cheap either.

 

[maggotlady]

Thanks all - there's so much to think about! It was that car and we have ruled it out. We have now found a T5 (I know this is a T6 forum but I can't find a T5 one). It is a 2014 plate and done 53,000 miles. It is a T32 Highline, 140 BHP. It seats 6. Currently it has a full width RIB bed in the back and a pop up bed in the roof. Nothing else yet. It has air con. It's on at just under £27,000. On the surface it looks like everything we need right now - we would look to add things at a later date. Does this price sound reasonable? I cannot work it out as there's such a variance in the market.

 

[russ_e]

Take a look at Used Vans & Commercial Vehicles for Sale | VWCV and add the extras for converting. Will give you a rough idea if the van is good value or not.

For me it was much cheaper to buy a panel van and then pay someone to convert it.

 

[JOG]

Thanks all - there's so much to think about! It was that car and we have ruled it out. We have now found a T5 (I know this is a T6 forum but I can't find a T5 one). It is a 2014 plate and done 53,000 miles. It is a T32 Highline, 140 BHP. It seats 6. Currently it has a full width RIB bed in the back and a pop up bed in the roof. Nothing else yet. It has air con. It's on at just under £27,000. On the surface it looks like everything we need right now - we would look to add things at a later date. Does this price sound reasonable? I cannot work it out as there's such a variance in the market.

Is it a California Beach?

 

[JOG]

Is it a California Beach?

Ignore me - if it’s a T32, it isn’t a California

 

[maggotlady]

Is it a California Beach?

No it's just been partially converted. Two previous owners. Looks in good condition. We would at some point want to do a full conversion, removing the full width bed and replacing it with 3/4. But for now it's something that we can drive off in and actually use. I have looked at panel van prices and I found a couple of vans that are very similar which we could convert for the same price (or thereabouts) but nothing that would see us cheaper. But it's a T5!

 

[JOG]

The T5 was a good van