VW: my Transporter T6 review

[Tourershine]

Another thread revival and one well overdue.

So, July 2018 and 27000 miles was the last update.
Now November 2019 and 70000 miles and what can I possibly report on my now ageing T6...
What issues have I had over this last much longer period?

Mechanically, absolutely none. Yet again, nothing has failed mechanically, nothing has caused me any issues mechanically, and nothing other than standard wear and tear has cost me money. I now service my T6 myself, and it's an easy vehicle to work on.

It's not all roses and fluffy clouds though. If you're reading this and don't know about my long winded battle with VW and corrosion on my T6, then it's all here in depth Paint Blisters
This was over drawn out by VW UK, but no more than any large manufacture would draw out an issue like this. Thankfully it's all well behind me, and my T6 is now blister free and fine.

As for anything else to report with my T6, it's still the most reliable vehicle I've ever owned, I still love driving it, modifying it, cleaning it, and getting involved with the VW scene.
I'm gearing up to change to the T6.1 next year, but I want to wait for a while, simply because I need people like Transporter HQ to catch up with the mods, and hit that thing with a large beauty stick. We are not even sure if many of the T6 mods that we have bolted to our current vans are compatible with the new 6.1 after a long chat with Andy today at HQ and no one is certain of anything to do with this next generation Transporter yet. Plus I need to see where the next colour trend goes, as they've changed a few things round in that department, along with introducing some new colour.
All in all, if the next gen is as good as this gen, then i'm in, but as with all new things, only time and test will tell.

 

[Tourershine]

Thread revival and one with a surprising conclusion if you read my previous posts on this subject.

Last long term review update was November 2019 at 70,000 miles and long before the world took a drastic turn and we started using a negative subject as a measure of time, before and after that point in time that I won't be giving air time to.

Anyway... October 2022 and just nudging 143,000 miles and unfortunately the previous life of reliability is long forgotten and my much loved T6 is now old and ready to be moved on, literally. We've seen a turbo blow apart at 140k. Not something I anticipated, but a lesson hard learnt, and if you've not read my post on turbo issue, let me pass on my wisdom. Avoid like the absolute plague, any major parts like a turbo, sold by any seller that's not Volkswagen, because it's likely to bite you in the ass, like it has me. VW new turbo just over £3000 (bi-turbo) but the issue was they were quoting a 12 week lead time which didn't work for me because the van is up and down the country every day with my work. Opting for a none Volkswagen turbo dealer seemed the best next thing because it was next day delivery, what could possibly go wrong?? Two of the turbos actuators can go wrong, that's what. First one was cracked on the housing, so we couldn't prove if it wasn't damaged in transit, but it meant the newly fitted turbo had to come back off (a 2 day job to remove and re-fit) Ok, all done and sparked up working fine, except it wasn't. We had a plume of Black smoke, that we didn't have before. This transpired to be the Revo map. Not their fault, but it had to come off, thus fixing the Black smoke instantly. All was fine for a few weeks, until the engine management light came on again and the van broke down. This turned out to be the turbo position sensor on the other actuator. Yep, back in the garage, turbo removed once again and new actuator fitted, problem solved, except it wasn't. We now have another fault that keeps dropping the van into limp mode. Thankfully nothing to do with the turbo, but it's fixed now.

So what now? Well sadly I'm driving a T6 that I'm constantly waiting for another light to rear it's ugly head and that's a worry too far for me, especially as we now seem to have a noisy DSG clutch rattle, so it's off to pastures new, as in my dealership and I'm saying goodbye to the Black beauty that was my T6.

I don't regret the T6. It's been faultless for nearly 140000 miles, but at this point it's just getting too worrying for me and my business, so it will be left at the dealership this weekend and replaced with an 8 month old 3000 mile T6.1
My dealer had a few stipulations with the replacement. LWB, Panel van, not DSG and not Black, had to be Highline, and absolutely had to have factory LEDs, to which they had one across the group. LEDs is still a very hard option to find in a panel van, but it's the best extra I had on the T6 and I just had to have them again.

Plans with the 6.1, who knows, but I certainly won't be going down my T6 route and slamming it. My van looked fantastic and drew a lot of attention, but the downside to this is running that low as a daily work van, will take up your weekends on axle stands fixing the issues you caused in the week.

I have a few ideas in my head, but what ever it is, it will be simplicity. I spent way too much money on the T6 going round and round with modifications, only to settle on a stripped back, clean, low, steel wheels, Gloss Blacked plastics and that's it. The next project will be the same, just not low this time.

 

[T6ARF]

I think a sensible, practical set of banded, chrome 17” GP’s would suit your new 6.1 perfectly…. all season tyres too…. ready for winter!

 

[F2JON]

Thread revival and one with a surprising conclusion if you read my previous posts on this subject.

Last long term review update was November 2019 at 70,000 miles and long before the world took a drastic turn and we started using a negative subject as a measure of time, before and after that point in time that I won't be giving air time to.

Anyway... October 2022 and just nudging 143,000 miles and unfortunately the previous life of reliability is long forgotten and my much loved T6 is now old and ready to be moved on, literally. We've seen a turbo blow apart at 140k. Not something I anticipated, but a lesson hard learnt, and if you've not read my post on turbo issue, let me pass on my wisdom. Avoid like the absolute plague, any major parts like a turbo, sold by any seller that's not Volkswagen, because it's likely to bite you in the ass, like it has me. VW new turbo just over £3000 (bi-turbo) but the issue was they were quoting a 12 week lead time which didn't work for me because the van is up and down the country every day with my work. Opting for a none Volkswagen turbo dealer seemed the best next thing because it was next day delivery, what could possibly go wrong?? Two of the turbos actuators can go wrong, that's what. First one was cracked on the housing, so we couldn't prove if it wasn't damaged in transit, but it meant the newly fitted turbo had to come back off (a 2 day job to remove and re-fit) Ok, all done and sparked up working fine, except it wasn't. We had a plume of Black smoke, that we didn't have before. This transpired to be the Revo map. Not their fault, but it had to come off, thus fixing the Black smoke instantly. All was fine for a few weeks, until the engine management light came on again and the van broke down. This turned out to be the turbo position sensor on the other actuator. Yep, back in the garage, turbo removed once again and new actuator fitted, problem solved, except it wasn't. We now have another fault that keeps dropping the van into limp mode. Thankfully nothing to do with the turbo, but it's fixed now.

So what now? Well sadly I'm driving a T6 that I'm constantly waiting for another light to rear it's ugly head and that's a worry too far for me, especially as we now seem to have a noisy DSG clutch rattle, so it's off to pastures new, as in my dealership and I'm saying goodbye to the Black beauty that was my T6.

I don't regret the T6. It's been faultless for nearly 140000 miles, but at this point it's just getting too worrying for me and my business, so it will be left at the dealership this weekend and replaced with an 8 month old 3000 mile T6.1
My dealer had a few stipulations with the replacement. LWB, Panel van, not DSG and not Black, had to be Highline, and absolutely had to have factory LEDs, to which they had one across the group. LEDs is still a very hard option to find in a panel van, but it's the best extra I had on the T6 and I just had to have them again.

Plans with the 6.1, who knows, but I certainly won't be going down my T6 route and slamming it. My van looked fantastic and drew a lot of attention, but the downside to this is running that low as a daily work van, will take up your weekends on axle stands fixing the issues you caused in the week.

I have a few ideas in my head, but what ever it is, it will be simplicity. I spent way too much money on the T6 going round and round with modifications, only to settle on a stripped back, clean, low, steel wheels, Gloss Blacked plastics and that's it. The next project will be the same, just not low this time.

Omg has someone hacked Paul’s account !!! Not low!! I’ll believe it when I see it

 

[Alster]

Why not DSG on your new van? Don’t think I could go back to manual.

 

[Tourershine]

Why not DSG on your new van? Don’t think I could go back to manual.

I said the same after going DSG, but after 5 years of automatic and the last 1 worrying about the cost of replacing the clutches and flywheels, I fancy a change.

Omg has someone hacked Paul’s account !!! Not low!! I’ll believe it when I see it

There comes a point in life where you move on, and that normally involves far less hassle. I'm at that point now. My priorities have changed. I have a second business that needs the van on and off potential building sites, where I refuse to stress if I'm either not going to get near my job, or I'm digging up half of someone's driveway in the process. I love the slammed look and it will always trump all other looks in my opinion, but it just doesn't work for me anymore.

 

[Dellmassive]

@Tourershine - you got your new bus yet?

 

[Tourershine]

@Tourershine - you got your new bus yet?

Yes mate.

Stock and loving it.

 

[Dellmassive]

Nice.... Start posting pics then. Or have I missed it?

 

[Tourershine]

Nice.... Start posting pics then. Or have I missed it?

It's a standard 6.1 Panel van, not really anything picture worth to be honest, or at least not something that people on here will want to see yet.

I may tweak around with it, but at the moment it's just a lovely looking van and drives like a Rolls Royce compared to my T6 and can carry full lengths of stud wood, without having to cut it down to size in Travis Perkins carpark

It's not my usual style of ride, but boy is it a nice van to use.

 

[t6blo]

It's a standard 6.1 Panel van, not really anything picture worth to be honest, or at least not something that people on here will want to see yet.

I may tweak around with it, but at the moment it's just a lovely looking van and drives like a Rolls Royce compared to my T6 and can carry full lengths of stud wood, without having to cut it down to size in Travis Perkins carpark

It's not my usual style of ride, but boy is it a nice van to use.

Swampery style @Tourershine ?

 

[Tourershine]

Swampery style @Tourershine ?

Still stock mate, and to be totally honest, I'm still loving driving it that way.