Year round usage?
- Thread starter Sean2912
- Start date
We have a SWB DSG 2.0L this is the only vehicle we have. My wife takes it to work 2 days a week. Be selective when finding a parking space leave yourself and others a bit of room. Keep your tyres in good condition. My wife drives faster than me and does on occasion forget that she has 3 tonnes pushing when coming to a roundabout in the winter/ wet . I upgraded the headlights which was a good move. The van does everything we need it to do.
I use my LWB Shuttle all year as well a Shuttle. Winter times its on winter tyres, Slovak winter grade screenwash and a fresh set of wiper blades. Oh and a check that the heated seats are working nicely. Oh and then I throw in the chains and socks "just in case".
Check your windows and doors for water ingress with a hose.
Mines my work van & personal/recreational vehicle. Don’t own a car. I work it pretty hard, averaging around 300 miles a week in it. Sometimes 500 depending on work location. A good mixture of motorway/dual carriageway driving as well as regular roads.
I actually think these vans are all the better off for it. They need to be used & need to be opened up regularly to help avoid the much documented issues you’ll often read about.
Mines a work horse not a show pony. A very nice work horse though!
Not really sure what to say in terms of weather that hasn’t been mentioned above already. Remember it’s a heavy vehicle & in wet or icy conditions as that’ll play a big part in how you should drive.
Regular maintenance & servicing is key: Oil changes, keep on top of tyres & brakes etc
Basically use the van, enjoy it, take good care of it & it’ll likely repay the favour.
I actually think these vans are all the better off for it. They need to be used & need to be opened up regularly to help avoid the much documented issues you’ll often read about.
Mines a work horse not a show pony. A very nice work horse though!
Not really sure what to say in terms of weather that hasn’t been mentioned above already. Remember it’s a heavy vehicle & in wet or icy conditions as that’ll play a big part in how you should drive.
Regular maintenance & servicing is key: Oil changes, keep on top of tyres & brakes etc
Basically use the van, enjoy it, take good care of it & it’ll likely repay the favour.
We use ours all year ,our headlights are pretty pants regardless of the time of year
Normal checks on fluid levels , tyres etc. Like driving anything, drive to suit the road conditions and be very careful through big puddles or standing water if you wanna keep your undertrays.
Normal checks on fluid levels , tyres etc. Like driving anything, drive to suit the road conditions and be very careful through big puddles or standing water if you wanna keep your undertrays.
You'll note the number of threads where folks who don't use the vehicle in the "off season" have issues, specifically with electrics.
Vehicles like to move and be used.
Not sure if the T5 has DPF but one thing to keep in mind for other reasons as well is they don't like short trips. Make sure you do trips of a decent enough length that the engine is up to temperature, batteries are recharging well and if you have DPF that regens have a chance.
Vehicles like to move and be used.
Not sure if the T5 has DPF but one thing to keep in mind for other reasons as well is they don't like short trips. Make sure you do trips of a decent enough length that the engine is up to temperature, batteries are recharging well and if you have DPF that regens have a chance.
Get some decent all season tyres on some sensible sized wheels.
My camper is not my only vehicle but I use it regularly as I’m of the opinion that lack of use is not good. There’s nothing specific you need to consider, Transporters trundle around all year. Being a T5 you don’t have to worry about regens, DPF etc which is great. You may not want to cart all your camping gear around every day and it may be worth taking the gas bottle out when not needed (I don’t). You may also want to consider management of your leisure battery depending on the setup you have. You may not want to be charging it every time you start the van and keeping it constantly full when it’s not needed (e.g. lifepo4 batteries are best stored at approx 50%).
This is all very sensible advice but I love the idea that I can just jump in the van and head off somewhere. Hasn’t happened yet but one day it might
In my case it’s the only reason I own one. No planning required.
This is the reason the rear kitchen pod stays in the Caravelle. However we do have some stuff (awning/table/chairs) that lives in the back for ad hoc days out that we don't take on longer roadtrips where we need the luggage space. All the is in a big solid duffle bag though so it's one lift in and out.
works for us .
Like many others, our bus is daily transport.
We have a roof box and roof tent up top, so have to consider where we are going to park as more and more car parks, even the open air ones, have height restriction barriers in place these days. We need 2.5m. Without a roofrack or bars most car parks are fine. Just check.
It might look big and boxy but a SWB Transporter is not much larger (if any) in terms of footprint than many estate cars, SUVs and 4x4s.
A T6 is 4904mm long, 1904mm wide, 2297 with mirrors and 1990mm high
A modern Range Rover is 5052mm to 5252mm long, depending on the variant, 2003 mm wide and 1870mm high.
A Mercedes C Class Estate is 4,755-4,842mm long, 1,824-1,900mm wide and 1,454-1,494mm high
The driving position means that you get a great view out to the front and sides. You may need to get used to using wing mirrors more as opposed to the rear view mirror, depending on what you are carrying and what windows you actually have.
Enjoy it.
We have a roof box and roof tent up top, so have to consider where we are going to park as more and more car parks, even the open air ones, have height restriction barriers in place these days. We need 2.5m. Without a roofrack or bars most car parks are fine. Just check.
It might look big and boxy but a SWB Transporter is not much larger (if any) in terms of footprint than many estate cars, SUVs and 4x4s.
A T6 is 4904mm long, 1904mm wide, 2297 with mirrors and 1990mm high
A modern Range Rover is 5052mm to 5252mm long, depending on the variant, 2003 mm wide and 1870mm high.
A Mercedes C Class Estate is 4,755-4,842mm long, 1,824-1,900mm wide and 1,454-1,494mm high
The driving position means that you get a great view out to the front and sides. You may need to get used to using wing mirrors more as opposed to the rear view mirror, depending on what you are carrying and what windows you actually have.
Enjoy it.
