Farewell faithful VW

Honest John Back Room » Motoring discussion
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Fri 13 Apr 2007 18:23
Farewell faithful VW - legacylad
After 9 years ownership, I have today sold my '97 P reg 2.4D Transporter. a LWB High Roof variant. I bought it at one year old from a main dealer as an ex demo/parts delivery van and not once in all these years has it let me down! Admittedly I only covered 105,000 miles in it, mainly commuting to my shop where it was used as a 'mobile warehouse' and I changed the oil every 6k miles, but it was as reliable as my old Westie.
It has now gone to a good home and I am left with my recently acquired 12 year old Defender 90. With a spare set of wheels and Vredestein M & S tyres we had some real adventures over the years, and at yesterdays MOT it only needed new pads and brake pipes. On a long test drive today ...it ran smooth as silk, incorporating furniture removal for a friend...no point in wasting diesel, and over the years returned a consistent 30/35 mpg with absolutely no oil needed between changes.
I sold it for a very reasonable £1850 (inc new front tryes& exhaust) and what on earth can replace such reliable motoring for that sort of money?
Bet the Defender doesn't last that long trouble free....
Blimey, I never thought I would feel sad about selling a van....
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Fri 13 Apr 2007 20:48
Farewell faithful VW - boxsterboy
I know how you feel.

A few years back I bought an N-reg 2.4 lwb T4 (low roof), ex-Anglian windows with 130,000 on the clock but a complete breakdown of every last penny ever spent on it (as well as a fair bit of mastic residue in the back). I seem to recall I paid £1,500 for it. The one unexpected expense was suspension rubbers, but otherwise it ran as smooth as silk up and down to the coast for 2 years, ladden with windsurfing kit. It's the one vehicle I sold on at a profit, to a fellow windsurfer who liked the way I had racked out the rear for board storage. Those 5-cylinder engines certainly take some beating.

We have recently taken delivery of a shiny new lwb T5 174 bhp, which I hope serves us as well, but having read some of the stories about them on other forums, I have my doubts (still, the stories are nowhere near as bad as the Vito stories you see!).
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