After the Honda had its coronary a few weeks ago, my wife is keen to get a Caravelle - god bless her cotton socks.

Whilst I know many people have commented on the ride qualities of T3's in the past, it's really a T4 that she's looking for. I've seen a few petrol and diesel engined 98 onwards models with 150,000 kms on them. But the question begs, how reliable are they at that age, and I am up for years of repairs? I know couriers run their diesel T4's into the ground and put 300,000+ kms on them, so there's some merit in their quality.

But what's the general consensus of those who have them? Worth it??

Can I give a suggestion? Caravelles are more expensive due to the trim and interior specs. Have you considered a Kombi? Same shape as Caravelle, but with 9 seats (although that front bench seat is uncomfortable, change it to a single passenger seat) and with rubber flooring all the way through, much better than carpet with kids. Mine was $42K brand new back in 2003 but I have seen them for sale under $30K with low klms.

If you buy her one, she will love it :blush

Thought you'd chime in here Mel.

my 98 T4 has 130km on it and apart from regular servicing it goes like a trogan..
no unexpected outlays..
i was told to listen for a noisy box when lookin for mine as these were the only downfall with these models..
but mine goes n goes n goes..
non-turbo diesel but still gets me from a-b.. but next id go for the tdi for sure..
good luck with it..

my t4 has 170,000 and runs fine, interior is as good as new and its solid all round. Full VAG history helps. Mines 2.5 petrol, which is not as thirsty as people 'warned me about'.

It climbs hills without loosing any speed, more than keeps up with traffic and has bag of room.

However, it is a VAN and now where near as nice to drive as my T3. The only problem with the T3, it's underpowered for kid-lugging - but I think Ive solved that problem now with a Sube motor.

A very good Caravelle GLS with all the bits - go for 98 on with the face lift - 200,000ks is not 'high' on a t4 as long as it's been serviced. But then at 15-20k, it is a lot of car. New ones BOMB money ... mines 1 owner and cost me 16.

I just sold my T3 and got in a T4.
if you know already how much nicer a T3 is to drive than a Bay, well, it's the same difference with a T4 and a T3.
I picked up my '94 transporter with 220k for $5k.
I wasn't too concerned about it having 220k on it cos of all the others I'd seen with 320k on the clock.
go the t4:thumb

Thanks for the tips guys. Deano I knew you'd chime in as I knew you'd upgraded from T3 to T4. Upper limit is about $22k, so a T4 Kombi is out of the question. Good to hear about the petrol GLS'. I've heard that they're thirsty and gutless, but it's good to get the word from someone who's got one. A TDi would be the go for sure, but none around at the moment that I've found.

Cheers....

Don't give up on the Kombi..you might get lucky and pick one up for that $22K.....there was one last year at auction here in newcastle...ex hunter area health I think..that went for that much. they have front air con..airbags...cloth seats etc

see here..
http://search.carsguide.news.com.au/news/find-a-car/power-search/search-resul...

I bought the T4, the wife assumed we'd sell the T3?. I thought the idea was to have the set....however the wife doesn't complain about the T4 like she did the T3 - it was nicknamed the Zanussi - due to it's fridge like styling.

Diesel will be better on fuel, you have to be gentle on the gas, else it drinks fuel. On a run we get similar fuel to our 2.5 Sube, but around town, we get as bad as 16 per 100 at times.

Fuel consumption is probably the only 'worry' if any. Check the electrics, some of them I looked at did'nt have mirrors and locking working correctly, also the climate control - exy if its stuffed.

One of the relays caused the engine to cut out. I forget which, quite alarming in an auto as to start you gotta be in park, no good on the freeway ... but when took it to the Chief he know exactly what the issue was as he's seen a few with this problem. Swapped the relay, never did it again.

I'd pay more (and maybe did) to get the full VW history and it came with all the bills. It was defo better than some less documented ones I drove. They are defo not all the same, and it took a while to find one I felt comfortable with. It took a few months to find.

Welcome to come over and let the missus take it out for a spin.

GLS has all the bits and hold their money. For 15-20 you should get into one with a mint interior and 100-200,000 ks. Just go post 98 for the facelift and a full history with a bag of bills. If looked after and serviced then they are fine. I found dealers wanted 4/5 over the mark for them.

I ended up getting mine from Maitland, good ones don't last long in private sale and are not plentyful. Dealers snap them up as they sell quick, rarely need money spend on them pre-sale and don't come back to bite them in the arse. I tried the auctions, only high k, early ones came through when I was looking. Took me about 2 months to get one, and that was trolling the web daily it seemed.

Have Dave Becker still got that Red T3? that looked a steal.

i compared the caravelle to the kombi brand new, and i would have definately paid the extra 10 grand for the caravelle (the difference is more than that now, but probably still worth it). i ended up buying 99 caravelle with 142000 km, 2.5 petrol 5 speed manual, and it hasn't missed a beat, except for that relay that dean mentioned.

very happy with it.

easier to lower than the early ones too

they are good units ..tdi is the best you wont look back....30power relay shou;d be changed every couple years only on the petrol models they are around 20-30 dollars mark....feel confident the do higher mileage than t3's with less engine work cheerws steve