Faults:

Clutch and dual mass flywheel.

Front suspension.

EGR valve.

Bulbs.

General Comments:

Nice looking van.

Good range of engines.

Fairly refined, but at a price.

£4000 worth of non maintenance work within 70000 miles! From an independent specialist, and not uncommon apparently according to my VW mechanic. Unfortunately most parts failures were pointless emissions related.

Not built to last, as non hybrid and diesels are now being fazed out.

Faults:

Fuse has blown in the fan. Unlike probably every other car manufacturer on earth, they don't list which fuse is which. Only a dozen or so are listed of 60 odd. When I rang up Volkswagen, they wouldn't give me the fuse number. They said I had to take it to a dealer to have it checked out. At $80 per hour it is a very expensive fuse replacement.

Up until now I was very happy with the vehicle and was contemplating buying a new one, but they have lost me over this. Pushing you on their greedy overpriced dealers is not what I call customer service.

Where I live is sub tropical, and to drive with no air conditioning is very uncomfortable.

General Comments:

Good till now.

Faults:

Airbag lights come on.

Runs poorly when wet/rains (stalls when slowing down).

Sometimes loses power (even in 1st gear).

But for a van that's done over 270,000km, it isn't too bad.

General Comments:

When runs fine, it is an amazing van. Great power output for a 2.0 petrol engine, even with a tonne of load and incredible fuel economy (based on a manual).

Excellent cargo space, with a wide rear opening and pretty good wheel arch width.

Easy to drive, and good vision front, side and back.

Some parts can cost higher than other makes; why pay more on a van for the sake of cheaper parts, or pay less on a van that doesn't do the job...

Beware of autos... Check the box, especially on T5s.

Faults:

Air bag light came on; the fitter that installed the phone kit had pulled a plug off. VW said it happens a lot; £60 to plug back in, took less than 15 minutes.

Then had a recall on the steering column; a day off the road again.

General Comments:

The driver's seat won't go back far enough if the bulkhead is fitted.

The hill start on the van is a pointless thing, that makes you have to slip the clutch to pull away when loaded.

The brake pedal is too close to the accelerator pedal if you wear work boots.

The tailgate, when up, the number plate well fills with water if it's raining, then when you close it, you get wet if you use the handle to close it.

The road/wind noise is high at 50mph and above.

The seats are very uncomfortable if driven for more than 5 hours a day.