Volkswagen Transporter T5.II (2010-2015)

Transporter tdi400 oil consumption – 2012 campervan used doing longer drives 2000 to 8000 KMs , regular services, sudden onset of excess oil consumption.VW don't want to know about it, new engine required approximately $20,000 , this has been a continual problem, my engine has done only 65,000 KMs ,what a disgrace. I hope VW hold their head high, I would never recommend them or purchase another one it is shameful. Show details

Total waste of money – In 2013 I've bought my 2010 transporter T5 has 66000kms. August 2016 it broke a fan belt which doesn't sound to bad, but the fan belt made its way into the cam belt. There is a hole in the cam belt cover. It wrapped around a cog and caused the engine to go out of time. It destroyed the engine and cost me around $13000 to put new engine. Its… Read more

transmission start kicking in 2018 and anywhere I took it for repair they said its cost a fortune to fix it up and now the transmission gene and cost me $9000 to $14000 to repair, just sent it to wreckers. Don't do my mistake and run from VW, its very costly car.

Great car for work it’s strong enough for the job – I use this car every day and it still handles like a dream. I must say .. great car volts wagon for me I must say well for 12 thousand dollars Show details

Reliable Biturbo T1340 132kw 7 speed DSG ex nsw cop van – rattling in the twin clutch area now at 165000km's no worries ,this is my third VW Van, first one was a 1974 T2 Factory camper 1800 Auto, second one was a 1976 "African 2.0 litre twin carb manual 14 seater, Totally reliable.I could pull the engine out of either in 1/2 an hour, no problems. This one will be a challenge.  Show details ·  1

T5 not like the T4 – Replaced our T4 with a new T5 4 years ago. Despite regular service from the agent we have found this van to be crap compared to our old T4 that basically ran to 250000 without issue. 4 years old (70,000km) and needed new brake disks on the front, catalytic converter shat its self, doors are no longer hanging straight, and on it goes... We won't be buying VW again on the back of this poor life.  Show details

Brilliant van – Bought new done nearly 180000 reasonably hard kms carrying heavy loads. Always regularly serviced, including new fuel filters more regularly than required by VW. It can be hard on front tyres and disks when driven hard. Only problem was when it went into limp mode a couple of times @ about 90000 kms. This was fixed immediately with a recall by… Read more

VW at no cost to me. After driving my previous Hi Ace the VW was like a really comfortable powerful reliable car to drive. I had the 2 seater bench passenger seat fitted and Rhino Lining sprayed on the vans floor - turned out to be a great move. Thoroughly recommended

Great workhorse – Great work horse. Fully loaded & kitted out service van, carries over 1T everywhere and handles it perfectly. Manual, drives like a car, excellent fuel economy, and enough power for a work van. Very easy to get around, neat interior, comfortable seats, big door pockets etc. Had this one nearly 6 years with no issues whatsoever. Will be replacing it with the same when required.  Show details

Don't buy VW - great to drive & good fuel economy - unreliable & expensive - not built to last – 2010 LWB 103kw 2.0l diesel 6spd manual - this is a beautiful van - prefect for what I want it for - looks sexy - drives as good as a car - well finished - great fuel economy - get from 900 to 1200km from an 80l tank. Thank dog i got a manual to save me from the auto dsg issues - and I have not had as many problems as some - but more than others -… Read more

so after 6 years and 130,000km - egr valve failed - water pump leaked - some obscure wire broke in the engine bay wiring look...$300 - 2 window winder switches broke at $90 each just for the part - windscreen wipers so bad you have to pay $267 for euro model that used to be standard in oz - front drivers axle broke - non vw mechanic also changed passenger side when it didn't need to be - now 12 months later I have to replace the drivers side again - and I have a shudder in the clutch that I believe is the dual mass fly wheel which I probably need resolved before I can offload this.

I have not had any engine, turbo, diesel injector or gearbox problems yet - praise the drol.

If you still insist on buying one - don't use your local mechanic or the VW dealer - find a quality independent VW specialist - wish I had done this sooner - but I'm getting rid of it anyway.

I compare this to my prior car - a trusty Daihatsu Charade that did 370,000km without 1 repair - now that's made in japan for you.

Never tried to get VW to come to the party on repairs out of warranty - but I hear that is a nightmare.

I also had a terrible experience buying this new and getting addons from Frankston VW all care and no responsibility...but that's a story for another day.

Disaster – This vehicle is a financial disaster. Gearbox went at only 120,000 kms. Price to fix $10,300.00. Couldn't believe it. But wait it gets worse. They advise fly wheel and drive shaft also need replacing. Price $12,500.00!! The drive shaft is only stocked in the Philippines not Australia. 14 day wait. I have lost 2 weeks of income plus need to find the cash for the repairs. Keep clear of this van if you want to get anywhere financially.  Show details

Much less than what I expected – Brand new :At first I thought it was the best vehicle, Whitin a month a seal went on the turbo, within 3 months my remote control stated playing up, the car would remain unlocked even though it gave you the idea it was locked.pasenger side electric window would not close all the way and when driving you could hear the wind noise, dealer tried many… Read more

times and never fixed it to an acceptable level.at 23,000 Klm my air con compressor died. At 28,000klm my water pump failed and leaked water into the motor, it was me noticing what happened and stopping the vichcle that saved the motor from also failing, we found 3 litres of water in the motor mixed with the oil. At 34,000klm had problems with the power steering. After 37000klm the turbo kept going into over boost and the car would go into limp mode. at 38,000klm the motor Started making strange noises. After 38,000klm not sure what happened because I sold it. Never, ever again. The dealer was just as bad as the car, that's another story I want to forget.

would I buy another, not in my lifetime.

Good points it drove nice in between those problems.

This van is a lemon. Buyers beware!!! – My T5 has 47,000kms. It broke a fan belt which doesn't sound to bad, but the fan belt mad its way into the cam belt. There is a hole in the cam belt cover. It wrapped around a cog and caused the engine to go out of time. It destroyed valves, pistons and the head. This can happen at any time in the vehicles life. Volkswagen want nothing to do with it as its just out of warranty. Car is a lemon. Buyers beware!!!  Show details

Not bad. Not great – My company vehicle. Driving at a minimum of 4 hours a day up to 14 hours. Pros: *Great fuel economy. 14 hours of highway driving on one tank. *Plenty of space. I have shelving installed and I have enough left over to load in a pallet jack and carry a lot of tools. *Good interior. Nice place to be in day by day. Easy to keep clean. Plenty… Read more

of storage holes.

*Drives well. Great turning circle and general ease of getting from point to point is fantastic.

*Easy to access engine bay for light servicing.

Cons:

*The seats have ruined my back. No support controls. Worst seats ever. No lower back support. Has cost me a lot of money to get physio after long drives for work.

*Fiddly controls for Bluetooth. No music controls. Poor speaker quality. Hard to control HUD.

*Sluggish engine even for the manual. Hard to get to moving anywhere quicker because it is just to small for the size of the car. For a diesel its power to pull out of low revs (like a diesel should) is just non existent. Absolutely gutless.

*Noisy even for a work van.

*Hard to fit any shelving kits due to layout in rear area.

*Interior is very plastic. Everything but the outer steering wheel and gear stick cover is plastic. Easy to keep clean. Hot to the touch in the summers.

*Poor lighting in the back area. Had to install LED strips to see.

*Headlights give poor visibility. Installed new Narva spotlights to compensate.

*The clutch is pathetic. I have never stalled so many time while trying to get going in any other car ever. The amount of revs you have to use to get the van moving is ridiculous. And it comes and goes. I will have a day without issue and the next day stall three times when sitting at the lights. It's dangerous. I drive a Toyota Hiace from time to time and I never stall it.

The engine and clutch need to be reworked by VW.

I will not answer stupid question about issues with your own vehicle. I am not a mechanic.

Not happy – I have a transporter 2011 t5 reported in warrente the oil consumption was high.They said they tested but did not do a proper oil consumption test .After 110000 km the engine was said to be worn out .I have serviced the van from the start at vw. There goodwill is to pay half which is a replacement engin. Why do they offer 3 year warrentee and unlimited km if the engine is so good Not impressed by vw  Show details

Now on 2nd Transporter – First Transporter was '05 and heavily optioned. 128kw motor, auto, colour coded, fogs, sunroof, dual sliders, barn doors, deluxe seat, and a few other things. Ran superbly but developed short pause in trans between 2nd and 3rd at 150k kms. Took to local VW dealer who had done all servicing and after diognosis was told to bring it back in 1 week to… Read more

have trans replaced under good-will, 50k kms out of warranty. Not joking! 250k kms need a crack in the exhaust manifold welded, air-con compressor at 260k(it was black with a sunroof and air con ran nearly constantly), and alternator at 280k km. It was sold at 360k kms running superbly, still with full power, only signs of wear were the seat and the steering wheel. It frequently pulled heavy loads of paper....we are printers.

2nd Transporter is now 3yo and is 132kw 7speed dsg. It has done 170k km with a similar work load and to this point, has had zero problems.

The best commercial van, if fingers cross there are no problems – This is a TDI340 DSG, 2013 model. I've heard plenty of complaints about the DSG but since VW claims they have fixed the problem, let's fingers cross they did fix the problem. It's now done 7 months with over 9000km, yet having any issue. For the car itself, if you are sick of boring commercial vans, the Transporter is the only van you can have… Read more

some personalities. If you do want to bling it up and still have some spare left (after the expensive initial purchase), there are lots of samples and mod ideas from UK as Transporter is very popular there.

There are lots of big storage bins, overall practicality is excellent. However it's also expensive, with minimal standard features. With a driveaway price almost $50k, you are missing a long list of deserved features for a car of this price range -- especially in a car with only 2 seats -- there is no steering wheel control, no bluetooth, no seat height adjustment, very basic stereo, only 2 airbags, no what so ever go behind the seats..... If you start ticking some necessary options, you will find the price going north of $50k too easy. And I haven't mention about the driving position and interior setup is more truck like. The steering wheel and console are facing 45 degrees up and there is no anti-slip mats inside any storage bins, so you end up having lots of items in the bin sliding around when driving. Sliding door and tail gate are heavy and require you to have some muscle to push them lockup properly -- they don't automatically lock up for the last CMs of travel. Compare to a Jap or Korean, it is too skinny for what you can see......

...... However in the area that you can't see, things are money well spent. It's solid, excellent finished. The interior are all made of soft and durable plastic/rubbers (if you can see the difference). Dynamic is excellent even in passenger car standard. The factory 205 R16 steel wheel is ok but too skinny and unbelievable in a "empty" car that cost almost $50k. If you want better road holding especially in wet, find yourself a good set of 17/18s. Grip will be significantly improved with firm but still comfortable ride. Body control is unbelievably excellent for a commercial van of of it's size. Although there are some top heavy in tight corners as it is almost 2m high -- be careful if you drive it to some undercover parking, most of the allowance is only 2m and the low roof model is just 1cm lower.

The engine plus the DSG is still one of the world class combination, despite they've been on the market for almost a decade. You can find how they works on other VW reviews and it's a century ahead of aging Japanese drivelines.

To say more about the transmission problem. I notice there were mostly around 100k or over, which sadly they could be out of warranty. Many manufacturers claim there is no necessary to service their latest tech gearbox but I am seriously in doubt. For a complicate device running in extreme load and speed, over very long period of time, with excessive heat and friction, it is no brainer that you SHOULD change the fluid and check the conditions over a regular period of time. Do not be blinded by your manufacturer/dealer, they will not care how the car will like once out of their responsible timeline. Find a good local transmission specialist, change the fluid every 50k or so, you shouldn't spend more than $200 of any circumstances. There are lots of other make/model likely to have transmission problem over high mileage, to name some, the 4sp Falcadore,/Mazda6, ZFs, and I saw 2 Accord, 1 CRV that had transmission failure and 1 more Accord almost there (how many Accords you will expected to see driving from ppl around you?), all around 130k. DSG can be more possible to have problem due to its design but you can definitely minimize the chances if you know what to do yourself. Powerful yet frugal engine, smooth DSG when moving, The only commercial van to have personalities, Dynamics/ride balance, Big, solid and practical Expensive, skinny standard list, DSG is harsh in low speed, ergonomics, DSG's reliability worry

How did this pass QC?? – 6/2011 T5.1 Transporter TDI. The van is 1 out of 20 we have in our NSW fleet all less then 4 years old. I have had this van since brand new used to transport spare parts and tools in an electrician/plumbers application. The van is reguarly serviced at every 15k and don't get very heavy usage (average 40,000kms a year). Already at 78,000 kms, i've… Read more

had my seat belt replaced due to ripping, automatic gear lever replaced due to internals breaking (not allowing the changing of gears) and multiple globe replacements.

All this is nothing to what happened next. 25/9/13, as i was turning out of the lights, as the car was going to shift from 2nd to 3rd, then.... BOOM!!! Car stalls and forces me to pull off the road. I get the van towed back to the mechanic. Apparently, something flicked up off the road damaging the fan belt. The fan belt snapped and rapped around the timing belt causing it to skip a couple of gears. This in turn bent the valves in the engine all because there is no sump under the engine.

NOW, my van has been sent to VW HQ in Melbourne to have the damage assessed for warranty repairs to be done. Apparently, the engine, starter motor, timing belt, fan belt and a couple more parts need to be replaced. My main question is: how can the German engineers at VW, design a commercial van without the engine under shielding. I believe the pre-facelift version had under shielding, but they decided to remove it? I am still waiting to receive word of what is happening with repairs and its been 2 weeks.

In a nutshell, i have a love hate relationship with VW's. They drive great for a van, its easy on the eyes to look at, inside and out. However, the service and reliability of their vehicles, are appalling. So unless they fix this issue, buyer beware. Drives and handles well (like a golf), Very good at freeway speeds, very safe, lots of character VW service is terrible, Passenger seating cannot be adjusted in 3 seater (uncomfortable), and reliability could be a lot better

the passengers perspective – Our company just picked up a new T5 3 seater. This vehicle was purchased because of bad back issues caused by the vw caddy. We are service related electrical / data contractors and are in the car upto 4.5hrs a day. Our last vw, a caddy, at 3 years old it had 180000 kms. So we get around a bit. Anyway the past week I have been the passenger… Read more

in the new 3 seater. And im not impressed. Im 70kgs, 175cm tall, so im a small lad. And while sitting in the sest the buckle for rhe seat belt digs into your backside.. the seat belt is behind you? If you move your body to the extreme left your rubbing against the door frame and get hard plastic vibrations all up your arm so you have to out up with the seatbelt jn your back.

Secondly the seat is completely un adjustable? ! You can not move the passenger seat forward, backward or tilt. And to top it off you can not sit with your legs in front of you. The foot well I angled towards the driver due to the wheel arch. Which has you sitting in an angled.

All these items cause back pain for your passenger. Do not get this if you are planning to have a passenger over 60kgs, and plan to drive any distance.