Unbiased Opinions

[TheBlimp75]

Hi All,

I am looking at buying a V Class MB.

I was wondering if anyone had any views in them ownership, issues etc etc.

All thoughts would be great fully received.

Thanks in advance.

Ian


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[Blobcat]

@Wearsafoxhat has one

I bought a VW Caravelle and had it for 10 years. Would have preferred a Mercedes but the VW was the better car. They also hold their value amazingly well...
I bought for £24k at 1 year old, put a 100k miles on it in 10 years and sold it for £15,500...

 

[grayb]

I don't have personal experience, but my nephew bought an elderly V-class a few years ago - fully specced with air suspension at the back, captains chairs, etc - only to be stranded in it in the French Alps, with diesel injector issues. They got it back, only for the suspension to fail. It got moved on very swiftly having swallowed more than enough money. I can't remember how many miles it had done, or how careful my brother and nephew were on pre-purchase inspection, but they did regret buying it.

 

[TheBlimp75]

I don't have personal experience, but my nephew bought an elderly V-class a few years ago - fully specced with air suspension at the back, captains chairs, etc - only to be stranded in it in the French Alps, with diesel injector issues. They got it back, only for the suspension to fail. It got moved on very swiftly having swallowed more than enough money. I can't remember how many miles it had done, or how careful my brother and nephew were on pre-purchase inspection, but they did regret buying it.

I’m looking at buying a 3/5 year old one so hopefully will avoid issues but you never know .

Thanks for the response .


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[TheBlimp75]

@Wearsafoxhat has one

I bought a VW Caravelle and has it for 10 years. Would have preferred a Mercedes but the VW was the better car. They also hold their value amazingly well...
I bought for £24k at 1 year old, put a 100k miles on it in 10 years and sold it for £15,500...

Oooh ok.

I’m also looking at VW Transporter/Caravelle so will bear that in mind.

24k for a 12 month old one was a good buy and resale was amazing !!


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[Wearsafoxhat]

Hi,

We have had our V220d for just over a year. Due to the year being a bit of a funny ole year we haven’t done as much with as we had planned, next year eh.

The car then...
We went for the one with a few options, pano roof, 360 camera and park assist, memory pack,easy pack and 8 seats.

Around town we are getting about 28 mpg and on long runs have seen 36.. The 220 is ample, has plenty of pick up when needed, cruises well at 70 and is certainly comfortable enough. Easy to drive.

Seats, come as 7 or 8 seaters. You cannot swap the seats from 7 to 8 or vica versa. The tracks are factory fitted.
You can change the orientation of them though, but they are quite heavy if changing them around on your own.

Servicing is every 2years or 20k miles.
Road tax is a rip off for the first few years before it drops to £150, as is an over £40 k car.
Big things to keep washed and waxed but not much else to say really,
If you have any specific questions, please just ask


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[Blobcat]

Oooh ok.

I’m also looking at VW Transporter/Caravelle so will bear that in mind.

24k for a 12 month old one was a good buy and resale was amazing !!


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It was a great buy... I picked it up from a main dealer in Norwich. They’d sold two to a guy and he sold one back to the dealership. Same car in Wales at the time was around £36k... well worth travelling for the right one. Mine was the 25ltr 174 bhp Executive with all the toys including a 10” drop down TV.
One reason J went for the VW was the separate AC for the rear passengers with roof and B-Pillar vents.

 

[Wearsafoxhat]

A VW is likely to loose less over time.
Intend on keeping our V class for many years so not too worried about any depreciation.
We looked at a VW caravelle but the V had better standard options, hill start assist, hold (brake), etc to name a few.
The VW had some nice storage ideas, the V does lack in cubby holes and trays and no tv in ours.

Sometimes think we would have been better getting the V250 as this would have more “tune ability”. Same engine, just twin turbos and bigger injectors but the 220 is fine.


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[MBDevotee]

I have to agree that the Caravelle's hold their money ridiculously well - AS LONG AS IT's IMMACULATE. Had someone want to px one recently, about 20 years old, 230,000m and horrible (kids had kicked the s**t out of it!!) Booked about 8k (roughtly from memory - can't remember exact figure) I can't think of many 20 year old cars with 230,000m on them that still book about 8k - however the best bid we got was 2k because of the condition. Keep them nice and they just don't seem to lose any money at all.

If you don't need 8 seats, but want a big old bus, don't forget the T5 Crew cabs (Kombi?) - only 5 or 6 seats, but then a huge loadbay behind!

 

[Blobcat]

I have to agree that the Caravelle's hold their money ridiculously well - AS LONG AS IT's IMMACULATE. Had someone want to px one recently, about 20 years old, 230,000m and horrible (kids had kicked the s**t out of it!!) Booked about 8k (roughtly from memory - can't remember exact figure) I can't think of many 20 year old cars with 230,000m on them that still book about 8k - however the best bid we got was 2k because of the condition. Keep them nice and they just don't seem to lose any money at all.

If you don't need 8 seats, but want a big old bus, don't forget the T5 Crew cabs (Kombi?) - only 5 or 6 seats, but then a huge loadbay behind!

Mine after 10 years and 100K miles (and 5 kids...)

 

[MBDevotee]

And thats worth a LOT of money!! The Caravelles are a great car - and would without a doubt be on my list if I could afford one!

Can you take out that massive rear 3-seat? If so that's one useful practical van!

 

[Blobcat]

And thats worth a LOT of money!! The Caravelles are a great car - and would without a doubt be on my list if I could afford one!

I could have sold it 20 times over... guy flew down from Inverness for it to Manchester then took the train to Hereford. He took one look at it, transferred the money there and then and then drove it straight back to Inverness.

 

[Wearsafoxhat]

That was one nice car.

To the o/p, the V class doesn’t have that nice storage under the rear seats, but believe that you can now purchase some sort of box for them.
Lots of legs to negotiate and little room for much though.

Imho the VW’s are better thought out from a users point of view, just found the MB had the better driving experience.


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[Blobcat]

That was one nice car.

To the o/p, the V class doesn’t have that nice storage under the rear seats, but believe that you can now purchase some sort of box for them.
Lots of legs to negotiate and little room for much though.

Imho the VW’s are better thought out from a users point of view, just found the MB had the better driving experience.


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The storage doors are standard on the VW... but the 3 sliding trays were a £48 option...

 

[Wearsafoxhat]

The storage doors are standard on the VW... but the 3 sliding trays were a £48 option...

£48, guess you could add a nought to that for an MB one.

It is things like this that would make the V far more useful. Nowt worse than stuff rolling around...


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[MBDevotee]

If they could just make the Caravelle or V-class able to tow 3.5t then they would be the perfect car in my book - would make a lot of these 7 seat 4x4's pointless

 

[Blobcat]

If they could just make the Caravelle or V-class able to tow 3.5t then they would be the perfect car in my book - would make a lot of these 7 seat 4x4's pointless

2,500kg is the limit for the Caravelle. I used to tow 2 x R1200GSA's on the trailer and the Caravelle didn't even notice the trailer was there... no difference to economy or power

 

[MBDevotee]

I know - same with the V Class - 2500kg.

Which is actually a good tow weight and enough for most needs - just nice to have the max ability really. The fact is, it probably WOULD tow 3.5t but not legally....

I have heard of Landcruiser drivers towing 6000kg - but they don't do it legally!

 

[Blobcat]

I know - same with the V Class - 2500kg.

Which is actually a good tow weight and enough for most needs - just nice to have the max ability really. The fact is, it probably WOULD tow 3.5t but not legally....

I have heard of Landcruiser drivers towing 6000kg - but they don't do it legally!

I've known SIII 88" Land Rovers tow 18,000kg...

 

[MBDevotee]

Didn't they pull a 747 with one once?