Any mechanics out there?? advice needed

ellen

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Hello, I am looking for some impartial advice from anyone "in the know" with regards to reliability of either toyota or vw. We have been looking at toyota granvia conversions, they looks fantastic yet seem expensive for what is a relatively old van. On the other hand the vw t4 & 5 seem to be less expensive for the same age. Could anyone that is mechanically minded help us with this? we have been told that a toyota would be far more reliable than a vw but we do struggle to justify the cost of some of the granvia conversions. We haven`t got a clue but as a van would need to be our everyday car reliability is paramount for work etc. Any advice and guidance is greatfully appreciated and accepted. Many thanks. Ellen.
 
i ran an independant vw garage for about 18yrs . i have never liked or found the t4-5 to be very good .i prefer the air cooled or the waterboxer. the 1900-2000ltr were not too bad the 5cyl used to rip cv joints and many had clutch problems. front w,brgs are expensive and dont last long.
i now run mitsubishi truck and have a mazda bongo. i find the price of vw is just too high. its gone mad. there are a few japanese imports and usually you cant go wrong with them .they are fairly in expensive . the converters seem to rip folk off ,bit like mant converters . i have normally made my own and built for others. the toyota seems very nice . i went for mazda as we have a few specialists in the area. mine came straight from southampton docks so worked out quite cheap. look hard lack of waxoiling on some can cause problems in uk. cheers alan.
 
Thanks for that Alan, are you happy with your Mazda bongo? they look fantastic, what put us off was reports of overheating, can this in your opinion be a problem? I`m sure that there are fors and againsts in most makes but with us being total dim wits with regards to vehicles we would need to pay for any repairs rather than us being able to do them ourselves. Cheers. Ellen.
 
the bongo is a bit small .i use either a full length roof rack and landrover style roof tent .or pull a teardrop caravan.
the japanese use some kind of powder anti freeze . it seems its best if you drain the cooling system and fill using our liquid type anti freeze. i did have a radiator go not long after i bought it. i got one from bongo bits in plymouth. i find them the bongo fury club and pit stop garage in bodmin all very helpfull.
i,m very pleased with mine. as the dark back windows and makes a good stealth camper. mine is a 8 seater might get round to converting it one day. ideliberately didnt get a freetop version as they tend to look like campers yet the roof is not very usefull. cheers alan.
 
I had a Bongo for about a yr, remember you will be looking at about a 10yr old base vehicle, there's a wealth of info on the Bongo Fury owners website. The only 'problem' I knew of was VERY poor fuel consupmtion, when I reported I was running a 2wd and still only got 24mpg MANY came back and said they would be please with such a high figure! (Some only got 17mpg!)

Spares were easy to come by, but as Alan said these days Jap crap doesn't go wrong and isn't crappy anymore! Do check the condition of the roof tent, just incase it's been packed away wet.

The only other downside is they are quite narrow, great for every day use, but there's no room once made into a double bed, or when converted our friends have to sleep one up in the tent and one down on the lumpy seats - so see how you get on climbing up into the roof tent and then closing the trap door and making the bed!?!
 
that seems a bit low .i get 25-27mpgand its a 4wd auto. many i know reckon thy are getting 30mpg with 2wd. some remove the prop to stay 2wd. me and my last partner managed ok on the bumpy seats/bed and she wasnt pettite. i,m not either.
think the mitsubishi is better on fuel but they are narrow .thoughi think better for off road. i wanted one of them but could never find one that caught my eye for a good price.
some of the nissan imports are good as well.
 
If you mean the delica Alan then no, they are no better on fuel at all, very much the same all round except the delica is generally the cheaper of the 2, and a lot better off road. .... That's why I got one!
 
when I was responsible for some of the company fleet (commercials) I ordered in an LT35 flatbed truck mostly on the reputation that VW had for reliability. Sadly it was the most unreliable vehicle we ever had. After that we stuck to either Fiat Daily or Isuzu vehicles.
 
I've had 2 T4s. last one was a 2.5tdi Trooper which gave us 32mpg and no bother reliability wise. Used it every day for commuting - drove like a big car. Didn't like the Bongo much - bit cramped if you're 6'4" and sitting on the engine reminded me too much of my Vauxhall Midi.
 
i,ve seen the delicia in action in the sahara.like them. just got the bongo as a local bought a shipment and i went with him to pick some up. liked the tintop and got it at a good price. came in with a load freetops. they were meant to be all freetops.
 
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