You don't need to be an 'investor' to invest in Singletrack: 6 days left: 95% of target - Find out more
From 2023 they'll be made in the same factory in Turkey. Tranny Custom & T7
Now you can all hug and play nicely.
😉
Bindun
Missed it.... Were they good hugs?
So this "great news" from our Brexity Govt is just a short-term filler as they'll be looking to move from diesels PDQ?
The caddy and connect also
Not just the same factory, but they are the same vehicle
You have to assume most of the engines are for export.
The number of Transit police vans/ ambulances in Russia and China often amazes me (seen on the news on TV)
I can't wait to see if they release identical vans Vivaro/Trafic style but the VW version is 10 grand more expensive. How will the faithful justify it?
I can’t wait to see if they release identical vans Vivaro/Trafic style but the VW version is 10 grand more expensive. How will the faithful justify it?
That will happen. The VW will probs be a higher spec.
This poses some questions:
will the Ford get independent rear suspension or the VW cart springs and a beam?
will the Ford have any form of rustproofing whatsoever, or will VWs start dissolving before our eyes?
will the VW still be put together by people who make BL's Longbridge crew seem like ex-Maybach employees?
I almost like my T6, now I've put it together properly and it's stopped depositing my wife and children on motorway hard shoulders. My 5.1 was undoubtedly the least reliable vehicle I've ever owned & that includes a panda I rescued from a scrap yard and a 1976 series 2-and-some-bits landrover I had joint custody of for some time.
Given the strange scene fashion for de-badging VW's, could you not just save £10k, buy the transit and de-badge that instead? You could probably even get the DVLA to change the V5c.
Quality can only go up for the VW's.
Given the strange scene fashion for de-badging VW’s
It's an odd one as there's the folk who de-badge then there's the opposite end of the spectrum where folk have to put huge VW logos on every surface possible. It's not my bag.
can’t wait to see if they release identical vans Vivaro/Trafic style but the VW version is 10 grand more expensive. How will the faithful justify it?
Well the starting price of a transporter and transit are about the same (Transit a smidge more expensive actually) so no scene tax on the commercial vans. But even if there were it would be justified in the same way Seat, Skoda, VW and Audi justify very different price point for the same cars. Also see the A Class merc is a collab with Citroen, basically a Citroen C3 in wolfs clothing and still commands the MB premium. The value is in the brand, not the product.
Also it's not the first tine VW has done a collaboration with Ford with the first gen Ford Galaxy, the VW Sharan and Seat thingumabob. Essentially the same cars but different price points. Also the Renault Traffic and Vauxhall Vivaro are the same van so makes sense for VW and Ford to collaborate to compete on cost. As for the 'scene' tax...the Transit factory camper is as expensive as the VW California, so either it costs the manufacturers alot to re-engineer a commercial van to produce a factory camper for both Ford and VW or Ford think they can command a similar premium as VW.
will the Ford get independent rear suspension or the VW cart springs and a beam?
Have you got that the wrong way around? The Transporter has independent rear suspension with springs. So not sure about the VW 'cart springs and beam' you refer to.
FYI, the Transit factory camper is made by Westfalia - it's called the Nugget. They do serval versions including a LWB.
You may recall that Westfalia made the original VW California camper. When VW launched theT5 they decided that they could copy the Westfalia Cali design and do it in-house so cut ties with Westfalia. Westfalia were then forced to diversify (they were already doing non-VW T4 vans) and focused more on the Ford Nugget which was an existing product. The Westfalia vans are every bit as good as the VW vans, some might say better.
It's kind of gone full-circle now as Westfalia are once again doing VW vans in addition to Ford, Mercedes, Fiat etc.
uh-oh! VW fanbois are getting triggered 😉 Even VW have given up & admitted which van is best now... 🤣Have you got that the wrong way around? The Transporter has independent rear suspension with springs. So not sure about the VW ‘cart springs and beam’ you refer to.
Interesting stuff though, my heart really wants a Transit PHEV, but even though they're starting to show up at dealers now with large-ish discounts (plus the upcoming budget makes it a lot more viable) the diesels are a LOT cheaper and frankly, a lot better! Also my head knows that the v1 is always going to be a bit shit and their 2nd wave of electric vans will be a lot better, especially with the extra investment in the factory & the VW collaboration. Also I've read a lot of professional reviews that rate it but cannot find a single "real world" report from someone who's actually bought one!!
Have you got that the wrong way around? The Transporter has independent rear suspension with springs. So not sure about the VW ‘cart springs and beam’ you refer to.
I think you're misreading that:
will the Ford get [the current VW setup of] independent rear suspension or the [will the] VW [get transit type] cart springs and a beam?
Happy to admit it may be factually inaccurate as I know nothing and care less but thats what you should be taking from that.
Well the starting price of a transporter and transit are about the same (Transit a smidge more expensive actually) so no scene tax on the commercial vans
But doesn't the base model VW have manual windows and a tape deck? And the Transit has either no options or all the options for a much lower price?
Also have you ever tried to buy an ex fleet, commercial, base model VW? If you can find the ones with no scene tax let me know so I can grab a few and put them on ebay.
Also have you ever tried to buy an ex fleet, commercial, base model VW? If you can find the ones with no scene tax let me know so I can grab a few and put them on ebay.
the value people place on them after market has nothing to do with the price when they leave the factory.
Theres a curious inflated second hand market for transporters. For a long time there was a good reason, a basic supply and demand thing- Transporters sold new in very low volumes in the uk compared to other makes / models becuase they both cost more than comparable vans and had a less usable space inside for commercial purposes - but were popular with life-style buyers of secondhand vans - so demand outstripped supply. Second hand lifestyle buyers wanted a van that didn't look like a tradesman's van so T4s / T5s being a fairly uncommon sitewas a big part of that appeal. But transporters are pretty common or garden now - for the time being people are still in the habit of expecting to get more or pay more when they buy or sell but its not really because of rarity any more and not because of reliability either. So its a bubble that's ready to burst (says man who bought a caddy two weeks ago 🙂 )
And that 'scene tax' doesn't apply to all all VW's vans - second hand crafters sell for less than comparable sprinters despite being in shorter supply.
It's not that curious as there are so many after-market spares, converters, customisers etc. for them. There is definitely a scene for day-vans, campers etc.
I'd quite like a Crafter...it is big but seems a sensible size of VW to be properly usable...way too big for what I need it for though, so just a dream thankfully.
bingo:
dangeourbrain
I think you’re misreading that:
will the Ford get [the current VW setup of] independent rear suspension or the [will the] VW [get transit type] cart springs and a beam?
The one really good thing about t5/6 is that it uses IRS with coil springs. As a passenger in the back of our caravelle, that means it actually rides more like a car, not as I've experienced, like the Custom which behaves like a Trek 9500, but with less damping unless you load the back up with luggage, or a pallet of bricks (it has a single leaf with a beam, or a half leaf and beam with an air bag, but nobody ever specifies this option as you can't fit a tow bar).
I have a suspicion that despite the new van being based on the MQB architecture, they'll ditch the proper suspension and go for the hick option #addCheapness.
not as I’ve experienced, like the Custom which behaves like a Trek 9500, but with less damping unless you load the back up with luggage, or a pallet of bricks
Thats not really anything to do with weather they use an IRS or not - all the current batch of Transits (the Customs and the big one - the ones that were basically the replacement for the US Econoline vans) are really stiffly sprung compared to their predecessors. The ride in the earlier models was really quite pleasant.
First time I drove a custom I pulled into the first garage and checked the tyres weren't over inflated - I'm not sure its a damping thing so much as it seems theres no real pre-load in the springs - you feel like on top of the suspension's travel.
Most recent Caddy has lost the cart springs but keeps the beam.
Yeah, my phraseology was wrong, it feels like it sits on the top of the spring unless you pile it full of bricks. So the suspension doesn't do very much in everyday driving. Might be OK in the 'velle / tourneo version: 1000kg of cow hide, sound deadening and overly engineered seat mechanisms could add some preload.
Or an eBike?
😜
This might narrow the divide between secondhand VW and Transit prices...as presumably the body will be the same and therefore the next generation of VW furniture and pop tops will now fit both vehicles. At the moment you can buy a kit 'off the shelf' for a VW, but a Transit you'd probably need to start at Travis Perkins.
Edit- read the article. VWs 1 ton commercial... Is that the T7 or could this be a new VW model to sit between the (narrow) gap between the Caddy and T6?
T7
Having spent the best part of an hour tonight trying to recover one of those crappy J Case fuses from the gearbox tunnel of my T6, all I can say is - I hope they move the effing fuse box to somewhere more sensible. Oh and include a fuse box diagram - I mean FFS who builds a vehicle without including a guide to what each fuse does.... 😡
The vehicles will be essentially the same except the VW’s side windows leak…
... And the Tranny will rust in front of your eyes 😉
the VW’s side windows leak…
...by frikkin design. You couldn’t make it up.
Timbog’s ventures with the fuse box make me chuckle. I seriously think they don’t publish a diagram as, there is no diagram. Just a fuse box, a number of fuses to fit and someone tasked with fitting them whatever way they can. I found relays just wedged under the carpet or zip tied up behind the bottle bin in our t6.
My Transit Motorhome has 4 fuse boxes. So when you blow a fuse it's great fun trying to work out which one to look in
🤦