Thinking about a five seater caddy,

[theconcierge]

Hi all

I am thinking about buying a 5 seater Caddy Maxi.

Only issue is a lot of people have told me to stay away from VW due to the cost of servicing and known problems with engines and gearboxes.

The one I am looking at has 100,000 (manual) and a full dealer service history.

Just wondering

Are there known issues with the 1.6L TDI engine ? what should I be on the look out for?
Is there are major service coming up?
how hard are the engines to work on yourself (oil changes etc)

is there anything I should be aware of?

I reckon they are a great little van, mine will be used for family duties and not putting too many kms on it per year.

thanks in advance.

[Umai Naa!!]

Easy enough to service yourself, using decent oil and parts.

- Oil is $65-$120, depending on brand and where you've sourced it from. Needs to be 5W-30 504/507 spec, and nothing else. (Every 15K)
- Sump plug is roughly $4.50 from the dealer, and are single-use.
- Oil filter is around the $20-$30 mark, depending on which filter it has. If it's the earlier one, it's cheaper. (Every 15K)
- Fuel filter is around $60-$90, again depending on which type. (Every 60K)
- Air filter is around the $40 mark. (Every 45K)
- Cabin filter is around $30-$40 mark. Get the carbon-activated version. (Every 2yrs)

Parts-wise, I'd recommend either Genuine VW, Hengst, Mahle, or Mann. Ryco and Wesfil filters for most European applications are pretty average.

Only majorly expensive service on these is the 105K, which requires a timing belt (plus idlers and tensioner) and water pump (Strongly recommend). This will run you anywhere between $800 and $1800, depending on who does it.

These are part of the Dieselgate hysteria, but in reality, it's not that big of a deal.

Also, these have a DPF, so short trips won't do it any favours in the long run, and these vans really come into their own on a decent drive anyway.

[feenix74]

Owned my 2011 Caddy Life 1.6l TDI manual since waiting 3 months for it to arrive from Poland as a special order (I wanted the extra 2 seats, colour-toned bumpers and roof-rails).

Overall it has been a great people-mover. We have done 155,000km. It is economical to run (averaging 6.3l per 100km around town and on the highway will get down to 5.8l per 100km). Servicing is a bit more expensive than a Japanese car but if you find yourself a non-dealer VW specialist mechanic it is not too bad. Here in Canberra I have always used the guys at Canberra VW Centre at Belconnen, but Umai Naa (above) can come to you or there is another VW specialist in Mitchell.

Only problems we have had with our Caddy are:
- waterleak from the sliding window in the sliding door (replaced under VW factory warranty and no longer a problem)
- water pump damage/leak, CVWC had a row of the same water pumps lined up on their counter with 3 different modes of failure (replaced under VW factory warranty and they did the timing belt at the same time which saved us some money)
- the rear, high mount stop light is prone to cracking an breaking the lens, appears to be due to factory overtightening of the mounting screws ($85 VW OEM part or $15 chinese aftermarket part from ebay which you can replace yourself)
- my vehicle is a Dieselgate vehicle and is awaiting the recall which I plan to avoid whilst it is still only a voluntary recall (do not fix what is not broken)

[theconcierge]

Hi guys

really appreciate the quick responses. Very good to know about the Major being due at 105k as it's currently sitting on 103k at the moment so I will use that as a bargaining point.

Also thanks for the advice on services places here in Canberra, sounds like we have a few good options.

With this hole dieselgate, is there any major problems about not getting it "fixed"? I might just leave it as you say Feenix... BTW do you still have your caddy?

[Umai Naa!!]

It's just an ECU re-flash, essentially.

Government says they don't quite meet the emissions requirements for Australia, but only a very small amount of people are actually upset about it.

[feenix74]

Yep, it was originally my wife's daily ride until we bought my brother's Golf Mk5 early this year that is now my wife's daily ride. The Caddy is now my daily ride, having finally retired my Golf Mk3 from daily duties. Current plans would see me keep running the Caddy as my daily until it dies of old age. The Maxi Life is nice with the nicer interior fitout, the extra legroom in the middle row plus enormous boot if you do not have the 3rd row of seats (and a decent sized boot if you do). Although, it would not be a nimble in the carpark as my .

As far as dieselgate, the simple engineer in me says that you can only get so much performance out of the 1.6l TDI engine, if they have to reduce NOx emissions then either performance and/or fuel economy will suffer. So I will avoid the recall if it stays voluntary. If the recall goes mandatory then I will spend the money on getting my car dynoed before and after the "update", I have 6 years of fuel economy data thanks to my Caltex Starcard, so will be having a long chat with VWA with the assistance of Fair Trading if there is a change in my vehicle's performance or fuel economy.

[Umai Naa!!]

Their diesels are fairly underworked. Heaps of scope for more power and economy. The issue is keeping them EPA-friendly.

[theconcierge]

Yep, it was originally my wife's daily ride until we bought my brother's Golf Mk5 early this year that is now my wife's daily ride. The Caddy is now my daily ride, having finally retired my Golf Mk3 from daily duties. Current plans would see me keep running the Caddy as my daily until it dies of old age. The Maxi Life is nice with the nicer interior fitout, the extra legroom in the middle row plus enormous boot if you do not have the 3rd row of seats (and a decent sized boot if you do). Although, it would not be a nimble in the carpark as my .

As far as dieselgate, the simple engineer in me says that you can only get so much performance out of the 1.6l TDI engine, if they have to reduce NOx emissions then either performance and/or fuel economy will suffer. So I will avoid the recall if it stays voluntary. If the recall goes mandatory then I will spend the money on getting my car dynoed before and after the "update", I have 6 years of fuel economy data thanks to my Caltex Starcard, so will be having a long chat with VWA with the assistance of Fair Trading if there is a change in my vehicle's performance or fuel economy.

Mate, if you're ever in gunghalin town let me know, I would love to check out your caddy and have a chat about it!

Sent from my MotoG3 using Tapatalk

[feenix74]

I am a fellow Gungahlin-ite so happy to catch-up at sometime to show you my Caddy and have a chat. You will have to excuse the mess (with two preschoolers, the inside is a disaster area). I am back at work this week and the wife is working afternoon shifts this weekend but I will PM you my contact details and we can try to catch-up early on the weekend in Gungahlin town if that works for you.