New (second hand) 2008 Multivan owner

[bigtfuzzywarbler]

Evenin'

After months of research and searching we have just put down a deposit on a 2008 Multivan Comfortline. Will be picking it up this Friday.

Thanks to all those good people who post on this forum. It has been extremely useful reference and a great way to find out about the issues associated with the Multivan, positive and negative.

Their achilles heal appears to be the auto transmission, and for this reason we went for something with relatively low kilometres. Proposing to upgrade the transmission oil cooling system as well. Open to advice or tips on other ways to maintain the transmission for a longer life.

Anyway, we are quite excited. Like many of the used Multivans this one has no radio/CD so I have posted a wanted to buy on the forum for a replacement unit. There must be some lying around somewhere.

Thanks again

bigtfuzzywarbler

[Transporter]

Congratulations and welcome to the forum mate. Now, you need to find a good automatic transmission specialist who understand and has experience with the VW A/T.

[bigtfuzzywarbler]

Thanks. Will start looking around. Limited pool here in Hobart though.

[Sharkie]

Anyway, we are quite excited. Like many of the used Multivans this one has no radio/CD so I have posted a wanted to buy on the forum for a replacement unit. There must be some lying around somewhere.

There currently are 2 pre-facelift 6CD shuttle OEM Multivan radios on eBay. Only $170.

BRAND NEW VW 2860 6 stacker CD head unit for multivan | eBay

[Silver Caravelle]

Congratulations bigtfuzzywarbler on the purchase. I also have 2008 model.

Regarding the 6 speed tiptronic. I gotta say I have not seen a large weight of evidence to the suggest there is a large proportion of 6 speed tiptronic boxes are on the nose. Certainly the older T4 models had their issues. But not these T5's. I recall these boxes are in a number of different makes and appear to be not out of the ordinary in terms of failure rates.

Having said that, I will probably get a transmission service (Fluid and filter etc) done at about the 80K mark (Just done 45K).

P.s. I never had any problems with my previous T4 Caravelle with the auto. Probably just lucky on that count!

Regards,

Scott

[bigtfuzzywarbler]

Thanks Scott

Yes, might even bring forward that service. Just in case. I struggled to get a clear picture on whether the gearbox issue was a systemic design flaw, or just a function of poor servicing/maintenance and people trying to pull too much the T5's gutsy engine. Anyway erring on side of caution.

No matter which make/model you get there will be a forum somewhere with people either singing its praises or condemning the vehicle and those who drive it to hell.

Up to this point we have had a 504 wagon and presently a Volvo 850 Wagon, both of which are would by some considered expensive Euro crap "that'll costya". However, in reality, were incredibly reliable and practical vehicles.

fuzz

[Silver Caravelle]

Gotta love the 504. Had a couple and did huge miles. Very comfortable, economical and extremely simple to service. Way ahead of their time. There is a lot to be said for pulling out an alternator, starter motor etc in a matter of minutes. Still plenty of them in Africa and Middle East 'wired' together!

All the best with the new purchase.

Cheers,

Scott

[BobD]

Mine is one of the Multivans with transmission failure at just over 100,000km. For the record, it was serviced by the book by the dealer I bought it off and occasionally used for towing a 1700kg caravan when on holidays in the SW of WA.

Servicing by the book means never changing the oil and since there is no dip stick you can't even look at the colour of the oil. My oil was brown and burnt, hence the failure. The dealer now says that they will change the transmission oil at 30,000km intervals and I dare not use it for towing any more, even though it is a fantastic tow vehicle. I now use my 1992 Patrol with 450,000km and a manual transmission for towing.

If you find out how to fit an extra oil cooler let me know. I can't see anywhere where there is a space to put one and I don't know where you would connect it anyway. The dealer has no idea about extra oil coolers. Noone on the Forum offered any serious suggestions when I asked in an earlier post.

I love the car and just bought the car after the novated lease expired. However, I have spent several thousand dollars on repairs since the transmission was replaced and I hope it is now good for another 100,000 before the next round of problems. At least the repairs are all in pretax dollars because of the lease arrangement.

One really silly item was the interior door handle on the drivers side failed a couple of weeks ago, which is apparently common according to the dealer. The repair is apparently replacement of the door trim at a cost of over $900 and a few days off the road waiting for parts. I had it done since I still had the lease but next time (the passenger side will no doubt go soon) I will be checking out alternatives much more thoroughly before getting a dealer to do the repair. My car is just on 4 years old and has 120,000km.

[Cousin]

Bob, I had to reco my transmission Xmas just gone
At that point there was no after marked trans cooler available
The place that did my trans said the problem is that coolant is used to cool the trans oil, which makes it difficult to fashion an aftermarket item
But I did come across someone recently talking about aftermaket transmission coolers for the T5, sizeable ones targeting vans for towing
The bugger is I cannot remember where I read it (gotta eat more Blueberries!)
Ask around, they're out there
If I remember where I came across them I'll post
And I'll be changing my tranny oil every year (50,000 ks) just to help things better, hopefully
I really don't want another 7.5k bill
Funny though, I've heard a few say after driving a DSG van they actually prefer the older auto

M

[Transporter]

Bob, I had to reco my transmission Xmas just gone
At that point there was no after marked trans cooler available
The place that did my trans said the problem is that coolant is used to cool the trans oil, which makes it difficult to fashion an aftermarket item
But I did come across someone recently talking about aftermaket transmission coolers for the T5, sizeable ones targeting vans for towing
The bugger is I cannot remember where I read it (gotta eat more Blueberries!)
Ask around, they're out there
If I remember where I came across them I'll post
And I'll be changing my tranny oil every year (50,000 ks) just to help things better, hopefully
I really don't want another 7.5k bill
Funny though, I've heard a few say after driving a DSG van they actually prefer the older auto

M

Together with the large transmission cooler and thermostat for it, I would be installing the transmission oil temperature gauge with the buzzer.