Quote Originally Posted by Zaskar View Post
Ive got a manual T5 crewvan. I use it as a work vehicle, and with 2 young kids (still in child seats) I can comfortably pick the kids up from childcare after work. Its become our primary family vehicle, not just for tax reasons. The manual can be a pain in traffic, but overall its performance fully laden, is fantastic. The twin turbo 132Kw is excellent.
I've recently had the EGR valve replaced, and if you look at my recent post about an intermittent buzzing/ humming noise, the vacuum hoses are to be replaced.
I have it serviced at a VW dealership, and find that they do go in to bat for me on warranty issues.
In short, i'd buy another one, I'm happy with it.
While I remember, when i had my T5 manual in for the EGR valve work, they loaned me a T5 DSG. The thought that i had for the 2 days I drove it was, "geez i'm glad I bought a manual, i hate this transmission". I couldn't quite get used to the way it selected the gears, though I did appreciate it in traffic.