I am interested in purchasing a 4wd, preferably turbo diesel, lhd VW camper, a la VW California. I would not say money isn't an issue, but for the right vehicle I would be prepared to pay a decent price !
As I approach my retirement my intention is to explore Europe literally at some length, so the vehicle has to have low(ish) mileage and a good spec. !
Any recommendations, or ideas, on UK dealers from members would be much appreciated ,or indeed likewise anyone who has any knowledge of buying from a Continental dealer, ie. advantages, disadvantages, potential pitfalls etc. would be extremely useful information to be armed with.
Your talking about a Syncro last made in '92, they are turning into collecters pieces & realistically you would'nt get a Westy conversion in the condition you seek for less than £10k.
Theres all sorts of Syncros about of course, you could buy a cheaper one but it might require £1000s spending, theres so much to go wrong on these vans. Although they look lovely & interesting mechanically, they wern't actually that good. The 1.6 Turbo diesels were underpowered(2.1 petrols much better) & the gearboxes tend to fail, a tight viscous coupling will knock the gearbox out & many owners disconnect the propshaft & just run 2wd for long trips, a soloution is to fit a decoupler.
You really need good mechanical knowledge to run a Syncro & the ability do much of your own repairs or you will be spending a fortune. There are experts who can work on these vans, in Devon, Lincolnshire & Glasgow so if you live near any of those places you would be ok.
If you break down abroad you would be struggling unless you research the Syncro 'scene' in the countries you are visting, beforehand. Theres loads of enthusiatic owners of these vans, but their main thing is offroading not long distance touring.
Which is the next problem with Syncros, many have lead a hard life & can be badly rusted in places not always obvious.
As I said you won't get a Syncro for your purpose for less than £10k & if you buy a cheap rough one & restore it you will be spending a similar amount. For touring Europe you would be better buying a late mid '90s T4 camper for a similar amount.
But I was thinking more in line of the current T5 with the 175 bhp 2.5 turbo diesel in 4-motion spec ! I think on the continent the van is also (or maybe was also) available with a 3 litre V6 petrol engine.
But as I said I would obviously prefer the diesel option for tractability and much better fuel consumption.
Ah! I see what yer mean, if you want a late model, just do a dealer search on VW's German website & buy direct off a German VW main dealer, he will put temporary export plates on & arrange short term insurance to drive home with. once in UK it takes about a week to get UK plates, they will be age related.
A word of warning tho about owning a high value LHD vehicle in the UK, if it gets written off in an accident the insurance will offer you a pittance, because it is non UK spec & therefore percieved to have little value.
If you want a brand new rhd VW California you can order one of a UK VW main dealer of course but the camper conversion remains continental spec so the sliding door is on right hand side which is a bit silly.
A UK converted T5 like a Bilbos or Autosleeper has UK spec left hand sliding doors. Dont get an electric sliding door, they can malfunction.
A couple of UK dealers who import secondhand lhd T5s from Germany here & here
You are a font of great knowledge ! And thanks very much for that update Kabbes !!
I hear what you say about the insurance aspect and that is very important of course. My sister has just paid c. £30k for a used UK spec. California but I don't want to pay that much ! Living north of the border her main pastime is touring the Highlands so thats fine, but most of my mileage will be done on the Continent so l.h.d. works for me as does the "wrong" side door ! And of course 4 wd (4-Motion) for the Alps and Norway etc I consider a good idea.
Knowing how into their motors the Germans usually are and how they like to spec. them up I am hoping for something a little bit different and a bit special.
So I will check out those links and see whow I get on, my French is decent enough to get by but my German is non existent !
Plenty of 4-motions for sale in Germany but not cheap. You will find German dealers will speak fluent English if they think you will spend that sort of dosh with them!
I would defintely have a word with VWCampersales, we bought our T4 California from them and they do seem to be one of the experts in the UK.
I don't know if there's a 4WD version of it but the Mercedes-based campers are still made by Wesfalia and look great, but similar price to the new Californias I'm afraid.
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Topic: LHD 4WD VW Camper
