Our Vans: Volkswagen T5 Transporter Kombi Sportline
6 October 2014: A leaky Transporter problem
The Details
| Current mileage | 3933 |
|---|---|
| Claimed economy | 37.2mpg |
| Actual economy | 33.7mpg |
When our Transporter arrived in sunny July, the Candy White metallic white paintwork looked great. I was initially worried that it might just look like a standard white Volkswagen van, but the extra bodykit and those great black and silver trimmed alloy wheels help it stand out. Come October and with grey skies and dirty roads, the Transporter is looking less appealing.
I'm still trying to get it washed regularly although seeing as the charge for a van at the local hand car wash is £10 (compared to £6 for a car) my weekly car wash visits have gone out the window. Even the allure of a delightful 'complimentary' air freshener isn't enough of a sweetener. So the T5 is looking a little dirty and those shiny black wheels are now drab.
I've not really had time to wash the Transporter recently, with several cross country trips and a drive from Cambridge to Ilkley to help a friend move house. And it was when it was parked up in a nice bit of Yorkshire countryside when I first noticed water dripping in the footwell.
At first I thought it may have been from the window. The van had been parked overnight and it had chucked it down, so when I got it I put the windows down to give me better visibility when manouevering out of the space I was in. I presumed that water had run off the door and dripped down from the open window, although there was quite a lot of water.
An excitingly big picture of the leak
But since then, I've noticed the same leak after getting into the van when it's been parked up. It doesn't happen when you drive the Transporter in the rain nor at the car wash (when I do actually go). It's only when it's parked out in heavy rain. Which is no doubt going to become quite a regular thing despite our very warm start to October.
Aside from the small leak, the Transporter hasn't missed a beat. Almost 4000 miles in and the engine has now loosened up and is feeling even more punchy than before. It's incredibly strong in the mid-range, from around 2400rpm it's very responsive, so on the motorway it's easy to keep up with traffic while leaving it in sixth gear. Its maximum torque of 400Nm - that's more than a Porsche Cayman S by the way - peaks from 1500rpm to 2000rpm.
Of course, it's when the Transporter is fully laden that all that power comes into its own. And driving up the drab A1 to Yorkshire in the rain with a van full of various boxes, suitcases, a television and a bike (this was only a drop in the ocean thanks to a much larger van doing the big moving), that torque is ideal when you want to overtake a slower moving vehicle without holding faster traffic up.
Next up for the Transporter is more bike adventures with the imminent purchase of a new bicycle. I'm also looking into replacing the standard headlights with proper LED ones. I've seen them on a few T5 models now and several people have commented on how they'd suit our T5 Sportline. So I'll be sourcing some from Volkswagen soon to make our T5 stand out even more.
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