Hi folks,

Like most VW forums I've been a member of, this one looks like it'll provide a mine of information!

My wife and I are both long term VW owners including split, bay window and T3 buses. Our present (own) vehicle is a 1990 Subaru powered Caravelle GL Syncro and we are thinking of upgrading to a more modern "kombi"

As we have 5 kids the Multivan (4motion if we can stretch the $ far enough) is an obvious choice but I've been trawling through old posts and am somewhat nervous!

I know some of what will end up on this thread will likely have been covered on other threads but I have some questions.

I doubt we will be able to afford a T5.2 so my questions will relate to the earlier incarnation.

1. What is the nature of the terminal fault(s) that the auto transmission suffers from?
2. Are all the auto transmissions the same (Triptonic?) or are there some which are better than others?
3. I know there aren't many around but I believe the manual boxes are better. Is this true?

And regarding engines:
4. Obviously the diesel power plants will be more economical (and expensive to buy) but are they any more or less reliable than the petrol engines?
5. I've heard that the AXD diesel engine should be avoided. Is this true?
6. What kind of economy have people been getting from their buses?

We live in Ceduna (remote SA) so would likely be relying on RAA/RAC type inspections in the first instance at least. Are typical faults that are existing likely to be picked up by such an inspection?

Thanks for taking the time to read this and I hope I don't p**s off too many people with "yet another Multivan thread"

Cheers,

Andy.