Buying new?

Jay586

New member
Any idea if dealers discount Crafters much? There's a couple of bright greens ones on Autotrader, which amuse me. Mind you, there's orange if you order...😁

I'm maybe on the lookout for a bigger van with an intention to get it converted...any advice welcome.
 
If you are ordering new with a bespoke requirement then I'd go direct to MAN and spec exactly whet you want. The options are much more flexible than from VW and maybe a better price. MAN also offer a much greater colour range than VW. The salesman that I dealt with was Craig Hackley or there are a couple of MAN sales persons who come up on Facebook, all their sales are handled centrally not by dealers.

If you are after an 'off the shelf' van then maybe my converter can find you something, try calling Andrew James Bucket at Buckettz Dubz as he has contacts for new vans.

Rod
 
I've never gone down the rabbit hole of the difference between Man and VW....maybe I should, more colours would be good and I want to spec it up to make life easier for the converter.

Ta for the contacts.
 
I've never gone down the rabbit hole of the difference between Man and VW....maybe I should, more colours would be good and I want to spec it up to make life easier for the converter.

Ta for the contacts.
The differences between MAN TGE and VW Crafter are simply the badges. MAN use their own part numbering scheme when you order parts but when they arrive they may be in a big MAN box but will all have VW part numbers on the individual items!
Badge engineering at its best.

Depending on your actual location in North Wales the access to a dealer may decide on your supplier. I dealt with Aquila Truck & Bus in Telford & Tipton but I have been in to A.N. Richards MAN Truck Specialists North Wales – at Llangollen.

The VW Van dealer probably nearest to you is at Werxham or North Wales Van Centre at Llandudno neither of which have I dealt with for van parts although I bought a T-Roc from the latter (the car part of the business) in 2024. I believe there is also a VW Van Centre at Aberystwyth, again no knowledge of them. My last T6 came from Listers at Droitwich.

I can let you have a copy of the spec that I ordered in 2021 if it's any help.

Rod
 
That would be helpful actually, appreciated.

I've dealt with Llandudno and Swansway at Liverpool and Wrexham, plus Listers in Droitwich too. Harry from there rings me up every so often!
 
We dealt with Rob Male (spelling?) when we bought our last T6 from Listers.

Here is the order/specification of the vehicle that we now have. I would personally scrub the heated rear windows and just have plain ones.

I've added glove box cooling and the 'posh' assist handle to the sliding door B pillar. I don't think the dealers can find the latter to add to a new order. The write-up on fitting the handle here.

Pictures of our conversion are on Buckettz Dubz Facebook page on the 26th November 2023.

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There's a big difference between VW and MAN and that's workshop availability where the latter operates a much wider time frame.
 
There's a big difference between VW and MAN and that's workshop availability where the latter operates a much wider time frame.
I must admit that was always my opinion however here in the UK MAN workshops are not always 24/7, mine certainly is not.
Monday 06:00 - 00:00 ,Tuesday - Thursday 24 hours, Friday 00:00 - 22:00, Saturday to Sunday Closed : Midlands depot is 24/7
Another local(ish) one Monday - Friday 06.00 - 18.00, Saturday 07.00 - 12.30, Sunday Closed

I have paid for an extended service contract but my TGE is recorded on the central maintenance system totally wrong thus the service intervals are wrong. That means that my local dealer tries to refuse to service the van because if the system says it does not require a service he does not get paid. It also means that the vehicle is wrongly coded for regular service intervals. At present MAN UK don't seem able to correct this but without the 10000 mile service records the extended warranty may not be valid. When I get back home I will be chasing this up!

As for the international roadside service, that fell apart in France earlier this year. To cut that short I called them out and spoke to the Munich call centre where the operator found me to the exact spot via Google maps but the French call out was sent to a location about 200 miles away. I later came to an agreement with Munich that they should try again the next day but when the technician arrived he did not have the knowledge to fix the fault however I commandeered his kit and with the aid of a neighbouring van owner fixed it myself! That description is very much shortened but basically correct. I have had an apology from MAN about that occasion.

Just to make you laugh, I have to show the technicians at my local workshop how to release the hand brake because I have factory swivel seats with the drip down hand brake.

MAN seem to be learning well from VW :D.
 
That's one downside, these MAN mechanics are truck mechs and if they are like in The Netherlands there is probably just one workshop that has a lot of knowledge of the TGE's and the rest is just TGM, TGX etc minded.

Did they offer you a job as you did the work for them?
 
@Jay586 FYI you may find that A.N. Richards MAN Truck Specialists North Wales – at Llangollen. are clued up on TGEs as I believe they maintain a fleet for the the local council.
 
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