Depends on the production. Protektacote is exactly the same as usual, but vans are defo more expensive at the moment. The ones class leading with regard to payload especially.
I have been looking at nearly new vans on VW website for 2 months now. There was always nearly 300 on the site but now it has fallen to 125. So they must be getting snapped up or delisted. Another thing the mechanic said was they are becoming more complicated and all the diagnostic needs to be done from Germany so no one can get hold of their software and fix their own German van. We will be seeing a lot more of this technology with new vans and cars in the future.
That's the same with tractors. I watched a programme recently where American farmers with huge and massively expensive John Deere tractors are no longer able to service them themselves like they used to because of all the software being controlled by the makers. The idea was that there would be no way for the end user to get past it. So they would have to pay huge amounts or replace.
Aye the mechanic was saying you can buy Chinese cloned parts but you can't programme them with any software. They run for so long and DPF clogs up. So what some folk do now is get their van fixed with the clone part and immediately trade it in or punt it up the auction. Its okay with old vans because the software is generally available. Looks like the manufacturers are fighting back to protect their investment and make them money in the long term. Getting my van a new timing belt & assembly, fan belt, water pump and a service next week. Its only done 76k miles so it looks like I will be keeping it now and probably till it dies.
