What van do I buy?

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Wilson joinery

Established Member
Joined
25 Feb 2022
Messages
193
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41
Location
Durham
Morning everyone, I’ve decided I’d like to get a van, a crew cab with 6 seats and preferably long wheel base. As well as for family trips it will also be used for collecting timber and logs for projects, sheets of ply etc.

I’m leaning towards a ford transit custom but have heard that the older 2.2 engine is possibly more reliable than the newer 2.0 unit. Do any of you people have experience of running one of these? A mechanic friend also recommended looking at Citroen relays/fiat Ducatos/peugeout boxers as they are all fully galvanised. When he said this I’ve been looking at vans on the road since then and he appears right, plenty of rusty fords and mercs but I’m yet to see a rusty Citroen/peugeot/fiat van.

Any other vans you’d recommended to buy or avoid? Max budget would be about £20k

Cheers
Pete
 
Don`t buy any ford with a wet belt engine, the last proper transit engine was the 2.4 in the mk7 as they got smaller they got worse.

I have a renault master Mk2 and could not honestly recommend it as the gearboxes are car boxes and under specced. The new ones are no better apparently.
The only reason I am keeping it is because it is pre DPF and Adblue and as I do low mileage these would likely cause me problems.

I would like to replace mine with a 5 seater but will still need decent space for picking up timber etc.

VW new crafters are nice but have terrible steering lock and to my mind a 2 litre engine is not enough for a big van, you want a long stroke high capacity diesel which is under stressed really.
The Sprinter is the best to drive but they keep adding more nonsense and making the engines smaller.
Emissions regulations are hamstringing the designers of vans. Everyone knows a nice 3 liter turbo diesel is what a van needs but they are not allowed to use it anymore.

Tried a Citroen relay for a week on hire and found the seatbelt design terrible. On the highest setting it went accross my chest not even touching my collarbone so completely unsafe and also rubbed on my right arm whilst driving, its because the seat is so far inboard and the belt is on the b pillar, I am not even super tall. Could not own one unless this was sorted, terrible design. Also the handbrake is on the right side by the door, not ideal. Van went nicely otherwise.

If I replace mine I might get an Iveco Daily as they are proper truck style vans and made for heavy work.
 
Last edited:
I was lucky to buy a Iveco Daily MWB , former Veriaty Club of GB and donated to a school, The school hardly used it , At 17 years old when delivered by road from Leiester it had a GENUINE 18001 miles on the clock, I have checked the history on the Gov mot history web site , It barely coverd 1000 miles a year. It did not come with any service history so I did the cam belt , water pump , all bearing / tensioners , full engine service oil's and filters, new pollen filter etc, I went to the local tyre shop and asked if tyres could be dated ? , He came out and had a quick look and said 06 , followed by how old is the van ? I said it is a 07 , So it was still on the original tyres , I had a set of 6 new ones fitted , Now runs like new at a fraction of the price of a new one , It also has the underslung wheelchair ramp very handy for loading / unloading heavy items, Happy days :)
 
I have a 2006 Renault Traffic 2.5litre that I bought new.....Its done nearly 220k miles and is still going strong......It still has it's original battery & exhaust system.......Its the best vehicle I've ever owned for the money it has cost me......If I had to, I'd buy another one tomorrow, but I dont think they do the 2.5litre engine in the latest version....?
 
Wilson joinery said:
Morning everyone, I’ve decided I’d like to get a van, a crew cab with 6 seats and preferably long wheel base. As well as for family trips it will also be used for collecting timber and logs for projects, sheets of ply etc.

I’m leaning towards a ford transit custom but have heard that the older 2.2 engine is possibly more reliable than the newer 2.0 unit. Do any of you people have experience of running one of these? A mechanic friend also recommended looking at Citroen relays/fiat Ducatos/peugeout boxers as they are all fully galvanised. When he said this I’ve been looking at vans on the road since then and he appears right, plenty of rusty fords and mercs but I’m yet to see a rusty Citroen/peugeot/fiat van.

Any other vans you’d recommended to buy or avoid? Max budget would be about £20k

Cheers
Pete
Click to expand...
Older 2.2 best pre ad blue - which is a nightmare. Mk8 / customs don't seem to be rusting like the older ones.

Renuslts are rubbish tbh. Sprinters are full of sensors.

VW are good then 2.0 adequate unless your into towing imho.

Was nice in the caravelle we had.
 
Jameshow said:
Renuslts are rubbish tbh. Sprinters are full of sensors.

VW are good then 2.0 adequate unless your into towing imho.

Was nice in the caravelle we had.
Click to expand...

I also have a VW Transporter van 2004, which also has a 2.5litre engine.....Its only done 150k miles, but had to have a new engine at 90k.....its also on its 3rd turbo.....So, in my experience, the Renault was a far better buy.
 
Hi Blister

Thanks for that, plenty of room but I’m not sure my neighbours would be happy when I take up 3 parking spaces 😂.

Thanks for all the other replies, I hadn’t really considered VW’s just as they always seem expensive but I’ll have a look.

Ideally I’d like a Toyota proace (not verso) purely as they have a 10 year warranty if serviced at Toyota but 6 seater ones are like hens teeth!

Cheers
Pete
 
Distinterior said:
I also have a VW Transporter van 2004, which also has a 2.5litre engine.....Its only done 150k miles, but had to have a new engine at 90k.....its also on its 3rd turbo.....So, in my experience, the Renault was a far better buy.
Click to expand...
The 2.5 was more trouble than the 1.9tdi.

It's the 2.0 2012 onwards 105/140 that you want the 2.0 biturbo was trouble too irrc.
 
I used to have a 1.9 tdi seat, best engine I’ve ever had. Fantastic performance and fuel economy and never broke down once in 15 years. I guess it’s probably the same engine.
 
Wilson joinery said:
I used to have a 1.9 tdi seat, best engine I’ve ever had. Fantastic performance and fuel economy and never broke down once in 15 years. I guess it’s probably the same engine.
Click to expand...
Also had one in golf gt tdi, was a fabulous engine. But this was before DPF`s and other nonsense.
Transporters are "fashion taxed" into silly money even for a ropey one.
 
Wilson joinery said:
Hi Blister

Thanks for that, plenty of room but I’m not sure my neighbours would be happy when I take up 3 parking spaces 😂.

Thanks for all the other replies, I hadn’t really considered VW’s just as they always seem expensive but I’ll have a look.

Ideally I’d like a Toyota proace (not verso) purely as they have a 10 year warranty if serviced at Toyota but 6 seater ones are like hens teeth!

Cheers
Pete
Click to expand...
The new Toyota proace are not real Toyotas , but made by Stelantis so it is like a fiat scudo etc. Still probably the best engine of them all but not a real Japanese Toyota. I had a hiace and a Hilux 4x4 which were both utterly reliable.

A bit leftfield but what about a Nissan Elgrand (we love ours) or a Toyota Alphard these are both proper Japanese made minivans.
 
Ollie78 said:
Don`t buy any ford with a wet belt engine, the last proper transit engine was the 2.4 in the mk7 as they got smaller they got worse.

I have a renault master Mk2 and could not honestly recommend it as the gearboxes are car boxes and under specced. The new ones are no better apparently.
The only reason I am keeping it is because it is pre DPF and Adblue and as I do low mileage these would likely cause me problems.

I would like to replace mine with a 5 seater but will still need decent space for picking up timber etc.

VW new crafters are nice but have terrible steering lock and to my mind a 2 litre engine is not enough for a big van, you want a long stroke high capacity diesel which is under stressed really.
The Sprinter is the best to drive but they keep adding more nonsense and making the engines smaller.
Emissions regulations are hamstringing the designers of vans. Everyone knows a nice 3 liter turbo diesel is what a van needs but they are not allowed to use it anymore.

Tried a Citroen relay for a week on hire and found the seatbelt design terrible. On the highest setting it went accross my chest not even touching my collarbone so completely unsafe and also rubbed on my right arm whilst driving, its because the seat is so far inboard and the belt is on the b pillar, I am not even super tall. Could not own one unless this was sorted, terrible design. Also the handbrake is on the right side by the door, not ideal. Van went nicely otherwise.

If I replace mine I might get an Iveco Daily as they are proper truck style vans and made for heavy work.
Click to expand...
The Fiat - Peugeot - Citroen are designed with motorhome conversion compatibility, hence the RHS handbrake to leave an uncluttered floor space. I had a 2.5 TD Ducato, I had no probs with either belts or h/brake, me being 5.5FT. This was a '94 model, with 'Stirmy'-Archer gear lever, which I preferred to the later 'dash-mounted' lever.
 
Ollie78 said:
The new Toyota proace are not real Toyotas , but made by Stelantis so it is like a fiat scudo etc. Still probably the best engine of them all but not a real Japanese Toyota. I had a hiace and a Hilux 4x4 which were both utterly reliable.

A bit leftfield but what about a Nissan Elgrand (we love ours) or a Toyota Alphard these are both proper Japanese made minivans.
Click to expand...
Thanks for those recommendations Ollie. I’d never really considered either of those. I wonder what the fuel economy might be like though, 2.4 litre petrol 😊. At least there would be no DPF issues at least!
 
I have a 15 plate transit mk8 minibus converted to 5 seats for sale. 120 miles

Just saying pm for more details.
 

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