Vans

[Graham]

ANyone got a recomendation on vans

I've currently got an old lwd semi-hi top transit, which is nominally a company van but used mainly for dragging the race car at the weekend, although i do use it some times to go on site ( when they have a big car park i can hide it in)

Im looking to change it and was thinking of a merc sprinter mwb hi-top plenty of room for stuff plus big enough to kip in...

any thoughts...

I've also considered a discovery commercial , which although smaller would probably get a lot more use as id tend to use it for work rather than the chim..

G

[dontlift]

The Mercs are excellent - also take a look at the Merc Vito.....

You can get good deals on both of these ex lease. and they hold there price very well

Cant believe your going to part with my old van though graham

[Graham]

Vito is too small if im going to get another van..


Fecking Transit broke down on they way to Oulton, and that was after buying a gold plated alternator and having to spend all day getting it fitted as its got weird bolts...

[jaydee]

New transit was offered on an extremely good finance package (not sure if this is still the case) and is better to drive than a Sprinter on the backroads (if you need to do this) but not particularly well put together (it doesn't fail to proceed, but the bulldog clip off the dash was last seen disappearing out of the passenger door at Fleet services.

Sprinters can get desperately expensive if anything falls off and take an age to get bits for, and don't do corners, but do have a lot more power, I'd much rather drive one if I had to do a lot of M'way driving.

[sb930turbo]

We ran a Merc Sprinter MWB(old shape)for 3 yrs,nice van,but......now have a new Transit LWB Semi high roof .Nicer to drive on the lanes,handles better..cheaper to service,and nothing has fallen off yet (20K miles) although not as well screwed together as the Merc.
Steve

[ultimapaul]

The Disco commercial would be my choice. Nearly as refined as the normal car and as you said, presentable enough to use as an every day car. You would find it hard to kip in though.

The way they hold their value is not to be sniffed at either. Well, they used to be very good?

Paul

[tvradict]

Try a Citreon Relay HDi LWB. They are superb vans, well screwed together. Lots of space and will happily cruise at 100mph fully laden. (Tested on the Autobahns of Germany! ) A month or so back I helped my dad move to germany, 3 trips, first was with a 3.5tonne Transit Box. One word. Shite.
Second and thrid was with the Citreon. More cupholders, 12v power points and builtin clipboards than you can shake a transit key at.

Oh, and a point on the Merc Sprinter. If you go down that road opt for the indentical but cheaper VW LT 35. Same van except for slight changes to the front end styling.

[Graham]

Oh bugger this is getting harder than i thought... disco is a bit small but i've found 2 locally at a good price ( 300 tdi's) and a plce that can get series II's brand new at 16.5k plus vat....

I'll go and have a look at the citroen and the Vw though thanks for that

G

[jon h]

For bigish van... We run a Fiat Ducato LWB hi roof JTD. Generally pretty good except that the gear knob tends to fall off and a bit of wind noise through the door shuts at speed. (Basically same as Peugeot Boxer or Citroen something or other) The advantage of these is you can get them very cheap from car supermarket type places. We saved about £6K on list! With the 2.8 turbo diesel it is quite quick when needs be. For a samller van, try Peuget Expert. Turbo diesel, central locking, electric windows etc. Looks good, comfy and quick too.

Jon H

[Fatboy]

Avoid the Fiats like the plague - local ambulance service bought a few, they were constantly off the road.

Echo the new transit is good to drive (better than a VW LT), but it's a bit gutless - a sprinter or LT Tdi has much more grunt.

[sb930turbo]

Fatboy said: Avoid the Fiats like the plague - local ambulance service bought a few, they were constantly off the road.

Echo the new transit is good to drive (better than a VW LT), but it's a bit gutless - a sprinter or LT Tdi has much more grunt.

GUTLESS!!
You obviously have not driven the 125ps engin then!
Steve

[richa]

I've just hacked a VW LT28. I was surprised by how quick it was, even with loads of crap in the back. Surprised that it didn't come with central locking, as remote locking seems to be standard on other vans (like the transit). You sit higher than in a new transit, which I personally prefer. New transit is a nice drive though, more comfortable than a lot of rep cars!!

Rich.

[Fatboy]

sb930turbo said: GUTLESS!!
You obviously have not driven the 125ps engin then!
Steve

Nope, just the rental 75 PS (IIRC) engine - bloody slow - great drive though, and VERY comfortable - felt more stable than the high roof VW LT...

[Big_Dan]

My mate has a (n older) Disco commercial for sale ...

It's been great for towing the rally car and loading up with kit. He's bought a new Nissan Navara (crew cab pick up) which seems to be even better as an all rounder if you wanted something new.