Would you own a smiley face transit now?

[D1on]

People say these were the most reliable transit, they can be had very reasonably...
But do you think they are too old now and would/do you own one?

[motco]

Not unless I ran a car breakers and lived in a caravan on a layby somewhere.

[oceanview]

Probably a whole lot better than some shagged out VW van that some mug will pay silly money for!!

[ModernAndy]

We had a few of these over the years. We never had any problems but you will inevitably hear about fuel pumps going and perhaps a couple of other issues. For a cheap van I don't think anything else really beats it, they'll take hundreds of thousands of miles. Yeah you'll look a bit of a steak-&-kidney-lock-opener but it's a decent enough van.

[CoolC]

I drove one back in my white van man days. Great van that I took from ~20000 miles to just over 120000 miles.

Finding a decent one now must be neigh on impossible.

[V8RX7]

oceanview said:

Probably a whole lot better than some shagged out VW van that some mug will pay silly money for!!

bought my T4 for £3k 5 years ago - spent around £1k modifying it, never had an issue and is now worth around £6k



Would I own a Smiley Transit - if it was a very tidy one - yes.

There's one with a 3ltr 24v conversion on Ebay....

[D1on]

motco said:

Not unless I ran a car breakers and lived in a caravan on a layby somewhere.

[geeks]

Depends on which engine you would be opting for. The 2.5 Di (aka The Banana Engine) is very reliable, easy to maintain and returns respectable economy however it is far from being the most powerful engine. Apparently the 2.5 turbo based on the banana setup (i.e mechanical fuel pump) is a good compromise

Edited by geeks on Monday 10th October 08:35

[ModernAndy]

I've just realised I'm on about the later model, the mk6. I wouldn't have a mk4/5 myself unless it was as some sort of classic vehicle. You'd have to be very, very selective to get a tidy one that isn't slow as fook

[Zad]

I prefer the previous model.



Now sir, we're just in your area doing a contract and have some spare tarmac, d'ya want your driveway doing? Donnington, Brands...?

I do wish they'd put some dirty old steelies on that though.

[D1on]

Zad said:

I prefer the previous model.



Now sir, we're just in your area doing a contract and have some spare tarmac, d'ya want your driveway doing? Donnington, Brands...?

I do wish they'd put some dirty old steelies on that though.

Sleeper!

[mr_fibuli]

Probably not easy to find van wheels that work on those centre nut hubs

[lee_erm]

Mechanically they'll go on forever, they rot like something form the 60's though!

[bristolracer]

You will not be seeing lay by dwellers in old transits.
Our 3.14 friends can afford much newer ones.

I used to have one,reliable yes but by today's standards very agricultural to drive.
Rust must have done most in by now.

[motco]

geeks said:

Apparently the 2.5 turbo based on the banana setup (i.e mechanical fuel pump) is a good compromise

Edited by geeks on Monday 10th October 08:35

If that's the Peugeot 405 2.5 turbo diesel then I had a Granada with one of those in! Noisy, slow, but economical and reliable.

[DrDeAtH]

motco said:

geeks said:

Apparently the 2.5 turbo based on the banana setup (i.e mechanical fuel pump) is a good compromise

Edited by geeks on Monday 10th October 08:35

If that's the Peugeot 405 2.5 turbo diesel then I had a Granada with one of those in! Noisy, slow, but economical and reliable.

It's not, it was an all Ford lump. Started off as the York 2.4 in the mk2 transit...

[motco]

DrDeAtH said:

motco said:

geeks said:

Apparently the 2.5 turbo based on the banana setup (i.e mechanical fuel pump) is a good compromise

Edited by geeks on Monday 10th October 08:35

If that's the Peugeot 405 2.5 turbo diesel then I had a Granada with one of those in! Noisy, slow, but economical and reliable.

It's not, it was an all Ford lump. Started off as the York 2.4 in the mk2 transit...

Ah, okay. My youngest nephew enjoys telling me that my X-Type 2.2D has a Transit engine in it. My reply is that I am glad because it probably means it's good for high mileages in the hands of an ape! He has a Dodge Charger with nitrous injection for his fun car...

[D1on]

Zad said:

I prefer the previous model.



Now sir, we're just in your area doing a contract and have some spare tarmac, d'ya want your driveway doing? Donnington, Brands...?

I do wish they'd put some dirty old steelies on that though.

Beast

[D1on]

Even rarer now...

[Bcfc1985]

Yes I have two smileys there out everyday up and down the country making me money. Good on diesel to only thing is if you get a good welder working in your workshop it will last years before it needs welding again. Just like most cars and vans they all need some tlc sometimes. It's funny to see the costumes face when a old r reg transit come to pick there car up whats a 19 plate broken down. Just shows new stuff is not as reliable as you think.