Vans? Are they all total rubbish?

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markyspread said:
I have a 2010 l200 singe cab
a bit like driving a shed around, but a real workhorse, tonne payload, perfect for my small screeds , and you can lay 8x4 sheets on the back if you put a bit of timber across.
has wind down windows, no central locking old fashioned as fook
beats modern electrics hands down
and when i have finished i can sell it to some third world army/terrorist organisation as they make perfect gun mounts
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i like my Mazda B2500. as you say easy to load 8x4 board, i pick up ready mixed screed. the Mazda is now 15 years old, 36,000 on the clock from new.
 
I think hilux have a false sense of reliability given by top gear, who would endorse any vehicle if the manufacturer paid them enough, it’s all propaganda
 
Iv had a vivaro since 2014. Been a brilliant van almost 200k miles now it’s towed a trailer with a ton of aggregate on for maybe 120k of those miles. It’s had a new clutch and gearbox about 140k other than that just wear and tear. Iv just got a Renault traffic sport it’s a lovely van 170bhp quicker than most cars. Sat nav, dab, reserve cam, cruise job lot
If you spend all day in a van why not make it something you like being in
 
Danny said:
The injectors are dumb money for a caddy and they go far too often...

I think van manufacturers benefit from selling shite...

Speaking to an MOT tester today and he reckons the most reliable Van on the road is a Peugeot as he see stupid high miles and they all go throu MOTs quite well...

Not sure I can bring myself to buy a Pug though

May just throw the extra money and get the Landy
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I’d rather walk than drive a Peugeot
 
What ever you do don’t buy a custom my mates engine blew up took him to pick it up after he paid £3200 for a rebuild. The guy had around 80 customs in there all having the same thing done shocking need to get the turbo done as well sucks all the crap through it all from around 14 - 17 plate think the brand new one is ok tho
 
hollybank said:
Had a Hilux in the 90s used it for work and going out in , still drew good money for it 10 years ago.
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A old chippy I use to work with has a n reg hilux and it’s straight as a whistle had it from new and he still driving it round to this day and still looks the b*ll***s
 
imago said:
Luck of the draw, whichever make/model one person praises another slates.

Loads hate the Vivaro for example. I bought the last of the old model brand new in July 2014 for £11k + VAT having never bought or owned anything newer than 6 years old. It's been absolutely spot on with only servicing and tyres since. I put the details into 'We Buy Any Van' a couple of weeks back out of curiosity, and even on there it's coming up as £5.5k + VAT nearly 7 years later. Other people have had the same van and it's been trouble from day one.

Transits rot, German stuff costs a fortune to buy/service/repair, French stuff is very basic and smells of garlic.

Low owners and mileage with service history is the best guide. Ultimately the cheapest you can get your hands on new or second hand and hope for the best. I wouldn't be buying one at the moment though, prices are daft.

For the sort of stuff you'd use it for I'd get a Previa or similar.
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You say Transits rot. Have you seen a rotten Transit custom?
 
limeplastering said:
What ever you do don’t buy a custom my mates engine blew up took him to pick it up after he paid £3200 for a rebuild. The guy had around 80 customs in there all having the same thing done shocking need to get the turbo done as well sucks all the crap through it all from around 14 - 17 plate think the brand new one is ok tho
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Because the service intervals are too optimistic. 2 years and 30,000 miles. My mate runs a very popular successful garage and he said just get it serviced every year the old fashioned way. Mines been great.
 
Danny said:
For the last 7 years I have had "skip cars" I fold the seats down and destroy them, using them for all teh crap jobs and so seeing as our house purchase is nearly done a van would be handy for lugging a bit more shite about.

I bought a combo about 8 maybe 10 days ago and since then I have been fixing faults. It was a cheapo van and I expect to do repairs and what not but today while I was meant to be on a beach with my family I was underneath trying fix and I decided that I had bought a lemon.

But broken engine mounts, oil leaks, crank sensors, remote locking not working etc etc etc...

The garage claimed they had done a cambelt and after all the other stuff I did a bit of searching and from my opinion and the 3 other people who were there with me agreed the belt had not been changed. which is hard to prove and unless you physically see someone fitting a belt its hard otherwise.

I dont mind tinkering but literally all week I have been messing about.

The van was sold as seen but I was not standing for that and after a lot of arguing my money was returned... Thankfully the consumer rights act is on my side... They did try charging me 50p a mile which I was not having none of.

Anyway...

So my search for another van is on... but everything seems absolute garbage...

I try and avoid french...

Fords rot and the VW caddy has massive injector problems...

I don't actually need it for plastering and to be honest the only reason I use a van is for moving my bees about and home projects... I may do the odd job here or there etc but not enough to warrant spending huge amounts..



SO what do you drive and how reliable is it?
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Bees you say.

Only one motor for a beekeeper.





 
Ive had about 5 vans. Had a brand new renault trafic crew van in 2010 when i packed in working for a subbie.
Sold it after 3 years . And have gradually got a worse and worse van since.
Being into jap imports ive had an r reg 3.2d elgrand for 18 months. Paid 900 . Absolutely brilliant.
Danny get shot of the combo. Bloody awful things
 
I bought vivaro in October, 17 plate. Brilliant van and looks really nice too. Interior compared to my old dispatch is mental.
 
Rossi46 said:
You say Transits rot. Have you seen a rotten Transit custom?
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No, can't say I have. The chippy was moaning about the rear door hinges rusting on his. Aside from that I haven't heard anyone talking about rusting on a custom. Hopefully it's the first transit since they started building them 50 years ago which doesn't.

Like others though, with half a century of rust issues on them I wouldn't want to take a chance. It'll take a while to get rid of that reputation. Especially when the other manufacturers have upped their game.

As already said, there isn't a van out there which doesn't have issues but some will be fans of them all. Vito for example. You used to hear people say they dissolved like a hob nob in tea but people liked them anyway.

Amazing how prepared we all are to accept a range of faults with the most expensive tool we own.
 
johnh said:
Ive had about 5 vans. Had a brand new renault trafic crew van in 2010 when i packed in working for a subbie.
Sold it after 3 years . And have gradually got a worse and worse van since.
Being into jap imports ive had an r reg 3.2d elgrand for 18 months. Paid 900 . Absolutely brilliant.
Danny get shot of the combo. Bloody awful things
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The combo is gone... much to the delight of the dealer.

Vans? Are they all total rubbish?


Apparently tha belt has only done 100 miles...

I am sitting tight on the van front for now. @Olican has an elgrand
 
I changed van just after Christmas.Looks well since then on the driveway and will be there until April at least with this lockdown.
 
Danny said:
The shitroen does keep coming back as ok... not sure I could do it to myself really
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I’ve a citeron
Danny said:
The shitroen does keep coming back as ok... not sure I could do it to myself really
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I've a Citroen Dispatch 2015 I’ve had it a year now I’ve never had an issue I suppose it’s luck of the draw .the van I had before it was a transit connect I was constantly changing injectors on it
 
malc said:
are you having a tough time in Ireland or is the gov. paying for this lockdown?
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They give me €350 a week.The woman works from home so we are not struggling.Can’t go further than 5k or it’s a fine except for essential reasons.The vaccines are a joke here.I think they have given out around 200,000 since Christmas.I have a lot of work on but it’s all on hold.
 
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