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Van upgrade...

ECLM
WCF

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Personaly id steer clear of French cars/vans mate, that's my honest opinion,

But,

Only you can decide!

 
My van went through its MOT yesterday but the Tester said it would need a lot of welding underneath to get through next year.

So I will be looking for another van. I really hate picking a vehicle, driving around seeing one after another.

I might look at leasing, contract purchase.

 
It's the 2.0 hdi mate these engines are bombproof

Prob one of the most reliable Diesel engines ever made

The system looks good as well

If you can barter then say do a deal on 5 grand with all the equipment I'd say go for it

 
My van went through its MOT yesterday but the Tester said it would need a lot of welding underneath to get through next year.
So I will be looking for another van. I really hate picking a vehicle, driving around seeing one after another.

I might look at leasing, contract purchase.
Click to expand...
These guys gave me a pretty good deal SPC - it's a good website to at least compare etc :

http://www.loadsofvans.com

 
I brought a ford transit connect lwb 3 year old for £5600 with 79000 mileage with just under 1000 payload. I love it, it been very well look after.
Click to expand...
Same as me!

 
http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.view&alt=web&id=252010094535Opinions ?
Click to expand...
Its a Peugeot Boxer @Jake. The bad thing is that it's a Fiat. The good thing is that it has a Hdi engine PSA (Peugeot/Citroen/Ford) as @Eviestevie says.

Gearbox is better than was used in the Mk1 up to 2001/2. Bad thing is that Fiat have only just admitted that the reverse gear is not the correct ratio (too high) which can cause clutch shudder in reverse gear under load, exacerbated by the reaction of a worn/failing dual mass flywheel.

It has a Dual Mass fly wheel which is prone to failure. Good thing is that when it fails it can be replaced with solid flywheel/clutch assembly kit.

Fiat vans suffer from peeling paint which Fiat don't seem concerned about. It affects vans over 5 years old and some are more prone to it than others. This affects vans built from 2002 onwards, and even extends down to vans with a 60 reg plate. Bad thing is that when the stickers from the previous window cleaners are removed from this van there is a good chance some of the paint will come off with them as well.

Ionics will have him for using their logo on the front door.

IMHO this van is well over priced even with 67k on the clock. How much is a 650 liter 2 man Purefreedom system?

Lets see. What will a dealer want to sell this 10 year old van for? A good van in mint condition would struggle to make £3995 retail. A dealer wouldn't trade it in for anymore that £2500. Forget what he says its cost him; that won't change it's real value.

I don't know what the PF system costs but it is probably around £2500 plus fitting with the trolley. It doesn't matter how little work the system has done, its now no longer new. The receiver used too (not sure this tax year) allow a 40% write down on purchases in the first year and 18% each year after. IMHO if he put the system up for sale on Ebay I doubt it would fetch any more than £1500 - which would include the gas heater and LPG tank. The LPG tank is far too big and takes up far too much valuable space. He needed to fit a smaller 25 liter one underneath the van just in front of the rear axle.

So I wouldn't pay anymore than £4000 for the complete setup. Oh. the van is due a service so it would be worth scrutinizing its full service history. With that mileage it should be being serviced every year, not 12500 miles or every 2 years. It will also need a cambelt change if that hasn't been done. This should include the waterpump as well. PSA say that cambelt should be replaced at 75k or 5 years. Most of us would change it at 100k or 10 years, which ever comes first. (As per the manufacturer Gates recommendations. The belt I took off my 2004 Citroen Relay with 54k on the clock over Christmas was without fault and minimal wear. The auxiliary belt was in a poor state and that must be replaced at the same time. @Smurf will tell you that he wrote his Berlingo van off when the auxiliary belt snapped as it broke the cambelt housing, snapped the cambelt and knackered the engine - van not worth repairing.)

If Purefreedom fitted the system I would have to question the positioning of the tank. I can't see what the gap is between the bulk head and the tank, but if it is up against the BH then I would get the vehicle on a weighbridge with the tank full, diesel tank full and 2 operators. Bets are that the front axle will be overloaded. The tank should be fitted length ways so the weight is better distributed onto the rear axle.

 
Last edited by a moderator:
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Its a Peugeot Boxer @Jake. The bad thing is that it's a Fiat. The good thing is that it has a Hdi engine PSA (Peugeot/Citroen/Ford) as @Eviestevie says.
Gearbox is better than was used in the Mk1 up to 2001/2. Bad thing is that Fiat have only just admitted that the reverse gear is not the correct ratio (too high) which can cause clutch shudder in reverse gear under load, exacerbated by the reaction of a worn/failing dual mass flywheel.

It has a Dual Mass fly wheel which is prone to failure. Good thing is that when it fails it can be replaced with solid flywheel/clutch assembly kit.

Fiat vans suffer from peeling paint which Fiat don't seem concerned about. It affects vans over 5 years old and some are more prone to it than others. This affects vans built from 2002 onwards, and even extends down to vans with a 60 reg plate. Bad thing is that when the stickers from the previous window cleaners are removed from this van there is a good chance some of the paint will come off with them as well.

Ionics will have him for using their logo on the front door.

IMHO this van is well over priced even with 67k on the clock. How much is a 650 liter 2 man Purefreedom system?

Lets see. What will a dealer want to sell this 10 year old van for? A good van in mint condition would struggle to make £3995 retail. A dealer wouldn't trade it in for anymore that £2500. Forget what he says its cost him; that won't change it's real value.

I don't know what the PF system costs but it is probably around £2500 plus fitting with the trolley. It doesn't matter how little work the system has done, its now no longer new. The receiver used too (not sure this tax year) allow a 40% write down on purchases in the first year and 18% each year after. IMHO if he put the system up for sale on Ebay I doubt it would fetch any more than £1500 - which would include the gas heater and LPG tank. The LPG tank is far too big and takes up far too much valuable space. He needed to fit a smaller 25 liter one underneath the van just in front of the rear axle.

So I wouldn't pay anymore than £4000 for the complete setup. Oh. the van is due a service so it would be worth scrutinizing its full service history. With that mileage it should be being serviced every year, not 12500 miles or every 2 years.

If Purefreedom fitted the system I would have to question the positioning of the tank. I can't see what the gap is between the bulk head and the tank, but if it is up against the BH then I would get the vehicle on a weighbridge with the tank full, diesel tank full and 2 operators. Bets are that the front axle will be overloaded. The tank should be fitted length ways so the weight is better distributed onto the rear axle.
Click to expand...
Wow that's pretty much decided it then ! Cheers spruce

Bit big for what I need anyway

I fancy dispatch/ expert - any advice?

 
Wow that's pretty much decided it then ! Cheers spruceBit big for what I need anyway

I fancy dispatch/ expert - any advice?
Click to expand...
Opinions are divided with regards to the 1.6Hdi engine.

I'm old school so my old gut says that a 1.6 is too small for a diesel but then I'm appalled that ford are fitting an electric driven turbo charged 1.0 petrol engine into a Focus.

In my days torque was all about engine size in cc. Modern engine design has redefined hp and torque with a turbo charger.

The first car to get a 1.6 hdi was the Citroen Picasso Mk2 around 2004. The Mk1 had a 90hp 2.0 hdi engine similar to the Boxer in the advert. The Mk2 was given a 1.6 hdi but boosted to 110 hp. Now hp on a diesel doesn't mean much, but what PSA did was to allow turbo boost in 3rd gear only to give that 110 hp. I felt uneasy with that, but VW did it with the Tdi in the Golf before PSA did - 90, 110, 135 and 150 was all done on the Turbo.

So for me I would prefer the 2.0 hdi in either of those 2 vans you mention. I believe they are the best engines around and the very reason for Ford's joint venture with PSA to use that engine in their vehicles, rather than the Tdi they already used in the Sharran.

However, I would also consider a 1.6 as I have to believe that Citroen wouldn't put an engine in a van that wouldn't do the job. Although I worked for Citroen for over 6 years, the 1.6 came out in vans after I had left. PSA have always built conservative vans, so if you want something fast then you won't get it off the shelf from them.

If I could only afford a van with a 1.6 then that is what I would buy. But a 1.6 must be serviced correctly and the correct oil used. Hence I would need to see a service history from a main Citroen or Peugeot dealer. They have to follow factory instructions to service the vehicle correctly.

These include:

Only draining the oil when the engine is hot;

The vehicle has to be on the level surface so the sump completely drains:

They have to let the oil drain for a certain length of time - I can't remember the time but its in the region of 20 minutes:

Oil can only be drained via the sump plug;

Filled with correct oil.

Unauthorized garages do use a vacuum pipe put down though the dip stick tube to suck the old engine oil out. It saves time (labour) in having to remove the under tray to get at the sump plug. PSA's warning is that this does remove all the old oil which will quickly contaminate the new being put in. There is also the likelihood of them using standard diesel engine oil from their 44 gallon drum which may be fine for other diesels but not acceptable for the 1.6 hdi.

I've seen a few adverts where a van is up for sale just having had a new turbo fitted. I would tend to pass those over, even if its a low miler. If a turbo goes its usually due to poor servicing by not following the above instructions. Sludge in the oil blocks the oil filter gauze on the suck-up pipe and leads to oil starvation. The turbo seems to be the first to fail but other damage throughout the engine could also be a possibility. So not only does the turbo need to be replaced, but the oil pipes to and from the turbo need to be replaced as well. The oil pump filter will so need to be replaced/cleaned which will mean removing the sump. The worry is that if the job hasn't been done properly then the turbo will fail again very shortly.

 
Last edited by a moderator:
Opinions are divided with regards to the 1.6Hdi engine.
I'm old school so my old gut says that a 1.6 is too small for a diesel but then I'm appalled that ford are fitting an electric driven turbo charged 1.0 petrol engine into a Focus.

In my days torque was all about engine size in cc. Modern engine design has redefined hp and torque with a turbo charger.

The first car to get a 1.6 hdi was the Citroen Picasso Mk2 around 2004. The Mk1 had a 90hp 2.0 hdi engine similar to the Boxer in the advert. The Mk2 was given a 1.6 hdi but boosted to 110 hp. Now hp on a diesel doesn't mean much, but what PSA did was to allow turbo boost in 3rd gear only to give that 110 hp. I felt uneasy with that, but VW did it with the Tdi in the Golf before PSA did - 90, 110, 135 and 150 was all done on the Turbo.

So for me I would prefer the 2.0 hdi in either of those 2 vans you mention. I believe they are the best engines around and the very reason for Ford's joint venture with PSA to use that engine in their vehicles, rather than the Tdi they already used in the Sharran.

However, I would also consider a 1.6 as I have to believe that Citroen wouldn't put an engine in a van that wouldn't do the job. Although I worked for Citroen for over 6 years, the 1.6 came out in vans after I had left. PSA have always built conservative vans, so if you want something fast then you won't get it off the shelf from them.

If I could only afford a van with a 1.6 then that is what I would buy. But a 1.6 must be serviced correctly and the correct oil used. Hence I would need to see a service history from a main Citroen or Peugeot dealer. They have to follow factory instructions to service the vehicle correctly.

These include:

Only draining the oil when the engine is hot;

The vehicle has to be on the level surface so the sump completely drains:

They have to let the oil drain for a certain length of time - I can't remember the time but its in the region of 20 minutes:

Oil can only be drained via the sump plug;

Filled with correct oil.

Unauthorized garages do use a vacuum pipe put down though the dip stick tube to suck the old engine oil out. It saves time (labour) in having to remove the under tray to get at the sump plug. PSA's warning is that this does remove all the old oil which will quickly contaminate the new being put in. There is also the likelihood of them using standard diesel engine oil from their 44 gallon drum which may be fine for other diesels but not acceptable for the 1.6 hdi.

I've seen a few adverts where a van is up for sale just having had a new turbo fitted. I would tend to pass those over, even if its a low miler. If a turbo goes its usually due to poor servicing by not following the above instructions. Sludge in the oil blocks the oil filter gauze on the suck-up pipe and leads to oil starvation. The turbo seems to be the first to fail but other damage throughout the engine could also be a possibility. So not only does the turbo need to be replaced, but the oil pipes to and from the turbo need to be replaced as well. The oil pump filter will so need to be replaced/cleaned which will mean removing the sump. The worry is that if the job hasn't been done properly then the turbo will fail again very shortly.
Click to expand...
Spruce is right with the turbo failure mainly on the 1.6 hdi engine and if you look on eBay many have had this replaced

But is like spruce said caused by the gauze in the turbo oil feed pipe clogging

If you do get one of these vans remove the filter and keep serviced with the best oil every 8000 mile

2.0 hdi is a much more reliable engine but these are hard to come by now

 
What's helpful is that most sellers need to brag about how much money they have spent on their vehicles and will list the parts replaced and cost.

My feeling is that if a van doesn't seem right to you then it probably isn't. I've seen examples of vans, even on dealers forecourts that look pristine on the outside, yet the cargo area is well beaten up.

Look further if a used van has new plylining. They could be covering something up.

I would personally pay more for a genuine low mileage van. I've seen dealers describe a van with 135k on the clock as low mileage. In my day in the motor trade a maintained contract wouldn't go over 120k as the maintenance of the van was too high after that mileage for the finance house to take the risk on. So why would we want to buy a van that mileage knowing that repair and maintenance costs would be high?

Catalytic convertors, dpf filters and exhaust systems will be expensive repairs on high mileage vans.

Any warning lights that remain on will be an MOT failure. "The light has been on since I bought the van 5 years ago and never caused me any issues," is a warning for me to stay clear of it.

LWB vans are likely to have damage to the nearside rear sliding door region so focus in on that side.

I generally wouldn't get too carried away with a van that 'has been maintained regardless of cost.' You are likely to find a list of items that need attention that haven't been done.

 
@spruce engine warning lights don't affect mot - just thought id let you know,

I know this is my wife's last car had the engine light on for 8 years due to a sensor issue, not once did the mot fail, mot is about safety and an engine light doesn't affect it at all...

 
New MOT rules @Jake

http://www.theaa.com/motoring_advice/car-servicing-repair/mot-changes-2012.html

There was a 'bedding in' period where these issues would be listed as an advisory.

Engine management light could signal fuel issues which could change a vehicles emissions. Engine management light on would now be a fail. But like anything, its how your local MOT inspector interprets and/or applies the rules to the vehicle he is testing.

It would be interesting to see what an inspector would do if the low water light was on the washer bottle but there was still sufficient fluid to pass the inspection. He would probably list it as an advisory.

At one time an MOT inspector could fail your vehicle on corroded brake discs even if the brakes performed satisfactorily. Now he can only list it as an advisory.

Some more detailed info

http://www.moneysupermarket.com/c/news/will-your-car-pass-new-mot-rules/0017255/

 
yes spruce I fell into the new mot rules as my air bag light was on ...forcing me to get it fixed...after passing for years with it on

cost me £35 and was a gamble sending off the box but worked okay...

and periodically ...randomly ...out of the blue it will pop the engine light on to annoy me..

but cheapie knows how to clear it in seconds now...

dont you just love ebay..:rofl:

 
@Jake I am considering getting a lab connect, that's what you have isn't it? I seem to remember seeing a video you did showing where you put your pressure washer or something? Would you mind posting the link?

I would like to see how to set everything up tidy like you have if you don't mind.

If I've totally dreamt this then tell me to **** off! :rofl:

 

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