Time for a van, suggestions welcome

[AGlassAct]

I looked extensively when I took the plunge, pound for pound the combo/doblo came out best for me. If you can stretch to the doblo maxi that would be my top pick - 1ton payload and twin doors as standard. I’ve got the new shape combo (doblo) no end of issues with it but I still love it?!?!? My next van will either be Petrol or electric, had considered getting electric after the last lot of issues but the payloads just don’t stack up yet.
Clutch went just after I brought it - £400 no big deal (96k).
Non of my windows work as the switches have fallen off.
Both springs on the front have snapped - within a week of each other.
Loads of lights don’t work on the centre console.
Fan/heater packed up - was told it was the fan, turned out to be a resistor (common fault) that had burned out so had to re-wire it.
The biggest issue I’ve had is with the EGR and DPF - these ‘new’ vans just don’t suit short journeys. If your doing the odd blast down an A road or motorway then fine but after it’s last regeneration (97%) I was told I needed to take a 45 minute blast down the carriageway in 4th gear once a week.
Same pattern for the last few months - van wouldn’t start, take it for a blast and it would work for a week at most. After some major surgery and a re-map I’m hoping that will be the end of the issues. Has cost me two weeks off and the best part of £800 since Christmas. Would I recommend it - yes! As despite its issues I’ve heard horror stories about every other van on the market.


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[Clisty1989]

I looked extensively when I took the plunge, pound for pound the combo/doblo came out best for me. If you can stretch to the doblo maxi that would be my top pick - 1ton payload and twin doors as standard. I’ve got the new shape combo (doblo) no end of issues with it but I still love it?!?!? My next van will either be Petrol or electric, had considered getting electric after the last lot of issues but the payloads just don’t stack up yet.
Clutch went just after I brought it - £400 no big deal (96k).
Non of my windows work as the switches have fallen off.
Both springs on the front have snapped - within a week of each other.
Loads of lights don’t work on the centre console.
Fan/heater packed up - was told it was the fan, turned out to be a resistor (common fault) that had burned out so had to re-wire it.
The biggest issue I’ve had is with the EGR and DPF - these ‘new’ vans just don’t suit short journeys. If your doing the odd blast down an A road or motorway then fine but after it’s last regeneration (97%) I was told I needed to take a 45 minute blast down the carriageway in 4th gear once a week.
Same pattern for the last few months - van wouldn’t start, take it for a blast and it would work for a week at most. After some major surgery and a re-map I’m hoping that will be the end of the issues. Has cost me two weeks off and the best part of £800 since Christmas. Would I recommend it - yes! As despite its issues I’ve heard horror stories about every other van on the market.


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I tend to think people exaggerate horror stories, unless it's a known fault from a reputable source. Most of the time it's isolated incidents, but they're worth keeping in mind.

 

[dmw]

I noticed at the last scrappage scheme the previous discounts on new cars were suddenly replaced by the scrappage discount which in most cases you were losing out on the so called scrappage price.
In my neck of the woods every main dealer has got a scrappage scheme at the moment,
I think your better off just buying a pre-registered or nearly new.

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[Iron Giant]

1.3 combo you need to be carefull as the oilway to the cam chain tensioner can easily block which leads to the pulley seizing and throwing the chain which will trash the engine (fiat 1.3 cdti engines in them)
1.7 is a great engine though
Kangoo is great but side door version is better.. Just be aware of the low payload.. mine is only 625k which only allows me 400l ish of water

I have no idea what you are talking about ?, I will speak to a mate of mine who is a ex mechanic and car mad. But cheers for the heads up.

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[Iron Giant]

Cheers, looking at 180kg for 2 people, 350l tank & frame, backpack, ladders, & trad gear. One I'm looking at has side door and 800kg payload.
I'm thinking of running tank lengthways, and then having wfp gear by side door, twin Di on other side and trad gear at the back.

Mine has a 750kg payload and I have put a 350 tank up against the bulkhead leaving a decent amount of room for other bits and pieces.

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[Iron Giant]

I looked extensively when I took the plunge, pound for pound the combo/doblo came out best for me. If you can stretch to the doblo maxi that would be my top pick - 1ton payload and twin doors as standard. I’ve got the new shape combo (doblo) no end of issues with it but I still love it?!?!? My next van will either be Petrol or electric, had considered getting electric after the last lot of issues but the payloads just don’t stack up yet.
Clutch went just after I brought it - £400 no big deal (96k).
Non of my windows work as the switches have fallen off.
Both springs on the front have snapped - within a week of each other.
Loads of lights don’t work on the centre console.
Fan/heater packed up - was told it was the fan, turned out to be a resistor (common fault) that had burned out so had to re-wire it.
The biggest issue I’ve had is with the EGR and DPF - these ‘new’ vans just don’t suit short journeys. If your doing the odd blast down an A road or motorway then fine but after it’s last regeneration (97%) I was told I needed to take a 45 minute blast down the carriageway in 4th gear once a week.
Same pattern for the last few months - van wouldn’t start, take it for a blast and it would work for a week at most. After some major surgery and a re-map I’m hoping that will be the end of the issues. Has cost me two weeks off and the best part of £800 since Christmas. Would I recommend it - yes! As despite its issues I’ve heard horror stories about every other van on the market.


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Mine has 58700 miles on the clock and I will only be doing 4000 miles a year at most, dpf is a potential headache with our job but I plan on giving it a decent run out at least once a month.

I read some were recently that using a fuel additive/cleaner every 3rd tank fill would help but not sure if theirs any truth in it.

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[AGlassAct]

I did 4K last year 6K the year before, serviced twice a year by my mate who is a Vauxhall engineer and he put an additive in (assume like reddex) every service although he said once a year is enough unless you buy supermarket fuel. When things started to go south Vauxhall didn’t have a clue and would have basically changed the engine - they didn’t know where the EGR valve was, which was the point I contacted another garage. Time will tell but so far so good.


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[Clisty1989]

Mine has a 750kg payload and I have put a 350 tank up against the bulkhead leaving a decent amount of room for other bits and pieces.

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Cheers, having another look at specs it's a 650 payload, so probably get a 250 tank and take couple of barrels to be sure, can always refill as all my work within a mile of either mine or a mates who will let me fill at his, gives me an excuse for a cuppa and a chat  :1f44d:

 

[Gerry Scrimshaw]

Something with a door either side if your both using backpacks. I’ve got an old shape Peugeot van, 350lt tank over back wheels and work out from both sides with trolleys so don’t get in each other’s way, you stand on the bed to undo ladders if needed. I’ll go for a Citroen dispatch when funds are up a bit.


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[Clisty1989]

Something with a door either side if your both using backpacks. I’ve got an old shape Peugeot van, 350lt tank over back wheels and work out from both sides with trolleys so don’t get in each other’s way, you stand on the bed to undo ladders if needed. I’ll go for a Citroen dispatch when funds are up a bit.


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I'll keep that in mind, only running 1 backpack, my father in law is a tradder (working on converting him and his round) so it's only my work and about 5-10% of his work, which I'll go off and do on my own whilst he works elsewhere. Also thinking of rigging up a charger for the backpack into to back of the van so it can charge throughout the mornings when not in use, keep it fully charged.

 

[Gerry Scrimshaw]

Not a bad idea though I’ve never run out of juice but I do keep a spare charged battery in case. They’re only small Yuasa gel ones and easy to change on my trollies. They need a different type of charger like Ck Tec with some sort of regulator built in.


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[Julian Noddy Dean]

 if your getting it on payments , then you have to pay the vat so in real terms you have 3200 maybe less if theres a fee on top 

 it doesn't matter what van you buy as there all rubbish , long gone are the days of running old smiley transits for 300.000 miles with out spending any money on them , ive a 1998 312 sprinter with over 800k on the clock still with the same engine and box in ! fourms are full or storeys about which van to buy is best , for every good post about a van you can find a bad one about the same model 

what you need to be doing is finding the lowest mileage van thats got the best history you can , if its had a speed limiter on the van thats a big plus , also if its had atracker fitted this is a big plus as most company's now sack staff for driving badly 

stop away from ex post office vans , and anything thats been used for parcel delivery , tnt , dhl , ect ect also anything that ex gas or electric company these are mostly the bigger ones (3.5 tonnes) that have the p.t.o.  pipes sticking out the back as they have sat on tick over for hours and hours to power the road peckers 

ex aa , ex rac , small gas vans ( house service engines)  , ex b.t. fleet are a good bet as the drivers keep there own vans  due to carrying there own tools in the rear , so if you hit lucky and find a driver thats treat the van like his own happy days 

also speak to who ever going to look after it for you point less buying something that your local garage wont touch meaning you finding a new place to fix it at a later date 

 

[spruce]

The local council have a few 10 plate Transit Connects. There were a couple parked outside one of the council's building this am. Each of them had rotten sills just behind the front wheels which I found 'interesting.' The earlier models from 53 plate start rusting on the sill just infront of the rear wheels.

 

[Clisty1989]

 if your getting it on payments , then you have to pay the vat so in real terms you have 3200 maybe less if theres a fee on top 

 it doesn't matter what van you buy as there all rubbish , long gone are the days of running old smiley transits for 300.000 miles with out spending any money on them , ive a 1998 312 sprinter with over 800k on the clock still with the same engine and box in ! fourms are full or storeys about which van to buy is best , for every good post about a van you can find a bad one about the same model 

what you need to be doing is finding the lowest mileage van thats got the best history you can , if its had a speed limiter on the van thats a big plus , also if its had atracker fitted this is a big plus as most company's now sack staff for driving badly 

stop away from ex post office vans , and anything thats been used for parcel delivery , tnt , dhl , ect ect also anything that ex gas or electric company these are mostly the bigger ones (3.5 tonnes) that have the p.t.o.  pipes sticking out the back as they have sat on tick over for hours and hours to power the road peckers 

ex aa , ex rac , small gas vans ( house service engines)  , ex b.t. fleet are a good bet as the drivers keep there own vans  due to carrying there own tools in the rear , so if you hit lucky and find a driver thats treat the van like his own happy days 

also speak to who ever going to look after it for you point less buying something that your local garage wont touch meaning you finding a new place to fix it at a later date 

I thought that, I'm avoiding delivery companies and posty vans as I've seen postys hammering them around here, and I did a bit of temping for a delivery company a few years back and I thrashed it. The mechanic I'm taking is the owner of my local garage, and always has a van or 2 either being worked on, or waiting to be done. After my car fiasco in December (not going into it but there's a whole, long thread/rant on here) I'm being extremely cautious when I go to get one.

 

[Iron Giant]

1.3 combo you need to be carefull as the oilway to the cam chain tensioner can easily block which leads to the pulley seizing and throwing the chain which will trash the engine (fiat 1.3 cdti engines in them)

1.7 is a great engine though

Done a bit of research online regarding this issue not loads of info on the exact issue, but sifting through the info i think people have missed the tell tale signs of timing chain issues along with the fact that oil changes should maybe be done more frequently than just at the now extended service intervals of 21,000 miles 

Most of posters on the forums have started posting after they have ran into issues or just ignored the tell tale signs, But thanks for the heads up as now i know to keep an eye things. 

 

[Neilmnwc]

I’ve been running an 06 Partner (600L, 1.9d) it’s slow but does everything it needs to do. It’s surprised me how reliable it has been as I thought they were rubbish.


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[spruce]

I’ve been running an 06 Partner (600L, 1.9d) it’s slow but does everything it needs to do. It’s surprised me how reliable it has been as I thought they were rubbish.


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One of the best diesels ever made- killed off by emissions legislation.

Lower van shell to about a foot up is galvanized dipped so the body underneath doesn't rust. 

 

[Neilmnwc]

 
One of the best diesels ever made- killed off by emissions legislation.
 
Lower van shell to about a foot up is galvanized dipped so the body underneath doesn't rust. 

Didn’t know that. I keep thinking about changing it...it isn’t rusty and doesn’t go wrong, nothing a valet & seat covers can’t sort on the inside. I’ve had it 4 years in April. It’s only got 82k on it...emissions regs have a lot to answer for with modern diesels.


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[Gerry Scrimshaw]

My 56 plate expert has 160k and just passed test first time again. It’s a bit juicy 35ish mpg and slow as it’s non turbo. You see lots of them around still going back to W reg.

 

[Neilmnwc]

My 56 plate expert has 160k and just passed test first time again. It’s a bit juicy 35ish mpg and slow as it’s non turbo. You see lots of them around still going back to W reg.

Yeah, I can imagine getting rid for a newer Gucci van and having drama with it then seeing my old van still plodding along. It’s a bit like a cockroach...[emoji23]


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[Julian Noddy Dean]

My 56 plate expert has 160k and just passed test first time again. It’s a bit juicy 35ish mpg and slow as it’s non turbo. You see lots of them around still going back to W reg.

slow is good with ours as its got a 800 in it lolololol