Vans vans Vans...... talk to me

So we need some new ones,

fed up with vivaros,

what are the recommendations at the mo will be getting 14plates as minimum and I need a couple  small one man vans / 3x 2 man vans,

all the vans will be purely for window cleaning as we will keep one of our vivaros for jetwashing, carpets, gutters. and then for a spare

I dont need advice on systems or owt just want to hear the horror stories

siding towards merc at the moment as they look cheap and I dont hear many horror stories about the citan or vito series

I just sold a lwb Vauxhall combo.If well looked after I think there great for 1 man high payload plenty of room not to high.

For a medium sized van Ford transit custom.I have a 17 plate vivaro on loan at the minute as mine is getting fitted out and the custom is miles better.

Cghwindowcleaning said:

I just sold a lwb Vauxhall combo.If well looked after I think there great for 1 man high payload plenty of room not to high.

For a medium sized van Ford transit custom.I have a 17 plate vivaro on loan at the minute as mine is getting fitted out and the custom is miles better.

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Just fed up with vivaro had a number of issues with them (some may have been maintenance) but we want a change,

I like the customs its just everyone I speak to says they are a doddle to break in, our staff take vans home the last thing I want is a phone call at 6am

BOSS the back door has been done and poles have been robbed

Teaboy said:

Just fed up with vivaro had a number of issues with them (some may have been maintenance) but we want a change,

I like the customs its just everyone I speak to says they are a doddle to break in, our staff take vans home the last thing I want is a phone call at 6am

BOSS the back door has been done and poles have been robbed

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Yeah it is a common problem.I have the new one which is supposedly harder to get in to but still fairly easy bye all accounts.

I find once you sign write a van the crack head van thieves tend to leave window cleaning vans alone as they tend to want power tools and small items they can sell quick and easy to carry.

You can add high security locks to a custom for around £400-£500 for all doors.

Teaboy said:

Just fed up with vivaro had a number of issues with them (some may have been maintenance) but we want a change,

I like the customs its just everyone I speak to says they are a doddle to break in, our staff take vans home the last thing I want is a phone call at 6am

BOSS the back door has been done and poles have been robbed

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got a 61plate vivaro 65000 miles

ex Scottish power vehicle  - super clean.

yet I had the the slave or master cylinder go! 

gear box out job new clutch to boot 

£600. 

wish I spent a bit more and got a transporter.

see a couple of them being used for window cleaning around the Swansea area and they just look the ******** 

Ive done 3 clutches the last 18 months

never see the transports as viable, think because they are fashionable the price is a bit rich....

Cghwindowcleaning said:

Yeah it is a common problem.I have the new one which is supposedly harder to get in to but still fairly easy bye all accounts.

I find once you sign write a van the crack head van thieves tend to leave window cleaning vans alone as they tend to want power tools and small items they can sell quick and easy to carry.

You can add high security locks to a custom for around £400-£500 for all doors.

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lad from burton I know,

has both his vans on his drive, some blokes kicked his door in according to police to get the keys for a van.

Another bloke got his van robbed and the ***** had drove it to south leicestershire and were working from it!!!

(was bad for him as in the meantime he went and bought and set up a new one)

Teaboy said:

So we need some new ones,

fed up with vivaros,

what are the recommendations at the mo will be getting 14plates as minimum and I need a couple  small one man vans / 3x 2 man vans,

all the vans will be purely for window cleaning as we will keep one of our vivaros for jetwashing, carpets, gutters. and then for a spare

I dont need advice on systems or owt just want to hear the horror stories

siding towards merc at the moment as they look cheap and I dont hear many horror stories about the citan or vito series

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Think you need to talk to Terry ?

Teaboy said:

So we need some new ones,

fed up with vivaros,

what are the recommendations at the mo will be getting 14plates as minimum and I need a couple  small one man vans / 3x 2 man vans,

all the vans will be purely for window cleaning as we will keep one of our vivaros for jetwashing, carpets, gutters. and then for a spare

I dont need advice on systems or owt just want to hear the horror stories

siding towards merc at the moment as they look cheap and I dont hear many horror stories about the citan or vito series

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Vito for me, all day. Right size, super reliable, powerful, quiet, comfortable, good turning circle. Sold my last one with almost half a million miles on the clock. Only sold it as it was a Mark One, and getting too tatty for the company image. 

Got a new dispatch. It's basically a VW on a budget. Dual sliding doors and a good payload. Comes with good tech like apple car play as standard.

Twin sliding doors is brilliant, one of those things you don’t realise how great it is till you have a van with them. 

RWCleaning said:

Twin sliding doors is brilliant, one of those things you don’t realise how great it is till you have a van with them. 

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Or how great a van is that only has one side loading door. ?

When I was in the motor trade the Citroen Dispatch we had back then was the 1997 - 2006 variant and they only came with twin side sliding doors.  We had quite a number of customers who removed the opening door actuator so that door behind the driver could never be opened. They complained they lost too much loading space having that door.

One of the dealers ordered a Citroen Relay swb with twin sliding doors. (Twin sliding doors was an optional factory option.) They really struggled to sell that van as nobody wanted it.  So I guess its 'horses for courses'.

spruce said:

Or how great a van is that only has one side loading door. ?

When I was in the motor trade the Citroen Dispatch we had back then was the 1997 - 2006 variant and they only came with twin side sliding doors.  We had quite a number of customers who removed the opening door actuator so that door behind the driver could never be opened. They complained they lost too much loading space having that door.

One of the dealers ordered a Citroen Relay swb with twin sliding doors. (Twin sliding doors was an optional factory option.) They really struggled to sell that van as nobody wanted it.  So I guess its 'horses for courses'.

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Just depends how your van is set up I suppose.

I have twin sliding doors, and my reels face sideways as do my rollers.

I can park up facing practically anywhere and work with ease.

As you say, horses for courses ?

What about the Toyota Hiace? Not the prettiest and not the best MPG but very reliable, well built and good payload. Most newer models of vans often don't live up to the reputation of their predecessors like T5 and T4, but so far the newer Hiaces are still going well

We run LWB Barn door Vito's and I cannot sing their praises enough.Having previously run Nissan Primstar's , these Vito's are spot on.Twin side loading doors, plenty of cab comfort, drives like a car, goodish on the fuel.We have a 650 ltr tank in the back of each one, plenty of spare room to store the pressure washer, vacuum etc.Just enough head height to be able to slide short extension ladders in on brackets suspended from roof, next to this sit the poles in 4" down pipe.Milage wise, our oldest one a 639 has 265k on it, body in good nick , had to spend a bag on it recently but it will see another couple of years. I hope this helps, good luck.

I have the same door configuration and the same size tank (flat), on my Vito. Similar pole and ladder stowage. My son works from the left side door with the reel sat on the tank. I work out of the back doors with the reel on the floor. We each have our own pump and controller and we always try to work on the left. The right side door step is used to store our Ladder Matrix, ladder standoff, telescopic ladder, drain rods(for pushing leaves and moss on extremely difficult to reach gutters) and two brooms (soft and hard), which are pushed, handle first between the tank and bulkhead. 

Son reckons his new transit knocks spots off Vito for driving .

My 2 year old Combo with less than 6000 miles had to have a new steering rack . Wish I had brought petrol as don't do enough miles so have to give it a good run to keep DWP filter clear ,also wish I had twin sliding doors apart from that great motor and only needs servicing every 2 years or 20k .

paulben said:

Son reckons his new transit knocks spots off Vito for driving .

My 2 year old Combo with less than 6000 miles had to have a new steering rack . Wish I had brought petrol as don't do enough miles so have to give it a good run to keep DWP filter clear ,also wish I had twin sliding doors apart from that great motor and only needs servicing every 2 years or 20k .

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I am the same in terms of mileage as for the dpf you need to do a 40 minute run on the motorway ideally also shot some of this in Cataclean Diesel when the fuel is low then give it a good run out, my combo is over 4 years old and I have owned it just over a year and not had the dpf light come on, I was thinking about possibly getting a petrol van at some point in the future but second hand they are as rare as hens teeth.

paulben said:

Son reckons his new transit knocks spots off Vito for driving .

My 2 year old Combo with less than 6000 miles had to have a new steering rack . Wish I had brought petrol as don't do enough miles so have to give it a good run to keep DWP filter clear ,also wish I had twin sliding doors apart from that great motor and only needs servicing every 2 years or 20k .

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If you're doing domestic ( start stop driving) services should be closer to every 5k if you're planning to keep the van. 

Leeds said:

If you're doing domestic ( start stop driving) services should be closer to every 5k if you're planning to keep the van. 

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Agreed with, the service schedule on most motors these days is ridiculous, I had mine serviced 12 months after the last service back in October and it will get serviced every 12 months when it has it's MOT done oil and filter change is important more so on combos which I was informed have had issues.

Just had my transit custom in the garage for another update.

I only do around 4-5 thousand miles per year.

With this new update, a message comes up on the dashboard that the filter thingy is being cleaned. This is a handy feature as my van doesn’t do more than a ten mile run.

Think maybe I should get it on the motorway soon. ?

I've had DPF in my Crafter since new and that was over 10yrs ago. I hate it, every 150mls I have to travel to Greenock on the motorway and I don't know anyone in Greenock. I've started becoming a Sunday driver to Greenock and would like a petrol van after years of this carry on. I once didn't do it and the filter got blocked and went into limp mode. Cost £140 to get it cleaned out so much better going for a drive on the motorway. How its saving the environment I will never know. :1f61e: