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I am looking for a medium wheel base, mid roof 3.5T GVW van, aka Transit or Movano, around the £7000 mark.  It will probably be a 2005 model or there abouts with 40k miles on the clock.

Despite my knowledge of used cars, used vans is a bit more of a problem.  Asking people I know, I have yet to get a resounding yes to a particular model of van.  The consensus seems to be that they all have fairly serious issues.  I have run a Renault Master for six years, but we have had a few electrical and gear box problems, so was going to steer clear of them.

Anyone got any experience of a good van?

Sprinters were usually pretty robust; though I had handbrake problems on a couple. Transits are pretty cheap to get repaired and the older ones (floor mounted gearstick) tend to be pretty indestructible gearbox and drivetrain wise. Peugeot/Fiat should be avoided at all costs. Renault and Vauxhall are alright, but normally lots of niggling issues. No idea on VW; though they're based on the sprinters so must be reasonably tough. My money would be on a 311 or 313 sprinter LWB, high roof. Should be able to pick up a reasonable 2003/2004 example for that much. Reasonably quiet. Just check you can get comfortable, used to give me chronic ankle pain.

Thanks theonlydt.

I also took a trot down to a local used van specialist and he has recommended a Iveco Daily.  Lack of electronics and slightly more truck biased, her recons these are the vehicles to go for if you want reliablity. Price is good too!

Van Morrison used to be considered quite good, but be careful when ordering as Morris vans were rubbish.   Yes I know, I am aren't I?

I'd totally forgotten Iveco. Very under-rated vans. Not quite as nice to drive as a sprinter or transit, but pretty simple and reasonably well built.

Oh and I forgot to add that the older Iveco aren't quite as quiet as a sprinter, probably comparable to the transits of the era. Old shape transit and most iveco dailys were Direct Injection, Merc went quickly over to common-rail and it does make a difference

I bought two 06 plate VW Caddys last week to add to my old Hiace and I found the best place for information on ANY van to be www.whatvan.co.uk (go to the Van Search link for used vans). My decision to buy these vans (including the Hiace two years ago) was due in no great part to their roadtest of the van. A friend also bought a 06 Trafic after comparing 4 vans on the site.

Given that WhatCar is a sister publication to Autocar I'm sure they won't mind me plugging them.  

 

 Hello Teg - Hopefully youhave already got a new van and are happy. My bit of advise is to by a LVD. I have always been impressed by their reliabilty my 1st one was an L Plate '95. Very basic - Good economy - Good Access . My new Maxus SWB is Excellent - Never misses a beat. (The LWB has a turning circle like the QE2)

Good luck Proops. 

 

Proops:

My bit of advise is to by a LVD. I have always been impressed by their reliabilty my 1st one was an L Plate '95

I'd contest that view of LDV. The maxus I can't comment on and it has receieved good reviews, but any LDV van before that can not match the competition. We had 03 reg Convoys that were rusting badly in 06. Turbos were blowing by 80k. They were underpowered. They all pulled to one side or the other when braking and there was a huge amount of play in the steering. The doors were badly fitted, the batteries went flat etc. All in all I couldn't recommend the LDV Pilot and Convoy between 01 and 05 (my experience of them), as despite the fact it was a hard life there were other vans in much better nick that weren't stranding us by the side of the road

theonlydt:

I'd contest that view of LDV.

Chuckle.  I know what you mean about LDV's.  We had a 400 series back in the early 90's powered by an old Peugeot 2.5 normally aspirated diesel.  It kicked out 75bhp (on a good day) and wouldn't do above 60mph on a motorway.  It was awful to drive!

That said, it was strong and after we sold it, it went on for at least another 100,000 miles.  The bloke who was driving it must have been a deaf, numb, saint though, because I'm damn sure it is the only way he would have got through the experience!

Looks like the Iveco is out.  Went and had a look at one and it seems to be significantly bigger on the external dimensions than the Renault Master we currently have and that's a problem.  Whilst I was at the van centre though I had a look at an LT35 VW.  It was an 05 plate MWB with 50k on the clock.  It hadn't been prepped but I figured that was just as well because they would have hidden the rust!  There were bubbles coming up all over it, on original panel work, not accident damaged.  Have heard of corrosion problems with both these and sprinters, however I didn't think it would be that bad!

So, it could be down to the LDV Maxus.  It is a clean sheet design and has nothing in common with the LDV's of old, so from that point of view I am a little more confident. I have heard mixed reports, although my customers who have them seem to like them? 

Wow, I had no idea the LT35 or sprinter would corrode that quickly. Despite the hard life vans lead I swear the manufacturers can't be using thick enough paint and aren't galvanising the steel properly. May I ask why you wrote off the Transit? Probably cheapest to service and repair. I always liked them, despite the 2.0 85bhp taking about a minute to get to 60 you could rag the nuts off it, double de-clutch, blip downshifts and generally abuse it; you'd still get 40mpg and never run the risk of getting a speeding ticket because 30mph was about the best you'd get fully laden on most short roads. Also found Transits had better wing mirrors (sounds strange I know, but really appreciated being able to see most of the blind spot).

Regarding the LT's - I haven't noticed rust issues on the later models - as far as i was aware they came galvanized. My friend had a monster. It was the 158BHP (I think) model with the 2.8 PD engine. I swear that thing was faster when unladen than my car (passat 130bhp). The driving position on them is very good also, the seat could be adjusted in so many directions - I presume it's the same as the sprinter in that respect.

 As far as im aware he had very few problems with his. My other friend has a 95 transporter T4 which starts to rust at the sign of rain. I dont know how much he has paid in touching up the arches due to rust. However he was given the new T5 model as a courtesy van with the 2.5 TDI 130 BHP engine. In my experience, that was the most car-like to drive of any vans I have ever driven. The engine was quiet and torqey all the way through the rev range, the seating position was excellent and the ergonomics spot on.

If you're looking for something that will simply do the job and be as little hassle as possible, I'd suggest the newest transit you can afford. Try to go for the duratorq TDdi models if possible. They are all over the place so if parts are required, I doubt they would be hard to find. Servicing will also work out cheaper than the "premium" brands such as Mercedes and VW. Good luck with your endeavors.