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Drive A Van? Im After Some Advice


maccavvy

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Hi guys had a few issues with my van of late and wondering whether to upgrade to something newer.

My van is lpg so cheap to run, but im looking into a diesel one now.

I need a medium wheelbase high roof van .

 

so if you drive one or run one please let me know some mpg costs.. reliability issues etc etc .

 

More info the better

 

Thanks

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Don't know exact figures Marcus,but my work supplied van is a 13reg fwd transit which does about 450 miles to a tank full of diesel. My previous van was an 08 reg rwd diesel transit and only did 350 miles to a tank full if I was lucky.

I can probably find engine size and spec if you need it.

HTH

Nick

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cheers guys .

 

@ phil.. after something newer thanks

 

@ nicko the longer ones are rwd iirc and heard bad things about trannys .

 

@ daver cheers dude. but a bit too small for what I need. ive heard about the chocolate gearboxes too

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had my vivaro for years very good on fuel never had a problem with gearbox or clutch had it from knew 54 plate only problem I have had is fan belt snapped and went into cambelt and that was the end of the inlet and exhaust valves my fault I had never put a new fan belt on

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Guest Gargoil

I drove a company Vauxhall Movano for a few years. Can't comment on the MPG as it had a fuel card and the more powerful engine.

However, for reliability (0ver 180,000 miles) it was great. Solid as a rock and comfy to drive.

Edited by Gargoil
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Guest mower man

Ok its awhile ago [4/5years ] but ihad aseries of 2.8 turbo fiat ducatos over afew years all good mpg the odd clutch cable issuebut nothing major we ran them for 4/5 years ,around 300,000miles and then moved them on , not evry ones favoutite but but beter than the 2 ldv's we tried HTH mick

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Guest 2b cruising

Our company used both Renault and VW vans as roadside repair vehicle. All were continuously loaded to there max kerb weight. Renaults were more powerful but not the most reliable engine wise. Also mega expensive to repair even at trade prices doing our own repairs.

All round the high top long wheel base VW wih the larger engine were cheaper to run. With being max loaded, the smaller engine was labouring at all times so did less mpg.

The later van you buy the better as engine management has come on in leaps and bounds especially on diesel engins. Even big hgv 400 bhp and above no longer only do 8 or 9 mpg but are up in the high teens now.

Pure brilliance.

HTH Ken

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Avoid fiat, royal mail bought hundreds of them and they may be economical but they spend a lot of time in the garage. One of ours had a problem with the brakes and the workshop have found so many things loose and out of alignment that they are insisting it has been in an accident . The Peugeot that has replaced it is less economical and seems gutless for a brand new modern vehicle. There is a lot of roaring from under the bonnet but not a lot happens at the speedo. The best van we have is the vauxhall movano as in earlier posts. Nothing has fallen off, it has a good payload and goes well. I couldn't say anything about mpg as it does a lot of stop start motoring but it seems reasonable

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Guest PaulB49

Whatever you do don't get a Peugeot we have about 10 at work all under 2 years old most have trouble with the doors not locking properly and ones had a new turbo another a new engine. And their not doing more than 20k a year.

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I have been using VW's for the last 10 years as an electrician, often overloaded in my earlier days not knowing any better. We use a fleet of over 30 vans most travel moderate distances daily loaded with gear and it's never removed. I have actually purchased a few and converted them into camper vans and my father and I now use one each as daily drivers. As previously mentioned the larger engines usually have the better return on fuel. We use an on site mechanic who's a friend and he usually tells me what's going on and rarely has an issue so long as they're maintained. I personally have only had one break down after the turbo went over the years.

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Guest tom-zero

Don't run vans myself but a close friend is a van driver they lease citroen vans I think or peugeot def French! last week he was telling me that 3 of the new 64 plate vans are in need of new engines after 30-40 k cheaper to buy but expensive to maintain.

 

I think sprinters are one of the best vans available but you pay for it lol, have heard mix views about the vivaro although I think you can buy 2 vivaro for the price of 1 merc.

 

I look after a small fleet of the vivaro's for a local wood stove company and there are normally things that need replacing on top of the service and nearly always need work to get them through mot's and the vans have a fairly easy life compared to something like a builders van.

 

Is the van just for you or will there be a handful of employees using it as that's how vans get wrecked when the drivers don't care about the van as its not there's. can't comment on mpg tho as only service them but would expect a lot of it comes down to how it's driven

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