What Van?

leblanc

Hi All

Tired of paying for B&B's, camp sites etc I want to buy a van which I will be using as a camper to all extents and purposes.

Soooo... I have narrowed it down to a Peugeot Partner Hdi, a Ford Transit Connect or a VW Transporter which are all under 2.0 ltr and within my budget.

I will be putting a blow up single mattress, a camping stove, 7'10" surf board and some assorted hiking gear in there.

In terms of space and performance: what do you reckon?

kasper

get a vito more room nicer to drive

L1011

I can't see the Partner or Connect being particularly comfortable, the Transporter is a much bigger vehicle than those two.

frank gooding

connect is too small you are maybe thinking of the normal transits.

A neighbour converted a Merc Sprinter, Ideal for this job.
Transit LWB high roof or Jumbo.

VW Crafter loads of room.

You could get an astra van and through in a matress but it would be like sleeping in a hearse:D

Run_to_da_hills

Sister has a high roof connect uses it for travelling from Tralee to Dublin regularly, swears by it for economy, space and reliability. plenty of room for sleeping if front seats are moved foreward.

brian.h

Don`t use it for camping but bought a connect last month and can`t fault it.Great economy and comfort.

frank gooding

I have a connect the economy is poor

96,000km power steering pump replaced alternator replaced would have expected longer out of them.

Not so sure about reliability. seems to lash through brake bulbs more of a nuissance than real problem

I do carry a lot of weight but the power is shocking, it finds hills that normal cars wouldn't even feel.

I miss my 130 bhp passat.

leblanc

mmm... the astra is, as frank has pointed out, a little hearse like.

The VW trans looks the best bet for the extra room and a lot more of them seem to be available in 1.9ltr diesel than the Mercs which all seem to be 2.0 or 2.2

Need to keep my costs down as I live on the East coast but spend most of my free time on the West or South coasts.

Cheers

Le Blanc

staker

Seen a 00' shape high roof Transporter converted especially for surfing, he had the boards upstairs inside, was well impressed with it. I'd imagine it's a great time to buy something like this, no end to vans laying up idle

Guy:Incognito

frank gooding wrote: »

I have a connect the economy is poor

96,000km power steering pump replaced alternator replaced would have expected longer out of them.

Not so sure about reliability. seems to lash through brake bulbs more of a nuissance than real problem

I do carry a lot of weight but the power is shocking, it finds hills that normal cars wouldn't even feel.

I miss my 130 bhp passat.

One of the lads in my last job bought an 05 connect last year . Since then he's had to replace the steering rack and the alternator. Theres so miscellaneous dash lights on now and again too

There was those ADAC reliability results put up a while back by someone on here and the Transit of that era had wrse scores than the 01-05 Laguna II that everyone loves to give out about.


OP a small van is most likely to be too small for sleeping in, you should be looking at other vans in the transporter size . The Peugeot Expert would be the one rather than the Partner.