reccommend me a van please :)

bulldozer1

Hi,

thinking of getting one but dont have much of an idea about them. would want one which is both reliable and economical if one like that exists. probably one of the small versions. would want it for transport garden equipment like strimmers hedgetrimmers etc. are the ford transits decent?
also is there a big difference in the cost of insurance compared to a car?

thanks

Savman

Hiace can't be beat for reliability, there is the image which may or may not be a factor for you.

Avoid the Renaults and their Opel/Nissan variants.

bulldozer1

are the hiace cheap to run tho?

dgt

No bigger van is cheap to run

Savman

No the Hiace is a thirsty beast.

If you sacrifice reliability for fuel economy, that's a false economy!

I learned this the painfully hard way.

Bpmull

bulldozer1 wrote: »

are the hiace cheap to run tho?

My dad as a builder has owned almost every model of vans in the last 10 years except vws and fords but all the rest. When he first started his business 10 years ago he started with a hiace and he absolutely hated it it wasn't doing 25 mpg so he changed it as soon as he could. The most reliable van we have ever had we still have its a 2006 Renault master lwb. We bought it the 1st of January 2006 it has over 200k km and in that time the only thing we have ever done with it is 1 wheel bearing that's it nothing else. It flys the doe ever year it was checked over 2 months ago with a renault mechanic and he said the ball joints are not even half worn with 200k km on it he was even shocked. So if you could get a SWB master that was minded it would be a great buy. But really most vans that are minded are reliable enough.

Guy:Incognito

Just on the Trafic/Vivaro/Primastar. Theres a section in the current issue of Car Mechanics on these, and more specifically, the gearboxes that give trouble. Theres a gearbox guy in the UK they had in it. He said that as far as he could see the problem is things are shimmed too close. He's done a load and increased it by a few ooo's and the issue is sorted. He quoted one he done that has 180k miles or somesuch with no issue (dont have the magazine in front of me here) .

dgt

Renault Master has Iveco Daily running gear

If a Daily isn't too big, avoid the 2.3 like the plague. Don't expect cheap running with a Daily

bulldozer1

speaking of the renault master, this one seems good value does it not.
think i would prefer something smaller tho. can you drive them that big on a b licence?

http://www.donedeal.ie/for-sale/commercials/4391402

dgt

You have to ask yourself, what will you be carrying mostly, does it warrant a big panel van? We use ours mostly for towing plant trailers with the cargo area of the van used for holding parts for cars

Yes, you can drive it on a B licence but you can carry naff all due to the licence restriction (eg a 2.5 ton van you can carry about 900kg along with yourself) Insurance will be dearer too. For example, when I was 18, I looked for quotes on a Ducato 18Q and a Bravo TD100. For the year the Bravo was 600, Ducato was 2400

If I were you I'd look for something in the Scudo size; mid sized. Not too small that it can't carry more than a few buckets but not too big that it's a bastard on diesel and expensive to run, a happy medium for the average joe

JohnBoy26

Id avoid a Renault Traffic/Primastar/Vivaro. These are an absolute disaster of a van when they start to give trouble. Problems ranging from injectors(which seize in the head) to gearbox/clutch trouble are all too common.

As another poster already said, buy a Hiace. They are the most reliable van out there and what you spend on fuel will be far less than what fixing one of those awful Renaults will cost you.

bulldozer1

thanks for replies.
yeah i wouldnt be carrying huge amounts so something smaller would be what id be after. i like the look of those transit connects

JohnBoy26

bulldozer1 wrote: »

thanks for replies.
yeah i wouldnt be carrying huge amounts so something smaller would be what id be after. i like the look of those transit connects

If buying a van of that size id go for a 1.9tdi Caddy.

Bpmull

bulldozer1 wrote: »

speaking of the renault master, this one seems good value does it not.
think i would prefer something smaller tho. can you drive them that big on a b licence?

http://www.donedeal.ie/for-sale/commercials/4391402

You can drive them on a b car licence even the lwb as they are under 3.5t gvw. Bear in mind you can get one shorter than that one advertised but they are hard to find. Ours is alot bigger than the one advertised and its still doing 35mpg which is serious going for its size. The SWB master might even be slightly better on diesel. One word of advice only buy the dci 120 bhp the 100 was under powered and the dci 150 was troublesome engine in some cases.