Talk to me about vans..

I'm going to be looking to buy a van in the near future, it has to be a high top version as it will be a mobile workshop so would be nice to have the room to stand up properly ect and ideally long wheelbase, a medium wheelbase might be ok though.

I've got a few possibilitys of mercedes sprinter, iveco daily, LDV maxus and obviously a ford transit

I used to be a mechanic and i know from past experiences that merc sprinters do have alot of problems, had one that snapped the cranshaft but i think this is mainly the newer ones. The older style sprinters seemed to be more reliable.

Ford transits seem to be pretty reliable but im not really a fan of having to press the wheel bearing out everytime front brake disks need changing, but i guess its a small compromise if the van is going to be reliable.

Never really had much to do with iveco dailys or the LDV maxus.. I don't suppose anyone has experience of owning or heard things about them?

Or if anyone has any other suggestions based on the requirements of being a high top and long wheel base... I have approx how much my vr will be worth to spend

go with the transit dude, tried and tested really.

Lupton_20vt wrote:

go with the transit dude, tried and tested really.

"job done"
lol

The old man's got a LWB Daily, absolutely huge. His is a mobile workshop too, he's got benches both sides and still plenty of room for chests, boxes etc.

His is the 2.8, which he had chipped, can't remember the horsepower figure, but torque is well over 400 lb fts. Still returns a decent MPG, depends what kind of mileage you cover though I suppose.

Probably no help whatsoever, but my two pence.

Lupton_20vt wrote:

go with the transit dude, tried and tested really.

Yeah i suppose there is that arguement for a transit

Pistacheuro wrote:

The old man's got a LWB Daily, absolutely huge. His is a mobile workshop too, he's got benches both sides and still plenty of room for chests, boxes etc.

His is the 2.8, which he had chipped, can't remember the horsepower figure, but torque is well over 400 lb fts. Still returns a decent MPG, depends what kind of mileage you cover though I suppose.

Probably no help whatsoever, but my two pence.

Nah thats the kind of stuff i want to hear mate cheers. Think its between a transit and an iveco, whatever comes up nearest/cheapest

ive had 3 brand new transits and they have alway broken with lecky faults one at the cost of £2500 as it was'nt coverd by warranty,ive had 2 vivaros and there a pile of crap and ive had a lwb vito and by far it wins,and if your looking for a larger van get a crafter same as the sprinter but cheaper and its a vw

tomstanforster wrote:

ive had 3 brand new transits and they have alway broken with lecky faults one at the cost of £2500 as it was'nt coverd by warranty,ive had 2 vivaros and there a pile of crap and ive had a lwb vito and by far it wins,and if your looking for a larger van get a crafter same as the sprinter but cheaper and its a vw

What year transits were they mate? I've currently got my eye on a W reg year 2000 one

Have looked at the VW LT vans and they look alright, the crafters are way out of my price range for now.