We need a van that can fit 2 motocross bikes in the back and is as reliable as possible for £3,000. It's going to replace my car.
From the research I've been doing the last 2 weeks over various forums there's a few I have in mind but all have pros and cons.
Ford transit 2.2 swb low roof.
Plenty of them about, spares are cheap, get an 85ps or 115ps and there's no DMF to worry about. However, reading on the Transit forum seems the 2.2 can suffers ecu calibration problems which can make it over fuel and destroy a piston or 2.
Could go for a 2.4 instead but there's not as many about for sale and the rear loading floor is 100mm higher to accommodate the diff underneath as the 2.4's are RWD.
Vauxhall Vivaro/Nissan Primastar 2.0.
Plenty for sale, galvanized so no rust issues. My friends dad works at Vauxhall, and he hasn't a good word to say about them. Seems the diff in the gearbox likes to go pop quite often and the injectors seize in the head making it a substantial job to remove them. On the flip side my neighbour has one, and he's had no problems outside of servicing in 130k miles with his.
Peugeot Expert 2.0 HDI.
Seems most people have a gripe with these purely because they're French, however the 2.0HDI engine is apparently very good (see many for sale with 200k+ miles on them) but this I believe is the smallest van on my list so getting the bikes in and out the back would be a bit awkward but not impossible.
Again these are also galvanized so no rust worries.
So what would you guys go for?
Iveco Daily. Cheap and pretty reliable, only downside for you it would seem is it's rear wheel drive so loading height is higher than average.
They do hundreds of thousands of miles and although the body does rust a bit, it only really matters around the body mounts as they are built on a tough ladder chassis.
Depreciation is in your favour so you will get a newer van than the other options.
I bought a Vivaro. Now on my second. Reliable, easy to drive and cheap to service. There are plenty of people around who can remove injectors if they seize fairly cheaply.
Im definitely no mechanic but having had a 08 trafic and 2013 transit I would go for the trafic out of the two.
The trafic was ex aa and the only problem I had in 3 years were the injectors. One of them went at around 90k but luckily wasn’t stuck in the head. Had all 4 replaced for £1500.
The problem apparently is caused by water getting down around the bottom of the windscreen somehow and pooling around the injector. The is a very easy fix if you have a google.
I wouldn’t touch another transit with a barge pole. Had numerous faults with stop start, dpf, egr valve failing. Injector went at 90k.
Rust was shocking as well for a five year old van.
I must admit having driven a Vivaro I do like them quite a lot. I take it you only know when the injectors are seized when you have one fail and need to replace it?
Apparently the gearbox failure on them is actually the diff giving up due to them carrying heavy loads and being FWD. Not sure how true that is.
TVPs are the way to go. Injector issue was addressed years ago when they added a modified scuttle. Diff/gearbox can be an issue but I don't think it's as common as it appears - there are so many of these things on the road that odds are you will see stuff on social media etc. about stuff going wrong. Real thing to watch is that timing chain is replaced every 90k/100k or so.
Until I stupidly drove it into a large stationary object a few weeks ago, I'd had my SWB 2012 Vivaro 1.9 as a daily driver for two years. Other than servicing costs I've had no expensive issues and it's how done nearly 140k (have to admit that before I bought it it did have a new gearbox at 90k). Quite nice to drive as far as vans go.
I've got a hangover atm and having a bit of brain freeze,'TVPs'?
Trafic/Vivaro/Primastar. Platform shared between Renault,Vauxhall & Nissan.
I'm guessing Traffic Vivaro Primastar
My dad had a vivaro and it never missed a beat, the main benefit was it would always return at least 10mpg more than my transit, he never had any problems with it and sold it for a few hundred quid less than he bought it for 3 years earlier. I've had transits for the last 11 years or so. 07 plate had an apparent common fault that was never subject to a recall where the injector clamp would fail, when it did fail Ford would issue you with a new one foc that was it. In my case the injector came loose and was bouncing up and down, it caused some damage and it never ran right again after recoding etc etc. 2012 which I got rid off 6 months ago never missed a bit other than a leaky passenger footwell which Ford could not sort, again it never returned anything better than high 20mpg when in general daily use. New one is a different beast though as it's the dciv sport which I love.
had an expert. good van, only screwed up by poor mechanics ( those who worked on it ), much to my disappointment. it's in the hands of a friend's son now, who has a grandad who's very useful with spanners. comfortable, pulled very well, and was easy to drive. drove better than any other van i've driven ( inc t5, transit ). i drove it across southern england a few times, 5 hours non stop, and got out tired, and deaf, but not uncomfortable. budget for some noise cancelling headphones if you're driving any distance. the wind noise from the side doors is bad.
i'd have another, i just wouldn't take it to the same garage.
Bought a vivaro last year and so far so good. A few mates have them for work vans too one of which has done over 230'000 miles.
If your on Facebook search and join a TVP group in your area. Lots of advice and sometimes vans for sale too.
If my Vivaro went pop tomorrow I'd buy another (or Trafic) for sure.
Five years of largely hassle-free motoring since I got it, when it was about six years old. Very pleasant to drive, 2l engine pulls well, excellent 6-speed gearbox.
Only issue is getting hold of one at a reasonable price, I'd look for a private sale rather than paying the inflated prices dealers are asking - probably on the assumption that buyers will take finance and are only interested in the monthly repayments.
Anyone got any tips on sourcing ex-company vans direct, outside of auctions?
Peugeot boxer? My 2008 was faultless for over 100k. Only sold it on to go bigger.
Has anyone got any experience of the automatic Vivaros?
Another vote for a Trafic.
Vivaros are great. That is all.
A lot of the 2 litre Expert/Dispatches are the long wheel base variant. Latterly I don't think they made a short 2 litre, so should be OK for a couple of bikes.
I had a 1.6. It never let me down for over 6 years with regular oil changes but I always thought it was built on the cheap and pretty basic. Nice driving position though, did a few North West to Belgium trips in decent comfort.
I had a 2.0HDI Expert and it was fine enough, no major problems but a few annoying 'issues'. As mentioned the wind noise from the side doors, the wishbones rattled from 30k miles but never failed MOT, funky electrics sometimes the windows wouldn't work, the 'anti pollution fault' code would occasionally pop up and would need cancelling with a fault code reader as there was actually no fault. oh, and the roof leaked....
It's not the wish bones that rattle, it's the anti-roll bar. There are after market kits to fix them available but because the original bush housings are welded together and well inboard of the body, they are a bastard to hacksaw off without a 4 post ramp.
Easier than dropping the subframe to replace the whole thing, but not a job I would have done twice!
Daily driver is a 2007 T5. From time to time a Vivaro, the vivaro is the better drive IMO, very car like. Can't comment about reliability though, soz.
I have a Mk7 Transit 2.4 LWB. I hate it - as a van for lugging stuff about it's great, but it's the most uncomfy vehicle I've ever owned, it eats starter motors due to DMF slowly failing over the 5 years I've owned it, and continuously rusting despite copious waxoyl and paint.
Currently on 103k miles and feels knackered compared to my 175k V70
Transits are cheap though.
Toyota Hiace, bullet proof and as reliable as it gets, i know because i have one.
I also have a Celica and the Hiace is more fun to drive.
Sprinter/ vw crafter/vw lt, some have rust issues but you can get lucky if you find a well looked after one. Bombproof mechanically and ok to drive too. Mwb high roof is optimum size for parking in a standard(ISH) parking space whilst also having room to store bikes inside with a camper conversion.