I was wondering if we have any small van owners in the forum?

I'm about to set up my own electrical installation, testing and maintenance company and need to get a van. I can get my hands on £5k and guess this would be a good budget and the car derived van looks to be a good size.

Top of my list at the moment is a VW Caddy but unfortunately they're the most expensive. I like the Caddy as it's the only van I've found that feels like a well built car rather that a crappy old banger and to me this is important as I'm going to be spending a lot of time in the van as it will be my only motor. However, before anyone says it, the business needs to come first so I'm trying to look at this purchase objectively. Each van in this class seems to offer the same size, mpg, tax etc… so the only two things so fare as I can see to base my decision on is reliability and comfort.

So any recommendations?

Cheers,
Chris.

Perhaps a tad on the small size but I have an ex BT Corsa van. Nippy wee thing & over 60mpg. Surprising what you can fit in the back.

We had peugeot partners previously, rock solid van but unsure what the new ones are like. We had the original 2 litre hdi.
We then had the 1.6 hdi in out company 407s and 308s...different kettle of fish.. Unreliable with major issues. Turbos,snapped cam belts early intervals anti pollution faults.

Something like this is well under budget.Not highly likly to rust and if concerned about turbos and injection issues go for the non turbo. Non turbo was perfectly acceptable if not doing big motorway miles really.


http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Peugeot-Partne...7#ht_570wt_1397

Other is doblo..1.9 jtd. Great engine,reasonable loading capacity.

usual doblo comforts and good value really.

I really rate the jtd engines..
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2007-07-Reg-Fi...#ht_1136wt_1397

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Fiat-Doblo-Car...f#ht_500wt_1414

lower miles,1.3 engine which im sure is cam chain. better mpg and still 70bhpish i think. Under budget aswell.

Yes it is a chain driven camshaft. I have this engine in my Grande Punto, it is a good lump and gives good mpg in the car, probably not quite as good in the bigger Doblo body.

Cheers guys.

The Corsa van would be too small. I really want it to be big enough to chuck some steps in the back and some large steps and ladder on the roof.

I would never buy a Peugeot (apart from a 1.9 GTi). We had one once and it was a total turd.

I don't mind the look of the Fiat, I'll be taking a look at one of them soon.

I bought a Doblo 1.9JTD SX brand new back in 2002, and sold it 5 years later with 115,000miles later. A perfect van and larger than the Kangoo/Berlingo/Caddy with better spec and higher power. I serviced it myself (easy) and the only money spent aside from discs, pads and tyres was a wiper mechanism and rear exhaust section.
My Step brother bought one two years ago and he is equally pleased with his, although not having the SX model it lacks some of the toys.

Thanks, great review. So SX is the "loaded" van?

This is looking like the van I'm after, only need to find one that isn't white and has air con.

Another vote for the Doblo here. We have alot of different vans in our fleet; Vauxhall Combos, Ford Transit/Transit Connects, Peugeot Bippers/Partners, Citroen Relays, some old LDV's and of course a few Doblos.

They all get a very hard life.

The doblo is the most reliable engine, we've only had one breakdown. The only recurring faults we find are;

The gear lever linkage tends to get fatigued and snaps under the gaiter, probably due to ham fisted posties, two minutes to fix.

The door stays occasionally fail, leading to the door crimping the front wing and top hinge failures. This then trips the fuel cut-off switch. annoying when it happens the first time and you're stuck with a vehicle which seems fine but won't start.

We've had 5 fuel tank strap failures in the last 18 months. Worth checking them as part of the usual service schedule.

As said, ours do have a very hard life and they bear up far better than the other vehicles.

I would happily buy one over any of the others as a personal van if i had to replace my old Chevy.

I've driven most small vans through my work , at the moment drive a Caddy. It is very comfortable, car like and has a nice spec; cruise control, stop/start technology etc. If i had to nit-pick I'd say my only complaint is the steering wheel has an odd profile shape which I don't find that comfortable but that's probably cause I'm used to gripping the nice 'girthy' Coupe leather steering wheel (Ooo-er!!!)

Wasn't a fan of the Doblo, was pretty zippy but the interior was pretty gash.

Ford Transit Connect....would rather walk than drive one of those again!

Renault Kangoo... very cheap, slow, uncomfortable...

My other recommendation other than the Caddy, though a bit bigger and probably pretty expensive is the Nissan NV200. It was a very nice drive for a van, well specced (rear view camera for reversing though not sure if this was standard). Guess my only complaint is it was a bit bigger than most small vans out there, though not as big as a Transit.

W

...And incapable of cornering at speed.

Haha - now that you mention it theres a few colleagues I haven't seen for a few days...

What about going a bit bigger?

I vote for the doblo as well but get the 1.9 . The 1.3 diesel is the same engine as the combo and they give alot of problems with the timing chain . VW caddy is a great van but too expensive .

I don't think for the first few years there will be any positive points to having the bigger van. 90% of my work will be domestic during this time (unless I get lucky) and doesn't require the larger van.

Id go for the ford connect i had one for a hire van awhile back and it was perfect for its size.

i like the fact the back door area is level unlike some of the vans that are just small cars with no rear windows(206 van).

if i start a small business which maybe happening within the next couple of years this will be the van im looking for

Don't buy a Peugeot/Citroen. They drive fine for a while, but then bits start falling off. I did 25000 miles in a Pug in about 18 months, and it was the most unreliable vehicle I've ever had (including my Coupes and Alfa). The engine was great, but everything else was rubbish.... the drive train, panels, doors, switches, brakes all needed replacing during my ownership.

I have run a Toyota Hiace van now for 170000 miles and I have just replaced the clutch; the chap who replaced it said it wasn't needed. Very boring, very slow, very reliable...

Maybe too big for your needs, but the rear takes my mower, strimmers, ladders, hedge cutters, and my lunch

The connect is a good van but juicy .

Well it looks as though a small van is off the cards...

I just visited the family of a spark who used to do the contract work for my place of work with the intention of buying some of his old tools (the guy sadly passed away last month and his family wanted to sell all his tools).
I walked into his "shed" and started going though some of the stuff whilst his family were trying to do an inventory list and in the end I made an offer for the lot. I'll never need to buy another piece of equipment again!

Anyway I've now got to find a big van and rework my shed to try and accommodate what I won't need daily.

So I've been looking around and the Vauxhall Vivaro looks to be the best all rounder for the money. Does anyone have much experience with these?

I've worked on a few.
Fuel pumps and immobilisers are problematic. Gearboxes aren't bullet proof and have replaced a couple of 100k + ones. That being said they didn't appear to be well treated vans. The factory converted crew cab versions are spacious and comfy.
I might know of one available awaiting a fuel pump depending on your expectations and budget?

My budget is low (probably around £5k and my expectation as away is going to be too high.

I'd be after one that doesn't look abused (no ex builders vans) with a tidy interior. Mileage isn't a problem as long as it's serviced and the box is in good shape. Again Id rather stay away from white vans.

I might reconsider my budget for the right van though. Thankfully larger van seem to be more plentifull.

Another Doblo vote, I bought a 1.3 Multijet new six years ago and it's been brilliant, it's now done 78k and it's still on it's original rear tyres and brakes!!

I service it every 12k rather than the 18k recommended, I've just put a set of glow plugs in and that's about all it's needed.

Done a few gearboxes on the vivaro . Scyhro on 3rd gear and diff problems not the strongest gearbox about . £650 plus labour to replace .

Did you buy a van yet . Its a buyers market at the moment . My brother sold his 57 plate ford transit small wheel base high top last week . It was on ebay twice and twice in auto trader . Nice van went for £3800 in the end . He then bought a 06 Fiat dolbo 1.9jtd for £1700 nice van and sold yesterday a 55 earlier model 1.3 dolbo for £2000 his girlfriends father van . The 06 has 75000 miles and 11000 miles ago the timing belt went . The previous owner took it to a garage and they charged him £1100 to repair i had a look at the reciept . My brother asked me last friday to have a look at the timing belt as he is a bit paranoid about issues like this . Took the cover off and i could not tell if it had been recently replaced but i could see the idle pulley and it was covered in old belt . When the timing belt let go the garage took the head off and only changed the timing belt not the idle wheel ,tensioner or the water pump .I dont understand why people do things like this and its a well known big garage ?

I'm unsure which way to go. I've got around £5k which seems to get me a heigh mileage rough medium size van (Vivaro, Trasit etc..) or a nicer small van. One thing I do want now is to be able to fit 8'x4' in the back and most small vans can't do this HOWEVER I've just got back from a dealer who showed me that the Ford Transit Connect LWB heigh roof can take it because of the cleaver passenger seat. There's also a few low millage LW heigh roof Connects about for a touch under my price range, so I'm going to take a look at these tomorrow.

I would go for the Vivaro, Transit as I always needed more space when I had smaller vans.

I have put shelving on both sides of the transit and it makes material alot easier to find and it dosent get scratched or damaged like when you would use boxes on the floor to store stuff.

Good luck

Cheers Sparkyman. I'm going to have a look at this Ford Transit Connect tomorrow but I think I know that I do really need a medium sized van, I just can't find anything around the £5k mark that doesn't look like a dog and have over 100k on the clock.

Well I've gone for the above Connect. It was mint with a racking system that puts my fire trucks to shame. Knocked them down to £5400 incl. VAT which includes a little work that need doing and a roof rack. Only time will tell but right now I feel that I've picked up a good van that will see me right for the next few years.

Cheers for all the help guys.

All you need now is an A-Team paintjob and you're fixed?