What van do you use?

[TeMac]

Hi, looking at second hand small diesel vans up to £5k (plumbing use). Vauxhall Combo catches my eye, maybe Renault Kangoo (ex gas with racking). Any recommendations/experiences ?
Obviously require comfort, reliability and economical.
There must be many van experiences on this forum...good and not so good.
Thanks Trevor.

p.s. air-con, lecky windows, remote locking etc favourable.

 

[corgiman]

we have kangoos

smashing vans, and with the racking you cant half fill em up

we are just about to move from them to dispatches as they are a tad bigger

 

[Thermo]

my recomendation is dont buy one, contract hire it. Far more tax efficent. no capital tied up in it. no resale bother. brand new van. no mot, no tax, cheap insurance. treat it as your own and do whatever you want with it, signwriting/racking etc. full warranty as its new etc etc etc.

ive got a nissan primastar. its getting too small for what i want but for a plumber etc it would be spot on.

 

[kevindgas]

as the previous post says lease
at least then if you get serious problems they have to change it

take my advice do not buy a ford transit connect they are more trouble than i would wish on anyone!

i have a 4 year old one and is a heap of ****e spends nearly as much time at the garage as on the road

it has a 7 page history of repairs including a wiring loom (the replacement is now corroding in exactly the same place)

 

[TeMac]

Primestar...isn`t that the Vivaro/Trafic ?
Did think about them, they seem OK.

 

[Thermo]

yes it is, however we went for the nissan one as it has a three year warranty as opposed to the two you get from the others. If you contract hire it, its a 3 year contract and your covered throughout the life of the contract as opposed to the two years! Also you get a few more extras on the nissan one such as reversing sensors

 

[RF Lighting]

take my advice do not buy a ford transit connect they are more trouble than i would wish on anyone!

i have a 4 year old one and is a heap of s***te spends nearly as much time at the garage as on the road

We have an 04 reg transit connect. Ours keeps breaking too


I personally have an ex BT ford escort van. It is racked out so plenty of storage, but is still too small for what I need really

 

[TeMac]

It seems that the small vans are too small even if they are racked out.
Maybe should look al the next size up.

 

[RF Lighting]

I was in a mates vauxhall vivaro last week. They are not too big, but plenty of room in the back and nice to drive too.

I don't know much about their reliability fuel economy etc, but first impressions were good.

 

[Thermo]

ive had my primastar (same as vivaro and renault thingy!) for 18 months now.

Pros

very comfy to drive, feels more like a people carrier than a van in the cab
good fuel economy
plenty of poke for a diesel
6 gears
can fit a pallet or bulk bag in the back easily
drives fine even with a full load

cons

some of the door seals on the back come off a bit easily but tahts probably more to do with what gets shoved in it and they just get pushed back on.


only problem ive had was a faulty fuel filler pipe but that was changed under warranty. otherwise highly recomended

 

[noseall]

Vauxhall Vivaro. 2.9 tonne.

same as what Thermo says but with bells on.

 

[WoodYouLike]

Vauxhall Vivaro. 2.9 tonne.

same as what Thermo says but with bells on.

Same here, on 3 year lease. The reason we went for his one and not for the nissan: bit cheaper in lease due to the 'vauvhall' name - lease company can sell them better on later then the nissan.

Drives like a dream!

 

[Thermo]

also if you do go for lease have a look at the net first. find a decent deal and then take it into a local dealer and ask them to match it. They did with us and at least we have a local place to go back to, where you can build up a rapport with them.

 

[WoodYouLike]

also if you do go for lease have a look at the net first. find a decent deal and then take it into a local dealer and ask them to match it. They did with us and at least we have a local place to go back to, where you can build up a rapport with them.

Right on Thermo.
We went through a specialised local company, someone we knew already and the 'trouble' they did for us, jsut great service and a very good deal too.

 

[gas4you]

I've got the Renault Trafic version, with all the extras, now coming up for 5 years old.

Great van, poor turning circle, other than basic servicing I've had one shock absorber mounting at the front drivers side, friends say thats because I'm a fat bas**d ), one trackrod end. Now coming up for the cam belt change and the torque rod that holds gear shift to engine block or something.

Not bad for a old van like this that is driven as fast as it can go everywhere. Easily sits at 90 + with no probs.

Eats fron tyres and rear disc pads though. Rear tyres are still as good as they day I bought the van.

Would have another, but would want the larger 140BHP engine.