Need to buy a large van - Transit or Sprinter?

[duff]

Not the most exciting subject, I know, just thought a few of you might have had some experience of either van that'll help me.

I'm going to become an owner driver doing multi-drop work and need to get a van. I'm looking at either a Transit or Sprinter and basically need to know if the Sprinter is worth the extra money?

I'm buying as I don't want to be tied into a 3 year restricted mile lease and the budget is up to 10k. Has to be around 3 years old or newer and MWB at least. Looking at Transits I can get a decent 07 with reasonable miles (70k) for £7-8k, a similar Sprinter is nearer to £10k. Are they worth the extra outlay? As it's multi-drop it is going to have quite a hard life so I don't mind paying more for something that's going to be more reliable and worth more when I come to sell. Having said that the more I spend on a van, the less I have for a new car!

I've read about a few reliability issues with the Transits but I guess you only hear about the problems and not the thousands that have no problems at all. MPG wise the transit seems better though.

Any advice appreciated.

[duff]

I won't be carrying any weight really so don't need alot of grunt but it needs to be bigger than a transporter/vivaro unfortunatley. Not really keen on the LDV tbh, think the old style ones put me off for life!! I like the Crafter but I don't think it's the same as a Sprinter (2.5 engines so I guess worse MPG) and heard of some issues with them - might be wrong though.

I'll be doing 60 miles a day dual carriageway, 50 round town roughly.

[duff]

langy said:

Is this any good for you ? 2005 05 plate Mercedes Sprinter 311cdi lwb van

LOL - not for work but would be great for weekends away with the mountain bikes!

[duff]

I did look at leasing but £140p/w seems expensive - that's about £7k a year! I'm planning for approx £3-3.5k per year for depreciation and servicing. As I've got the money to buy outright it seems the best option for me, just hope there'll be no major mechanicals. By the sounds of things a Sprinter would be worth the extra outlay over a Transit, maybe something like this:

http://search.autotrader.co.uk/es-uk/www/vans/adve...

Thanks for the input.