Vans. Transit or something else?

[eldar]

I'll be needing a transit sized van in the next six months. Need to carry around a ton of building materials and 3 people. Is a transit the default choice, and what else should I look out for? Budget £5k.

[Andyjc86]

I went for a Peugeot boxer when I had the choice. Seemed better value IMO, the cab also feels more spacey then a transit

[Fun Bus]

Sprinter or VW Crafter?

[matt-ITR]

For that budget I would say yes. £5k would get you a very ropey Crafter or a leggy sprinter.
Possibly the Fiat Ducato as it comes with a 2.3 Iveco engine which is stronger than the Citroen Relay or Peugeot.

If you want LWB or bigger, consider Iveco.

[Johnnytheboy]

Transit.

The French vans of that size are pants and the residuals of the German equivalents means £5 will get you a pile of poo.

Get the smallest one with the biggest load rating you can if you're going to carry 3 people and a tonne of stuff.

[LongLiveTazio]

Wouldn't say the French ones are poo, I love the Transit but the Trafic is very comfortable.

[northwest monkey]

Mate of mine has a LWB Sprinter & loves it. Another has the standard Merc van (Vito?) and hates it - says it's nowhere near as quick as a Transit.

[Johnnytheboy]

I don't have anything against French vans per se; I run the fleet at work and mostly buy Peugeot Partners for my guys.

But I try and keep my ear to the ground on the reputation of various vans, and the Transit seems to be the clear winner for medium to large panel vans - certainly as far as value for money goes.

[GTRmad]

I considered trading my prima-star in for a new transit
But didn't like the tranny to basic inside
Very cramped compared to my current van
1112k still going strong
Don't believe everything you here about French vans
My mate just put a new clutch and flywheel on a Transporter with only 80k
So no van indestructible

[BOBTEE]

Trafic/Vivaro/Primastar(? The Nissan one), lot nicer to drive than the Transit, and I'm a Ford Fan!

[TonyRPH]

Andyjc86 said:

I went for a Peugeot boxer when I had the choice. Seemed better value IMO, the cab also feels more spacey then a transit

I recently helped somebody move house, and we hired a Transit.

I'm 5'11" and I found the cab space appallingly small, and we were not even going any great distance (about 15 mile round trip each time).

We were travelling 3 up too.

[DrDeAtH]

I would say... Go with the sprinter..and I say that being a transit owner.. the sprinter has a bigger load area than the transit.
Would avoid the trafic/vivaro/primastar. All the same van and not very good.
If you do want a transit... Buy rear wheel drive!!!

[SeldomSeenKid]

My old man has a 2000 Peugeot Boxer, with about 120k on it, it's never missed a beat in the 5 years he's owned it.

It's the 1.9 non turbo diesel, and it is painfully slow, but the hdi turbo one's are more punchy.

In comparison to a Transit, I'd say it's on a par build-wise, and is slightly bigger in the back.

[Mister3man]

Sprinter everytime.

Transits are cramped inside and seem to rev quite hard at 70. Our 2004 transit does 3200 rpm at 70. And you know about it!!

[magooagain]

I have a 2004 125hp transit fwd i pull a trailor most days (2 ton) and a car trailor with a car or digger on a couple of times a week never missed a beat. A ton payload for a 2.4 is not a problem. Its my fith transit.

[beeblebrox]

GTRmad said:

1112k still going strong

1112k? As in a million miles? That's seriously impressive if so!

[Johnnytheboy]

A £5k Sprinter will be far more likely to be a wreck.

[eldar]

Thanks for the advice. I'll do some more research and see exactly what size and load capacity I'll need. I'd rather simply thought all vans were pretty much the same....

[037]

Get a Toyota hi ace. Anything else seems like driving a tractor!

[crossy67]

I used to run Expert 110hdi's, I know they're not really big enough but they were great vans. I now have a T5, my first, probably of many but they're not big inside.