Movano or Transit ? Cheapest, simplest, most reliable.
Discussion
Hi
Iam looking at getting first Van to use as a campervan.
My ultimate criteria is cheapest running costs, so trying to avoid issues like DPF, DMF, etc.
Am looking at 2nd hand around 2005-2008, What would you recommend as being the easiest to run for a good few years but not doing more than 12K a year of gentle driving. (Kids and Sightseeing so not tearing up M6 at 80mph)
From reviews they both get good marks, but I not had much luck at finding out the niggles or possible expensive issues that might arise.
Looking for simple mechanics as possible with few extras to go wrong.
Any feedback gratefully received.
Mods, if possible could you leave this in commercial, as it more the cost of ownership of these Vans I am looking for which I am more likely to find here rather than the new camping section.
Cheers
Andy
Iam looking at getting first Van to use as a campervan.
My ultimate criteria is cheapest running costs, so trying to avoid issues like DPF, DMF, etc.
Am looking at 2nd hand around 2005-2008, What would you recommend as being the easiest to run for a good few years but not doing more than 12K a year of gentle driving. (Kids and Sightseeing so not tearing up M6 at 80mph)
From reviews they both get good marks, but I not had much luck at finding out the niggles or possible expensive issues that might arise.
Looking for simple mechanics as possible with few extras to go wrong.
Any feedback gratefully received.
Mods, if possible could you leave this in commercial, as it more the cost of ownership of these Vans I am looking for which I am more likely to find here rather than the new camping section.
Cheers
Andy
I have recently added twenty four Movano vans to our fleet after carrying out a review of everything in the market place that met our criteria. Transit was rejected on the basis of poor reliability; we had some very good information from fleet operators and a large Ford commercial dealer, who warned us off Transit. Drive train problems, whether front or rear wheel drive seem to be the biggest issue.
530dTPhil said:
I have recently added twenty four Movano vans to our fleet after carrying out a review of everything in the market place that met our criteria. Transit was rejected on the basis of poor reliability; we had some very good information from fleet operators and a large Ford commercial dealer, who warned us off Transit. Drive train problems, whether front or rear wheel drive seem to be the biggest issue.
sounds like a good move, I wont be buying another trans
te the last one 09 reg mwb fwd was a PITA and cost me a fortune never again!!! if its only the odd gear box fault a movano/ master would seem like a good idea..
Fantastic response guys. Brilliant. :-)
Stigs Dad, can I ask if you have had gearbox problems yourself ? I had hear about a problem with drive shafts on the earlier models but not heard of gearbox probs.
530Phil, your exactly the person I was hoping to answer, someone who already made the decision and by the sound of it on a much larger scale. Did you find out anything I should check for on the Movano if I go for it. Got my eye on a 2008 that seems in good nick, 158K on the clock but good service history with regular oil, Cambelts changed on time etc.
Waugh-terfall, would love a Crafter but for my budget the ones available are pretty ropey. Seems the Movano is much cheaper on the 2nd hand market. I can get a 2008 Movano for the price of a fairly poor 2003 Sprinter.
Cheers
Andy
Stigs Dad, can I ask if you have had gearbox problems yourself ? I had hear about a problem with drive shafts on the earlier models but not heard of gearbox probs.
530Phil, your exactly the person I was hoping to answer, someone who already made the decision and by the sound of it on a much larger scale. Did you find out anything I should check for on the Movano if I go for it. Got my eye on a 2008 that seems in good nick, 158K on the clock but good service history with regular oil, Cambelts changed on time etc.
Waugh-terfall, would love a Crafter but for my budget the ones available are pretty ropey. Seems the Movano is much cheaper on the 2nd hand market. I can get a 2008 Movano for the price of a fairly poor 2003 Sprinter.
Cheers
Andy
Arlie71 said:
Fantastic response guys. Brilliant. :-)
Stigs Dad, can I ask if you have had gearbox problems yourself ? I had hear about a problem with drive shafts on the earlier models but not heard of gearbox probs.
530Phil, your exactly the person I was hoping to answer, someone who already made the decision and by the sound of it on a much larger scale. Did you find out anything I should check for on the Movano if I go for it. Got my eye on a 2008 that seems in good nick, 158K on the clock but good service history with regular oil, Cambelts changed on time etc.
Waugh-terfall, would love a Crafter but for my budget the ones available are pretty ropey. Seems the Movano is much cheaper on the 2nd hand market. I can get a 2008 Movano for the price of a fairly poor 2003 Sprinter.
Cheers
Andy
My friend has an 08 Movano and is on his 2nd gearbox rebuild after 40kStigs Dad, can I ask if you have had gearbox problems yourself ? I had hear about a problem with drive shafts on the earlier models but not heard of gearbox probs.
530Phil, your exactly the person I was hoping to answer, someone who already made the decision and by the sound of it on a much larger scale. Did you find out anything I should check for on the Movano if I go for it. Got my eye on a 2008 that seems in good nick, 158K on the clock but good service history with regular oil, Cambelts changed on time etc.
Waugh-terfall, would love a Crafter but for my budget the ones available are pretty ropey. Seems the Movano is much cheaper on the 2nd hand market. I can get a 2008 Movano for the price of a fairly poor 2003 Sprinter.
Cheers
Andy
rsv696 said:
I chopped my 2007 Vw T5 in for a 2008 Peugeot Boxer. The Peugeot is better made, more reliable, quieter, smoother, more powerful & a country mile cheaper - well worth a look.
We run a sizeable fleet of Peugeot Experts and Iveco Daily vans. The pre 2006 Experts we ran to over 200,000 miles with very few problems, the 2007 new vans have been dire and we still have about 115 of them. All sorts of problems with anti-roll bars, driveshafts, engines, body panels cracking etc. A totally different proposition to the earlier van. I am currently trying to plan a replacement schedule to move all of the Experts out of the fleet over the next year or so. In the same vein, we considered Boxers but given that it's the same badge, factory technical support is weak and there's a fair amount of commonality on parts, it didn't make the long list, let alone the short one.
The key difference with the Movano and the Iveco is that they are built as a commercial vehicle from the outset. Expert drive train is 308/407 and under-engineered. Our Ivecos are run to 500,000 miles normally without major issues.
I spoke with several large fleets running Movano and the reports were encouraging. For sure, there will always be rogue vans. Our concern was the general reliability; Google Movano problems/relaibility issues and it's a very short list.
Arlie71 said:
Waugh-terfall, would love a Crafter but for my budget the ones available are pretty ropey. Seems the Movano is much cheaper on the 2nd hand market. I can get a 2008 Movano for the price of a fairly poor 2003 Sprinter.
Fair enough, didn't realise there was such a big difference in prices between the two! I've got a '59 Sprinter 313 LWB, love it.Recently bought a 2002 Transit minibus with 45k on the clock.
Took out 9 of the 15 seats and put a table in, fitted a tow bar etc.
Sure Transits get a bad name sometimes, but in reality vans are the worst treated vehicles on the roads.
Mine developed the dreaded "rattle of death" on start up but a new cam chain and tensioner fixed that and it needed a lower wishbone for the MOT - £50 + fitting!
Drives nicely, gets 30 mpg and can take my enduro bike in the back when I go off riding.
Think I got it in April, done near on 10k in it already. Go onto the transit owners forum and have a read as they cover just about every issue theres ever been!!
Looked at some Renaults and Vauxhalls before going Ford, and they all had fairly major issues with huge mileages.
Took out 9 of the 15 seats and put a table in, fitted a tow bar etc.
Sure Transits get a bad name sometimes, but in reality vans are the worst treated vehicles on the roads.
Mine developed the dreaded "rattle of death" on start up but a new cam chain and tensioner fixed that and it needed a lower wishbone for the MOT - £50 + fitting!
Drives nicely, gets 30 mpg and can take my enduro bike in the back when I go off riding.
Think I got it in April, done near on 10k in it already. Go onto the transit owners forum and have a read as they cover just about every issue theres ever been!!
Looked at some Renaults and Vauxhalls before going Ford, and they all had fairly major issues with huge mileages.
Having driving both I impart some knowledge.
Bth around 53 to 55 reg plates.
I've driven the movano over thousands of miles as a home delivery driver, both long wheel base and regular wheelbase versions.
My parents own a transit which I drive occasionally.
The transit drives better, has a more responsive engine, it drives like a car.
The engine in the movano is torquey but rev too far and it's like hitting a brick wall and will slow down as the power torque curve plummets. It's may have been a limiter, but I'm not sure if it had one as it would pull over 80 leptons.
The gearbox in our shortwheel base model movano would jump out of 2nd gear when off the throttle, ie driving round a corner, and grind when going back into 2nd.
The short wheelbase movano being shorter and with a slightly more punchy 2l motor it was a quick ish van.
Whereas the gearbox on the bigger 2.5 model was fine, but being heavier it was slower, not that it matters because that's not why you buy a van.
Build quality wise, the transit forever blows bulbs, whereas the door locks in the movano constantly break and just turn,a nd the indicators and hazards forever stop working.
The Movano has a bigger cabin than the transit, which is helpful if your 3 up, you havn't got to share the gear stick space with the middle passenger, which on the transit is annoying as you always hit the passengers knee.
The doors on the transit shut better than the movano, which need slamming shut to seal. Air pressure issues?
Watch for rust on the transit, also the wheelbearings go quite often. Whereas the movano goes through driveshafts.
Both are good vans for hauling stuff about, try both and decide. Having driven both, the transit is what I'd buy, but the movano is a very capable van too.
Bth around 53 to 55 reg plates.
I've driven the movano over thousands of miles as a home delivery driver, both long wheel base and regular wheelbase versions.
My parents own a transit which I drive occasionally.
The transit drives better, has a more responsive engine, it drives like a car.
The engine in the movano is torquey but rev too far and it's like hitting a brick wall and will slow down as the power torque curve plummets. It's may have been a limiter, but I'm not sure if it had one as it would pull over 80 leptons.
The gearbox in our shortwheel base model movano would jump out of 2nd gear when off the throttle, ie driving round a corner, and grind when going back into 2nd.
The short wheelbase movano being shorter and with a slightly more punchy 2l motor it was a quick ish van.
Whereas the gearbox on the bigger 2.5 model was fine, but being heavier it was slower, not that it matters because that's not why you buy a van.
Build quality wise, the transit forever blows bulbs, whereas the door locks in the movano constantly break and just turn,a nd the indicators and hazards forever stop working.
The Movano has a bigger cabin than the transit, which is helpful if your 3 up, you havn't got to share the gear stick space with the middle passenger, which on the transit is annoying as you always hit the passengers knee.
The doors on the transit shut better than the movano, which need slamming shut to seal. Air pressure issues?
Watch for rust on the transit, also the wheelbearings go quite often. Whereas the movano goes through driveshafts.
Both are good vans for hauling stuff about, try both and decide. Having driven both, the transit is what I'd buy, but the movano is a very capable van too.
Edited by Gothy on Friday 16th November 21:09
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