Chinese LDV vans in uk

[daydotz]

Their is a few on autotrader they have been available in Australia for a while

they do seem priced towards the competition

[caelite]

Honestly I look foward to seeing more of these big Chinese companies moving over here. Havn't sat in a new LDV but someone who lives near my mum has a camper converted 58 plate in gunmetal grey and it looks lovely. The company who owns the yard next to my work operates one of the new Great Wall pickups and he says he swears by them now, 3 years and 80k miles with no problems other than some trim falling off, they are moving into that nice spot on the bottom of the market that has been vacated by a lot of the bigger brands trying to make 'lifestyle vehicles' rather than work trucks.

Chinese conglomerates are also making absolute mincemeat of the small bike market, coming over offering 'almost' Japanese quality for half the price.

Small bikes and Utility vehicles are what the Chinese do best because they have such a huge domestic market for them.

EDIT: The 58 plate one I've seen is actually Russian made, the Chinese ones are aparently the same design though from 2012 onwards.

Edited by caelite on Tuesday 22 November 16:24

[S11Steve]

300bhp/ton said:

Afraid I know nothing about new van prices, but is a Transit really only £7k new + VAT?

Depends on fleet discount and rebates. But yes, and coupled with a decent buyback deal, they are effectively free for 12 months.

Edited by S11Steve on Tuesday 22 November 16:46

[ChemicalChaos]

caelite said:

Chinese conglomerates are also making absolute mincemeat of the small bike market, coming over offering 'almost' Japanese quality for half the price.

bks, have you seen the metals that go into most Chinese budget bikes? I've seen a lot of them where substantial amounts of bits have simply been thrown away and replaced with the japanese parts they are a copy of, because they broke irreparably

[Fast Bug]

I used to sell Fiat and LDV commercials a good few years ago. The Maxus was a dog then, I can't imagine time and the Chinese have improved it that much.

S11Steve said:

300bhp/ton said:

Afraid I know nothing about new van prices, but is a Transit really only £7k new + VAT?

Depends on fleet discount and rebates. But yes, and coupled with a decent buyback deal, they are effectively free for 12 months.

Edited by S11Steve on Tuesday 22 November 16:46

Not even if you ran a fleet of 1000 Transits would you pay £7k + VAT for one

[Greg_D]

Digga said:

TBF to LDV, we bought a Leyland DAF 3.5t (twin rear tyre) dropside pickup and it would haul full payload all day long. It's just it deafened the driver in the process, but apart from that, they were unbelievably tough.

i'll second that, my old ldv farm truck ran without coolant for 7 years (not an exaggeration, no coolant.... a blown o ring kept letting it all out and i couldn't be bothered to replace it) The bodywork literally dissolved in front of me, but the engine just kept on bloody starting. so tough...

[caelite]

ChemicalChaos said:

caelite said:

Chinese conglomerates are also making absolute mincemeat of the small bike market, coming over offering 'almost' Japanese quality for half the price.

bks, have you seen the metals that go into most Chinese budget bikes? I've seen a lot of them where substantial amounts of bits have simply been thrown away and replaced with the japanese parts they are a copy of, because they broke irreparably

Eh. I've had 3 of them, a Sinnis and 2 Lexmoto's. Only thing which was consistently of wonky quality was the chain which seem to be stretchy. None had any real rust issues other than a dusting on their exhaust which is pretty much the norm on small bikes at 3-4 years old. But yes I would compare it to the cheaper Jap options, the CBF's and YBR's are all coming from the same place nowadays anyway the only difference being someone stamping a Japanese badge on it and charging an extra £1000 for the pleasure. I wont claim the quality comes close to the higher end options such as the YZF125 but who the fk seriously spends over £4000 on a 125cc bike, its ultimately the difference of ~2-3hp for the year or so until you pass your test.

They are selling like hot cakes compared to the price-inflated Jap options and for damn good reason.

[S11Steve]

Fast Bug said:

Not even if you ran a fleet of 1000 Transits would you pay £7k + VAT for one

We are purchasing 10 times that annually. Extreme example I know, but a lot of the big leasing suppliers are getting comparable terms at the moment.

[bimsb6]

caelite said:

Eh. I've had 3 of them, a Sinnis and 2 Lexmoto's. Only thing which was consistently of wonky quality was the chain which seem to be stretchy. None had any real rust issues other than a dusting on their exhaust which is pretty much the norm on small bikes at 3-4 years old. But yes I would compare it to the cheaper Jap options, the CBF's and YBR's are all coming from the same place nowadays anyway the only difference being someone stamping a Japanese badge on it and charging an extra £1000 for the pleasure. I wont claim the quality comes close to the higher end options such as the YZF125 but who the fk seriously spends over £4000 on a 125cc bike, its ultimately the difference of ~2-3hp for the year or so until you pass your test.

They are selling like hot cakes compared to the price-inflated Jap options and for damn good reason.

If they are that good why have you had three? One 1990's cg125 wold outlive all three.

[MRPULLHARD]

i have a friend who has one , hes not the typical van man - doesn't use it much but seems happy enough.
It seems that these vans might look like old Maxus ( which isn't a bad thing as as vans go not a bad looker ) but they use different engines and gearboxes and buy in most of the components from well known brands.

The importer Harris group are a bit like the Bristol cars of the truck sector , they do things their way ( they are unlimited and very secretive ) and are a fascinating company.

[Fast Bug]

S11Steve said:

Fast Bug said:

Not even if you ran a fleet of 1000 Transits would you pay £7k + VAT for one

We are purchasing 10 times that annually. Extreme example I know, but a lot of the big leasing suppliers are getting comparable terms at the moment.

Times have changed if Ford are knocking 50% off a Transit. I've only been out of commercials for 2 years too

[caelite]

bimsb6 said:

If they are that good why have you had three? One 1990's cg125 wold outlive all three.

Um, the Sinnis - my 1st bike, bought it, fannied about on it, sold it to get a GPZ500
Lexmoto 1 - Had to sell my GPZ due to lack of funds, about 6 months later a friend was selling it on the cheap & it was fettled (180cc bore etc), was a right laugh. Little brothers currently using it to commute.
Lexmoto 2 - I felt like a scooter for a bit of a laugh

All 3 bikes still on the road in working order. I'm really tempted to get one of those CFMoto/WK 650cc next if one comes up nearby at an appropriate price. Although the price of them isn't as night and day as it is in the 125 market with it falling alongside SV650s and the ER6 which is copies.

Edited by caelite on Tuesday 22 November 20:44

[MRPULLHARD]

These LDV vans continue to sell very slowly here in Ireland and irish/ uk importers site is full of them.
People seeing them on road much ? is there any where you can look up Uk van sales figures ?

[Cowboy_27]

Well I'm a builder and run a fleet of 4 aged transits. Whilst great vans they are now long in the tooth and ready for retirement. I've gone completely mad today and ordered the biggest v80, long wheel Base high roof for..... £13,500 + vat. Yes the plastics are cheap its noisy and certainly isn't the quality of its rivals.

However the price!!! The cheapest transit equivalent (this is the van to be fair I will get for my self not the lads ;-) ) Is 5 grand more at £18,500 whilst an equivalent merchant is retailing at £23,700 + vat. OK the mercedes ia a lovely beast but at 10 grand more? I mean this things going to get loaded to knackers every day with bricks etc do I want to knacker a beautiful merc and cry when it gets scratcheddar or be more meh with the ldv.

Anyway that's my 2p worth. It's a poor van in comparison but for the money I can't complain. Or may be I can when I've abused the 5 year warranty! !!

[TooMany2cvs]

Cowboy_27 said:

Well I'm a builder and run a fleet of 4 aged transits. Whilst great vans they are now long in the tooth and ready for retirement. I've gone completely mad today and ordered the biggest v80, long wheel Base high roof for..... £13,500 + vat. Yes the plastics are cheap its noisy and certainly isn't the quality of its rivals.

However the price!!! The cheapest transit equivalent (this is the van to be fair I will get for my self not the lads ;-) ) Is 5 grand more at £18,500 whilst an equivalent merchant is retailing at £23,700 + vat. OK the mercedes ia a lovely beast but at 10 grand more? I mean this things going to get loaded to knackers every day with bricks etc do I want to knacker a beautiful merc and cry when it gets scratcheddar or be more meh with the ldv.

'course, the other way of looking at it is whether the Merc would keep 'em working when the Chinese LDV has them sat at the roadside waiting for recovery to the dealer who doesn't have a loan van...

[Fast Bug]

fk me you're brave

[Justin S]

We have a fleet of new shape Transits and they arent built anywhere near as well as the last lot. We have , in a batch of 6 , so far lost 2 fuel flaps, one rear bumper ( has a step cover but held on with 4 plastic clips !!) , one clutch failure ( not worn, just broke) . Quality of materials is not as good, but they really drive nice. We have Euro 7 diesels and use 20 ltrs of blue every 3 to 4k miles, which with some guys is every month. Pedals seem quite high and you cant brake without lifting your feet off the floor, which feels odd in a way. Something that you didnt have to in the old shape.
No idea on the new LDV, not that I have seen any , but remember being in Sherpas, its predecessor, with was rubbish.
Just wanted to say how we find the new Transits and being builders vans may not live as long a life as earlier versions.

[Skyedriver]

Been looking for a cheap van for the last few weeks. Thought maybe better than hiring a few times.
Every Transit I saw was absolutely rotten (except one).
Read the ads = all welding done.
Read the MoT history = corrosion around suspension mounts, spring mounts etc

[Toaster Pilot]

Cowboy_27 said:

Well I'm a builder and run a fleet of 4 aged transits. Whilst great vans they are now long in the tooth and ready for retirement. I've gone completely mad today and ordered the biggest v80, long wheel Base high roof for..... £13,500 + vat. Yes the plastics are cheap its noisy and certainly isn't the quality of its rivals.

However the price!!! The cheapest transit equivalent (this is the van to be fair I will get for my self not the lads ;-) ) Is 5 grand more at £18,500 whilst an equivalent merchant is retailing at £23,700 + vat. OK the mercedes ia a lovely beast but at 10 grand more? I mean this things going to get loaded to knackers every day with bricks etc do I want to knacker a beautiful merc and cry when it gets scratcheddar or be more meh with the ldv.

Anyway that's my 2p worth. It's a poor van in comparison but for the money I can't complain. Or may be I can when I've abused the 5 year warranty! !!

Very interested in hearing how this turns out. Personally I'd have bought a pre reg Trafic.

[MRPULLHARD]

it seems only 300 of these vans were sold in uk last year ( the same as sold in much smaller market of Ireland - where importer is based)
considering there are about 15 dealers - that's an average of only 20 vans per dealer.

considering the Dublin based importer was bringing in 3000 vans - hes going to be a few years getting rid of them.

anyone been to drive / view them ?

they have recently appointed a uk based sales manager to give things a boost . The importer is not big into marketing - I think they should be sponsoring the likes of football clubs and advertising in tabloid papers - to get the attention of white van man.