help choosing people carrier Vito or Galaxy

[lestershaw]

i need an MPV and for reasons best known to myself ive come to this choice
1998 mercedes vito 6 seater
or
1999 Ford Galaxy
any advice would be more than welcome thanks

[lost in espace]

Galaxy/Sharan/Alhambra, find the best you can, preferably a 110bhp tdi Galaxy Ghia. Then start running it on veg oil 50p/litre. I do! £1200 should sort you. Very economical car, easy to work on yourself.

[davepoth]

Vito is a van, and no matter how plush the interior, it still feels like a van. It's a lot more roomy, but I'd go with the Galaxy unless you really need the space.

[lestershaw]

i dont mind it feeling like a van, i want it be versatile,
take the mountain bike out
trips to the dump
take 2 old people out occasionally

i already have 3 cars and none of them fit the bill and i dont want to spend a lot
i supppose im really asking which is the more reliable and least expensive to run and maintain.
im also worried that the galaxy might be a little small

[Kentish]

A Merc of that age will have poor bodywork or be tarted up - they all rotted between late 90's upto just a few years ago; they finally appear to be using better treated steel.

Try looking at a Trafic/Vivaro/Primastar crew cab.

[v8will]

At that age, always the Ford.

[lestershaw]

ive looked at the vivaro crew cabs, they seem to be perfect especially where the rear seems to be separated from the passengers, but they seem to be double the money or much higher mileage

[rb5er]

Galaxy has plenty of space. All the seats are removable.

Our 2.3 ghia did over 250k miles on original clutch, gearbox, engine, shocks and springs. It was only the fact that all the window regulators packed up and it was totally battered from being used as a builders van all its life why it was scrapped after 11 years.

[Hugo a Gogo]

tdi Galaxy is the VAG one that need regular cambelts

2.3 petrol is chain driven (or is it gears? - not a belt anyway)

[lestershaw]

galaxy is a 2.8 v6 4 x4
and half the price of the vito and closer
i think im answering my own questions here :-)

[All that jazz]

Vito will be a pile of crumbs at that age. They were made with this sttiest steel they could find and most were riddled with rust before the warranty even expired.

[lestershaw]

ok guys
dont say ive done the wrong thing but ive just bought the galaxy
opinions please

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/290753211726?ssPageName=...

[All that jazz]

The Crack Fox said:

Early Vitos were made in Spain and have a terrible reputation for quality. Just saying.

Later ones aren't any better. The woman across the road from me has a 2008 model van in silver and the door bottoms and boot are covered in rust already.

[anonymous-user]

Mitsubishi Delica!

[lestershaw]

i sold my delica last week
it was a bit too obvious
150,000 miles and i didnt like the low backed seats
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=110...

[Hugo a Gogo]

lestershaw said:

ok guys
dont say ive done the wrong thing but ive just bought the galaxy
opinions please

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/290753211726?ssPageName=...

sweet

is that a VW VR6 motor in the Galaxy, not a ford cologne?

[lestershaw]

I don't know
Is one better than the other?

[Hugo a Gogo]

ford is a much older engine, lower power

I just like the technical whizz-bangery of the VR6

[redgriff500]

When buying old and cheap always buy a popular basic spec so you can get cheap parts.

You have just done the opposite.

Manual, 2WD was the way to go.

A better choice than the Vito though.

[lestershaw]

But I wanted four wheel drive. It's a vw synchro system, and that's been going a long time so I hope that's ok.
Let's hope your advice is wrong this time :-)
Are you going to TITT 8 ?