transit porn (new ones)

[sierraman]

The Vivaro is usually off the road well before then due to seized injectors or some such shit. Not half as tough in service as a Transit.

 

Still can't understand why they haven't got on top of rustproofing then though.

 

I've seen plenty of Connects up here with plated sills or a cover sill welded over the top.

[dave21478]

Its a fucking scandal when you think about it. Lancia were literally laughed out of the country with new cars rotting to bits in a few years and decades later here is Ford doing pretty much the same and its "ok" somehow.

Yeah, probably 90% of Transit buyers are fleets or lease deals where they only last 3 years before being changed, but that really screw over the private used buyer.

[Dick Longbridge]

Nail. Head. The only plausible explanation for it is some old boy who used to work fo BL (and is now past retirement age!) now works for Ford and is in charge of the 'That'll do' stamp for build quality and rust-proofing.

 

Have a photo of Take That from a couple of years back.

[robinmasters]

Did Ford's customer research really tell them that buyers of fast vans want them to look like Mexican wrestlers?

 

 

[phil_lihp]

Some more transit filth!

 

 

Much as I'm liking my Hiace a lot, if I had the cash I'd be all over one of these.  There was a very clean white one like that on eBay recently which had been a race support vehicle for most of its life, it was £9,000 but considering what sort of modern Transit that money would get you, I'd go for the Mk2 every time.  Probably no less reliable or rust-prone with the right maintenance and a lot better at standing out from the crowd if you're promoting your business.

[Felly Magic]

Made in Turkey is a real sign of quality* from Ford. With most fleet vans, they are utterly kippered by 3 years old, so they have a designed in life of just that, keeps them going in the fleet market with cheap leasing deals due to the bulk volumes involved. The private buyer doesn't matter one bit to the manufacturers

[Dick Longbridge]

I'd be interested to know what percent of the van market sector Ford fulfill. Forty years ago it was the lowly Transit vs Vauxhall vs a few British manufacturers. Now the market is huge, with masses of manufacturers building Transit sized vans. I can't quite work out whether Ford manages to sell their dissolvable steeds purely because

A. It's a Transit mate, or

B. It's 'cheap' compared to some of the competitors.

 

Whatever the case, I reckon Ford will need to pull their finger out of their arse before too long re build quality if they wish to continue to sell masses of the things. See what happened to BL etc etc.

[They_all_do_that_sir]

What you want is a vivaro with transit mechanicals.

 

Brother in law had a vivaro for multi drop courier work and it ate balljoints.

 

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[sierraman]

Well they weren't exactly built to exacting standards in Southampton.

[Felly Magic]

When it comes to smaller vans, the Bipper, Nemo/fiorino, it's game over by 60k, because the need fresh oil every 6k, not the stupidly long service intervals they claim. Service em every 6k, and I suspect they will last a hell of a lot longer. 

[Richard]

Since 2008 I've done nearly 230k in two Transits and only had one FTP, the EGR valve choked up on the 07 plate one. For all these miles they have been ragged and loaded close to capacity. There's nothing wrong with the build quality on them.
 

We've not had any breakdowns on the new ones we've got but two out of the four have needed repairs to the driver's A pillar. I can't see any of this type making ten years.

[danthecapriman]

Where I work we used Transits literally for ever, short and long wheelbase versions.

Ours aren't delivery vans either! They work hard for a living as a utility company. We drive them on and off road, towing a lot and they get loaded to the limit with tools and all sorts of other crap and they took it all.

My last Transit was a 52 reg LWB that was replaced in 2010 by a Sprinter. The old Transit was pushing 160k and still worked perfectly. Even rust wise it was still good, just a tiny bit starting on one sill.

 

Since about 2010 we've stopped using Transits so much as we stopped buying our vans and went over to Lex lease vans, hence the Sprinters instead. The company don't seem bothered about reliability or durability anymore as it's all in the Lex lease deal for supply, maintenance and replacement of the vehicle.

But, the old Transits (our last LWB ones are 14 reg) are on a lease period of 8 years. The Sprinters are only 5 years! That says a lot I think.

The Sprinters are a nice enough van, and they drive nicely with better seats IMHO but they are very flimsy and don't pull nearly as well as the Transits. Off road forget it! The Sprinters aren't ageing as well either, they rust too and a few of ours have needed some pretty major work recently.

 

We did trial a batch of Vivaro's to replace SWB Transits, but they were utter shit and just weren't suitable for the job. And a batch of Fiat Ducato's to replace the LWB Transits, the less said about them the better! No one had a good word to say about them and they quickly disappeared even before their lease period had expired.

 

 

 

I think the Transit was a big deal when it came out, the mk1 was a superb van for it's day and it did literally piss on everything else, likewise the mk2, it's the same van really just with a new front end and interior but for it's day it was about the best available. The CF Bedford was a great van too but that was about the Transits best competitor.

The mk3/4/5 type were excellent vans with a superb diesel engine but they were becoming a bit 'old hat' by the late 90's and the rust issues were getting less acceptable too, especially as there were by then, lots more competition, which had largely sorted out the rust problems.

More recently they do seem to have been over shadowed by other vans but I still think they are the best van choice.

 

Like most things, it's down to personal preference and what your intending to use the van for. Delivering parcels or other light work I'd say most vans these days will do a pretty good job of it but if your doing heavy work I reckon a Transit is still king. If it were my own van I'd get a Transit and invest some money having it fully under sealed and the whole body and chassis cavity waxed. That should keep it sorted for a long time.

[SiC]

charging the earth.

Charging the earth wire is a very dangerous thing to do!

[surprisingskoda]

I've done a lot of van buying, in the 10 year old market, and a lot of research and driving to boot, and I've posted bits of my experiences here there and other places.

 

Anyway, it's roughly like this. Transits are cheap, plentiful, and durable. They'll take the abuse, and yes the bodys rot away to literally nothing, and the electrics are pathetic, but there are millions of them for spares. The mechanicals would be a strong point for them.

 

Compare that to the Vivaro / Master which have engines known for a tendency to cease operations and also electrics going funny, which is a much more serious prospect to most used van buyers, even though the bodys are good generally.

 

Transporters are seen as reliable even though they aren't particularly, and bodys and electrics usually fine, but a little on the small side, and far more expensive than basically everything else.

 

Hiaces are also well expensive and far too small, but ultimately reliable and as non rust prone as possible.

 

LDVs are the cheapest thing going, but for a reason. Dodgy electrics, old tech engines that somehow manage to not be very reliable any more, rust seems to be hit and miss.

Ivecos pretty much fall into the same boat.

 

Sprinter and whatever the other Mercedes tosh is called are appalling, rotboxes and unreliable and a pig to work on. Only good for showing off as they're far too expensive as well, but that wont last long as it'll break and strand you.

 

Relay/Boxer/Ducato vans are my very biased motorised box of choice, reason being, despite weak gearboxes on the Fiat engines, and weak engines in the PSA options, they are cheap, electrics not too bad and far better than most other vans, high load ratings, and bodys usually ok. If rot sets in they do go, but still not as bad as a Ford or Merc. Seen rust fairly infrequently on them and the mechanical problems are much less likely than the Renault or others.

 

all IME & IMO, take whatever you wish from it.

[sierraman]

Vans can be a minefield at 10 years old, unlike cars people rarely get rid of them as they fancy a new one - a joiner wouldn't chuck away a saw cause he fancied a new one - he'd throw it because it was blunt and now useless. Vans are much the same, sold when they are becoming a liability. When I worked at places and had a van they got shut when they were about to go seriously awry.

[They_all_do_that_sir]

I keep having a notion for a berlingo or dispatch van, but keep coming to the conclusion that the car versions are cheaper and in better nick.

 

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[sierraman]

Berlingo not too bad, lot of private owners have them for fishing, allotments etc

[Slartibartfast]

As the owner of a very nearly three year old Transit (well, Tourneo, but same deal) what would you recommend I pay attention to now the warranty is up? I can't afford to replace it or trade it in for a newer model unfortunately, I need to keep this thing running for a good few years really.

[paulplom]

As the owner of a very nearly three year old Transit (well, Tourneo, but same deal) what would you recommend I pay attention to now the warranty is up? I can't afford to replace it or trade it in for a newer model unfortunately, I need to keep this thing running for a good few years really.

Change the oil and filter every 6k or 6 months. Use good quality oil. Use only branded fuel. I add a splash of two stroke oil every tankful as well. Seems to quieten it down and apparently lubes the diesel pump. Done over 100k usually flat out and fully loaded never had a problem.

[overrun]

I saw a 65 plate M Sport this morning. Very funky looking things.

[cort1977]

LOL at Trumpistan.

[surprisingskoda]

Vans can be a minefield at 10 years old, unlike cars people rarely get rid of them as they fancy a new one - a joiner wouldn't chuck away a saw cause he fancied a new one - he'd throw it because it was blunt and now useless. Vans are much the same, sold when they are becoming a liability. When I worked at places and had a van they got shut when they were about to go seriously awry.

 

 

Berlingo not too bad, lot of private owners have them for fishing, allotments etc

 

right on both counts. If you're buying s/h you are looking for the anomaly, a garden centre or carpeting van tends to be lightly loaded and looked after. garden vans can be a bit rustier than t'other but nothing like a builders van.

If you can't get that, get an ex govt or big corporation van. Like an ex BT or ex AA or ex Tesco, they're always well looked after even if they are tired. Even in small vans, like he said, but also, plumbers and sparks old vans can be ok if it's an old boy rather than a 22 year old straight out of tech. They don't change often but they do occasionally buy something newer to keep up appearances. I bought my sparkies Berlingo when the test was running short and he decided to start using a car again as he wasn't needing the load size of a van. Still going strong now, albeit with a turbocharged V8 and rwd axle in it, battered stupid, great yard van.

[sierraman]

About worst buy would be something that's done courier work or multidrop. The gearbox and the bodywork will be absolutely shot. Especially if it's one of these 'owner driver' outfits that work at ...p per drop - these are nearly always barely minimum wage.

[Squire_Dawson]

I would not buy any van that had been used in a fleet... all take terrific amounts of misuse and abuse (because it's not the driver's own vehicle). And to me an hour-counter on the engine would be a more reliable guide than an odometer, the length of time these vans are stood idling.

 

I would rather a van be dependable mechanically if prone to rotting bodywork, but if I had to give off a positive image to potential customers then it needs to look smart and clean. Which means no rusting old crocks.

[Felly Magic]

Never buy a van that the previous owner was a security company, their vans are normally on the road 24/7, and cover interstellar miles in a year, and servicing is scant at best, lucky to get an oil change every 30,000. 

[AMC Rebel]

Tradesmen should have their name and what they do on the side of their vans like the olden days. Along with contact details, anyway a van is meant to be a workhorse.

 

Just moaning a bit, you know.

 

My local builder has his name on his C-reg Maestro van.

[AMC Rebel]

About worst buy would be something that's done courier work or multidrop. The gearbox and the bodywork will be absolutely shot. Especially if it's one of these 'owner driver' outfits that work at ...p per drop - these are nearly always barely minimum wage.

Our local My Herpes driver is a woman who drives a Berlingo in UV-faded red.  She's great at her job, but to make it pay she works a lot of hours.

[mat_the_cat]

with a turbocharged V8 and rwd axle in it

 

Tell me more!

[sierraman]

You cannot make that job pay. I can tell you that fact, the pay is something like 50p a drop. It's a sign of today's society where the bottom feeders have made another job completely unworkable by a race to the bottom. You've only got to post a request to shift a settee across a city on these social media sites to get inundated with offers to do it for £10. I was selling something recently that the nearest alternative was 40 miles away and some moron couldn't get his head round why I wouldn't accept his offer of 50% of the asking price.

 

In the end I ignored his painfully desperate barteringw attempts, he'd agreed to pay the full price in the end but he'd messed me about no end so I'd lost interest in doing any sort of deal with him so I told him he'd better truck down the M1 to get the nearest one as he'd fucked me off.