Are modern Transits any good?

[cms206]

Our old 53-plate 100 T260 minibus had a hard life; 55k-ish airport miles by the time I left and rarely out of third. To it's credit mechanically it was bob on but it did shit it's gearbox/clutch/DMF on the M8 at 80ish on a staff bus run. It was a FWD 2.0TDDi which went like fuckery.

 

We had an 05 2.0TDCi Tourneo as well but it didn't last 'cos it ate front tyres at a rate that would make an 850 T5 blush.

 

Our breakdown van in work now is a 12-plate 2.2-powered 100 T350 which has done 170k-miles and is constantly in limp home. All the oil escaped recently which was fun but it was caught before it kerploded.

 

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[sierraman]

I used one for work. For the abuse it got I thought it was ok.

[Lankytim]

All this makes me feel good about smoking a shitty old Pilot about.

[twosmoke300]

No , they are terrible too 😀

[Asimo]

The very latest Transits seem to have wheel arch liners so maybe even Ford has noticed the rust.

[twosmoke300]

So did the mk1 focus and mk4 fiesta - worked out well for them ! Not !

[Richard]

The very latest Transits seem to have wheel arch liners so maybe even Ford has noticed the rust.

 

Anything that prolongs the life of these abominations is a bad thing.

[DodgeRover]

how did the Transit go so wrong?

More like what was so right about the mk3/4/5

 

Basically the unkillable 2.5 Di capable of huge mileages running on anything vaguely flammable, broken cambelt? Just hammer the pushrods back straight and replace a rocker cap or 2.

Reasonably refined drive with IFS and power steering

Powerful when factory fitted turbo.

No factory electronics to give grief (apart from the Lucas EPIC pump)

Rots quickly but seemingly not as badly as the mk6/7 panels cheap and easily replaced.

[155V6]

I had a few 52-05 plates from new when I worked for MFI.Really liked them, especially the 135 I had from brand new with nearly zero miles on the clock.There was one where all the pulleys fell off the front of the engine,but can't remember which one it was.Where I work now,we have a 57 plate which has done just over 100,000 miles & goes through the MOT with the normal bushes etc,no sign of any rot yet.

[paulplom]

I have a 2010 140 bhp trend. It has all the toys. Heated wind screen, auto lights/wipers, cruise control, air con etc. It is about to turn 105k miles and has only had regular servicing and a battery in 7 years. I only use branded fuel and add a splash of two stroke to every tank full. I hammer the arse off it most of the day although it has a limiter at about 103mph. In 6th gear at this speed it's only on 3k rpm. I average around 40mpg and it's loaded to the gunnels (I'm a plumber). Granted it's started to look scruffy with dents, scrapes and a little rust but to replace it would cost me £20k+ so I'm keeping it for at least another 2 years.

[sierraman]

I'd suggest for a rustfree reliable van I'd look for a 1978 Leyland Sherpa.

[Richard]

Mk6 and 7 Transits aren't for taking on at ten years old, they're for working hard for their first four to seven years, light use for a couple more and then the bridge.

[Mally]

Transits can be everything as said, or not at times.

Our 02 LWB has run smoothly for 10 years, 175,000 miles. Had its first welding for the last MOT. Done everything we ever wanted.

Tyres,brakes,filters, oil, belts and pulleys changed, that's about it.

Its on ebay at the moment due to picking up a 2011 from my sons works.

If the new van hadn't come along we would have run it another 12 months at least.

[taxi paul]

I had an 06 plate tourneo. It was the 125 engine thing. I bought it at 3 yrs old just off lease to customs and excise. It had 60,000 miles on. I ran it for four years. Put another 100,000 miles on it and it was brilliant,if going rusty. I had to replace the throttle pedal but apart from normal servicing nothing else. The clutch went at 155,000. So had that done cost £800..got rid of it when the turbo and injectors started playing up. Have a look at the hyundai I load vans although may be too dear. My mate has a vivaro minibus for his large family. Two years old and the dpf is now goosed ,they think been in twice to be regenerate and still the same. Vauxhall dealer say it's not covered by warranty. He was using my 16 yrs old jap bus over the weekend cos is had threw the limp mode on again. Mine was a third of the price of his vivaro.

[Richard]

Before I started the job I'm in now they had a go at running Movanos. Apparently they were brilliant for the first year and nothing but trouble after that. I fear the Mk8 Transits are going to be the same, apart from the being brilliant for the first year bit. Quite a big bit fell off mine yesterday, at about three weeks old.

[Sheefag]

Hiace, that is all.

 

Can't argue with that.

14 year old HiAce.

Last year I had to replace the bulb in the load bay and replace the wiper blades.

This year it's had four tyres.

[twosmoke300]

Hiace is a great van but just not big enough . The new proace is an expert in drag 

[The Reverend Bluejeans]

As has been said, we are now reaping the rewards* of the 'progress' made 10-15 years ago with cars and vans. Sure, stuff still goes wrong but now it's more often and an absolute arseache to repair.

 

If I had to drive to Turin tomorrow, it wouldn't be in the newest member of the RBJ fleet. I wouldn't trust that as far as Chesterfield.

[sierraman]

I'm never quite sure what people are expecting from a 15 year old van. It's been driven by someone who doesn't care for 250,000, never washed, mended in the quickest and cheapest fashion, loaded up to the gunnels with bags of cement and paving slabs then driven up Porlock Hill everyday. Then someone buys it for £700 and they are horrified it's rusty as shit and the engine is on its last legs.

[Bren]

I'm never quite sure what people are expecting from a 15 year old van. It's been driven by someone who doesn't care for 250,000, never washed, mended in the quickest and cheapest fashion, loaded up to the gunnels with bags of cement and paving slabs then driven up Porlock Hill everyday. Then someone buys it for £700 and they are horrified it's rusty as shit and the engine is on its last legs.

I think the issue is they are as rusty as shit and on their last legs at five years old.

[Richard]

.

[cort16]

My dad has a brand new transit as the school bus he drives . The pop out step it has keeps jamming in the out position , which stops van from moving .

The kids have been late for school loads as the bus won't move . It's a shite design as all the micro switches are exposed under the step and gets coveted in shite. I can't tell you the amount it winds him up . That at the councils apathetic approach to getting ford to fix it has nearly tipped him over the edge and put ford on his permanent shit list.

[Slartibartfast]

My modern is a 2013 Tourneo and I love it but I'm dreading when things start to go wrong. I've had it for coming up to three years I think. It passed the first MOT with no issues.

[sierraman]

Let's be right people scarcely look after a van, it's a tool of the trade like anything else for a budinsss.

[The Reverend Bluejeans]

A super fastidious mate of mine bought a metallic maroon Transit new in 2002/3 (03 plate), standard wheelbase low top 2.0 TDCi. Waxoyled it new, polishes it once a month, boarded and carpeted out when new, uses it for work.

 

It's absolutely mint, around 90'000 miles. It occasionally drops an injector at idle but that's it. If they were properly rustproofed when new they would be much better than they are now. This one has a rusty front arch rear section (the bit between the wing and the sill replaced recently but that's it.

[Cavcraft]

Sadly, the best van of that size you can get is the VW Crafter, or whatever they're called. Seems to me that reliability on them is leaps and bounds ahead of most others, especially Transits.

 

When it came to the DI, glancing through your letterbox at one sat on your drive was good enough for a service and you could hammer them all day long forever and they'd still beg for more. The newer ones are just an embarrassment and the only reason people buy them is they just assume they're still the best vans out, instead of the absolute shit that they actually are. 

[catsinthewelder]

Just collected our 14 plate mk7 minibus from having it's DPF fixed and found that the flimsy sliding door handle had broken. Ffs the Citroens are built better.

[The Reverend Bluejeans]

Door handles and door hinges are common breakages on the latest Transhit. The AutoWindscreens bloke who fitted the new screen in my E32 told me they'd had no end of these problems.

 

 

FORD:

 

First

On

Rubbish

Dump

 

 

Found

On

Road

Dead.

[garbaldy]

Sadly, the best van of that size you can get is the VW Crafter, or whatever they're called. Seems to me that reliability on them is leaps and bounds ahead of most others, especially Transits.

 

Is the crafter not just a sprinter ?

[Arthur Foxhake]

Fucked.

Or.

Repaired.

Daily.