Van hire - advice needed

[ChinaTom]

Will I get a chair that measures approx 1 cubic metre into a Berlingo van?

[Mr Lobster]

Yes you will (at least I'm 99% sure you will)Not be much roof for anything else though.(Actually, if its the NEW Berlingo it should fit easy)

[ChinaTom]

Thanks Mr. L.I'll hire one tomorrow - saves a few quid over a Transit.

[ChinaTom]

 

Overkill for an old chair!! Thank you National/Europcar for upgrading me to hugeness for the price of a Combo, and a hugely entertaining drive. I think I rather like Transits. Thinking of getting one. I note there are FWD and RWD variants - what drives that decision? Should I look at alternatives such as Mercs, Nissans and Iveco's etc? What could I expect for say £1k - no specific requirements on payload, just the odd bed and wardrobe.

[Milford Cubicle]

I think FWD is reserved for low capacity panel vans

[Mr Lobster]

Transits, generally on the new ones the SWB is the FWD and the LWB is RWD. For 1k you might get a decent one but it'll be a struggle tbh.

[Cavcraft]

You'll get a decent Mk3 for a grand or a dog rough 'new shape' Transit which will chew it's DMF out for breakfast, dinner and tea and the starter motor for a sweet if you're lucky.SWB with side loader would be about the best best I reckon but the 100 LWB versions have a fair bit of room and will carry a fair bit of weight.

[Ratdat]

I had a shitty old Mk3 twin wheel LWB Transit for bit and it was actually quite good. Better than I'd have expected. it was a 2.0L pinto and it'd sit at 90mph fully loaded and still be pretty good on fuel. It was mega rusty though.

[Guest]

For a grand you'll get the nicest LDV Pilot in the world (i.e. not very nice).

[trigger]

My dad got a new shape Transit a couple of years ago, It's a 330 140 bhp one, Goes like shit of a shovel but in 41000 miles it's spend more time at Ford than it has on the road.

 

He's had loads of problems from the EGR valve, doors not locking, Battery, Water Pump, some pulley and a few other bits, He said he wishes he keep his old trusty/rusty N reg Transit now.

 

We run the 2001- shape ones at my work, they do get a very hard life but they always have trouble, The gearboxes go on them, always in 'safe mode' with the spanner flashing at you, Rusty, slack propshafts, all sorts.

I was told each van costs the company £6000 a year to keep in service!

 

The old LDV minibuses we had were much better, just seems more hard wearing and quicker, They had the 2.5Di Transit engines.

 

Have a few photos of my works vans which have been taken in the last month to give you a idea how abused they are...

 

After a run in with a lorry.

 

 

After a run in with another lorry. (this one was about a 06 plate with electric windows and low mileage)

 

 

And this one, Although not clear, forgot to stop at a junction and had a tug (Which is a automatic lorry used for shuntting containers around on a port) driving to the side of it.

 

[ChinaTom]

I was very tempted by this

 

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/2003-LDV-200-PILO ... 35a4e11fe3

 

gone over my budget though, and a little far away.

 

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/LDV-Pilot-200-Van ... 27ad1e8d69

 

May go and look at weekend.

 

Hey Trigger, do you have to climb all those ladders to work or is there a lift?

[Station]

Don't those LDV's have beam suspension on the front? I remember those Sherpas did, must be fun to drive!

[Milford Cubicle]

They had a dead axle at the front until the end. I kind of like them, a proper shite van. It's fun to play 'spot the Austin Rover parts bin cast off' in them.

[trigger]

We have the big LDV 400 type van's with high roofs and twin axles, they don't handle very well when loaded up with 25 blokes whilst being driven flat out in 2nd gear...!I think they are about a T reg (The plates get removed and replaced with asset numbers) but the trim quality is awful, Most of the bits fall off and are missing.

Hey Trigger, do you have to climb all those ladders to work or is there a lift?

Yes we have to climb ladders part way then it's stairs, No lifts.The big ship to shore cranes that you can see miles away that unload the large container ships have stairs and a lift (Lazy gits).

[ChinaTom]

^ I never seem to get what I actually reserve - usually a good thing as its one or two grades up from what I wanted. Used to play that game with them all the time to get an Astra for Matiz money - unfortunately Gatwick had a load of Matizes one time which was very poo as I had 3 large suitcases.I was offered a Luton yesterday, but opted for the Transit despite the huge dent in the side with the door. My neighbour has offered me some space in his barn and I feel my horizons would be widened with a van in my life. I calculate that a £1k investment will pay back after about 15 "but we'd need a van" ideas assuming it lost 50% value when I sold it; and think of the value brought by not having to waste my life arguing whether dents were there when I picked it up or not, or whether the needle pointing at F means on the fuel guage means Full or not. Apparently, the needle needs to bend around the pin.

[FredTransit]

Lutons are transits too! Transits are vans, chassis cabs and minibuses. Transits are made by Ford, and nobody else.....

[ChinaTom]

Lutons are transits too! Transits are vans, chassis cabs and minibuses. Transits are made by Ford, and nobody else.....

I know that, honest!! I meant Luton size as opposed to the van in the photo!I would like a Transit, but they are obviously several hundred quid better than others.

[Cavcraft]

You'd be surprised by how well older vans hold their value to be honest. The fact people always seem to want cheap vans means even a real heap of shit with a bit of test on is going to see £350+, thus making newer/better ones dearer. Spoke to a bloke last night who's just flogged his 'half tidy' 1997 Transit 'Jumbo' for £1650.The extra premium for a Transit over an LDV is worth every penny to be honest. Hell yeah that 53 plate one is cheap but you'll very likely find that a Transit 5 years older is actually a better van in all departments. In the commercial vehicle food chain I'd suggest starting from the bottom it goes:Iveco.Wheelbarrow.Sack trolley.Metro van with recently jetwashed engine.Reliant Supervan with mixture of crossplies and radials.LDV.Countless others.Early 2.9 Sprinter.Pre-2000 Transit.

[FredTransit]

My mate's Mk2 SWB transit is still for sale, £400 with test!

[Timewaster]

In the commercial vehicle food chain I'd suggest starting from the bottom it goes:Iveco.Wheelbarrow.

In defence of Iveco's, we have a couple of Dailys as mobile workshops - both '07 plate and they aren't that bad.They're quite nice to drive and handle supprisingly well for their size.Up to the 56mph limiter they are quite lively too. And the aircon can turn the cab into a fridge on hot days.They aren't particularly unreliable, just niggly things like both needing batterys, turbo pipes that fall off and then it goes into limp mode, sliding doors that stick or need slamming 15 times. The larger of the 2 has a terrible gearchange, but I suspect that it started off needing a slight adjustment but our yanking and tugging on the lever has made it worse.I'm sure there are shoddier vehicles out there.

[ChinaTom]

I have been to the factory that makes those gearboxes. Nanjing Gearbox Company have a JV with Iveco, and churn out thousands of these units for domestic and export. Didn't look too bad, but the final QC on them involved 10 seconds of stick twiddling before packaging up. May have some photos somewhere.

[Mr H Sceptre]

Helped my mate move house yesterday, he hired a lwb high roof Transit (08 plate). He did the driving, & was mightly impressed with it. It didnt half shift, & I was suprised to see vans these days with 6 speed boxes.Think it was the Transit 350 TDi, 2.4 diesel, 115bhp job.

[Volksy]

I had a Transit FWD LWB minibus a couple of years ago, The performance was great, I was commuting between Calais and the Ardeche quite a bit. It did seem a bit crap on quality though, all of the sliding windows in the back fell to pieces, rubber seals dropped off, rust was staring to appear in various places - it was only a year old.

[AnthonyG]

Just to reinforce you are much better off with a 1990s Transit than a LDV. Finding a non rusty one will be the challenge though. Get a minibus and take the seats out!

[Mr Lobster]

Transit minibus sliding windows are extremely shit - all of them seem to drop out if they actually get used.Overall though, the newTransit is a very impressive thing, comfortable, easy to drive and quick. The higher output engined versions are seriously quick and also GR8 4 DRIFTIN on greasy roundabouts if theres nothing in the back!

[pogweasel]

I would love to own an LDV Pilot/200/Sherpa, for the same reasons that you outline. Much more 'character' than a Transit, LDVSherpa's are all about holey jumpers, donkey jackets, wooley hats and roll-ups, like some kind of van genetic throwback to a forgotten age. You put stuff in, you take it somewhere, that's it. Absolutely no concession to style, luxury or even being remotely pleasant to drive, and therefore a wonderful contraption.

 

However as much as I yearn for one, I can't find suitable justification for one in my life - as outlined above they are much too horrible to try and use for work, I imagine long / motorway journeys are truly dreadful, even in the newest of new ones. I can't think of enough occasions when it would be worth doing.... especially with plenty of other 'useful' bits of kit about. At present when large stuff needs moving we are spoiled for choice, having the Renner Kangoo - (which must be nearly as unpleasant as an LDV? I have driven it 1200 miles this week, and am in physical agony and have gone a bit deaf, though it does at least appear to be fairly sturdy - nothing has dropped off, broken or gone wrong in 12000 miles of merciless abuse thus far) - which is pretty big inside for a small van. Frustratingly when you do NEED a van, like for going to the tip with a load of old rammle, you can't because you need to apply for a permit listing in minute detail what exactly you are taking there. As 'Er Indoors goes spam if I put mucky stuff in her car, anything of that ilk get put in / attached to my comedic 'daxara' trailer and hauled there behind my BMW. Takes about 5 trips to do the same as you could stuff in the van, so GR8 4 the environment. Good work, council...

[gearoil]

In the commercial vehicle food chain I'd suggest starting from the bottom it goes:Iveco.Wheelbarrow.Sack trolley.Metro van with recently jetwashed engine.Reliant Supervan with mixture of crossplies and radials.LDV.Countless others.Early 2.9 Sprinter.Pre-2000 Transit.

Having had a van most of my working life, I've still not experienced the LDV Pilot.I have driven the LDV Maxus and thought it was okay, if a little cheap, and you can't see the centre mounted speedo properly. The current crop of Iveco Daily is pure chod however, piss poor build and handling on the scary side...

[Mr Lobster]

LDV Maxus is ok to drive but reliabilty is somewhere close to hopeless. We have about five of them at work and they are forever going wrong - doors that won't open, mysterious flat battteries, failed turbos, a multitude of warning lights.......Anyway, seeing as teh diecast business can justify us owning a van next year, I have gone and bought a Sprinter - 313 CDi which is supposedly quite quick. Pick it up in about three weeks - am quite excited!

[Gompo]

You should quite enjoy your new Sprinter. They're the van I've driven most and dont really have any negative points when you're driving apart from they're a bit cramped if you're tall. One of my favourite drives was in an empty Sprinter. Our vans are very poorly maintained but they last quite well. Recently we've had an intermittent turbo fault on a couple, but these are on around 200k miles. If yours is new it will be the newer shape than the ones I drive though. A workmate has a latest shape example and seems to like it just as much as his old one..I think the nicest van to drive quickly was a Citroen Relay. Not sure on the engine but would guess it was the best available. Seemed to have good feel through the steering wheel.Howver, I've not driven an LDV..

[Mr Lobster]

Not new no! It's a 2001/Y. One company owner, 80k and FMBSH from new and has been properly looked after. Sprinters seem to go on pretty much forever though so should be plenty of life left in it yet!