I’m after some advice and experiences of people who have bought vans for bike transportation.

I’ve got two cars at the moment. A diesel Mondeo and a petrol Volvo 850 T-5R. Don’t find I use the T-5R much now so thinking of swapping for a van.

As I will have a car for using other times (it would be nice to actually have that clean for once!) I’m thinking I should get a fairly big van so I can sleep in it if at events or travelling round the UK (suspect it will do a trip through France next year so tolls and ferry crossings + fuel might be a PITA).

Being able to stand up in it would be handy for getting changed. Would also act as a base/pits for endurance events as I’ve really started to get into them.

What I’m thinking is something like a LWB/mid to high roof transit crew cab so I could also get enough people in to share the fuel costs! Would probably put a raised section in with storage underneath that could be used for sitting or sleeping on.

Is this a completely daft idea getting something this size for a couple of weekends most months?

Does anyone use a smaller van (vito sized) for the same things and find it’s too small?

Any experiences of how awesome or how bad it is to have a van would also be good to hear!

Get a Sprinter and fit a wood burner

Sprinter is definitely on my possibility list.

Other option I considered was a caravan but the cons seem to far outweigh the pros….

things to think about with larger vans.
speed limit is lower than a car. (yes it is!), you can’t get into some supermarkets etc, and they are not that nice to drive really.

i use a t4 as my daily driver and i love it, however if i had the room and money for a car as well i would probably get a semi high roof medium wheelbase transit rear wheel drive with 2 captain seats in the front and stick an extra row of seats in the back with a window in the side loading door

i use a t4 as my daily driver and i love it, however if i had the room and money for a car as well i would probably get a semi high roof medium wheelbase transit rear wheel drive with 2 captain seats in the front and stick an extra row of seats in the back with a window in the side loading door

So would something with that set up still have room for sleeping in the back? Would probably either be the need for the bed OR rear seats, not both at once so would probably still work.

Would be nice if it was decent to drive and had plenty of power but would still have the car as my main vehicle.

I have a T5 Kombi, 5 seats. Can sleep in back with any combination of seating. Great wagon.

I would like 4wd next; the best bet for me would be a T5 4motion, I think.

even if the van isn’t a Kombi, it isn’t too difficult/costly to convert them.

High roof sprinter or vw crafter look like your best bet.

I owned a vito a couple of years ago and travelled round France in it, stopping in a hotel every few days to get showered and shaved. After I got rid of it I said I need one to be able to stand up in but they take up so much room. I live on quite a narrow road, Sprinter size vans are a pain in the arse to go shopping or into town in and quite noisy and uncomfortable to drive up to say a VW Transporter T5, which is what I’m now looking for myself. If I’d been travelling around France with more than my Scwinn Moab, a chemical loo and a camping stove I’d have needed a bigger van.

Depends how much you mind tramping it up.

Idea definitely isn’t to live in it for days on end, would probably use camp sites and sleep in a tent if the weather was ok, if not using hotels/B&Bs.

Touring the UK trail centres would probably be long weekend trips, chemical toilet would be handy, already got a stove but would be happy to make do with tramping it up over a weekend.

Cheers for the advice.

Anyone want to swap a T-5R for a van!?!?!

I hope your stove’s not too big and venting it doesn’t cause you problems with leaks. It’s something I looked at installing but insulating behind the ply lining and a Norweigian Army sleeping bag meant I was toasty enough.

Thought the same apart from sharing lifts!!

Got a Transit LWB Med High

Fitted a bed in the back with enough room to store bikes with the front wheels out (160mm trail bikes) there is a slot one side for the DH bike to poke out of. Leaves enough room to stand up.

Lined it with 25/50mm kingspan and floor underlay to dampen the noise.

Removable seats would probably bee good

Made a bench seat to sit on in the back when it’s pissing it down.

Down sides

Harder to park
32mpg – 140p/l

VW T4 long wheelbase here. I’ve put a line of low cupboards along one side in the rear that also act as a bench seat when parked but otherwise have kept the interior minimalist. I put camp beds on the floor if sleeping in the van but can’t fit two beds and bikes at the same time. I’ve been told that Vitos are wider so bikes may go in them arossways rather than lengthways.

Well, sounds like a truly excellent idea you’ve got yourself stevemtb, apart from the idea about sharing fuel costs!!

Have you seen our transit I use at work? I keep thinking that it would be perfect, but I’m not exactly sure of what it is. Give me a shout when I’m back and you can get the tour sometime.

VW T5.
insulated, ply lined and carpeted. 12v supply to 4 sockets and leds for lighting. rear half has raised platform for sitting/sleeping on can store bike under it. Off to the alps in a couple of weeks probably on the market August for the next project.

Mike – sounds like you’ve done exactly what I’m thinking of, any chance of sending me some pics (of the van, not you!)? Email in profile, would be good to see how it works.

32mpg – wouldn’t be unhappy with that. Volvo gets 23 on a good day (auto with around 300bhp) and the diesel mondeo would be sub 40 fully loaded with bikes on the roof.

THV3 – yeah seen them mate, would be good to have a look around and see how it would work.

100 – again, sounds like something that would work perfectly. Do like the idea of a platform big enough to store a bike under.

Will be having a look round the local van centres if I get a minute this weekend. Was going to get one as my main vehicle when I was shopping for the Mondy but a bigger one for occasional use will work a lot better I think.

Thanks again!

I have an ’05 Vito Dualiner that was chipped by previous owner so on longer motorway journeys I can get 40-45mpg if I drive sensibly.

I can indeed get bikes in sideways, I hadn’t realised I wouldn’t be able to in other vans.
Look 986 hardtail fits across fine, Orange ST4 fits but have to turn front wheel slightly.
I put them between two rows of seats – three in front, double in back, I can get a sixth seat in too for those trips to watch events with friends.

I have a single mattress in the back also that I lie on the floor to sleep on. This is good for races but also for a quick afternoon nap at work if there’s time.

I sometimes wish I had door at the back with a rear window, but I grew up with vans and used to drive trucks for work so at least I am used to only using side mirrors.

The one thing I would definitely want again would be air con. I’ve been to Italy three times and France twice, It gets hot in there.

Just after I bought it there was a thread on here about vans. Someone posted that the VW Transporter outsells the Merc Vito 3 to 1 in Germany. That might mean something.

Vauxhall Vivario van here for three years and never let me down

vitos always seem to end up rusting?

i have a vwt4 caravelle (funnily enough, covered in rust) i love it and i cant acually think of something that i’d swap it for that does everything it does.

i have a double seat in the middle, it takes 4 bikes and 4 people.

if i’m sleeping in it i just put an inflatable mat down and lie with my legs under the double seat.

Well, my VW T5 went down with the dreaded drive shaft spline failure yesterday. Going to be about £ 500.

Hopefully the new one will last a bit longer than 65k

Mike… mine did this at 55K miles too. Fortunately 3 days before teh warranty expired….

Steve, our transport fleet at home is a VWT5 SWB Kombi, the other is a Smart Car, so two extremes (and we dont have kids).. The van is great, I did think about a Vito and borrowed one for a weekend before buying a T5. The biggest concern was Vito rusting. The vito is wider but lower and comes in 3 lengths, the T5 is slightly narrower and SWB or LWB.

I went for a 174 bhp SWB and remapped it plus removed the dreaded dpf filter. Its now doing 35mpg and will be off to Livigno in a couple of weeks.

Speed limits… the law is complicated and confusing.
Mix up body type (Plg/People Carrier), Tax class (diesel car, motorhome, plg), and Vehicle type (Passsenger carrier/goods)
T5 vehicles and speed limits, interesting pg 4 onwards

Also the VW T4 forum has all the info you need…

HTH a bit..

Back with me now. £ 488 lighter in wallet. Apart from that one incident it’s been fine. Planning to get another 50 to 60 k out of it before I upgrade to a T5 kombi 4-motion 2.0…..

I haven’t read the rest of the thread but Trimix has a LWB transit, if you want me to put you in contact with him drop me an e-mail.

T5Rs are like hen’s teeth no?