Any views regarding reliabiliy, mpg, generally living with them? Going to be used as a tilers first van hopefully.

Got a 4 year old on 100k. 90ps t230 (lwb). Overall I like it. Easy to drIve and park. Great securIty / locks. Averages 40-45 dependIng on town use but wIll easIIly drop to 30 fully laden and pressIng hard. From new Its needed a starter,(60k) clutch (80k), wheel bearing (100k) and a central locking actuator. So overall pretty good. Used prices seem high related to new. The 75ps aren’t as economical and seem noisier.

Overall I’d happily buy another.

I’m a tiler and I had one! I had an ’03 LWB hitop variant with the 90bhp engine.

Surprisingly roomy for a smallish van, mine had 2 sliding doors which was good. not that economical but no worse than other small van fully laden.

Was great for 60k then had a whole host of problems, electrical, clutch, dmf, oil leak, injector. Was sold for spares or repair in the end rather than sink money into an old van.

I now have a Peugeot Expert which is a much nicer but ultimately more expensive van. On reflection I’d buy another Ford too.

From new Its needed a starter,(60k) clutch (80k), wheel bearing (100k) and a central locking actuator.

Does that seem like a lot to anyone else or is it just me? I admit I don’t know much (anything) about vans.

As an ex-owner of a Mark IV Golf, that seems very cheap 😉

In my last job, we got 4 brand new back in 2004, all LWB versions.

Out of pure luck, I think I got the best one as I did 130k in it without any major issues.

One of the others did a clutch at around 30k but, as I can recall, Mine was fine apart from usual wear and tear stuff.

In terms of usage, I could get a 6ft Metal Cupboard in it at a squeeze and I only changed when I got a new route and needed a Vivaro as there was more “larger” customers.

They had a appetite for front tyres, about 20k out of a pair, but we were not gentle on the vans, so I didnt care about MPG as we had fuel cards 😆

From new Its needed a starter,(60k) clutch (80k), wheel bearing (100k) and a central locking actuator.

Does that seem like a lot to anyone else or is it just me? I admit I don’t know much (anything) about vans.

Sounds about right for a van, especially if its been a Delivery Vehicle.

Starting up 50 + times a day, locking and unlocking 50 + times a day…….takes its toll on stuff that would last ages on a private car

use these at work. when they are new, they seem fine enough. reasonable power and smooth / comfortable.

After a hard life , the clutch seems to slip fairly easily and the engine get rattly.

Driven hard, they understeer … a lot … and wheel spin easily on pull away.

konabunny – Member
From new Its needed a starter,(60k) clutch (80k), wheel bearing (100k) and a central locking actuator.

Does that seem like a lot to anyone else or is it just me? I admit I don’t know much (anything) about vans.

That’s about right i’d say – especially for ‘working’ vehicle.

Awsome!!! Past few places ive worked all had connects for the wet trades ie tilers decorators and plastererd all were fantastic, i own one and now my bro owns one bought for 1700 on a 54 plate from police auction, remapped ecu which makes more bhp and lbs and his is better on fuel than mine!!! Iv a 90ps swb roomy, as car like to drive as ur going to get, cheap readily avl parts all the plusses of its bigger bro the tranny but cheaper to run!!!

Have a look at the engine compartment, looks like a maniac has gone mad and fitted everything so close together you need to take stuff out to replace stuff underneath,huge windscreen, lots of glare and sunstroke in the summer,

New model out soon,though.

Better than a combo or kango/berlingo electrics on the frenchies terrible and the combo 1.3cdti dies at 120k as it dosent like motorway miles and if you opt for the 1.7 its a pig and drinks fuel imo, the connect is a no brainer or if your flush the vw caddy from 04 on

i’ve had both the connect and the similar vw caddy. no major problems with the ford although I would recommend the caddy over the connect. (many many problems with other fords). not sure how they compare price wise?

agree with poster above, (in my expensive experience) french vans after 60k are a nightmare

patriotpro and simmy: yes, now you mention it, that makes perfect sense.

Haha vertigo

My vans just hit 70 k and has been a bit of a night mare

But then i look at the fact ive spent nothing on it bar regular servicing (inc timing belt)in 50k miles ive had it the alternator ( 30 quid and 2 hours to fit) the spring , arb link , drive shaft seals and cold start idle valve seems like a good deal to me.

My van was great when i used it for long runs daily. Then i started cycling and it seemed that everytime i got in the van something else had broken.

Just had it all fixed up fully serviced and given a good check up by my trusted garage.

Hopefully ill get some more good time out of it …. I bought the 1.9d for its lack of electronics and gizmos. My other cars a land rover 90 so its luxurious in comparison.

Does anyone know the payload for these vans ?
We are looking at replacing a Vauxhall Combi deathtrap with something 3 – 5 years old .
Needs to be able to carry at least 750kg, ideally 900kg.

Ran a Fiat Dispatch before and all it suffered from was very poor cold starting , solved by squirting 10ml of petrol over the air filter.

A couple of years ago they had the highest failure rate of any vehicle going for it’s first MOT.

Knew there was something that broke on mine – only just come to me – it was the gear linkage.

Pulled away from some lights on the East Lancs in usual gentle *ahem* fashion, and it just snapped going into 2nd.

Left me stuck in neutral and I had to roll to the side, onto the Pavement and, whilst waiting for recovery, some guys came along to resurface the Pavement and had to wait for garage to arrive 😳

That was awkward. The same happened on a Combo 02 plate but that was on a balljoint and one of the other lads showed me how to pop it back on using the wheelbrace 😯

had mine from new approx 35,000 miles 18/20 months old engine blew up in quite spectacular fashion well looked after/serviced regularly needed major work, told it was a common fault, also had 2 new wheel bearings before out of warranty. but still prefer them to company new choice of peugeot bipper way too small

Got to say that they sound a bit more liable to problems than I expected. I’d be looking for a 2005 ish model with about 70k on the clock. Are there any other vans of a similar size that anyone could recommend or am I going to have to get used to paying out for the odd problem due to the nature they’re used for. I’d love to have a new one because I know I’d look after it, but finances aren’t going to stretch to that.

I’m afraid that no is the answer, most vans that have 70k on them from 2005 are either gonna be great or completely nailed. There seems to be no rhyme or reason to them. Just go hunting for the van you want and leave anything that doesn’t stack up right at the viewing. This can be a long process however as a lot of peoples mint condition seems to be my wouldn’t be seen dead in it, this includes vans less than a year old too, how some people manage to do so much damage to a van in such a short space of time really has to be seen to be believed!

I’ve had good luck seeking out owner driver vans rather than fleet disposal or auction stuff. The people who have paid for it originally seem to look after them a lot better than a guy who has to drive it because he’s told to.

That’s good advice about finding owner driver vans privately. Hadn’t really considered that. I’ve really just been looking at dealers with ex fleet stuff. Time to browse Van Trader.

dingabell- I hope it wasnt me (and the subsequent comments) that put you off them!

As alluded to above – some tend to get a hard life. The Connect survives pretty well related to other stuff we’ve had.

As I said – I’d get another Connect.

There’s not a lot of that age to compete with it and it doesnt have a single “happens to everyone” problem. But be careful with your test drive and as B-Saddles says – owners tend to look after them a bit better.

Parts are ok, labour is ok, no-rust is ok, clutches might be a weak point (its based on a focus but can lug 2 tonne).