Ok, for arroundabout £4k I can get a basicly fitted out T4 with rock'n'roll bed and some cabinets. Rangeing from completely finished ones with high mileage to lower milage ones bodged out of stuff from IKEA. Mileage varies from 150k to 200k, seen one with 200k and a new engine 32k ago, could that be a good buy?

Cant really afford to spend much more so was wondering is this worthwhile? I guess they wont depreciate any further, but will probably make up for that in repair bills. But equaly 88bhp form a 1.9TD is peanuts, so does the low state of tune give limitless reliability as long as theres a service history?

Is there a better van out there for that kind of money? I know VW's attract a premium as campervans (coz they is a veeeDUBBB 'init?) is there anything else worth looking for that could potentialy be a better bet? Transit, traffic, etc?

Never bought a diesel before, (fuel of satan, hate the feking stuff), do they follow the same rules as buying a petrol engine? (rumbling = big end, tapping = valve/timing problems, tapping + smoke = worn valves, etc etc).

blue smoke on startup = bad.

our s reg t4 was £3k empty shell and had 100k on the clock 2-3 years ago so there is stuff out there.

look out for converted panel vans with dodgy shonky seat belt mounts if you intend to carry anyone you like in the back. belts cant mount to the floor or c pillar without serious strengthening to these areas. as panel van upper body was not designed for belts.

ours is a 1.9td its not superfast but its reliable so far. i would prefer a 2.5tdi but then you pay extra on the insurance and road tax.

the new engine one could be OK depending on history – did they do the clutch at the same time? – what other bearings etc have been replaced over time? that engine should last another 200k easy.

I've used a transit at work before and they are a very good van, quite quick!

Parts are cheap and they are very reliable. There is a reason why nearly all the utility companies use them as ther van of choice. We had vauxhall movanos at work for a bit (Crap) now the company has gone back to the good old transit.

If you fancy one of the bigger transit range you might be able to get one of the ex-network rail / jarvis ones at auction for about £4000 – £5000. These are welfare vans so are all ready partially converted, and fully insulated in the back. Im after one of these as soon as I can get rid of my M reg VW LT 35 (the slowest van ever made)!

Transporters look good but you pay a big premium for that VW badge and "surfs up dude" look.

need one miself…
looking at either a Vito or a Vivaro,thw latter get more for yer money,but know nothing about them.

Used to be really cool, then they went out of fashion for a while, but I see the kids wearing the slip on ones again. Checked patterns seem to be all the rage 😀

The Waffle sole is still a classic, but they've gone a little downhill since they started using a harder rubber compound, IMO.

Oh, you means vans, not Vans. Sorry….

😉

Great minds Flash….

on the other hand…

Fools seldom…

😉

Blower – What's your budget? First or second generation vito? 2nd generation ones are rear wheel drive, have an auto style handbrake which some people just can't get used too, rust badly, have lots of electrical problems and imho drive pretty badly. Good points are that bar injectors the engines tend to be fairly bombproof. On vivaros the big problems are gearboxes and clutch (hydraulic cylinders etc not the plates). They drive much more car like, are nicer places to be and you can get a lot for your money. Renault trafic, vauxhall vivaro, nissan primastar are all the same van built with the same bits (bar some minor asthetic ones), engines etc at the Luton vauxhall plant.

Steveh budget of 5 to 6 grand.. was looking at the 2nd generation Vito's i thought it was the 1st that rusted badly?
What would you got for Vivaro or the Vito?

All vitos rust badly, the new ones are no better. It's ever since merc moved to water based paints. Metallic versions are better than others but still pretty poor.

For that money I'd have a mark 2 vivaro (56 plate on) with the newer 2.0 115bhp engine. As I said look at trafics as well (primastars tend to be more expensive for no reason).

To quantify this a little I've owned mark 1&2 vitos, mark 1&2 vivaro/trafics, transporter t5 and some other bigger stuff as well so have real life experience of them all.

was thinking of a vito but not heard good things about them.
friend has got one too and confirms – he hates it
– clutch and rust problems.

vw expensive. all my transits have been very very reliable.

Mk2 vitos were partially galvanised upto 2005. 06 onwards are fully galvanised so have no more rust problems than any other van on the road. Go on merc world forums and ask the question of the owners and see what they say. Go for 06 onwards and you dont have a problem

Cheers for advice steveh kind of swaying towards the vivaro-traffic by the looks of it then..

dont think i could get a Vito 06 onwards for the money ive got..

I'll go with your first comment, Darcy. After all, we know that's the case, don't we? 🙂