ok then, 2nd attempt here we go…..

we’ve changed car setups so that we now have two petrols. One’s a tad small, the other can be pretty thirsty if you’re not really gentle with it.

So, the likelihood is that I’ll be changing to something a bit bigger (estate or big hatch) but with a diesel engine to compensate for the that this car will be doing bigger miles than the old one.

This got me thinking that it might be a good time to dabble with getting a bike van on the go. Would be looking at car-derived vans such as Kangoo/Partner/Caddy in order to get the better fuel economy I’m after.

Has anyone here got experience of giving up the car? regrets? any tips? At a mighty 5’9″ tall, would I be able to sleep in the back (in comfort) if at a race or whatever? Really like the idea of just firing the bike in and going, it might even get me out even more often….. on the flip side, i reckon i’d miss haven’t something to give a good thrashing now n again.

All thoughts appreciated!

Cheers,
Mark

You can lie down in a Caddy Maxi no probs can’t remember if it was a maxi life with the seats down or just a maxi I looked at, might be tight sleeping with a DH bike in aswell tho. How much you spending? 1.9TDI would be nice on fuel!

Thought you’d sniff this out right away 😉

Maxi’s are too much, also kinda look like hearses! Lot wanting to spend too much so that i can just get shot of it again if it doesn’t work out.

Caddy’s seem a bit over priced. A 56 1.9 Caddy with 64,000 on the clock is nearly £1k more than a 1.9 Partner with 37,000 on it

It’s ‘cos I stalk ya!

The only other small van I’ve seen is them Ford ones, Transit Connect?? No sure if they had lying down room but seemed plenty of space for a DH bike with the front wheel off. PM Ratty off t’other forum he has one.

A van was not practical for me with having a family and that, so I opted for an MPV, which I beleive gives me the best of both worlds.

In the end I got a Ford S-Max diesel, it has 7 seats so very flexible when you need it to be, drives like a car and is pretty rapid when you hoof it.

With the seats down theres LOADS of room and I have on many occasion gone away for weekends and kipped in the back on a full size airbed. It’s very comfy with enough room to leave the airbed pumped up and get two bikes in the back plus all your gear like tool boxes etc.

Only down side is you can obviously see into the back when you leave it with stuff in it. I’ve got the blacked out privacy glass fitted which helps but it’s not as good as a van in that respect.

There’s only two of us so people carriers aren’t really of any interest, the security of the van would trump it anyway. It would also force me to admit I’m growing up 🙂

Snobbery says I cant get a Connect…… cause my next-door neighbour has a one from his work!

This game’s rubbish. Why does no-one expect for VW do one with over 100hp? Funnily enough 140BHP Caddy’s are even more stupidly priced 🙁

“This game’s rubbish. Why does no-one expect for VW do one with over 100hp? “

Van’s have much higher insurance and are aimed at business use.
Whether you like it or not a people carrier fits your needs.

Or a camper?

I know all of that Iain….. I just want one though 🙂

People carriers dont really fit my needs though, it could work, but no better than a van. E.g. 5-seats to be ejected, I dont have a shed or garage to dump them in. Windows everywhere so that everyone can see the bike(s), or get hold of loads of window covers of course. And most importantly, the inside will still get an absolute pasting from the bikes. A ply-lined van will take bikes with no worries of windows/interior getting stratched to pieces. Car interiors don’t like mud either, be it from the bike or the rider.

The ability to just fling the bikes in and go doesn’t work with a people carrier imo.

You can get sporty VW vans in the T4/5 size.

http://www.singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/transporter-t5-sportline-kombi-owner-reviews

Yup, T4/5 or Vivaro sized van would be nice, but you’re forgetting my original points about trying to get better fuel economy and not wanting to spend a fortune in case I find that vans are actually shit.

My ideal world would have a van for the weekends and car for the rest of the time….. that’s a long way off though!

Old post office combo vans that have 2nd row seats that can be removed easy are a good buy, i have a couple of friends thaat run them and are well pleased,

Do you not fancy an old escort van? I’ve got an ’02 and i love it. Ive had it rammed to the top with bikes and camping gear and its great. It still feels like a car. I don’t think i’ll ever get caught speeding as it won’t!

There are only two of us, we have a Smart Car and T5. This combo works well for us. The van is capable of getting jiggy (220 bhp, 440 nm torque), but its also reasonably economical.. 30-35, for something that is as aerodynamic as an outside toilet. Less if you want to “make progress”

Caravelles/shuttles have better fitted interiors but these dont respond well to bikes.. all you could ever want to know and a load of stuff you wished yu didnt on teh VW T4/T5 forum…

Google is your friend.. http://www.vwt4forum.co.uk/forumdisplay.php?f=147

Fiat Doblo 1.9 multijet 120hp I had one with a remap taking it to 160 , wish i never got rid of now ..

A T4 driven like a girl will get better MPG than your car, you know it makes sense!

vauxhall combo – biggest of the small vans, 1.7cdti is gutsy and can be mapped for more. massively common and cheap, corsa parts.

connect is an odd seating position for some, like driving the kitchen table.

fiat doblo is bit of an unexpected, but quite big, get the 1.9, not the 1.3.

if the sole benefits you’re looking at are being able to carry a bike whole, and having a flat space to lie down in, most large estates will tick all the boxes whilst being cheaper to buy\run and nicer to drive. The only disadvantage would be to sleep in it, you’d need to take the wheels off your bike.

Think mondeo, vectra, passat kinda size (think an octavia might be a little on the small side). I’m 6’3 and have spent several nights asleep in the back of my mondeo – floor is completely flat so other than being a little chilly its no hardship at all

Do you not fancy an old escort van? I’ve got an ’02 and i love it. Ive had it rammed to the top with bikes and camping gear and its great. It still feels like a car. I don’t think i’ll ever get caught speeding as it won’t!

Lolz

Escort vans are truly, truly horrible – and as for feeling like a car, yeah, I stayed in a Travelodge last week – it felt just like the Hilton.

im 6ft 3 and can sleep in a partner – with 3 bikes in it with wheels out

6 bikes with front wheels out or

3 complete bikes + kit

remember lower speed limits on anything bigger/not car derrived

– higher insurance is a downside to all vans though …..

tell me about the insurance situation. How much more expensive? Hadn’t realised that one.

On the other hand, I know tolls can be a pain in the arse

Insurance on my 06 T5 is slightly cheaper than it was on my 04 Golf GT TDi. I get about 45mpg on a run and in general aboot toon travel i get 550 miles to the tank (but that doesn’t help, about a £90 fill). Yeah it cost more to buy but it drives fine. The 50mph limit on A roads helps the economy and in a way sanity.
It cost about £600 to put 2 windows in, insulate, line, carpet and put electrics in. Now have a sleeping platform that is full width and can still get bike and other kit in. Did it myself and i’m no DIY genius.

My Kangoo van has been brilliant. I can sleep in the back no probs but I am the same height as Kylie Minogue, and anyway you can fold the passengar seat down to account for Giants.

Insurance for spinster librarians with 25 years of clean driving was £50 a month (for some reason these kind of vehicles are involved in lots of insurance claims)

Want to buy it ? Going on Ebay very soon reserve price £200 which is what the wreckers would give me. 125k miles, engine in perfect condition, few spots of rust, and there appears to be something wrong with the check engine light, according to the manual and diagnostics at the garage that means check the exhaust, just a fuse I’m sure…

‘vans’ aren’t more expensive to insure than ‘cars’. ‘some vans’ might be more expensive to insure than ‘some cars’ though, and as you can probably tell where i’m going with this, the reverse can also be true.
my pug expert 2.0hdi cost a bit less than my older seat leon 1.9tdi (90) to insure last year.
the expert/scudo/whateverthecitroenscalled >2007 is a good size. i can get a full length ex forces cot bed in the back, and sleep alongside two fully built bikes stood up quite happily. make those DH bikes if you like, no problem.
bit noisy from wind noise on the side doors at motorway speeds though, which might encourage me to get rid of it for a vivaro/traffic in the future. having gone to a van i’m thinking i might just go for a bigger one too.
you’ll want to insulate it if you’re going to sleep in it. sides, doors, floor ( ideally ), and roof. not hard if it’s lined or you buy a pre-cut ply lining kit. couple of hundred quid for one of those.
not so easy to park, and you get excluded from some car parks, bear in mind.
really nice at the end of a ride to just throw the bike in, make a cuppa if you want, get changed and go, easier on your back for sure, you can just sweep it out, bounce up and down kerbs, and just waft about in not much of a hurry.

i do like my van.

Vito Sport Dualiner. All the family go everywhere in it. Can fit 3 bikes in the back, fully built up. Loads more if you take the front wheel off. Comfortable. Never looked back since getting rid of the car

I’ve gone from an Audi A6 to a VW Kombi, although its not a car derived van that you say you are interested in I thought I’d give you my thoughts.

Before I got the van I was a bit concerned that it would feel a bit agricultural compared with the Audi but the VW is a nice place to be, drives well and is quiet on the motorway and at speed. There is obviously a difference between the two vehicles but nowhere as much as I thought there might be. It is stable if its windy but in very high winds you have to be aware when driving on exposed roads and overtaking trucks (might not be an issue with a car derived van). I have the 140bhp version and while its not going to break any land speed records but when its empty or with a secured load, it can be fun to drive on the right roads without collecting bonus points from police officers. It is a 80 litre fuel tank and I can get 650 miles out of a tank, slightly better than my old A6 but with a similar driving style.
I have a few extras on it (upgraded interior, air con, reversing sensors, privacy glass, DAB radio etc) which help make it a nice place to be. I bought in new and I tend to keep it spotless which again, makes it a nice place to be.
I have done a few longish trips in it (300 miles +) and I haven’t been knackered (I had a Vauxhall Astravan a few years ago and after a long drive I would end up being quite tired). Friends and family that would not usually go in a van have been surprised and impressed (or are they just being polite??) with it. It’s great for biking,2 bikes straight in the back, more if you take the wheels out. I haven’t been camping or slept in it yet but it ticks all the boxes with the space it provides. So, no regrets and I don’t feel the need to buy a car to provide thrills or respectability.

You don’t say what your budget is (as my old Astravan wasn’t great compared to the VW) but I hope my observations help in making a decision. If you go for it I reckon you wont regret it.

After a ride today that saw me doing around 33mpg over 150miles, and my freshly cleaned car getting muddied, I’m dangerously close to going looking at a couple of potential buys.

One question though… this’ll be taken over to France every year, does anyone know how the French deal with car derived vans when it comes to tolls?

You can lie down in a Caddy Maxi no probs

or a micra, he’s only little afterall 😉

Mark, learn to explain (in French) it’s not a comercial vehicle and you’ll be fine. I can (get you) help with this if you want.

If you’re looking at vans, why not look at the Vivaro, Trafic, Primastar range, Vauxhall and Reanult have their Sportive/Sport versions on offer at the moment and you can pick one up new for £11k

Comes with everything you’d want in a car, Air con, fog lights, alloys, integrated bluetooth, etc, etc.

I have the bigger Master and regularly get 32-33MPG and I don’t hang around with it. I’d hope to be able to get it changed to a Trafic when it comes to my next van change.

When I take my Master through the French tolls it doesn’t come out much more than my car, but when I take the car and trailer, I do get a crucified.

I reckon the Trafic would be around the 40Mpg mark being driven reasonably steadily. I’d also make sure you note what has been mentioned above about vans having lower limits on A roads and Dual Carriageways!

You lot weren’t kidding about the insurance! 😯 Playing around on moneysupermarket saw me paying nearly £400 more for a 104hp Caddy than for my 145hp Focus!!

bit the bullet…….

lets hope we get along! 🙂

Big estate. Better to drive, much more economical too. 50mpg rather than what, 35 from a van?

Big estate. Better to drive, much more economical too. 50mpg rather than what, 35 from a van?

er the horse may have bolted by now…..

anyway, you’re a fair bit off the mark there. A decent big estate was going to be several thousand more, unless I wanted one with high mileage. Plus you cant just put your stuff straight into the back, there will always be some faff, then there’s the issue of mingin’, soaking stuff/bikes going in the back after a wet ride. Changing in a van is a lot easier than a car too, same with sleeping if you want to use it as a camper now n then.

35mpg might be ball-park for a transit/trafic/transporter, but a van like the Caddy will get far better than that. Hell, the one in the photo only weights about 100kg more than the smaller (petrol) car it replaced.

Yeah it doesn’t drive as well as a car, but it’s by no means bad! Just feels like a slightly softer than usual VW car

/rant