Viewing 28 posts - 1 through 28 (of 28 total)
  • Transit vans – why do they get slated so much on here?
  • ElShalimo
    Full Member

    Genuine question.

    Is it just VW T5 fans?
    Or the usual I drive a ***** so everything else is crap cos it’s not the same

    ***** insert van/car name here

    mikewsmith
    Free Member

    Transporters are smaller so easier to park etc. It also means they are smaller and can’t fit as much stuff etc. Been in both any lack of refinement my old transit had was worth it for the practicality.

    The new transit looks like it hits the same space as the transporter.

    The high powered ones are also there for people who want to think they still drive a hot hatch.

    But in the end it’s a fashion thing. Most people won’t even of driven one.

    Pigface
    Free Member

    New Trannies are fine old ones were a bit agricultural but you could find spares in hedgerows, kitchens, HMV etc etc

    My one gripe was that they were so long legged would do warp speed when wound up but took ages to wind them up.

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    sharkattack
    Full Member

    Transits are functional but not desirable. (historically speaking)

    They’re quite nice these days but it’s taken them a bloody long time to make a nice van when the Germans have been delivering the goods for years.

    I’ve had Transits and they were dogs. Painfully slow, very noise, rusty, abused and disposable. Perfectly acceptable as a van but given that most T5 or Vito drivers have a van instead of a car they’re not really interchangeable.

    The recent models look great and are very well equipped at much better prices than the Merc’s and VW’s but the latest model has a very confused look on its face.

    ElShalimo
    Full Member

    Pigface – When you say new do you mean the 2006/7 face lift ones or the very latest model?

    Pigface
    Free Member

    Latest are quite nice places to be, the face lift was just that really not a lot of difference.

    Edukator
    Free Member

    I’ve had Transits and they were dogs. Painfully slow, very noise, rusty, abused and disposable.

    Exactly like all the T4s I’ve ever driven then.

    olddog
    Full Member

    I’m not sure that transits gets that much of a slagging on here – more that VWs get a disproportionate amount of love – not surprising as they are the base vehicle for the enthusiast.

    I prefer to go more stealthily with my van – an old white Trafic – rather than something done up which could advertise the value of the contents – more than a few £000s of bikes plus surfboards etc. That said, my next door neighbour has just got a beauty Vito crew cab – nice dark blue, alloys etc.

    In terms of parking – a transit size van has a similar footprint to a big 4×4 and I can park mine in most normal spaces. And vans tend to be parked much more tidily than the big 4x4s – but I’ll save that rant for another thread.

    sharkattack
    Full Member

    Exactly like all the T4s I’ve ever driven then.

    Never driven a T4

    I’m not sure that transits gets that much of a slagging on here

    I’ve never noticed it either.

    VWs get a disproportionate amount of love

    For every VW fanboy there’s a line of people queueing up to tell you how crap they are so it averages out.

    z1ppy
    Full Member

    Two friends of mine..cousins/builders who work together, bought a Transit and Vivaro around the same time. The transit has simply had more issues in the same time as the Vivaro & was more expensive initially, doubt Jim (transit owner) will be buying another.

    RustySpanner
    Full Member

    Never noticed it either.

    20 kids travelling to France in the back of a LWB Transit was fun, and they were cheap if you got a shonker.
    Always treated Transits as disposable, like lighters and old FIAT’s.
    So I like old Transits.

    VW’s are lovely, but I don’t really get it apart from the T2.

    wrightyson
    Free Member

    Currently sat in my 120 (?) brake tranny. 12 plate trend model. Everything but air con. Plenty quick enough. Nice and comfy itd done 13k when I got it, and was 18 months old. All that for 11k. That’s where they make huge sense!

    munrobiker
    Free Member

    As someone that has driven a lot of different makes and types of vans regularly but not owned one I’d struggle to spend money on a Transit. They are acceptable, but not much more- comfort is meh, drive is meh, size is meh.

    They are by no means a bad van like a Peugeot or a Vito, but they aren’t world beaters. If it were my own money it’d be a Vivaro if I needed a small van, Crafter for a big one. If it were someone else’s it’d be a Transporter with a decent engine.

    murf
    Free Member

    I had a work transit from brand new up till 105k, 2008 till April 2013. Was great and the only thing that went wrong was a gear linkage replaced under warranty.
    The transporters we had at the same time were in and out of the garage constantly.
    I got a brand new transit last April and it was very sophisticated compared to my previous one. I only had it a couple of months before I changed jobs so I can’t comment on its longevity.

    Hopk1ns
    Free Member

    Had a 06 SWB transit for 6 years now. Its on 145K and all i have had to replace is the alternator.

    Had good service record when bought, service it every year and just keeps going. Infact just passed its MOT again this week with no advisories.

    Self convert into camper with enough room for two bikes across the back (wider than vw) Got 6 foot double bed, cooker & sink.

    The only negative for transits is the rust. I spend a couple of days anually just treating & touching it up and thats enough for it to still look great. Used as my everyday vehicle and love it. Don’t quite understand the VW camper thing, they look nice but not really bothered about that. From what i can see they are just too small inside to do what i want. Can’t see the point in a campervan if you have a bike rack on the back. But thats just my opinion.

    As with most vans, check the service record.

    mikey-simmo
    Free Member

    I’ve seen few transits i would like to own. Visually I can’t get builders vans or scrap collectors out of my head when I see them. If you were buying one with your own money I want to look out and see something I like on the drive. Not gypsies.
    Vw made a van car like first. The t4 is no better no drive than a transit. It’s no way as refined as a t5 but it lacks the poor image transits gained . Ours us a 2000 1.9td model and not a spot of rust on the bodywork anywhere. There isn’t a spot of power under the bonnet mind but I’ve far more affection for those like it than even a pimped transit of similar age.

    chriswilk
    Free Member

    I went for a trafic/vivaro as they are transit like in size and price, but a little more refined, more reliable and less rusty. And it’s not so easy to find crew cab transits.

    twinw4ll
    Free Member

    I loved my tranny, 100% reliable in 5 years, watched it rust away before my very eyes. 😐

    ryan91
    Free Member

    I had to fit a site-light on my friend’s 08 transit in 2012, what a rusty old heap that’ll be in 2015. Rust spots popping up all over the roof, and they go on the arches and sills so pretty poor in this day and age. My dad’s 2004 Caravelle however is rust-free, and my Fiat Doblo on a 10 plate (same age as friend’s transit was) is rust free as well. Doblo FTW 😀

    ElShalimo
    Full Member

    Hopk1ns – Member 

    got any photos of your camper conversion?
    We’re thinking of converting one

    PePPeR
    Full Member

    We run Transits and Vivaros on our fleet, the Transits are broken far more often and more expensively than the Vivaros.

    RustyNissanPrairie
    Full Member

    Needed a van for business/leisure last year, all vans/diesels have issues nowadays so went with a Transit as good value 2nd hand. Been great so far despite the head buying it and not the heart.

    globalti
    Free Member

    One of my first ever student jobs was driving one of these:

    Last night I borrowed one of these from work – it goes like poop through a goose and is massive inside:

    ElShalimo
    Full Member

    Not much rust on that for a 2007 model
    😉

    superdan
    Full Member

    I had a 02 Transit cheapish second hand from 2008ish for 4 years, bought it with 125k on the clock, sold it with 240k on the clock. It had a couple of issues like the big octopus coolant pipe dieing with a leak about once a year, but the rust was depressing, it rottted.
    Eventually flogged it with a suspected failing head gasket and bought a 56 plate Trafic for similar money (4k ish). Electric windows, aircon (especially for driving to the Alps in the summertime). Its great, I reckon its about 6 inches smaller width, height and length wise which makes parking and country lanes easier, but still seems bigger inside than the T5s I’ve gotten changed in the back of. Does 38mpg, 6 speed box makes it much quieter on the motorway. If it dies I’ll be tempted to buy another, but at the moment I’m struggling to work out if it’s worth it, it has no rust on it at all, so in theory if I replace suspension and the engine when they get worn it will run forever?

    Both of these vans are/where white, which I can see looking a bit chavvy if that is something you get worked up about (it has looked a big Big Fat Gypsy Wedding turning up at friends weddings with it when we have bikes and surfboards with us), but there are two big upsides: totally invisible to traffic wardens once you have engaged the cloaking device/hazard lights and white vans stay cooler in the sun, so I can leave food and things in the back in a race field and not have then cook themselves.

    ElShalimo
    Full Member

    So it would appear that if you can get a low mileage example with decent metallic paintwork and no rust, then it’d be a fairly safe bet if you keep an eye on the dreaded rust

    RustyNissanPrairie
    Full Member

    Mines fairly rust free on a 07plate, underneath is fine even round the rear crossmember area, had a few stone chips that were going rusty above the cab but have ground them out and repainted the whole panel.

    will be waxoyl/dinitrol ing it this summer.

    Take a look Citroen/Pug/Fiat ducato/relay/dispatch’s , galvanised bodies-we have a works van -dented down to bare metal but no rust on the exposed metal, will probably need more mechanical bits than a transit but will be easier on bodywork.

    jamesstevensy
    Free Member

    I have a lwb 07 transit. It’s my motor. Fwd with 130 gee gees, so it provokes the traction control quite a lot in the wet.

    It’s a working van for me but obviously is brilliant for bike transport etc.
    Mechanically it’s pretty good but the rust is starting to show now. Probably be changing in the new year to another transit.

    Love the vw/mmerc van but they are pricey and the big ones are really juicey. The French and hap vans aren’t big enough for me at work so never really considered one.

Viewing 28 posts - 1 through 28 (of 28 total)

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