Forum search & shortcuts

[Closed] Can a van replace a car ?

roverpig · 2017-04-25T09:10:40Z

A bit of idle speculation for a wintery Tuesday. We always said that when the kids left home we'd get a campervan and go exploring Scotland (and further afield). We've not reached that point yet, but we have reached the point where they'd rather go on holiday with their friends and the family car is at the point where we either need to spend some cash to keep it running for a few more years (new clutch etc) or buy something newer. So, I've found myself wondering whether we could replace the car with a van now. But it would have to serve as commuter, family car and regular biking vehicle as well as the occasional adventure. Commuting is around 60 miles a day, mostly on the A96. Originally I thought this would rule a van out straight away. Surely a car is a better choice as a commuter. But then I thought "isn't this sort of mileage exactly what a commercial vehicle is designed for?". I'm no boy racer, but getting stuck behind slow moving traffic on Scottish roads because I don't have the power to overtake would get old pretty soon. Again, I originally thought this made a van a non-starter. But I was following a VW Torbay Transporter (whatever that is) down the A96 this morning and he wasn't hanging about, which is basically what prompted this thread. Converted or not? I like the idea of a "project", but if I'm honest time is the one thing I don't have and anyway there are a ton of jobs around the house and garden that I really should do (but usually just go for a bike ride instead!). The ability for two of us to sleep in it would be useful, but I suspect that we are just as likely to park it somewhere, hike to somewhere nice and wild camp. So, I'm thinking something more suited for adventures than camping, but I'm not really sure what that means. Either way, it's mostly just going to be me and my (large fat) bike on a couple of rides a week (up to an hour or so from home). The idea of chucking the bike in the van, having somewhere to change out of my muddy wet gear into dry clothes and maybe even having a brew sounds fantastic. But maybe that's just a fantasy. It would need to take a family of four, plus all our gear and the dog the length of the country a few times a year, so long distance comfort is important. My only experience of vans was renting a Transit back in 2000 to haul some stuff from Cornwall up to Aberdeen. From what I remember it was hardly luxurious and quite noisy at speed. Fuel economy? Can you park them in car parks? Apologies for the rambling, but I'd welcome any thoughts.

Page 2 / 2 Prev

RustyNissanPrairie

Posts: 6653

Full Member

I'm going to buck the STW trend here.....I'm done with vans.
Ran a LWB MK7 Transit privately for 4 years, great for throwing some foam in the back and sleeping in on bike roadtrips but the negatives far outweighed it.

Car park barriers are an occasional nuseance
Can't get into the council tip without a once a month permit,
Never ending battle with rust
Crime-broken into and an attempted theft whereas same address never had bother with any of our cars
Unreliable and expensive fuel/modern diesel systems (no petrol alternatives)
Absolute shite engineering/design (probably more applicable to Ford though rather than just being a van)
Excruciating uncomfortable (I'm 6'6") and never found a seating position that didn't give me major shoulder /lower neck pain.
Very limited insurance options unless camper converted.
Rubbish in winter - rear wheel drive, also salted roads=even more rust.

Have ditched the van and pinched our aged Volvo V70 back from the Mrs and I'm far happier.

Posted : 25/04/2017 11:13 pm

Page 2 / 2 Prev