Iveco Daily any good?

Can't comment on the specific model but we had a fleet of Iveco vehicles and they were awful. Terrible to drive, fell to bits, always broke down. Cheap tat.

I loiter on another internet forum that concerns itself with such things and my recollection is they are not well regarded.

I've had a LWB one since early 2017, had it converted to a camper the same year. There are good and bad things about the driving, a bit more truck-like than my previous van (a Fiat Ducato), but much better ground clearance, and, being RWD, a much better turning circle. (Being 7m long, this is a good thing!). As a camper, it's been good, good headroom etc. On the whole, I'm happy driving it, 6sp manual gearbox. The camper conversion added a lot of weight (about 750Kg!), so the fuel consumption fell from 34-35mpg as a van to about 30 on a long run, about 28 on country lanes, hilly areas.

Reliability, not so great. The older Iveco Dailys  were known for very high mileages, but I've has two 'breakdowns', i.e. faults that immobilized it. One was an ECU brainfart, caused, we were told by the dealer, by the trailer electrics. There was no trailer attached, but this somehow caused the whole thing to throw its hands in the air and give up! (at 2.30 a.m. of course). The other was an oil cooler leak, which, being water cooled, sent oil through the coolant system. I've also had to change the EGRvalve, as the cooler developed a leak.

My neighbour has the Renault version which he really likes, how similar are they?

Same van Badge engineer . 

I had a 2005 daily LWB - it was good , very truck like , easy to work on was reliable. Rust got it after 20 years. I've changed it for an NV400 which shares the Movano/Master linage.

Its a nicer van to drive but how much of that is down to it being 12 years newer (although 40k miles more on the clock) - Seats comfier , parts easier to get. 

I did prefer the RWD of the Iveco for the aforementioned tight turning circle and the higher ground clearance. - but beggars can be choosers. 

both the daily and the nv400 are evidently cheaply built. - but the nv400 i have the original 2016 receipt for at 14k OTR - even then that was cheap. 

My daily was a camper and was lucky to get 20 mpg in stop start - heavy olde beast. 28mpg on a run at 55mph 

The nv400 is empty and returns 34mpg on the same trips i was getting 20mpg in the Iveco. - even on a run up from arnac pompadour FULLY loaded sat on its stops it still returned 28mpg over 1200 miles at 55mph. 

In the process of converting the NV400 right now - Insulated it , added captains chairs and a pair of transit tourneo seats in the back - kitchen going down the sliding door side - Eventually likely some form of lifting slide out bed system right at the back but for now - day van / camping and bikes/paddleboard wagon. 

a much better turning circle

My XLWB Ducato has a Better turning circle than my old T5 LWB.

I had an Iveco Daily for work. The cab feels very cramped compared to the Ducato. It gets abused and seems to be holding up on after five years of use. Certainly looks in better shape than the Sprinter we had before (rust and easily dented bodywork).

It's very narrow compared to a Ducato/Replay. 

I've a 1.90m bed across the back of my Ducato which is fine for me at 1.77m. Bed would have to be length ways in an Iveco. 

The Lost capacity of the Iveco isn't that much compared to other vans,I think due to the chassis on frame design and the RWD gubbins.

My fully laden H3 Ducato gas averaged 9.5/100km (~310mpg) over thee last 25,000km.

Drove through France from Calais down to the border of Piemonte/Liguria, taking it easy and not really taking it over 50mph and it averaged 8.6l/100km (~33mpg).

something else i forgot yesterday - i liked the Iveco because its wheelbase for a given length was short - so i could stick it in a regular parking spot up to the kerb and it wouldn't stick out into the road . - the over hang could sit on grass etc. 

With the L3 nv400-movano-master . they pull the wheels apart so it doesn't fit in spaces the same - Ive got an L2 and it just fits in a space. 

Flip side is - my tow bar could scrape the ground on steep slopes due to the overhang - swings and round abouts. 

also - rust on the dailys - under the washer bottle , under the battery tray , the outriggers/Bumper brackets and rear arches 

I wouldn't start with a welfare van. 

The milage might be low but the engine usage will be waaaay higher than the milage suggests.

The milage might be low but the engine usage will be waaaay higher than the milage suggests.

😆 massively accurate. 

Its basically been sitting at idle since 2017.

(sorry, long post but I've owned Ivecos for years)

I converted a 2005 Daily (camper) which I owned for about 12 years, then replaced it with a early 2014 (just before the facelift) that I converted and still own 10 years on.  I've also always driven vans fitted out as mobile workshops throughout my career for the last 23 years, Transits, Ducatos, Movano's, Vivaro's and some smaller vans, and for the last 18 months I've been driving a 2024 Iveco Daily Hi-matic Auto for work.  The only notable vans I've not driven much are Sprinters and VW.

Likes: Ladder chassis (loads of space for underslung tanks), tight steering lock and rear axle quite forward for great turning circle and full width bike space if you have a rear garage as the wheel arches are not right at the back, strong reliable engines.  3.5t tow capacity on most models.

Dislikes:  Doesn't have car like handling like the other vans, however its still pleasant enough.  Electrics are not particularly unreliable but when they do go wrong it can be a bit more frustrating as generic code readers don't generally work, you need Iveco Easy or a specific tester and it has a round ECU socket.  The towbar prep/ECU filling with water is a common well known issue so an easy fix once identified, however not all vans have the ECU, my 2014 just had a standard 'dumb' loom connector.  

Reputations I don't fully agree with: Terrible to drive - see above.  Fragile trim - perhaps for scaffolders and builders using pool vans, but as a private/owned vehicle they are no worse than other vans.  I don't think I've broken anything.  Breakdowns - In 18 years I've only had one breakdown, fixed by roadside assistance and had to replace the low pressure fuel pump afterwards (cheap to replace, push fit connections).  Other warning lamp/fix at leisure items have been a wheel speed sensor, a leaky rad, tailpipe rusted through, and a set of glowplugs.  One clutch in the first van, but it had a hard first three years as a delivery van and then I put it to work towing heavy horseboxes.  I've done all the maintenance on both vans using a trolleyjack and axle stands, barring the clutch.  2014 van needed some warranty work on the instrument panel under warranty but the same issue affects Ducato, and its just dry solder joints so several online places will fix it by post.  Sliding doors can be time consuming to adjust for a good seal (and if you fit a new flat window in the door, shim it so it doesn't distort the top of the door out when clamp/glue it in.

Vauxhall Movano - shares cab and instrument clusters and some bits of trim, but the engine is transverse, front wheel drive and it has a monocoque body rather than ladder chassis, so much more vulnerable to terminal rust and definitely not just a different badge and headlight style.  Iveco body is not structural except near the body mounts so rust is not much of a concern.  We did have a big order of Movano's one year at work, the combination of LWB and horrendous turning circle resulted in most of them ending up looking really tatty and knocked about as they couldn't fit into a lot of places and they would end up getting wedged in!  The Renault Mascot is pretty much the same as the Iveco (badge engineering) but they are pretty rare in the UK.

Cramped cab...I think its nicer than Ducato, especially with the silly narrow front windows you get with Ducato.  The only cramped bit is if you stick your knee in front of the gear stick dash trim but if you lower the seat a bit I don't find it a problem.  If you are taking the bulkhead out for the conversion the seat goes further back anyway.

It's narrow compared to a Ducato/Relay, not too much at low level but agreed higher up, however I cut out some anti-drumming ribs and used thinner insulation and have a sideways bed with 3/4 bike spaces underneath (front wheel off).  The mattress base is 182cm/6' long and with the mattress added (walls lean in a bit) the bed is a shade over 5'10".  I'm 5'11" and just sleep slightly diagonally, Can share pics of how I did it in a 3300mm w/b van.

Idling time for a welfare van...as its from a truck manufacturer, there is an engine hours counter on the instrument panel, so if you are serious about the welfare van I'll go and check my engine hours vs total mileage so you can work out if its spent lots of time at idle.  My normal workshop van spends a lot of time idling, sometimes a full night shift at idle if we are working at the back of the van and have lots of lights, tools, diesel heater and tea boiler going, so I wouldn't pass on a welfare van...it could equally be parked up and plugged into a site power supply or just used as crew transport with the odd lunch break. Bit like avoiding a car with a towball as it must have towed caravans, when all its done is lug a couple of bikes around on a bike rack!

Finally, Manual box is great, especially 6spd.  <2014 Agile Auto is a jerky, fault prone robotic manual and not well liked, 2015> Hi-Matic 8spd Auto (BMW torque converter type) is great...except trying to get off muddy fields/snow when it can be hard to pull away without spinning the wheels.