[Closed] LWB Van

Not new but I have a relay all be it one that is now 12 years old. Its been reliable. Only issue I've had was some rust on rear sill but its a know fault due to the design, catching mud. New version should be better I guess /would hope.

They're all made in the same factory, same parts and only badges change so I'd just get whichever you can get the best deal on.
Warranty means you're covered for a while so much less to worry about.

I run an Citroën relay L3h2 enterprise version, it's been the best van I've ever had.

I've had sprinters, transits and a master.

We paid about £15k for ours and I've done 70k in 18 months in it. Everything works as it should it's the most economical van I've ever run, averages 30.2 mpg.

I run my vans upto 200k.

I've got a 2007 Ducato X250 3L campervan, clutch just been replaced, last year it was the throtle position sensor, then the spare wheel detached itself from the underside, the year before that it was the DMF, so all in all its costing us a small ****ing fortune! That being said, I love it, its great to drive, not too brutal on the fuel and its great for transporting the bikes about.

Get the one with the tow bar reversing sensor, some car park spaces are shorter than they seem.

then the spare wheel detached itself from the underside

There was a recall on the spare wheel stowage several years ago, so they should have sorted that for free 🙂

we have a Fiat Ducato 61 plate at work, 120hp 6 speed box. Drives well has been abused from day one in an engineering/maintenance department so although it dosnt do many miles its the interior/load area that gets hammered.
Its holding up well.

I have a Transit for the wifes business and its been great but I would have bought Ducato/Relay/Dispatch instead if it was available in the configuration that the Transit was.

Biggest plus point is that they are zinc plated/e coated/galvanised so dont rust like Transits/Spinters and its a Ford transit engine anyway.

There was a recall on the spare wheel stowage several years ago, so they should have sorted that for free

I'd get the Enterprise version or Professional version for Peugeot if I were you and I'd add the cruise control on at the same time as it makes life so much nicer and it's only about £160 iirc.

The Enterprise version gets you air con, heated electric mirrors, and all sorts of other nice goodies.

From a fleet point of view, they're cheap to buy, but dealer support is generally lacking, with parts being relatively expensive and not that available, which if you're relying on the van being back on the road quickly should something go wrong, then they're the wrong van for you.

Pretty much every vehicle has it's issues, it's just that some manufacturers are better at dealing with those issues than others.
Southern European manufacturers can be horrendous for part supply. We used to deal with quite a few citreon dispatchs, and it wasn't unusual for them to sit waiting for weeks for stupid things like door handles.
Lately we've been exposed to Fiats, and again, nobody stocks parts, and we quite often have to wait a few days for what should be readily available parts.

Merc/Ford/Vauxhall/Renault on the other hand actually understand fleet requirements, and know having vehicles sat of the road is a major factor come new fleet purchasing time.

Really? Ford couldn't get hold of a transit connect rear bumper for me, I had to get one myself off the 'net so they could finish the repair.

All manufacturers do get supply issues, it's just some are more in control of it than others.

We rarely have issues with the four I mentioned, but it does still occasionally happen. The other ones it's a regular occurrence.

To put it in context, we have ~50 Fiat vans we maintain, compared to over 1000 sprinter/transit/vivaro mix. Last year the Fiats had more unscheduled time off road waiting for parts or in for warranty work than all the others combined.

I'm bias, but I prefer the pug/citroen engined dispatches than the boxer/relay ford engined vans. If you do go towards the dispatch and your doing big m/way miles the 2.0L 6 speed is a nicer drive. 1.6 is a great engine just a big van with a small engine if your carrying weight or have a heavy right foot

I must be light on the throttle, have a lwb 55 plate relay 5 speed and get around 36mpg! Looks like it'll be another citroen, ducato is 2 grand more.

I have a 10 year old Boxer. I bought it second hand more than a year ago, and it has been absolutely trouble free. It is also very nice to drive.

mc - Member
All manufacturers do get supply issues, it's just some are more in control of it than others.

We rarely have issues with the four I mentioned, but it does still occasionally happen. The other ones it's a regular occurrence.

To put it in context, we have ~50 Fiat vans we maintain, compared to over 1000 sprinter/transit/vivaro mix. Last year the Fiats had more unscheduled time off road waiting for parts or in for warranty work than all the others combined.

slight thread derail - but how do the Sprinters and Transits stack up reliability wise?

Your are quite right, there was a recall for this but, alas it was not accross the board, only vehicles whose VIN number falls within a specific grouping were elligible, mine doesn't. Fiat are not interested.

Ah, fair enough. Vaguely surprised, given that our 2007 3L Ducato was sorted out (only last year, previous owner had never got around to it...) FoC.

The Transits we've had recently have been dreadful, in fact when renting through Northgate, we specify no Transits!

Don't know about the new, new ones tho.

In what way were they dreadful?
Were they leased to you from new, or just some abused hire van?

Transits were leased to us from new, the main issues we had were electrical, with the garages unable to diagnose and repair correctly. We spent days and days off the road for minor problems!

Ah, fair enough. Vaguely surprised, given that our 2007 3L Ducato was sorted out (only last year, previous owner had never got around to it...) FoC.