As Some of you may remember a short while ago, I had an issue with my Vivaro,
The Timing Belt went and took much of the engine with it,
Some recommendations to by a cheap estate, vans, repair the engine or replace the engine,

I decided to scrap the Vivaro in the end as I didn’t feel all that comfortable putting more money into it.

A month or so on I’ve been getting by using my battered old Yaris but its not ideal for business (Handyman),
Do I have regrets about not keeping faith into the Vivaro?
Yes, I miss having a van and it would have been a quick and cheaper fix however No because as said I lost faith.

With money now available and recommendations from the garage that a Transit/connect is my best bet,
I’ve been scanning bay/tree/trader for that perfect buy within my budget.

I’ve been sold on a LWB Connect, the SWB would be too small and the normal Transit insurance goes through the financial roof.

Problem is finding one!
Without traveling over 200 miles it seems as though anything worth parting my money with is too far!

Did find one last week but before I could get out of work it had gone!

My question;
Is there another Van I’d be worth considering?

A couple of 2007 mk2 Citreon Dispatches/Fiat Scudos have come up but my garage has told me to avoid at all costs as will be money pits.

They seem to be the only viable alternative.

Vivaros? I’m kind of put off them now.

Transits? as said Insurance becomes unreasonable.

Trail_rat and other mechanics/van drivers…..

I’ve just recently bought a transit connect. 2007, LWB, silver, FSH, 98k, new conti tyres and excellent condition. Cost – £2100. I’ve spent £400 on cambelt change and a full service. Now good to go.

Like you I looked at lots of different vans, but always ended up coming back to the connect. Its the best small van around this price range.

I spent about a month searching. As you’ve probably realised there’s hundreds out there and most are ropey. My advice….

Dont buy from a dealer – at this age and price point buy private. If its been traded in there’s probably something wrong or waiting to go wrong, and was evident the ones I seen. A private sale is more likely to be a simple upgrade to bigger van etc.

Try Facebook – I found mine on there. Just type ‘transit connect for sale’ at the top, search via ‘Latest’ and look from there. If the person who posted set it to publich you’ll see it.

Drive swb transit connect for work. We fit a huge amount of gear in them. Tools ladders stuff. All ours are due to be replaced as nearly 3 years old. It’s been ok as a works van and I’ve thrashed it. Bonnet opener is pathetic and seats not that comfy but ok mainly.

Transit connects of the age you’ll be looking at are very reliable engine wise but check very carefully for rust underneath as corrosion issues with regard to the mot are generally what kills them off, MK3 caddy’s are quite reliable and don’t seem to suffer from rust to the extent of the connects.

Sign up to the UK user forums for the vehicles you are looking for as you are more likely to find one that has been well cared for.

Also make sure they’re not speed limited. Relative of mine bought one and found out after buying that it was limited to 56mph and wasn’t a cheap fix to have the limiter removed.

Personally I thought it was a bloody uncomfortable thing and preferred my Astravan any day of the week but realise a ‘DisAstra’ is a fair bit smaller..

I’ve got an early mk. 2 Peugeot Expert. It’s OK, I’ve had a few fairly pricey issues with it, (power steering rack leak was the largest and a few hundred quid) and the usual wear and tear items. Here’s what I know.

The smallest, (L1 H1, 1000kg payload) has drum brakes on the rear. They are shit, noisy, scrapy things with a penchant for seizing the handbrake on, possibly as I don’t carry much weight so they don’t get the hammer that drums need.

That knocking from the front when you test drive it. They all do that, it’s the anti-roll bar bushes. You can get the whole bar replaced, or buy a DIY bushing kit, but it’s a bitch to get at to replace, and involves hack-sawing the old bush housings off as they are welded together.

It’s got that 1.6HDi engine that lunches the turbo if the oil isn’t looked after, (as does the connect) but also it has a 20,000 mile oil service interval as it has a 5 litre sump. Make sure the annual service history is right, and consider getting the sump removed and the pick-up pipe and oil lines cleaned when you buy it. I service every 10,000 and run a bottle of oil cleaner through every time.

Make sure you don’t go for 6th gear when coming from a 6 speed car. The gearbox doesn’t like that. 👿 🙄 Not entirely the van’s fault, but the selector design is poor as it doesn’t have a dog-leg or pull up collar to stop it.

I might consider a newer one at some point, but would be wary.

Have you thought about a Toyota Hiace?

Second the hiace.

Wouldn’t touch a transit of any size. They rot for fun even when looked after.

Have you thought about a smaller van and trailer or a roof rack for the bigger stuff ?

We’ve got a 2008 Dispatch (Combi) currently at 89,000. I wouldn’t say it is a money pit, but has had a few more niggles than the Mk1 Scudo it replaced. 1.6HDI is nice enough to drive but only 90HP so very slow.

As above – oil cleanliness / leaking injector seals (ignoring leads to turbo failure) and knocking ARB bushes are the issues. The actual play in the bush (that you hear as a knock) is tiny. I drilled off the head of the captive ARB saddle nuts which then allowed the saddle clamps to be split – cleaned the original bushes then added a bit of shim between clamp and rubber to preload them slightly – has been good for 3 years since with no wear, play or knocking and now easy to strip and rebuild if ever needed (I did have one of the aftermarket saddle kits but bushes looked poor quality and a pig to fit so decided to stick with original parts). Electric window sheared motor drive and switch has needed stripping / cleaning a couple of times.

The last of the facelifted old shape (2006?) Scudo / Dispatch / Expert was very well sorted and can be found pretty cheap. Don’t get a non-turbo as they are noisy and slow.

Second the mk1/mk2 skudo/dispatch/expert.

Dad’s mk3 was shocking though.owned from new wanted for nothing. Had 60k on the clock and the entire front end suspension system was shot to shit.

Traded in at 2 year old for a Nissan nv400

Just to clarify the mk2 dispatch/expert/scudo
Is this one ???

I’m really put off by the French vehicles, am i wrong in thinking parts are generally more expensive?

Can’t see your photo.

But parts being more expensive is a load of tosh.

Just bought an iveco. Now that’s expensive parts.

50 quid for a thermostat. And 140 quid for a waterpump.

My old Peugeot was a 10er and ,45 quid.

For some reason I can’t post link to image?!
http://www.vansa2z.com/images/stories/Van_Pictures/560x315Format/Fiat/scudo-2010-bg1.jpg

I hear that the 1.6l engine is as with many vehicles a false economy and often better to get the larger ltr engine, in this case the 2ltr,
My work means the van would be short urban journeys throughout the day,
I figure the 1.6l would still be a better option for me?

There appears to be no big differences between the fiat, Citroen and Peugeot..oh and Toyota Proace other than small feature changes?

The 1.6 is sensitive to maintainance and driving style

If your just bumbling around town and not needing to race about I’d buy the 1.9d in any of the vans you describe.

It will not set the world alight a week in the jail is faster but it is a bombproof engine that won’t suffer badly being use for short journeys round town

Failing that a 2.0hdi would be a fine balance.

I don’t know anything about Scudo’s etc but just want to echo what has been said about the Fords, they rot like mad.

I’ve seen 11 plate Transits with surface rust on Chassis legs.

2.0litre has the 6 speed gearbox, 1.6 is 5. The Citroen/Peugeot/Fiat/Toyota is basically the same van, but I think there are some specification differences, the Citroen tends to have AirCon, the Peugeots don’t. I should have waited for a 2.0litre to turn up in hindsight, but they are rarer, presumably most companies just go for the cheaper, smaller engine. No diesels like loads of short journeys.

Or get a Vivaro from 2006 onwards with the 2.0 dci Nissan engine 🙂

No cam belt to go wrong then.

Hyundai iLoad? (I’ve not checked if they are within your budget)

I’ve got an 09 Expert with the 2.0 HDI L1H1, it’s got the front end knock, like they all do but other than that it’s hardly been a money pit. In 89,000m its only parts have been a driveshaft, the window motor as mentioned above and a couple of bulbs and tyres.

Some days the electrics are a bit French, but it keeps running nicely with only an annual trip to the garage for oil and filters.

Or get a Vivaro from 2006 onwards with the 2.0 dci Nissan engine

No cam belt to go wrong then.

The timing chains on these can strip / snap.

Mine had a recon engine because it stripped on the previous owner. Vauxhall reckon the chains never need replacing but the guy I bought mine off is seeing an average of 2 a week snapped. He reckons to change them at 100k as its not expensive to do.

Some days the electrics are a bit French

Headlights randomly turn on, particularly on hot days?

Timing chains were the tits when Cara did 100k and disposed of.

These days I’d rather a nice cheap easy to access belt.

Just to confirm this is the mk2???

No, that’s the mk3, the 2004 face lift is mk2 and far more refined drive than the mk1

For what its worth, id go berlingo B9 1.6Hdi over any transit connect or connect sized van

http://vans.honestjohn.co.uk/van-reviews/citroen/berlingo-2008/

Ah right, I thought that tacopowell’s picture was a mk2 also. Anything I’ve contributed to this thread relates to the mk3 then. That’s what I’ve got, (although that one just there must be an old photo – there’s no 10 year old vans that look like that ever! 🙂 )

So what’s People’s take on the mk3?!

See my post. mine’s a MK3. S’alright, not exiting, better than the connect I had once, not as good as the T5 I sold but a hell of a lot cheaper. if it went bang, not sure what I’d buy other than a replacement of the same.

not sure what I’d buy other than a replacement of the same.

I quite fancy the new version of the Connect, a long wheelbase one, but that’s way out of the OP’s price range.

Just got rid of my 64 plate 2.0 dispatch as it was a complete bag of shite. Electrical faults, knocking noises, clutch failure (28k miles) radio faults, annoying self locking doors, need to run engine to listen to radio. Got a new connect LWB instead.

After reading many drivers/owners reviews I’ve come no closer to making a decision,
The Citreon/Peugeot/Fiat Vans are look a mess.

What if I increased my budget?

What Van could I get with £7k? I’m able to take finance out to help invest foir the correct vehicle

Transporters start to show up but with high mileage, 130k+
Any good or just a status?

The Nissan NV200 looks good, spacious and perfect for my urban driving,

I’d love to stretch to £10k for a Transit Custom, they appear to be perfect for my needs.

Plenty of 5 year old ex British Gas Caddy Maxis for under 7K. Air con but all with 1.6 motor and roughly 80K miles. For the money though I am thinking a 2 year younger vivaro is still the more practical and better value choice. Any T5 you can buy for 7K will be either starship miles or ropey in some other (undisclosed) way

Nissan NV200’s require cambelt changes at very early intervals – 60k or every 5 years. So check for, or budget/haggle on this if you choose one.

What Van could I get with £7k? I’m able to take finance out to help invest foir the correct vehicle

A Toyota Hiace, as recommended near the top of the page. 🙄

Plenty of 5 year old ex British Gas Caddy Maxis for under 7K. Air con but all with 1.6 motor and roughly 80K miles. For the money though I am thinking a 2 year younger vivaro is still the more practical and better value choice. Any T5 you can buy for 7K will be either starship miles or ropey in some other (undisclosed) way

Yup, I quite like the Caddy but the load height is a tad little short for my needs and they don’t do a high top version 😐

I’m really put of the vivaro/trafic vans, I’ve read the newer 2014 models are vastly improved but just outside my budget,
That said, What I can get for the money on the mk1 model is pretty good,
I just can’t trust it’ll be reliable for me.

Yeah, I’m thinking the Transporter is vastly over valued.

Nissan NV200’s require cambelt changes at very early intervals – 60k or every 5 years. So check for, or budget/haggle on this if you choose one.

Not ideal but the cost of a kit is no more expensive than other vans.
Has highlighted that its essentially a Renault engine despite Nissan moving away from the Renault alliance. 😕 😐

I was talking to a very knowledgeable mate about vans (hence advice above). Asked about differences between Nissan, Renault and Vauxhall versions of same vans. Apparently not a lot EXCEPT they all use different proprietary software for their engine management systems. He reckons it is far far easier to find someone with the diagnostics (and knowledge of how to use it) for VX and RN than for Nissan.

A Toyota Hiace, as recommended near the top of the page.

Just reading some reviews, Does appear to be highly renowned.
Ugly as hell van but if my 04 Yaris (which I’m currently using) is anything to go by, Toyota are pretty reliable.

Ugly as hell

It’s a van. It’s not meant to look pretty. 🙂

My HiAce is great, got it at twelve years old with 160k miles on the clock, it’s been solid for over a year so far and has taken me all over the country. It starts in the cold, does motorway speeds very happily, and shows no real signs of rust or anything (it’s an old crew cab builders’ van so a few of the corners have been dinged and it’s pretty scruffy, but otherwise solid). It did need a new radiator and some electrics work when I bought it, but the garage I got it from sorted that free of charge, and the brake pipes needed replacing at the last MOT, but I think that sort of thing is pretty standard for an old van really. Obviously check service history for timing belt replacement and whatnot.

I do have one top tip, though: don’t ever drive one into a muddy field. The HiAce is not an off-road vehicle…

rear wheel drive as standard? Hows it handle in bad weather?

rear wheel drive as standard? Hows it handle in bad weather?

Yep, apart from some 4wd variants, I think. Fine in the wet (it was absolutely peeing it down on the motorway last week and was just great), but I wouldn’t take it out round our way in the snow unless I absolutely had to, so possibly not great if you have it as your only vehicle and live somewhere hilly or snow-prone.

(And now I’m googling 4wd HiAces, but they all seem to be people carrier versions not proper vans, ho hum.)

Talking Toyotas, I used to run a crew cab Dyna in Oz, and had a fibreglass canopy on the back which had enough room for a motorbike.

I ran it with wide wheels and tyres, and it was an absolute hoot on roundabouts, dead easy to set up in a 4 wheel drift and control. Never seen one here, but I’d like another.