Show me your bike vans

After MrsJ said today "just buy a **** van" i think i have the ok 😉

What van have you got?
what have you done inside to improve it?
how many miles?
Problems?
cost?
Running costs?
recommended?

comboooooo

big transit
nice and empty
fits loads of bikes in it
and a nice big airbed when i want to sleep in it.
and cos it is empty it dont matter if the bikes a filthy.

Loads of folk will say t4's but try looking at the traffics for a cheaper more reliable option.

Medium transit double cab van mmmmmmmm
super comfy for long drives for the family ALL the toys for long summer holiday

No, no, no, no, no! Please stop this thread now!

I've recently found myself looking at modern VeeDub vans with a lustful eye. Please stop.

PICS ARE NEEDED

VW T5. Happy days!

Sadly, mine isn't the white one.

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Beware leaky side windows on t5s

PICS ARE NEEDED

🙂

only have £4k 🙁

We bought a 2005 1.3cdti combo with 50k miles about 3 mts ago for 2.5k, just for mtb duties. Have not looked back since.
Fits our bikes in + spares and camping equipment + much more secure when you call in pub after ride.
Recently put £47 in to fill her up and got 540 miles which is better than the 250 miles my Audi does for £50.
My GF loves the drive as it feels like a go cart.

Once you get a van you'll wonder how you got on before.

And I'm a car crossing the Severn:-)
but a van at a French peage 🙁

VW vans are massively overvalued, imho. That's not knocking them, we have had couple of VAG cars in the house for 7yrs. Thing is, you could get a Vito of equivalent miles and age for half the price. Transits are cheaper still.

Here we go again….

Vans of choice are:
T3
T4
Hiace lwb
Transit
Vito
Traffic/primastar

in that order – all diesel btw

You can get quite a lot in a berlingo, 5 bikes in here.

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In my t5 i have taken the single rear seat out and strap the bike to the side of the double, 2 will fit there.

With all the seats in 6 blokes 6 bikes can be done.

Toyota Hiace – like a vee dub but without the costs or breakdowns, sold it at 200,000 miles with no major parts replaced, just tyres, pads, exhaust and some bushings

not sure why I got rid of mine
LWB allowed for bikes, cook kit, luggage and sleeping space, just ply lined mine as had a variety of things to shift around and kitting it specifically for one would make it useless for t'other

Not exactly a van but it holds 5 bikes with wheels on and 4 people (legally)!

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Any Hiace owners out there?

Vans of choice are:
T3
T4
Hiace lwb
Transit
Vito
Traffic/primastar

T3's could well be described as "choice".

5 seats, room for a lot of bikes, bull bars (cool…), side rails. Banging engine. Cheap. Shitheap to drive and will be dead in 4 years.

Avoid Vitos at all costs, once you get to 4K if you can shift gears you won't be able to soon.

Vauxhall/Renault vans are pretty nice.

Transporters are good but the values are silly. 10 year old t4's with 200k on can be 2.5 to 3k often.
Hiace's main problem is RWD which means lots of getting stuck at the slightest thing but very reliable vans generally.
Vitos all rust badly, old style ones are FWD and the newer shape isRWD so same problems as above with those. Engines are pretty bombproof but interior build etc is dire.
At £4k look at transits and vivaros. Should get yourself an 05 trafic with under 100k on. Nice to drive, 35mpg and servicing is cheap. Only big problem with them is the gearbox so walk away if it feels at all rough or dodgy.

If you could stretch to £5k then t5 transporters enter your price range (wihtout silly mileage) and are great vans. Of the 7 vans i've owned in the last 3 years the t5 was by far the best.

I dropped my van off today for the beginning of it's journey from van to campervan but with a bike twist, should be ready just before Xmas and will post pics then.

For now here it was yesterday before it went under the knife.

Hi Rob, dont really want to tell you but a pretty cool well sorted T4 is up for sale in the NW in your price band – link here

http://www.ukriversguidebook.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=56385

we wanted to go for it but still not ready, short of cash after the crash!

by far the comfiest seats and I've driven a lot of different vans
RWD can be a laugh and if you tow, far better than FWD and they pull like a tractor and I was always able to keep with any other van on the motorway

most of all though at least 1/2 the cost of it's VW equivalent

for a fast and flimsy, used to have a 180hp 6 speed Iveco Daily, huge Sprinter eater, even when loaded 'til we had to kick the doors shut

Avoid Vitos at all costs, once you get to 4K if you can shift gears you won't be able to soon.

Vauxhall/Renault vans are pretty nice.

4k? 4krpm? Don't understand that.

Vauxhall/Renault/Citroen/Fiat. Bluergh.

VW T2 early bay crossover 1971
Decent stereo
round the clock a few times
Yep starter motor X2 and refurbed gearbox recently
£7900
Cheap insurance and Tax excempt but she guzzles
Hell yeah!!!

Takes two or three bikes in the garage.

T4 2.5 TDi here, builders van, 3 seats, 80,000 miles, lined with ply just fling what you like in the back doesn't matter how dirty. Easy for changing out of dirty gear. Just used to drive to work and ship bikes about. Got a boring avensis for family duties.

Caddy would be my choice as I don't do camping. 4k would be tight though.

My loverly T4, now with alloy wheels.
2.5 turbo diesel, bought it with 40,000 on the clock.My dad's has 230,000 and still going strong

Merc Vito, 18" alloys and lowered! Nice van but gone to make way for something bigger, which I have no pics of yet.

I really did not need to click this link 8) trying to convince mrs smudge into a van, would have to be the cabin type with seats behind.. "just think of all that extra shopping you can get into the back" 😉 😆 keep em coming 8)

VW t4 – 2.0 petrol, 60k on the clock. Cost me £3100 but spent ££ on having windows, ply lined, kitted out.

Inside are swivel seats, have a bike rack on the back

Next thing is split charge kit and 2nd battery.

Best thing i've ever bought. Had it over 9 months. No problems at all. Very cheap to service and engine is solid (yes i know it's a petrol but i only use it weekends)

I meant if it costs less than £4K a Vito will be waiting to die. I'v driven a few now and one was so bad you had to lean on the door to shove it into reverse.

FWIW my favourite vans are Vauxhall Vivaro/Renault Trafics. They're fast, powerful, economical and comfy. They're not the most spacious but one of the easiest to live with I reckon. Also a decent quality interior.

superstar_opponents – Member
I meant if it costs less than £4K a Vito will be waiting to die. I'v driven a few now and one was so bad you had to lean on the door to shove it into reverse.

FWIW my favourite vans are Vauxhall Vivaro/Renault Trafics. They're fast, powerful, economical and comfy. They're not the most spacious but one of the easiest to live with I reckon. Also a decent quality interior.

The student is an expert on vans now 🙄

How long have you had your license for?…. You learnt to shake hands properly yet? A stonger arm and hand will help shifting into reverse..

superstar_opponents – Member

5 seats, room for a lot of bikes, bull bars (cool…),

If exponentially increasing the likelyhood of killing a pedestrian/other cyclist then yes bullbars are cool. Otherwise no, no they're aren't cool, they're very not cool.

I've got a 2000 model Merc Vito 110CDi with the single, flip-up rear door and 2 seat cab. Mechanically it's bomb proof but the doors (particularly the front ones) are very rust prone.

It's a private van and it's getting harder and harder to insure. H&R insurance found a policy for me that insures it pretty much as a car. Everyone else said it had to be used in conjunction with a business. Even so, it costs me £540 per year to insure for me and any driver over 30. I'm 43 with well over 5 years NCD and live on the Surrey/Hants border.

Tax is £160, I think. Fuel consumption is around 32mpg. Parts are pricey for some stuff and cheap for othet bits.

One problem with old Vitos is the glow plugs – they die and are impossible to remove. Merc dealers allegedly soak the plug in penetrating oil, disconnect the fan, run the engine until it's boiling hot then drive the plug out with a 3/8 drive air gun on its softest setting. Any more torque and the plug breaks leaving the thread in the head, then it's head-off time.

Ian

PS First post!