A new (to me) medium van....

[Pigeon_Droppings2]

I got the dealer to ply line the rear and fit me a removable tow bar just in case I need to pull the boat anywhere.

Question is...what other accessories would you van guys recommend?

 

[premmington]

It amazes me that so many european manufacturers are now constantly producing such utter craap and haven't learnt that it's doing them huge reputational and financial damage
They need to kick the pen pushers out of the design office asap.
The Japanese and Koreans must be laughing there arses off!

Is it...?

You buy a new engine when you buy a new van (in the purchase price).

When it blows up in warranty - they leave it in the yard so long - you pay for half the new one (the profit on the new engine).

You bought 1.5 engines and they not lost a penny...

The fit them to everything - and you have no choice but to buy them....

 

[brewdexta]

I was contemplating getting rid of the Ford Ranger before the expensive wet belt service and getting a small van or people carrier. The KIA PV5 was at the top of my list. I do like it and the range is good enough for me, but I own the Ranger, getting the PV5 would be a bit of a stretch with one kid just starting Uni and another one just over a year away from Uni now I'm retired.

I know they don't suit everybody, but I wouldn't buy another ICE vehicle. I like the low hassle, and service costs of EVs. I would rather be grubbing in the workshop or playing drums than fannying around with cars.

 

[Robotstar5]

I got the dealer to ply line the rear and fit me a removable tow bar just in case I need to pull the boat anywhere.

Question is...what other accessories would you van guys recommend?

Some decent hard wearing waterproof seat covers and a dash cam.

 

[Pigeon_Droppings2]

The KIA PV5 was at the top of my list.

PV5 was also the top of my list too but can't actually physically buy them yet unfortunately.

I looked at the VW ID Buzz cargo but the load area wasn't big enough plus it couldn't do VTL.

I always thought all EVs did VTL but apparently not...bit nuts in a commercial vehicle (even my mg4 had this feature!!!)

 

[Smallfry]

Some decent hard wearing waterproof seat covers and a dash cam.

These, and a reversing camera is good too, so you can park and back right up to obstacles. Especially if you have a towbar.

Roof racks are good if you even need extra length, but affect the fuel consumption, and sometimes access to car parks. I leave the one on my big van because I dont use it much, but if it were a daily, and I did a lot of miles, I would take it off.

 

[m_c]

It amazes me that so many european manufacturers are now constantly producing such utter craap and haven't learnt that it's doing them huge reputational and financial damage
They need to kick the pen pushers out of the design office asap.
The Japanese and Koreans must be laughing there arses off!

The Japanese and Koreans aren't immune.
Hyundai/Kia had big problems with some of their petrol engines going boom.
Toyota and Honda diesels had issues before they stopped selling diesels.

I think every manufacturer has had some fairly serious problems at some point with engines.

 

[Blobber]

PV5 was also the top of my list too but can't actually physically buy them yet unfortunately.

I looked at the VW ID Buzz cargo but the load area wasn't big enough plus it couldn't do VTL.

I always thought all EVs did VTL but apparently not...bit nuts in a commercial vehicle (even my mg4 had this feature!!!)

VTL ??
Vertical Takeoff & Landing??

 

[Pigeon_Droppings2]

VTL ...vehicle to load...the mg4 could run 7kw from the traction battery. In theory it could run a large welder

 

[bricol]

We have a few Peugeot Partners and a Citroen Berlingo.

Citroen have just sent us a recall notice for accelerated wear on camchains.
Apparently they will do a software update to correct it by increasing the oil pressure

Sounds like the GM V6 where the first fix for error codes caused by the three timing chains stretching was to reprogram the ECU to accept bigger position errors between crank and cam sensors . . .

Although in this case, having read the posts about variable oil pressures, I'm guessing the increased oil pressure is in the areas of the cycle when it is too low and allowing the chains to do things they shouldn't.

 

[Pigeon_Droppings2]

Quite happy so far...definitely glad I got the auto as it should save my knee.

 

[harveyp6]

The Japanese and Koreans aren't immune.
Hyundai/Kia had big problems with some of their petrol engines going boom.

I was talking to a mate of mine today who's neighbour bought an electric Kia, and it's constantly going back to the dealers to be fixed. Back again next week to fix more problems. The dealer has had it longer than the owner.

 

[brewdexta]

I was talking to a mate of mine today who's neighbour bought an electric Kia, and it's constantly going back to the dealers to be fixed. Back again next week to fix more problems. The dealer has had it longer than the owner.

Must be unlucky, we are into out 4th EV nearly without issue. First one had a faulty charger, but other than that, only cost brakes and tyres and they have longer service intervals and no wet belts! Last one did 60k in 4 years and no noticeable battery degradation.

A friend has a Kia EV3, his first EV, he was skeptical. I think he's had it about 10 months, no issues and loving it.

A neighbour, who was very skeptical, leased an MG EV a couple of years ago when I told him about the salary sacrifice scheme. He's very happy and is getting another. He's had no issues either.

 

[harveyp6]

I knew a Kia dealer when they were first imported and they were very reliable. I only towed them for accident damage, so maybe the one I mentioned is an isolated incident. Perhaps they have Friday afternoon cars in Korea too.

 

[Pigeon_Droppings2]

I'm happy to report that all the main controls in the Primastar are identical to my Dacia...I'm so happy...one less thing to learn...all the stalks are exactly the same too.

Best of all...it has the dash button for "personalized" safety settings...every car should have this IMHO.

 

[dobbslc]

personalized" safety settings...every car should have this IMHO.

Does that mean you don't have to continually turn off the stupid stop start and lane assist "functions" ?

 

[Pigeon_Droppings2]

You can basically configure a profile of what safety stuff you want on/off and assign that to the dash button...then when you double click the dash button it applies your choices. Still have to double click the button every drive but I can live with that.

It's a very neat system I think.

 

[GRW]

You can basically configure a profile of what safety stuff you want on/off and assign that to the dash button...then when you double click the dash button it applies your choices. Still have to double click the button every drive but I can live with that.

It's a very neat system I think.

I do wonder about the nefarious creep of the nanny systems, and (in the world we live in.....)

How long before "driver settings" are downloaded (or transmitted) in the event of n incident, and used as a determination of safety, & therefore pre-determined blame?

Ah driver X - at the time of the incident, we note that you had overridden the vehicles lane-assistance safety system. Due to this action which goes against the recommended operating procedure for this vehicle - we regret to inform you that your damage Claim is rejected.

Cynic? Moi? Surely not . However, anyone here believe that a scenario like that cannot & will not ever happen?

 

[qwakers]

That is absolutely already happening.

 

[m_c]

Reading data from crashed vehicles is nothing new, however insurance companies only pay for the required independent reports if it's likely to benefit them.

A relatively minor bump, they're not going to bother, but do something like stick your 150k sports car through a hedge at suspected excessive speed, then the independent report is likely to save them quite a bit of money.