Recommend a Van

[Turbo]

I'll have to admit having 4x4 is handy in a tow car. I've had a couple of legacy 4wd's and they make great tow cars but very sore on fuel - around 15 mpg fully laden!

I remember the first time I had the transporter & stock car on behind the legacy turbo. First decent straight I came to I accelerated & before I knew it I was doing 80 mph! (on a private road of course) But then I had 265 bhp to play with and loads of torque.

Don't really fancy a pick-up, too agricultural. Maybe look out for one of the rare VW transporter syncros. German army used to have them with the VR6 engine fitted, now that would be nice.

 

[HughF]

T5 4motion then, available with the vr6 still, or at least they were when I was in Moscow... If not, the 5 pot diesel is good

The new ranger is good, has the 3.2 200ps puma motor, winner

 

[stormin]

T5 4motion then, available with the vr6 still, or at least they were when I was in Moscow... If not, the 5 pot diesel is good

The new ranger is good, has the 3.2 200ps puma motor, winner

Doubt either will come inside his 3 grand budget for a few years yet!

 

[normspanners]

Transits are nice to drive but the duratorq engines are a pain have a look at cost of used units if you can find one, coz they go wrong that much, I got £400 for one that didnt run!!
Never bump start a tranny coz they jump teeth on timing chain.

 

[HughF]

Transits are nice to drive but the duratorq engines are a pain have a look at cost of used units if you can find one, coz they go wrong that much, I got £400 for one that didnt run!!
Never bump start a tranny coz they jump teeth on timing chain.

They're not that bad. As I said the tdci's just need fixing right as most have been through ford dealers who haven't fixed them right at all! Tddi ones only suffer from pump problems, but the vp44 is just as unreliable on any engine, not just the duratorq.

Fix em right and they'll give you long service. Better than anything you get in a traffic/vivaro

 

[normspanners]

Tddi ones only suffer from pump problems,

you must be in a different world to me then, they are well known for breaking thats why there arnt many second hand units on ebay and the ones on there are mega bucks even speaking to the main dealers the ambulance service went off them for reliability problems, My garage was a contractor for the rac and transits where the most recovered vehicle in the rac we used to do 2-3 a day on our patch.
They now have a common problem with the oil pumps breaking up coz they use peugeot vane pumps and they are smashing the vanes.

 

[HughF]

How many mk3 money tdci 130's do you see around? And what were yours recovered for? Big difference if it's an oil pump failure or an egr valve putting it into limp... I've got a mk6 and a mk7, both 2.4's, would drive them to Timbuktu tomorrow if I had to.

But I service and fix them myself and have ids, if you've got to pay someone else to do it then buy a mk5 non turbo!

 

[normspanners]

Must have recovered thousands of mk6 with fuel problems also it doesnt matter what failed, they still had to be recovered

You'll be telling me next they dont have timing chain or injector problems
only last week I fitted 3 delfi recon injectors, one after the other until we went and bought a BRAND new one, that sorted it. it made the inlet cam timing jump 4 times with a brand new chain and tensioner
apparently 70% of recon injectors end up in the bin.
also loads have seized coz the chain slipper shoe bottom 6mm bolts has come out through the front cover and lost all their oil.
Not a patch on the old DI engine seen many with .5 million miles or more still going strong

 

[normspanners]

AH just realised looked at the date you had me going there and just realised that you must live at timbukone!!

 

[HughF]

Yep they have chain, tensioner, injector, pump, scv, software, egr and dmf problems... But that's a euro 4 Diesel engine for you. They're all just as bad. You can have simple, powerful, economical and low emissions, but never all 4 together.

As I keep saying to people, if you can't afford the complexity of a modern diesel, don't get one. I can afford to fix it and am prepared to pay for the performance, refinement and low fuel use by investing in the tools and the time to keep them running.

Remember you also only hear the horror stories, no one spares the time to go onto a forum and say they've had nothing go wrong with their car/van. I do know of quite a few mk3 Mondy's that went to 300k with nothing more than a couple of flywheels and a cam position sensor. I guess the earlier ones were better?

 

[Turbo]

Ok, we've established that the transits can have engine problems. Doesn't really matter to me as I've ruled them out due to their ridiculously small towing capacity.
Been having a look and the T4's in general seem to be cheaper than transits, I thought it would be the other way around. I used to drive 2 T4's, one with the audi 2.4L 5 cylinder non turbo engine. It was a fantastic tow vehicle, it didn't matter how much you put in it or behind it the very torquey engine just carried on pulling. The other van was a 1.9 td which was nearly as quick as the 2.4 until you put a load in it.

 

[Wedg1e]

choosing most things in life is a compromise

True, true. I wanted Rachel Riley but had to make do with Lucy Verasamy. Similarly, Nursy wanted Colin Firth but got me...

 

[Wedg1e]

T5 4motion then, available with the vr6 still, or at least they were when I was in Moscow... If not, the 5 pot diesel is good

The new ranger is good, has the 3.2 200ps puma motor, winner

Only 200PS from a 3.2L? In this day and age?

 

[HughF]

Only 200PS from a 3.2L? In this day and age?

Chuck all the emissions controls in the bin and you'll probably remap it to 250 on standard turbo...

 

[HughF]

If you're looking for a t4, definitely stretch to a 2.5 tdi, either a 103 or a 152 bhp one. my friend built a 178bhp one using Volvo 850 manifolds and turbo with 152bhp nozzles and a remap, with the 152bhp gearbox it was as fast as.... A fast thing.

They hold their value, don't rot, but suffer from gearbox problems, and are fwd... Do you really want fwd?

 

[Sean]

Been thinking about the 06 on Citroen Dispatch or Fiat/Peugeot equivalent with the 2L HDI engine. Anyone any experiance of those? I was looking at the SWB transits but they have a surprisingly small towing capacity. The renault trafic fits the bill but they have reliability issues. Any other suggestions?

have been trundling bout in Drains old 06 Dispatch for a couple of years now.....
They are ok the twin sliding doors stick out and catch the wind so motorways are noisy and draughty. not towed anything seriously heavy so no comment, bit heavy on the diesel and higher bracket for the road tax. uses funny sized tyres, spares are cheap, but being mostly French its a flippin lottery as to which fuel system and brakes made it on to the van in production so always take the old bits along when you order parts.

My boss changed his Dispatch with a Fiat badge for a VW T36 and regrets it

3 grand 'll get you a good rust free full service history one with enough change for new set of tyres as long as you keep away from the dealers

 

[normspanners]

but being mostly French its a flippin lottery as to which fuel system and brakes made it on to the van in production so always take the old bits along when you order parts.

or even if the same type front to rear done that before oh its bendix on the front must same at rear, french oh no. I have seen them with brakes from quite few year before on some,
oh they didnt fit them after such a year-------- well here they are they must have found some old stock in the back of the factory. Oh stick em on its only going to britain .

 

[Wedg1e]

or even if the same type front to rear done that before oh its bendix on the front must same at rear, french oh no. I have seen them with brakes from quite few year before on some,
oh they didnt fit them after such a year-------- well here they are they must have found some old stock in the back of the factory. Oh stick em on its only going to britain .

Sounds like every Renault or Peugeot I've worked on.

 

[Turbo]

Ah yes, the peugeot brakes lottery, very familiar with that. I think they fitted about 10 different rear brake cylinders to 205's. The only way to be sure of getting the right one was to bring the old one in - a bit difficult when you only have 1 car!

 

[Sean]

Been having a look and the T4's in general seem to be cheaper than transits, I thought it would be the other way around. I used to drive 2 T4's, one with the audi 2.4L 5 cylinder non turbo engine. It was a fantastic tow vehicle, it didn't matter how much you put in it or behind it the very torquey engine just carried on pulling. The other van was a 1.9 td which was nearly as quick as the 2.4 until you put a load in it.

i dont like the 1.9 engines in a t4, older ones fret the crank timing pulley till the piston nails an exhaust valve through the head and the turbo ones seem to stress the heads and crack them . if i could get my old 2.5 non turbo back id be happy it was just a tractor engine and just pulled and pulled . Older t4s were quite sturdily built. Front ball joints all seem to go at once and can be fitted with home tools ( big hammers, a short length of scaffold pole and a bit of heat) so someone seling one with rattly suspension should be pursued for a discount and then be prepared for a weekend of swearing