UKC

New job and lots of miles means I'm looking to sell my Transit and get something smaller.
However, needs to be big enough to allow for two people to sleep in with a bit of space, and needs to be big enough to take a couple bikes (not at same time as sleeping in it...)

So, as the title says, what you got and what do you get? I'm getting about 37mpg out the transit, doing mostly open road 50-60mph driving, and ideally looking for something above 45/50mpg. Currently thinking about Connect or Caddy (larger models) but would be interested to hear about folks experiences of them and other small/medium vans. As an outsider, would be interested to hear from any Nissan NV200 owners out there as well.

Cheers,
Gordon

In reply to peebles boy:

I have a 2.0 HDI berlingo they say it'll do 50 mpg but mine does 40, mostly round town 20% motorway

it is a bit quick for a diesel van though

my last berlingo did 48 but was the 1.9 standard diesel

In reply to peebles boy:
Vw caddy maxi combi, 45mpg, loads of room for bikes , 2 sleeping easy.
2.0 tdi, 104hp 59 model

In reply to peebles boy:

VW Transporter T5 140ps 34mpg or 600miles to a tank.

In reply to peebles boy:

Lwb high roof Renault Traffic.
Fully loaded most of the time and I have a fairly light get foot. 34mpg on a 50/50 mix of motorway and back roads.

In reply to peebles boy:

Hi Gordon

One of the chaps I climb/work with has a Nissan - his does around 45mpg quite comfortably. I've just got rid of my Berlingo and gone for a Ducato as heading off on a six month climbing trip but otherwise, the Nissan would have been high on the list of vans to get. He actually went for a full windowed one as the tax is cheaper and there's no VAT to pay. The other vehicle I'd consider is a Fiat Doblo Maxi, really rather roomy in the back and the 90bhp model gives well over the 50mpg mark. My father had one for three years and his average over that time was 61mpg but he does drive a bit pedestrian. Mostly open road driving around Dorset tho.

In reply to peebles boy:

I had a similar dilema, and spent a while looking at vans avaiable. I basically wanted maximum space for minimum fuel cost.

In the end I got a VW T5.1 (2010 onwards model) with the new 2 litre diesel engine, the advertised speed is 42 mpg. I got a 2010 long wheel base for around £11,000 with 100,000 miles on the clock. Great for motorway driving, i have done scotland in a long weekend from Portsmouth. Cruises at 70 mph (depending on setup).

The only thing that comes close to it for MPG and size is a ford transit custom. But as it only came out in 2013? it is alot to buy second hand.

If you want to keep bikes inside the van and have enough room for 2 people to sleep, a caddy will be a bit too small. If you are content to have bikes on the roof and want maximum MPG, then why not get an estate and car camp? Ford mondeos can get about 68 mpg and the seats lie flat.

In reply to peebles boy:

Just a thought, but I'm generally pretty dubious of changing vehicles purely to save money on fuel. Fine to look at fuel economy if you are changing anyway for other reasons but if current vehicle has life left in it there's a good chance that keeping it and accepting higher fuel costs is still cheaper than changing to a newer and faster depreciating van?

Say you do 20,000 per year... at 37mpg that's roughly 2457 litres per year, if you get a van (big if) that actually does 50 mpg that's 1820 litres per year... difference is 637 litres which is about £700 per year at 110p per litre.

So - do you do 20,000? More/less? And if you actually get that possible fuel saving does £700 per year make it sensible to spend money now on a newer van or even worse, take out finance and pay interest on the privilege?

I'm a big believer in better the devil you know and putting off replacements as long as sensibly possible. Unless current van needs lots of work doing or is utterly unsuitable for the new job/mileage expected I'd probably keep it. Buy a new one and you'll likely spend at least as much maintaining it, doing a few odds and ends that need doing etc to bring it up to scratch/do all the stuff the previous owner left as they were getting rid of soon and save not terribly much on fuel in the scheme of things.

In reply to peebles boy:

Vauxhall Movano (i.e. a Renault Master in disguise) 2.5 LWB High Roof- last time i measured it about 32 mpg.

New engine though so may improve a bit with time...

In reply to peebles boy:

Defender 90 in van configuration, with 200 tdi. Get less than 30 mpg so I would avoid it with your criteria. Does mean can go basically anywhere though. If it doesn't break down.

In reply to peebles boy:

2001 Renault master 2.2 e x-minibus, now a spacious camper. 34mpg. It was cheap though!

In reply to peebles boy:

VW Caddy Maxi 2.0tdi 140ps - averaging 44mpg overall long term; could possible get a bit better with a less heavy foot.

In reply to Ice Spider:

Oh my. VW Transporter T5 2009 1.9TD 40mpg. I have a light foot.

In reply to peebles boy:

Is it just sleep in occasionally or to camp in? Sounds to me like a hatchback with a flat load area or an estate might be a better bet.

jk

In reply to jkarran:

Cars are for old woman

In reply to peebles boy:
Fiat doblo cargo 48 mpg always fully loaded with tools etc

In reply to Ferret:





Good advice. I run vehicles until they become uneconomical to repair, then give them away or scrap it. I was born near Yorkshire which may explain.

MPG? My trusty work van has 135 000 + on the clock. LPG dual fuel 40+ mpg at 58.9 p a litre. work it out!
Only repair apart from tear and tear bits, an external temp sensor, £4.95 from ebay and 30 seconds to fit.
Mind you I have had a few bummers in 44 years of happy motoring so you get lucky occasionally.

In reply to peebles boy:
14 plate VW Caddy Blue motion

Claims to do 60mpg (I think)

Don't know what it actually does as I'm on mostly single track ,stop start roads

Probably in the early 50s.

Very Happy with it.

In reply to peebles boy:

P reg Toyota Hiace in 'disgusting green' with 220,000 miles.

I get about 25-28mpg, it's not exactly fast or sporty but it was free, never ever breaks down or costs anything to run other than tyres, oil and fuel. It's just bulletproof. The most annoying thing is I get people wanting to buy it on a weekly basis.

I keep thinking about something newer/flasher/faster but I do about 10,000 miles a year locally with the very occasional trip to N.Wales.

If I change it, it will be very hard not to get the same thing just with fewer miles on the clock.

In reply to peebles boy:

Cheers folks, lots of food for thought there - toyed with idea of estate car, but prefer the security and "custom-ability" of a van, even if it's a small one. Fiat Doblo could be a good shout - I've always disregarded them cos they're so bloody ugly, but the bigger ones are actually fairly roomy on the inside according to the Fiat website dimensions.

In reply to Ferret:

I see what you're saying, but I'm quite keen to move the van on whilst I know I can get a decent price for it - it's 9yrs old but the mileage is still low (65k), and I reckon I'll be putting on 20-25k miles a year. I'm just not spending enough overnight time in it to justify a big van either, so something smaller (albeit less comfortable) is a more sensible choice I think.

Don't get me wrong, I don't want to get rid of it, we've had some great adventures with it, but this new job/lifestyle means it's just a big white commuting vehicle most of the time!!

Maybe I could keep it and buy a Smart car as well....

In reply to peebles boy:

I'v recently bought a citroen berlingo SWB 1.6 90bhp. does about 53mpg and is just long enough for me (1.62m) to sleep in - someone taller would probably need the LWB. but very pleased with it so far. got the 90bhp version because I read the 75bhp was optimised for short round town deliveries and would limp on motorways. 90bhp seems happy as larry on the motorway. I'm told an alternative to buying the 90bhp version if you dont have a warranty to worry about is to get the engine remappped - same engine, different software. but it does totally invalidate the manufacturers warranty if they find out.

In reply to peebles boy:

2001 Toyota Hiace, 249,000 miles, looks and drives like it's done 70,000. Unbelievable build quality. 32mpg round town, 45 ish on a run, at about 65/70.

In reply to peebles boy:
I am getting 68 mpg routinely out of my new TDI Golf (e.g. on drive from London to Derbyshire), and occasionally as high as 74 (on a sizeable journey). That's about 10 mpg more than the previous Golf, which was still excellent in that regard. In the US, I have a nine-year Prius that still does 45 mpg routinely - but that's per US gallon, which is 5/6th of a UK gallon, so 54 mpUKg.

In reply to peebles boy:

I loved the Renault Extra I had. Floored and walled, loads of room, economical, brilliant for trips away.