UKC

Asking that age old question of  'help Im looking for a van but know very little about them'

Im looking for a small to mid size van, for weekend / day camping but it would be my daily drive to work as well, so reliability is one of my main priorities. 

I've been looking at 1.7 Combos, transit connects and dispatch/expert/scudos, so if anyones got any experiences or opinions on these that would great. if not i'm open to suggestions

I have done the estate and air bed method but would like to go the hole hog for stealth camping and like a good project

Any help at all would be much appreciated

Cheers in advanced 

I'm on my second Scudo and I like it. Fits in parking spaces (just) and comfortable size to sleep in. My husband couldn't sleep in the smaller vans. 

I've got a 1.8 Tourneo Connect and it's the perfect combo - decent on fuel but spacious and relatively boxy so not really difficult to build into. Total build cost us around €5k including the van at €3.4k. Tourneo is nice due to air-con etc so worth a look. We came up with a bed design that meant we could leave two of the back seats in and thereby retain enough space for four climbers (because who wants to always climb in a 3, right?!). It's surprisingly quick as well which is nice for the daily use. Haven't done loads of long distance but from Southern Germany to Oliana we got around 45-50mpg fully loaded.

Album here: 

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10213410662774799&type=1&... 

Enjoy the process! 

The combo 1.7 are great vans, easily the most economical  out of that list. The engines are Isuzu and will last forever. But they are the smallest on your list. Dispatch etc are all the same with different badge. I had the 1.9 no injection and was scary overtaking tractors it was that slow, The hdi's are a lot nippier. A lot bigger then the combo's less economical and the electrics do play up abit. But you can get them cheap and I'd still get another dispatch but not the 1.9. 

I've just finished a Vito conversion, on it's maiden voyage of 1300 miles we averaged about 38 mpg (about 40 mpg pre conversion). All vans have the weak point, if going for a Vito don't go older than 2006 as there were rust issues, check the injectors are clean as if they start leaking it can be a serious issue if not sorted quickly (ge eraly an iasue cause by a lot of stop start journeys such as a delivery van). If looked after you will get 300k+ of it though. 

I park my LWB Transit Custom in car park spaces At that size you are looking at <40mpg and difficulty with some car parks, so if you commute a large distance it may not be suitable.

I chose a Ford because they sell extras like aircon & cruise at a reasonable price, and some goodies come as standard (Bluetooth), so there is good availability in the second hand market, I wouldn't consider a Vito (sorry!) as don't consider them very durable, and the parts are expensive.

What engine you got Mike? Seem todo better then my Vito, ive got the 109 and get 33 with snow tyres 35mpg with summer tyres.

109 has different diff ratio.  It is designed to be a town vehicle.  Even if you go down the tuning route it is still limited by its gearing.  Others have longer gearing and more Bhp meaning they can coast along at higher speeds doing lower revs.

I'm on my second lwb transit connect. Its my only vehicle though I don't commute in it. Mixed reliability, the first one had quite a few problems (ct joints, exhaust, rust, and eventually the head gasket) but then it was both pretty old (12 years) and had done well over 150k before I got it, the newer one (5yrs, 100k when bought) so far hasn't had an problems in the 2 years I've had it.

I get around 44mpg on average. All of them are sold limited to 60, 70 or 100 but I believe you can get it removed at a ford garage.

It's hi-top which makes it a bit more comfortable space wise in the back (and allows space for a shelf above the front seats) but at around 2m I so far haven't had any carpark height problems. All the lwb ones used to be hi-top but I think after the body work change (2014?) that's no longer the case. The back is over 6ft for max length though since I'm shorter than that I haven't paid attention to the exact size. The interior is generally boxy which is good for converting and the recesses in walls and roof are 25mm which makes them a nice fit for celotex panels. At some point they changed to smart alternators which is a pain for adding a leisure battery as you have to get some fancy box of tricks to fool it into charging another battery.

Another option might be Caddy maxis which are the same shape and length (though don't do hi-top) and have a reputation for good reliability - I don't know how well founded it is though!

Only having 2 seats does occasionally prove annoying and is one reason I think for my next van I might move up to custom/vivaro size (though hopefully not for a few years), that plus once you get used to the luxury of a van you always want more space

Thanks for that, didn't realise they were geared differently.

Just make sure it has air conditioning! Ours doesn't and its makes it horrendous in the summer. 

For a smaller option, my LWB Fiat Doblo, is long enough to sleep in and the back seat seat fold down so you can give your mates a lift to the crag

Had a Peugeot Expert for over two years that I converted myself. It has been amazing! Loads of parts available as there are basically three versions of the same van. Very economical for daily use and nippy if you get the 2l HDI version. It was an old fleet van so had been looked after and serviced regularly.

We ran a dispatch and a scudo for work, both went to the 150k Mark costing nothing but consumables. The only reason I changed at 150 was because the nature of my job changed and I needed a bigger van. 

I have a dispatch 2.0l and it's been very reliable. I'm tall so shorter vans were non starters. Very grateful to have the parking sensors at the back and the air conditioning. 

I'm selling as my wife has lost her driving licence due to medical issues so if your close to Sheffield....

I've got the 111, as Andrew mentioned it's got a different diff ratio to the 109 and a few more bph. I think if you go to the next engine spec (115?) the mpg might improve further...