new van, what would you get?

[paul the paranoid lampy]

sprinter, any day, be careful with the loading though, if you get the ELWB the 2 foot at the back of the van is a no go area for anything heavy.

the lip in the tranie is most proberbly due to it being RWD the body of van is the same as the FWD, but they lifted the floor in the back to allow for the dif,

I would also not get the step at the back, made of tin foil I think. I have never seen a straight one.

[Simon Lewis]

A few points:

 

- Sprinters are fast, have good build quality (generally) but you pay a premium of several £ thousand for this. Check the new prices from Motorpoint - new Mercs are often from £16k, whereas LWB Masters are about £13k, and Fiats about £11k.

 

- Until recently, VW / Mercedes had a technology development agreement which (I believe) meant the LTs had similar or identical engines.

 

- The Renault Master has a significantly lower load floor. This is great for gigs with few crew and no ramp. However, it has a turning circle similar to that of a small oil tanker.

 

- All of these vans have a class weight of 3.5t. If they are fairly lightweight (e.g. Master) payload can be up to 1.6t, although long wheelbase versions will reduce this. Ivecos are built like tanks, but have a significantly decreased payload.

 

- Most 3.5t vans with Luton bodies and tail lifts can just about carry a catering pack of cornflakes....

 

- It is very easy to overload a 3.5t vehicle. The Police know exactly what to look for, and they will take you to a weighbridge, impound you and then take you to court (eventually!).

 

- If you tow a trailer with vehicle in connection with a business, and the combination weight is greater than 3.5t, you are requred to have a tachograph and comply with drivers hours legislation. (Sorry Rob!)

 

- If you drive a vehicle over 3.5t in connection with a business, you need the vehicle to be fitted with a tachograph and you must possess an Operators Licence. Furthermore, you need the correct C licence to drive it. There are also licence issues for trailers.

 

Hope this helps....

 

 

Simon

[andy_s]

A few years ago I'd have said sprinter for sure, now I'd be very tempted by the Citroen, having driven s few from hire fleets and found them very comfortable and easy to drive, with a fair bit of room.

 

Someone asks about Iveco further up - my first "big" van was a 1981 Iveco 7.5T panel van, 8 years old by the time I joined the company. No power steering, I had to learn to double declutch as the gearbox had seen better days, but great view from the cab. I thought it was really noisy until we had the engine running with the cowling up one day, then I realised how much soundproofing there actually was between the engine compartment and the cab. We had it for a couple more years, then parked it beside a hay wagon that mysteriously burst into flames one night, then replaced it with a new Turbo version of the same thing, which had to come from Italy as they were no longer readily available in UK. still thousands cheaper than a merc, though, and a longer cargo space, which we were keen on.

 

No doubt I'm wearing rose coloured spectacles, and I won't deny today's vehicles are mostly great to drive, comfortable and roomy, but I really felt like I'd learnt a skill when I drove that old van....

[mikienorth]

Just a quick one, I have driven mercs, transits and LDV in the past, and have this to say.

Merc. Great van, I heard that they are a little interesting with the brakes sometimes, not only due to loading too heavily, and, yes, they are fast. They also seem to be the van of choice by a large amount of companies in this field, and are increasingly popular in construction. I found out how interesting they are under braking when heavily loaded when I was rear-ended on the M1 once whilst I was in a transit, whch wrote both vans off, and shut the M1 on a monday rush hour (I was proud)

 

Transit. Again good van, lovely to drive, and quite scary too, I passed my test on a friday in a corsa, and on the monday was given a LWB transit, in Blackpool, and was told to report to sites in Muswell Hill, Waterloo Station, Edgware, and another central London location. Wing mirrors were sacrificed. Also getting out of a van with no power steering immediatley into one with it in the wet on twisty roads makes them spin easily...

Still the popular van of choice in construction, and there must be good reason.

Back doors mould easily around the shape of a merc front, and with enough speed to send a tool box into the air and into the seats.

 

LDV. Rust. Rust. Rust. And I can accelerate quicker on foot with the same load they carry.

Can't comment on their crash tendencies, never had one stay together long enough or be going fast enough to find out.

[Chappie]

Point of interest: Don't put petrol in a Sprinter, they don't like it

[Pete McCrea]

Transit....Still the popular van of choice in construction, and there must be good reason.

 

Quite possibly to do with Ford practically offering freebies to big fleet companies? Other manufacturers are more 'tightfisted' if you will. Info gleaned from a VW talk I was going AV for. Jarvis used Ford when I was there for EVERYTHING. I'm guessing that they offered the fleet guys a stupidly cheap deal to shift the volume.

 

LDV. Rust. Rust. Rust. And I can accelerate quicker on foot with the same load they carry.

Can't comment on their crash tendencies, never had one stay together long enough or be going fast enough to find out.

 

 

:P

[Rob_Beech]

I am in the middle of organising this anyway, added to the fact that I'll be getting a Atego when I get my licence "upgraded". I currently have B+E anyway allowing me to drive larger trailers (although that doesn't alter the tacho issues).

 

 

Does anyone know if me having B+E will mean I'll automatically get C+E when I get C?

 

 

Rob

[paul the paranoid lampy]

no, you will get a provisinol C+E when you pass the class C.

hope this helps.

[Jivemaster]

Depends on budget constraints. My firm have about a hundred citroen 3.5t in a conversion form, and though cheap to buy they are rediculously expensive to keep on the road. We will change to VWs at the next renewal.

[mike]

A little vote over here for the Iveco Daily.

 

The New 05/55 plated vehicles which I have had the pleasure of driving, give an excellent ride over long journeys, and they have one of the most user freindly driving positions and console positioning that I have seen.

 

In the back - they are longer, and taller than the Transit Jumbo, and are fitted with proper rails to use ratchet straps with - essential for piece of mind! ...

 

It drives well on the road - doesn't drink the diesel too much - even when fully loaded, and has some of the most driver friendly mirrors I've come across on 3.5t or 7.5t vehicles.

 

The only thing to watch with the Iveco, is it's an Italian vehicle - and on the older models, there used to be a problem with them standing up to the british weather - they may have fixed this now though.

the best people to speak to are the mechanics who service these vehicles- they'll tell you the real downfalls, and where the expense is going to come in!

 

HTH

mike

[TallMike]

Hey dude - how are you?

 

Used to sell vans, in my experience a Transit LWB high top would suit.

 

When I used to work for Mercedes, the quality wasn't all that it was cracked up to be - they do go wrong, and often!

 

However, I'd love a MWB, or VW do make a nice van nowadays!

 

I'd steer clear of the other makes, Iveco are the commercial arm of Fiat (in fact the only tie with Ford was financial).

 

Mike

 

Point of interest: Don't put petrol in a Sprinter, they don't like it

 

:) well done Chappie, was that you or Dave?

 

Did you lot go to PLASA?

[Simon Lewis]

Mike,

 

I don't sell vans (only drive them) so I can't call on the same expertise as you, however,

 

1) although they may now have caught up, many of the Transit engines were somewhat agricultural compared with the newer high pressure common rail versions from Mercedes, VW, Renault/Nissan/Vauxhall.

 

2) I didn't like the narrow top of the Transit roof.

 

3) Iveco may be the commercial arm of Fiat, but there's a world of difference between how an Iveco is made and a Fiat.

I once owned a Ducato, and it was the flimsiest rust bucket I've ever seen. The metal perforated along the fold lines of the bodywork, the back door hinges buckled the bodywork, and the wretched thing was constantly in the garage for repairs.

 

I bought an old Iveco Daily, regularly overloaded (not intentionally - I was young and ignorant!) and it never complained until it had clocked up 100,000 and needed some engine work.

 

After the Iveco I had a petrol engined Renault Master, which was quirky and thirsty, but was OK for ~ 10 years. Then it started falling apart.

I replaced it with one of the new Masters with a 2.5litre engine. It's great, pretty well screwed together, has a low load floor, high volume, and drives happily above the national speed limit.

 

If the OP can't afford a Merc, the Renault is certainly worth a test drive.

 

Simon

[Rob_Beech]

Aaah the old iveco. I used to have one before the sprinter. What a wonderful old van it was, I can see it now, 2 tone white and rust, not a single door lock that worked, starter motor worked once in a blue moon and it returned a staggering 17mpg. Theres one thing, it was serviced less than regularly had done 290,000 miles when I got rid and never had one bit of trouble engine wise... just everything else fell to pieces.

 

Just had the hazard warning lights pack up on my sprinter, not a clue whats wrong (not really looked into it), not the fuse I know that much. Merc tell me a replacement switch would be a starting point.

 

switch sounds like its gonna cost more than my first car........which is nearly as much as my last car.

 

 

Rob

[Chappie]

Point of interest: Don't put petrol in a Sprinter, they don't like it

;) well done Chappie, was that you or Dave?

It would be inappropriate to divulge such information here, suffice to say the van was unhappy for a time. It is now fully operational and back to being runted by staff.

Did you lot go to PLASA?

Indeed we did, and most useful it was too. The cheque book is poised.

[andyaudio]

;) - Topics merged. Please use the Search Function, etc., etc... :)

 

Hi. I'm looking to get a larger van as I'm up to the weight limit on my LWB Sprinter (well, probably over it..). The sprinter has been brilliant, but need to take more weight easily, and ideally have some more space too, although I'd love to just get a 7.5t to solve all problems, I just don't have the space to keep one. I'm looking seriously at the Iveco Daily 65c15 (about 2001-2003) - this has the twin wheels, a GVW of 6.5t, a load length of 4.5m, and seems to be the business!

 

Now the question....Has anyone got experience of these Iveco vans? I've looked but can't find any bad info on them...the problem is I can't find any good info either! I'm going to test drive one to get an idea of the drive at the weekend, but any info or advise would be greatly appreciated.

 

I am aware of the operators licence once over the 3.5tGVW etc, but after reading the other topics recently- I think for now the priority is to get within the weight limit...then get the license ASAP!

 

Any thoughts?

 

Cheers

 

Andy