Astra van is enormous. No good if you've short arms!

Any idea what sort of fuel economy I'd get from an astra van? say a 1.7 CDTI mostly driven on motorway cruising at 70mph.

If it's comparable or better than a focus 1.8 CDTI then it could be well worth my while looking into.

Generally good vehicles? Reliable? anything particular to watch out for?

As above, a Berlingo.

Seats down, the current version will take a mountain bike upright stowed fore/aft. Taken bikes for both my kids to Uni that way. In fact you could get several bike in there either rotating bars 90 degrees or stowing them in alternating directions - what my old biking friend years ago called parking in the English Fashion.

Also had a full size tourer bike (Dawes Galaxy) in the back of previous version but laid down to clear dog guard.

Our has rarely cost us anything more than fuel and wear/tear items.

Wheels off in a Fiesta van would probably be OK but not much space or other stuff or load flexibility I managed to get one in a Issigonis Mini between front and rear seats.

Berlingo economy depends on the model/engine.

We have two, an 05 1.9D now pushing 140k miles, and a 63 1.6HDi we bought last September.

The 1.9D is old tech IDI and produces a rather asthmatic 70 or so BHP, takes a while to get to 70 but happily sits there all day on the autoroute. Will do 45+mpg on a run but struggles to hit 40mpg in town. The same 02-08 body style returns much better mileage in HDi 90 guise but would have cost £1k more new.

The HDi (115hp) is a different beast. Although pushing out 50% more bhp it easily hits 40mpg in general use and 50 or better is acheivable provided you keep around 60/65 and turn the aircon off.

No knowledge of petrol versions but they might be cheaper as the market demand is for diesel.

Edited by Bromptonaut on 13/02/2014 at 14:38

My experience of a 1.8 petrol Berlingo and a 2.0 HDi Picasso are that aerodynamics really clobbers the mpg at 70mph and above. If your commute involves a good chunk of motorway then I'd look to a low roofed van or medium/large estate for better economy unless you're happy trundling along at 55 to 60 to get the mpg.

Probably a connect van is better for a bike than a fiesta van?