New Van ?

Honest John Back Room » Motoring discussion
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Sun 28 Aug 2005 00:59
New Van ? - Navara Van man
I am replaciming my Isuzu trooper comercial in the next few months and Need the extra capacity of a large van (MWB medium roof.)

I am self employed running a pressure cleaning and grounds maintence business. Most of my driving consists of very windy lanes and inclines coupled with farm trafic plus the odd motorway trip, so aceleration and tourque is a must.

curently I am towing 1.5 tons with the isuzu however the extra space the van will provide should not make towing so frequent.

I have driven hire SWB transit 280s and citroen relays and found both severly underpowered.

My curent thinking is along the lines of a Renault master with 3.0 disel or Merc sprinter.

Any thoughts with regards to reliability and suitability apreciated. The van is to be bought second hand I have a budget of £12000. My isuzu manages motorway speeds up to 95mph so this sort of ability would be great (fuel economy is not important).

Paul
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Sun 28 Aug 2005 10:35
New Van ? - road runner
If you need to tow don't forget that the trailer plus vehicle should not exceed 3.5 tons unless you want to come under European law.
So look at the plated weight of the trailer before looking at the van.
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Sun 28 Aug 2005 11:22
New Van ? - DavidHM
I've driven the Vauxhall Vivaro (same spec as the Trafic - so a little smaller than the Master) with the 1.9 litre, 100 PS turbo engine, and found it much, much quicker than a Transit as well as being more economical. If you wanted more power again, you could look at the 2.5 litre, 140 bhp version, which is £13k + VAT new from a Vauxhall dealer, presumably including Vauxhall finance offers and free sat nav.
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Sun 28 Aug 2005 15:31
New Van ? - rg
I normally tow a box van with a 3.1 Trooper (Monterey), but hired a Vivaro 1.9 last week, and was pretty impressed on comfort, power, and economy fronts.

rg
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Sun 28 Aug 2005 22:42
New Van ? - Navara Van man
Many thanks, Shall look into the trafic..... if 1.9 disel is quicker than the transit then the 3.0 in the master should be breathtaking.

Paul
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Mon 29 Aug 2005 01:12
New Van ? - cheddar
The Transit 85 is a bit gutless, 100's more torquey, 125's stonking.
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Mon 29 Aug 2005 13:17
New Van ? - school boy
Sounds like you should buy another Trooper or may be try a Discovery Van.
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Mon 29 Aug 2005 20:07
New Van ? - Wales Forester
Ford do a Transit 2.4 TDCi 137PS model if you're looking for something with a bit of grunt.

PP
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