Easy to drive van?

Honest John Back Room » Motoring discussion
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Sun 1 Oct 2006 14:44
Easy to drive van? - vertical fool
Hi all.

I`ve previously posted looking for a vehicle with seats that fold down into a bed, however somebody did post about just sticking a mattress in the back. Originally I didn`t like this crude idea but its now grown on me.

Now I haven`t drove for a couple of years so I would prefer something with a more car like handling, narrow so as to be easy to manouver in traffic etc etc. I also want to be spending less than a 2,000.

I have been looking at the fiat scudo/citroen dispatch/peugot expert. This is just long enough for a mattress (based on what vans maximum length of load statistics of 206cm) and seems to be a good solution to drivability especially in city traffic.

I`ve also thought of the nissan vanette (and LDV cub), toyota powervan, mitsubishi l300 and l400 etc.

So what would forum users advice be?

Thanks in advance

Vertical fool
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Sun 1 Oct 2006 15:00
Easy to drive van? - Mr.Tee.43
Toyota HiAce Powervan.

Diesel of course

Easy to drive,comfortable and supremely reliable.

Just like mine !
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Sun 1 Oct 2006 18:15
Easy to drive van? - blue_haddock
I'd disregard the Nissan/LDV option as they are truly nasty pieces of work.
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Mon 2 Oct 2006 09:13
Easy to drive van? - Statistical outlier
One time the breakdown people came out to pick up my LDV minibus, the LDV engineer asked if we'd had a good look at the LDV logo while we were waiting? It's the letters LDV printed over a skip. Says it all really, avoid like the plague.
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Mon 2 Oct 2006 11:19
Easy to drive van? - DP
My old company had a Peugeot Expert 1.9 TD (XUD engine) which was used for lugging printer spares around, and doubled as a general dogsbody at weekends for whoever needed to borrow it to clear their shed / pick up a washing machine etc. It was a brilliant van.

40-45 mpg, car-like driving position, lively acceleration, cruised comfortably at 80-85 and smooth / quiet enough to drive a couple of hundred miles without getting tired.

This was a 98R plate which had 180k on the clock when I left the company and was still utterly reliable and drove well. Never had anything other than routine servicing and consumables AFAIK.

Cheers
DP
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