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Van brands (A campervan thread spin-off)

PieEye said:
that one's really nice :D
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Apart from the engine and the welding that is. Does the fiberglass body have to come off before you can weld an ambulance, I wonder?


PieEye said:
So my red Post Office van enthusiasm is totally misguided? At least I know this now......
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Yes
 
PieEye said:
that one's really nice :D
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it is but remember this might cost...

the seller said:
Engine needs servicing, smokes a little when first starts but then ok. Needs welding for mot. No tax or MOT on it.
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smokey engines on start up on deseils usually means at some poitn it'll need work, perhaps even really expeinsive get a new engine type work... and no mot means there's no guarentee it'll get trough one with out that work being carried out... so whilst the interior is reasonable tidy for camping please please please try and get something with a long mot and if poss tax it's a fools errand not to and will end up costing you to fix summit and wouldn't you rather throw the cash into nice furnishings, chemical loo etc rather than fixing a buggered engine...


PieEye said:
So my red Post Office van enthusiasm is totally misguided? At least I know this now......
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yes unless it summit like a 1950's gpo van or moggie van which has been fully restored but think around £4,000 to £10,000 for a fully restored verion and £3,000 for usable one which will need another £1,500 to £3,000 sending on it...

don't go for a restoration or indeed any mechanical work unless you a) know what you are doing or are preparred to learn (usually by mistake and my skinning your knuckles to fuckery; oil and blood and pain...), you have some where to work on the vechile which is dry, safe and can be left for periods of time when there are (and there will be) delays or down time, much more time than you think you need ie if you take the car or van off the road in decemeber don't expect it to be back on the road until the following decemeber for anything which requires serious work, ie not changing a tyre, spark plugs oil water etc..., plan every job every time don't be sidelined or attempt to cut corners, this inevitably makes it take longer and means having to do the job twice... look at what it would cost to repair that problem if it goes beyond your skill set, ie can you rebuild a top or bottom end grind in valves sort out timing change a cam belt yadda yadda yadda...

car mechanics is on one hand great it's at this level basic engineering and a bit like mecarrno but there are times when it's frustrating as buggery and frankly i'd rather these days have summit relaible which meant i wasn't spending time underneither the bloody thing fiddling with an ongoing list ogf maintainence tasks...
 
hippogriff said:
Apart from the engine and the welding that is. Does the fiberglass body have to come off before you can weld an ambulance, I wonder?
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dependant on where the rust is almost certainly ... one way or the other fiberglass is used in it's raw form as fire blankets however in it's treated and resined form it will conduct heat and give off nasty toxic fumes but burn... but not be pleasent as in a slight case of death may occur...

http://cache.jalopnik.com/cars/assets/resources/2006/11/Corvette-Z06-In-Flames-01.jpg

image changed to link
 
I still like the idea of a minibus but have no mechanics knowledge so won't be getting something that's going to need a lot of attention initially. The welding and engine on that ambulance was putting me off. Looked good inside though.

My priority is a reliable vehicle first of all - because I don't have money to pour into it randomly. If we were converting it then I can plan and save - a dying engine doesn't wait for your convenience really does it? :D
 
PieEye said:
I still like the idea of a minibus but have no mechanics knowledge so won't be getting something that's going to need a lot of attention initially. The welding and engine on that ambulance was putting me off. Looked good inside though.

My priority is a reliable vehicle first of all - because I don't have money to pour into it randomly. If we were converting it then I can plan and save - a dying engine doesn't wait for your convenience really does it? :D
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that kind of interior though could be bought for about £300 or even made with some rudimentary carpentary skills (like knowing the right end of hammer and how to turn a screw driver what a pencil is and how to measure stuff witha tape maesure... that kind of rudamentary) for less... and be structurally sound ie take you jumping up and down on it pissed out yer head at glasto to the artic minkies or some such... it might be a bit inelligant (have no idea you might be mint at word work...) but it'll stand up to punishment but if the thing it's attached to is buggered... well then it's wasted effort...

as for engines giving up on you well yeah and no they can be coaxed along for some time whilst being very very sick indeed (once got from spain to northampton with only two gears and an engine sounching like two tin cans full of stones in a washing machine!!) however, tbh it's not worth the level of stress that having to make pagan ritualistic shamanic incantations to inch it another step further will require if it's going wrong... and the less of course you know the bigger that void of going wrong can be... so yeah realiability is the key put as much money as you can reasonably afford to into that it really is a case of you get's what you pay for unless you a really lucky or know what you are looking at and therefore can get bargin... however if you're buying private never pay the list price barter and keep them talking it's when you go silent that you've lost the barter... ;)
 
tbh i'd stay well clear of mini bueses as getting insurence for them is a nightmare (from experince) even if you rip the seats out then anythign with over 7 seats is a pig to insure... there used ot be only one place to insure them with minibus plus who charged the earth (like a couple of grand for them) and you'd have to get the dvla to recertify or agree to the change of use if you changed it from a minibus to a camper (needed to stop you getting cained for minibus insurence...) best to buy summit that already has dvla camper designation on it's log book or isn't a pain to insure like an ambulance... if it were me...
 
I've had a Transit minibus for 3 years, it's cheap as you like to run and cheap to fix. I took the seats out so there's only 6 left. I always meant to put a leisure battery in and stuff like that but I'm too lazy and a mattress did the trick for me and the young un. The bodywork is shit but it's cosmetic stuff, not welding.

Ahem........I'm selling it ;)

:D
 
Dubversion said:
hello.

after lots of marvellous help on the campervan thread, I think Pieface is likely to buy a van or a minibus and convert. This way you'll get a better vehicle for your money and can work on it.

Now for the price range we're looking at - £1.5k - 2k - and the rough spec we're looking at (semi or hightop, MWB or LWB, diesel) the main brands that come up are:

Ford Transits and variants
Mercedes Sprinters
LDV variants
Iveco

Now Ford even I know are reliable and easy to maintain, but I'm led to believe their bodywork is shit.
My ex-van driver mate swears by Mercedes of all kinds, even Sprinters, but Longdog reckons Sprinters are death traps.
At least one person said LDVs are shit (which is a shame, there's a LOT of these about)
Iveco I know nothing about but I see a lot in fleets around town..

So..

please air your van brand prejudices on this thread and help us bloody decide what to rule out or rule in!!
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The body work on Transits aint the most rubust when it comes to brawlin with the elements but what you get in terms of reliability out weighs this IMO, speshally if your gonna batter the livin day lights out of the thing.

The other vans above offer more space than many Ford vans but Mercs are known for rustin quickly, parts might cost a few quid too.
 
Iveco isn't Ford as far as I know, it's Fiat. I have to say that all the Iveco's I've driven have been quality vehicles. Plenty of oomph, reliable, comfortable seats and turn on a sixpence.

LDV I wouldn't touch with somebody else's barge pole. Under powered, skitish bags of shite. If you're not a midget you'll be forever ducking down to look out of the side window because the doors are too short and you'll twat yourself repeatedly on the bonce everytime you get in or out of the fucking things. I had one on a week's test in my last job. After the first day I refused to drive it. Truly awful things fit only for the scrap heap.
 
moose said:
I think we've already established that VWs are only for the devoted-to-the-point-of-insanity. :D [/SIZE]
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Thats me.

I still say get a VeeDub. You can go to VW festivals then which are the coolest car festivals known to mankind.

I remember seeing the Prodigy at Bug Jam before everyone else realised that they were cool again.

I think the year after the Minister of Sound did the tunes along with a 70s tent. That was a wicked weekend.
 
Errol's son said:
Toyota Hiace is best.

Then a Nissan. Then any other Japanese make.

Mercedes are OK.

Ford are crap for bodywork but cheap to fix.

LDV are really crap for engines and bodywork. AVOID LDV.
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I agree with that - especially the Hiace bit - they are SO reliable - and that's why they are everywhere in Africa and the Middle East! But I reckon Dub and Pie aren't into Hiaces cos they're a bit on the small (and rather uncool :D ) side, am I right? There are lots of panel van Hiaces around, but I reckon they're too small for what you want....

So - I'd go for a Transit or a pre-Sprinter Merc. A bonus of these two (and also the Iveco) is that parts are easily available in mainland Europe too, which is important if you want to do any European travel in the van.

A mate of mine had an LDV and went round France and Spain in it for 6 months, and she said that parts were an absolute bugger to get hold of - they had to get parts from England so she was stuck in a garage for a couple of weeks!
 
Marius said:
I remember seeing the Prodigy at Bug Jam before everyone else realised that they were cool again.
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see, that sounds like my idea of hell. I'd have to learn how to do that fucking VW hand signal too.
 
Marius said:
I still say get a VeeDub. You can go to VW festivals then which are the coolest car festivals known to mankind.
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Cool isn't going to help you if you want to go up a hill loaded with luggage and loads of people in 40 degree heat though, is it? ;)
 
han said:
I agree with that - especially the Hiace bit - they are SO reliable - and that's why they are everywhere in Africa and the Middle East! But I reckon Dub and Pie aren't into Hiaces cos they're a bit on the small (and rather uncool :D ) side, am I right? There are lots of panel van Hiaces around, but I reckon they're too small for what you want....
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nah, coolness isn't a factor - it's more, as you say, the size.
 
longdog said:
Iveco isn't Ford as far as I know, it's Fiat. I have to say that all the Iveco's I've driven have been quality vehicles. Plenty of oomph, reliable, comfortable seats and turn on a sixpence.
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well yes and no....

iveco is 62 % fiat 48% ford... owned... but all the designs are ford based... ie the daily is in fact the transit (or rather the new shape transit is infact the daily as the simply merged the two models... there being only the sightest cosmetic changes between them ...like the renualt master and that vauxell van and the fiat van ...)
 
Another warning about LDVs. Many bands buy them ex-Royal Mail as some are already split and therefore handy for lugging 5 or 6 people and loads of gear but they are universally slammed.
 
Dubversion said:
Iveco - 10% bigger :)
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tbh if i had the cash i'd go for an iveco over an trannie but i reckon that they are always going to be more costly for the essentailly saem thing... but also they only seem to be the dailies are on the long wheel base chassis so it depends on whether you want a Long van and they are long
 
also it appear sthat most dailies are around the 5 tonne mark and registered as hgvs... so it would mena having to swap over the details with the DVLA befor ebign able to drive it on a standard licence into private ownership and all that that entails again insurence would prolly be the killer here...
 
i like the look of this

media


K reg. 109000 miles, blue, new MoT, 4 months tax, stereo, pas, front & rear tow bar, Ive owned it 3 years, only. £1,500
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can people explain why that's a really bad buy so i don't bend Pie Face's ear about it when she walks in in about 30 minutes? :D
 
Dubversion said:
i like the look of this

media




can people explain why that's a really bad buy so i don't bend Pie Face's ear about it when she walks in in about 30 minutes? :D
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That looks really good! And a lovely old-skool Mercedes - is it a 308d or something? :) Nice colour!

The power assisted steering is a REAL bonus - I've driven one of those Mercs and it's bloody exhausting work without power steering I can tell you!

Ask them about the reliability - it's good to get in writing someone to say it's reliable, or a good runner. It's often what people DON'T say in adverts that's important (ie. they can neglect to tell you stuff that's shite about a vehicle!).

Also - what's its' history - do they have documentation of repairs etc?

It looks like a good un :) Don't forget that if you go and see it you can take an AA mechanic with you for £50 to tell you whether it's a good un or not :)
 
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