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Ford Transit Diesel SWB- most fuel efficient model?

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m33r4
m33r4 Posts: 502 Forumite
Part of the Furniture 100 Posts Combo Breaker
I am looking to buy a Ford Transit SWB Diesel van (any age) for a window cleaning business. The van will have a 200L water tank load plus other bits and pieces for window cleaning.

Which model ought I be aiming for please?
What is the insurance like on this group?
How much in fuel costs can I expect to pay if I am covering 80miles daily?

Thanks for any valuable input :)

Comments

  • Hammyman
    Hammyman Posts: 9,913 Forumite
    Any really but I'd go for the later turbo diesels as they're more economical than the earlier - they changed to being decent about K-reg so pretty much anything on the market now would be the later variants I would have thought.. Avoid the petrol ones like the plague
    Work on 25MPG with it being a lower figure due to basically all being in town. Insurance varies so much with commercial vehicles and from driver to driver and even postcode that you'll have to do your own research.
  • m33r4
    m33r4 Posts: 502 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 100 Posts Combo Breaker
    Hammyman wrote: »
    .... Insurance varies so much with commercial vehicles and from driver to driver and even postcode that you'll have to do your own research.

    Postcode would be Derbyshire area.

    Drivers are aged 42 and 39 with full NCB and no points.

    Any tips from which companies are best value for transit insurance please?

    I am doing my research and asking this question on here is part of this research - here we have people with tried and tested experience.

    Thanks.
  • i tthink a 200l water tank and all the other kit required plus up to three crew members will be pushing you towards the higher load carrying models... 300/350 etc
    The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits
  • 200litres of Water is around 200Kgs.... SWB be fine
  • anewman
    anewman Posts: 9,200 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    I drove a turbo diesel one and can't believe how good it was on MPG.
  • benham3160
    benham3160 Posts: 735 Forumite
    I often drive an old mk3 190 2.5 NA.

    It's slow, (I mean, painfully, painfully slow, 0-60 around 60 seconds) but I'm amazed even after over 300k it can still manage 35mpg on a run.

    It's vile to drive though, but it keeps going, bless it..... Old Transits drive like lorries compared to new ones. I often drive an 06 2.4 TDCi six-speed, and that is a) Quick (suprisingly so) and refined, but it's not as good on juice as the old DI engines.

    Regards,
    Andy
  • C_Mababejive
    C_Mababejive Posts: 11,668 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    I have a Transit Connect LWB 230 TDI and it is incredibly economical whilst having very lively performance despite having a ton of kit in the back..! Recommended.
    Feudal Britain needs land reform. 70% of the land is "owned" by 1 % of the population and at least 50% is unregistered (inherited by landed gentry). Thats why your slave box costs so much..
  • colino
    colino Posts: 5,059 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    Have you thought this through? If you were doing valeting and offering an "anywhere" service I could see the point of lugging around that amount of weight, but for general window cleaning, not only do you get to know your customers better by asking for "a top-up", you also get to rattle the doors of the slow payers.
  • wealdroam
    wealdroam Posts: 19,180 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    colino wrote: »
    Have you thought this through? If you were doing valeting and offering an "anywhere" service I could see the point of lugging around that amount of weight, but for general window cleaning, not only do you get to know your customers better by asking for "a top-up", you also get to rattle the doors of the slow payers.
    These days I think some window cleaners, perhaps the pole ones, like to use soft (or demineralised) water so that they don't have to 'dry' the glass.
  • m33r4
    m33r4 Posts: 502 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 100 Posts Combo Breaker
    colino wrote: »
    Have you thought this through? If you were doing valeting and offering an "anywhere" service I could see the point of lugging around that amount of weight......

    I am also hoping to offer a driveway jetwash service alongside the window cleaning hence the requirement for a larger water tank.
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