Van buying advice please

love_lifer

Hello All

Im looking for a short wheel base medium roof van which will be used for main vehicle (used 3-4 times a week roughly, short journeys on the whole), transporting furniture and later turned into a camper

Any thoughts about 2007-12 transits? Are they still rust buckets?

Cheers

onomatopoeia99

I've got a 2010 Transit, ex-British Gas. I've only had it a month, but when I crawled underneath it with a torch I couldn't see any sign of rust.

Obviously that's a sample of one.

forgotmyname

Depends what you need from a camper, seen some silly designs where even with low seating and minimal insulation your head is cranked over at the roofline.

Don't forget that when converting to a camper your going to insulate it which will mean loasing a couple of inches with the insulation and boarding.

Regarding the post above where he found no rust, what he needs to do is catch the floor/sill line on some concrete bollards making sure it goes right down to the metal as much as possible and then do not repair it.

When it gets muddy do not ever wash it.. Then it will start to rust. And thats how a lot start their trip to rusty heaven. Paintwork gets damaged and not repaired.

love_lifer

Hi thanks for responses.

forgotmyname- Im looking at semi high roof vans so that i can stand up- Im 5'3" so this is ok. No desire to be hunched over

So rust is partly due to washing? No fears there, Im happy driving dirty vehicles. I'll remember your advice

There are a very few high roof vivaros etc but hard to find so ford transit looks likeliest. Just wanted opinions from people who know more than me- Ive always driven cars

System

No, the rust is because it never gets washed so the salt that ends up on the metalwork during winter just sits there eating away at the van and any mud that has built up in the corners of the wheel arches just sits there wicking up water which attacks the metal.

kram

VW transporter would be worth a look, ive seen loads of them converted to campers. They do hold their price & always sell well as they are a popular van.
Mercedes spinters are good mechanically but tend to go on the body, but you can get some good ones.
Whatever you buy make sure the dpf is in good nick as any problems with that will cost mega money this only applies to diesel vans though.

forgotmyname

Not just washing but where stone chips and other paintwork damage gets neglected. Dirt and salt gets to the metal and that starts the rusting process.

love_lifer

Hi kram I looked at transporters but they seem too low. havent seen any with a higher roof

still looking and hopefully do some test drives later in the week

Marktheshark

Mk6 and 7 transits dont rust, they rot, it is different.
Sub standard recycled rust laden metal on sub chassis rot and deteriorate and eventually, they become irreparable.

They are built to last 10 years and that they will do, but after that, good luck.
The Pug engines in mk7 are also not so good and fail without warning at the worst possible times.

Vauxhall movano have a high roof to start with, can be Ok with a good service history and cheap.

kram

love_lifer wrote: »

Hi kram I looked at transporters but they seem too low. havent seen any with a higher roof

still looking and hopefully do some test drives later in the week

Yes I must admit that high roof vw's are quite rare but I have seen some about.

Are you looking at petrol or diesel, coz if you aint doing a lot of miles you could run into problems with dpf'ed diesels so petrol may be a better option.

It comes down to how you are going to use it.

I hope you find what your after, have a good look around at vans that have been converted for ideas etc,.

love_lifer

Thanks kram. Ive had diesels for the last year and do just about enough motorway miles to prevent dpf problems. but i'll look at both

Just had a read of the recent dpf post...maybe Ive been lucky, maybe petrol makes more sense given I cant judge what Im going to be driving at the moment and near future (have stopped commuting and starting out self employed soon)