Diesel Van vs Petrol SUV?

paperclap

Hi all,

We currently have a petrol Fiat Panda. Great little car, but it is just that – little.

My partner and I are into mountain biking, camping and the like… and it is a struggle to get a decent amount of gear and/or bikes in the back.

So, we’re in the market for a van (we think!).

Thinking in the region of £3,000-£4,000.

We don’t drive to work. The vehicle would mainly do short 5 mile journeys (e.g. supermarket, etc) once or twice a week. When going mountain biking on the weekend, it’ll be a 10 mile journey. Camping will no doubt be much longer journeys, but won’t be nearly as frequent! Once every few months, if that. But, hoping having a compatible vehicle will encourage us to go more often.

The above journeys make me concerned about getting a diesel van, due to potentially clogging up the DPF. Is this a real concern? Or, is it a simple case of giving it a good run up the motorway for 15 minutes once every few months?

A caddy-style van or small van would probably be ideal, as would allow us to sleep in the back (potential for camper conversion), bikes, etc. Low-top though, so good fuel economy and can fit in car parks with height barriers.

If the DPF is an issue, that takes most (if not all) vans out of the equation.

Next potential vehicles are SUVs. Thinking the Honda CRV. Or, a Toyota RAV 4. Petrol, reliable… but horrendous fuel economy and not nearly as versatile as a van. But, no DPF issues!

Any suggestions? Caddy-like van, small van or SUV? If so, any recommendations?

Thanks in advance.

daveyjp

For so few miles why is mpg a major consideration?

Consider a van based mpv. Fiat Dobio, Berlingo, Peugeot Partner etc. 

AdrianC

£3-4k will not get you much of a van at all.

For that money, I'd be looking SUV.

Does your Panda have roofrails? If so, put the bikes on top. Or get a towbar and a trailer.

custardy

daveyjp said:

For so few miles why is mpg a major consideration?

Consider a van based mpv. Fiat Dobio, Berlingo, Peugeot Partner etc. 

Doblo DPFs are terrible for short journey issues.
I would be going petrol only for such light use

'SUV's generally have very poor load lugging capacity.
Estates ( sadly a body shape that is disappearing) are king for capacity.

Would be van or estate for me on these requirements

Keep_pedalling

Why do you need to carry the bikes in the back. Buy any car fitted with a tow hitch and you can stick a bike carrier on the back. That will keep mud caked bikes away from all your other gear.

Roof bars are an alternative but harder to get bikes on and off and a real pain where car parks and site entries are equipped with height barriers.

NSG666

I don't know when you are considering buying but used car prices were up and used van prices went crazy (thankfully helped me off-load mine for a good price). Who knows what will happen to used van prices but if people reduce their online shopping habits and the supermarkets pull back on the deliveries they put in place for Covid, there might a lot of vans come onto the market and the prices plummet. That said. if you will get pleasure out of it in the meantime why wait.

Johnmcl7

I have similar requirements and I have a petrol estate car which has plenty of space to stuff in a couple of big mountain bikes (29+/fat bikes), a tent, gazebo and other bits and pieces for a few days away.  Despite their large physical size SUVs don't offer much more if any load capacity than a big estate and estates offer better mpg.

I switched from diesel to petrol for my current car and while the VED stings a bit the lower mpg doesn't really make that much of a difference for the amount of miles I do.  I've never had a single issue with the engine and don't regret going with it over a diesel.

Herzlos

£4k will get you nothing in terms of a van or SUV, but if it's just to carry bikes or camping equipment then you'd much better off looking at a roof box and bike rack.

It's also worth noting that unless it's a big SUV, you're potentially still not going to get the bikes in the back with the front wheels on, and then you've got the hassle of dealing with them tangling on each other or being covered in mud. Leaving the bikes outside the car takes care of both issues.

A towbar mounted bike rack will cost you maybe £600 (£400 for the towbar and £200 for the rack), or you can get bike carriers for the roof for about £150 for the rails + £50ish per bike carrier. Personally, the towbar one is much easier to deal with.

Or if you need even more space, a small camping trailer for £500.

Neil49

You are asking for trouble with a diesel engine for such short journeys and a quick run up the motorway every few months is not the answer.

 The cost of dpf repairs could also be considerable.

Go with petrol. 

Goudy

You can buy van based MPV's with a petrol engine. (though strictly speaking, these are really based on cars to start with).

As already mentioned, the Doblo, Berlingo, Partner and the Kangoo come with at least one petrol engine in their "car" line up.
Quite a lot will have been converted for wheelchair access, but there's still a fair few on the market that haven't.

I've used a Berlingo Multispace as a van to ferry an off road motorbike around, the rear seats unclip and pull out pretty easily.
The Doblo is a bit longer in the back, so you might not have to remove the seats completely, I know they'll take a similar off road bike with the rear seats just flipped over.

If you're worried about stuff in the rear being on show, get the rear windows tinted.

Buying a MPV version over the full van version should keep the insurance down as vans even for private use tend to attrached higher premiums, probably because they get broken into a lot more than the car versions.

RFL is often cheaper than the van version and you've a better chance of picking up a fairly well cared for family wagon rather than a hammered plummers or delivery van.

scrappy_returns

A halfrauds bike carrier for 80 quid and keep the panda is the MSE answer.