Buying a van at distance

[tree-fancier123]

I run two Ivecos - both 3.0 chain driven. The interiors are good enough for me and loads of power, far better when loaded going uphill than the Transits. What lets Iveco down for me if you want to keep hold of them is the factory mastic underneath does not offer long term corrosion protection - although hearing another member talking about taking a new Hilux in for rust protection, maybe all manufacturers are not bothering too much - the vehicles should go to the scrapyard soon enough that they can sell you a replacement

[Moose McAlpine]

1 hour ago, Botty Cough said:

Not many tree cutters that don't overload in reality ,that's why we go iveco.

 

Everyone overloads every van. They all have rubbish payloads due to the 3,500kg limit so they're all run heavy. I've had all of mine over 1t overloaded and they handle it fine.

 

Unless you're putting a truly ridiculous amount of weight in they all handle loading above their plated weight.

 

37 minutes ago, Mick Dempsey said:

Running a tranny here, 3rd one in 24 years, reliable and cheap to run.

love them.

 

Transits have always been number 1 for tippers, and the 2.4s had the bottom end grunt on point. How does your newer 2.0 compare? I do a lot of belts and injectors on them.

 

2.1 Sprinters are better suited to being delivery/courier vans around town and on motorways. Mine's generally fine, but pulling a loaded trailer you can feel it's lacking some torque When it comes to hills or doing 50+.

 

21 minutes ago, tree-fancier123 said:

I run two Ivecos - both 3.0 chain driven. The interiors are good enough for me and loads of power, far better when loaded going uphill than the Transits. 

 

The 3.0 is a monster for torque and pretty reliable. The 2.3 is nothing special and hasn't got the grunt of the old Transit 2.4. I want to like the Ivecos for their more rugged chassis and rear axle but i just find the Italians are rubbish for their fit/finish/quality.

 

The newer Transits have nice interiors, while the newer 907 Sprinters have really ugly dashboards, over-complicated steering wheels and cheap.plastic doorcards.

[Mick Dempsey]

4 minutes ago, Moose McAlpine said:

 

Everyone overloads every van. They all have rubbish payloads due to the 3,500kg limit so they're all run heavy. I've had all of mine over 1t overloaded and they handle it fine.

 

Unless you're putting a truly ridiculous amount of weight in they all handle loading above their plated weight.

 

 

Transits have always been number 1 for tippers, and the 2.4s had the bottom end grunt on point. How does your newer 2.0 compare? I do a lot of belts and injectors on them.

 

2.1 Sprinters are better suited to being delivery/courier vans around town and on motorways. Mine's generally fine, but pulling a loaded trailer you can feel it's lacking some torque When it comes to hills or doing 50+.

 

 

The 3.0 is a monster for torque and pretty reliable. The 2.3 is nothing special and hasn't got the grunt of the old Transit 2.4. I want to like the Ivecos for their more rugged chassis and rear axle but i just find the Italians are rubbish for their fit/finish/quality.

 

The newer Transits have nice interiors, while the newer 907 Sprinters have really ugly dashboards, over-complicated steering wheels and cheap.plastic doorcards.

I’ve no issues with the power, plenty enough, not discernibly more than the 2.4 but you don’t have to work the gears as much if you know what I mean.

Long term reliability…I dunno, only done 3k, but there’s a warranty so fingers crossed.

Edited March 24 by Mick Dempsey

[Botty Cough]

Well for me I'm not bothered about the cabin, it's gonna get wrecked and covered in oil and sawdust so I'll stand my ground on the iveco. It does have the edge.

The 2.2 and 2.0 transits are disposable at relatively light use unfortunately 

[Moose McAlpine]

1 minute ago, Botty Cough said:

So I'll stand my ground on the iveco.

 

 

Well you're the expert. 🤷🏻‍♂️

[Botty Cough]

3 minutes ago, Moose McAlpine said:

 

 

Well you're the expert. 🤷🏻‍♂️

I have used all the vehicles mentioned.

The most unreliable was a 4x4 sprinter...

The best I've used has been the 3.0 iveco. 

[Moose McAlpine]

4 minutes ago, Mick Dempsey said:

I’ve no issues with the power, plenty enough, not discernibly more than the 2.4 but you don’t have to work the gears as much if you know what I mean.

Long term reliability…I dunno, only done 3k, but there’s a warranty so fingers crossed.

 

When i was at the AA i had a 2.0 Custom, which drove beautifully and had plenty of power (I think it was a 130bhp one) but it didn't pull the weight a tipper would. I've not spent much time driving the big Transits with the 2.0.

 

The only thing i'd really be concerned with long-term is the timing belt and oil pump belt, and oil changes with the correct oil. I see a lot with snapped belts, or the belt coming apart due to wrong oil being used. Bits of the belt also block the oil pump pickup. Injector failures seem to be hit and miss, no clear pattern for their failure.

[Mick Dempsey]

2 minutes ago, Moose McAlpine said:

 

 

Well you're the expert. 🤷🏻‍♂️

 

[Botty Cough]

3 minutes ago, Moose McAlpine said:

 

When i was at the AA i had a 2.0 Custom, which drove beautifully and had plenty of power (I think it was a 130bhp one) but it didn't pull the weight a tipper would. I've not spent much time driving the big Transits with the 2.0.

 

The only thing i'd really be concerned with long-term is the timing belt and oil pump belt, and oil changes with the correct oil. I see a lot with snapped belts, or the belt coming apart due to wrong oil being used. Bits of the belt also block the oil pump pickup. Injector failures seem to be hit and miss, no clear pattern for their failure.

Front suspension in the big 2.0 transits is soft at best. 

They eat brakes and destroy front ball joints. They are very thirsty pulling a tip load and chipper with a kit load in the rear seat area... 

[Mick Dempsey]

I’ll clarify.

I’ve nothing against other 3.5 tonne tippers.

However since 2001 I’ve had only 3 transits, they’ve run around, usually a fair bit overloaded, pulling a chipper, got me there, got me back, almost never let me down, reasonable economy. They have been my most consistent moneymaker.

I just don’t know how I could improve on them with anything more powerful or more comfortable.