Buying a van at distance

[Botty Cough]

25 minutes ago, river_thames said:

 

 

Edited March 24 by Botty Cough

[Botty Cough]

@river_thames

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/van-details/202403127497418

Edited March 24 by Botty Cough

[river_thames]

@Botty Cough

Thank you, it's actually similar to my current sprinter, but I'd like an auto and most importantly, solid sides. I think I'll do what @Moose McAlpine said and get an ex supermarket chassis cab, and getting a body made. 

 

I've been quoted approx £6k for a tipper conversion and body. The ex supermarket sprinters are around £8k depending on mileage. I am finding it a little tricky to make it happen locally but I'm still looking around. 

 

I thought I'd found an instant win with the one I was originally thinking about. My main thing is house and garden clearance, I'm tipping 3 times a day sometimes and I was looking to get some real mileage out of a new body, so I might have dodged a bullet.

[Botty Cough]

I would definitely go iveco over Merc these days. 

The iveco is using the fiat engine's in most of them and they are a lot stronger than the Germans.

It's also extremely Easy to make solid sides for the box at very little costs.

Edited March 24 by Botty Cough

[Moose McAlpine]

29 minutes ago, Botty Cough said:

I would definitely go iveco over Merc these days. 

The iveco is using the fiat engine's in most of them and they are a lot stronger than the Germans.

 

I definitely wouldn't. The Iveco has a better chassis and (possibly) rear axle, at a weight penalty. Outside of that they're flimsy with poor build quality, interiors that fall apart and rubbish Italian engines. The auto Ivecos use an 8-speed ZF which is a very good gearbox though. The 7-speed Merc box is a solid reliable piece of kit too.

 

The 906 Sprinters are the best, 2018+ 907s aren't as nice, interiors not as good.

 

I'd much rather have a Sprinter. (Which is why i already have one, have had 3 before, and am trying to buy another.)

 

I deal with a lot of vans in my work (mechanic) and stand firm that the 906 Sprinters are the best by some margin.

Edited March 24 by Moose McAlpine

[Botty Cough]

3 minutes ago, Moose McAlpine said:

 

I definitely wouldn't. The Iveco has a better chassis and (possibly) rear axle, at a weight penalty. Outside of that they're flimsy with poor build quality, interiors that fall apart and rubbish Italian engines. The auto Ivecos use an 8-speed ZF which is a very good gearbox though. The 7-speed Merc box is a solid reliable piece of kit too.

 

The 906 Sprinters are the best, 2018+ 907s aren't as nice, interiors not as good.

 

I'd much rather have a Sprinter. (Which is why i already have one, have had 3 before, and am trying to buy another.)

 

I deal with a lot of vans in my work (mechanic) and stand firm that the 906 Sprinters are the best by some margin.

Tipping loads is all about chassis and axle so the Iveco will always win over the sprinter on that job.

[Moose McAlpine]

2 minutes ago, Botty Cough said:

Tipping loads is all about chassis and axle so the Iveco will always win over the sprinter on that job.

 

Maybe if you're overloading it far beyond its spec. The vast majority of (3.5t) tippers out there are Transits with the same type chassis as the Sprinters and they cope fine. Sprinter diffs don't fail often anyway.

 

I'd still much rather have a Sprinter.

[Botty Cough]

17 minutes ago, Moose McAlpine said:

 

Maybe if you're overloading it far beyond its spec. The vast majority of (3.5t) tippers out there are Transits with the same type chassis as the Sprinters and they cope fine. Sprinter diffs don't fail often anyway.

 

I'd still much rather have a Sprinter.

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

[GarethM]

Most around here have gone to Fuso, few sill running transit but only until the scrap value makes it worth replacing.

[Mick Dempsey]

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

love them.