At work I regularly drive a standard 2007 SWB Ford Transit. Broke down today so away to the mechanic.
Got a loan of a 2012 VW Transporter van today, slightly smaller in size but I feel that it is much more refined and a much nicer cab area. Don't know if its more car like or maybe just first impressions.
Noticeably more quiet on the road though.
Anyone else had cause to drive both and offer comparisons?
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Surfers like Transporters. Not sure why but they do. I passed one in the summer heading back from the south that had a sticker on the bottom of the back door which amused my tiny mind anyway.
The driver was a guy of rather more ample proportions than the average surfer and the sticker read, "No Jaffa Cakes are kept in this vehicle overnight"
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Bobby,
Coincidentally, a couple of weeks ago I had to deliver a Transit and then 2 Transporters (one was a California which I thought at first might be a Ferrari but was a camper van!)
Must admit I was far more impressed by the Transporters than the Transit which seemed a bit basic rather than "much more refined and a much nicer cab area."
Bear in mind that I only drove each for about 50 miles but as someone who has never fancied a camper van, I actually found myself thinking " I wouldn't mind touring Europe in a VW Transporter California"
How does price compare Transit/Transporter though?
P
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Transits are now carp compared to the opposition. A pile of rust waiting to happen. A couple of guys I know are are havering their 07/08 plate examples welded underneath. Pile of Poo.
Vag. Great until they break £££££££££££££££££. Oh! And they may well be 'nice' in the driver department. Just try 150 miles as the front seat passenger and see how you feel.
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>> Oh! And they may well be 'nice' in the
>> driver department. Just try 150 miles as the front seat passenger and see how you
>> feel.
Abso effin lutely. That double crew cab seat is a spine twisting instrument of torture.
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We had them on the hire fleet until last year. I thought they were super things to drive, very willing and comfortable. Replaced now by Peugeot Experts. I brought one of the new ones over from Leeds and I wasn't impressed. Very tinny and the gearchange was nowhere near as good as the VW.
My mate in the Lakes had two, both bright yellow and ex- AA. I liked the '99 best, single sliding door on the nearside and 3/4 seat for passengers..........still a big chunk of van space behind that.
I would have one tomorrow to replace the Vitara but herself wouldn't like a van as our main car !
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Thirty or so years ago the bog standard hire van for flat movers was the Transit. RWD, sloppy steering, noisy and in no way overpowered.
Then came FWD vans like the Trafic. Good performance laden and almost sporty empty, low load space and with sliding door on N/S. First drove one in Feb 1985 to move into Mrs B and my first shared home.
A revelation.
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My first Transporter was a 1600 TD Syncro. Many years ago. Bought new and a great workhorse until it became too small. Then a succession of Transporters culminating in a LWB HighRoof. Tried a MB for six months, but that was returned as not fit for purpose, with the help of a solicitor. I think we ran four Transporters over a 20 year period. Sold themselves privately, then bought ex Demos. I never even considered anything else.
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I've only driven a Transit once. To Wakefield from Manchester (empty) and then back full of computer equipment. No idea if it was a FWD or RWD variant. When empty you could tell from the handling. But it didn't half shift. Especially compared to my 1.1l 1989 Ford Fiesta!
Coming back it handled a lot better. Never wanted to drive anything like a Transit again.
When we moved house in 2009 I had to empty junk from garage and cellar. I went for a smaller hire van. Partly because it would fit under the bar on entry to the tip :-) And in case they thought I was a business I used three different ones which are around the same distance from our old house :-)
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Transporter seems to be ubiquitous around here. Downside to that as a buyer is that they keep their value.
I considered one as a replacement for the pick-up, but ended up with a SWB LT28; the VW version of the Sprinter. Ideal for our purposes as it's big enough to carry a motorbike, has a 1 tonne payload for carrying firewood and has a fitted towbar too. In its former life it was a "special needs" minibus and apart from the front seats has a fixed one in the rear behind the driver, plus a single and double which can be moved about (or removed altogether) by means of locking rails in the floor. Double barn-type doors at the back and a side loading door. Took the grandkids out in it last year and they think it's great too.
It's short enough to fit into a bog-standard supermarket parking space, turns on a sixpence and is very easy to drive. Only downside is that it's fitted with the SDI naturally-aspirated engine which makes steep hills with a load a bit of a bind; having said that it winds up to speed quite nicely when empty or lightly loaded and returns about 33 mpg on average. Five-cylinder engine so it's very smooth. Internally, it's functional rather than luxurious but with us both being drivers by trade (me lorry, wifey bus) it's what we're used to; like many other vans the driver's seat is more comfortable than the passenger's.
I'd buy another, but next time I'll go for a Tdi version.
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>> Surfers like Transporters. Not sure why but they do. I passed one in the summer
>> heading back from the south that had a sticker on the bottom of the back
>> door which amused my tiny mind anyway.
>>
>> The driver was a guy of rather more ample proportions than the average surfer and
>> the sticker read, "No Jaffa Cakes are kept in this vehicle overnight"
Done a fair few thousand miles in a T5 transporter, and it is by and large a very comfortable and engaging drive (for a van). Pretty rugged too, tho in the one i have intimate knowledge of Needed a new DMF at 90k (VW paid!) a new drive shaft at 100k, and developed what felt like an injection fault at 130k - 7 years, so was traded out ( surprisingly attracted a trade in value of 3k from a VW dealer)
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I liked the thuggish rwd Transit. But the late fwd one was a whole lot more refined.
I am a very irregular van driver. I remember a Nissan hire van, like a slightly shrunken, narrower Transit. That was refined too. They all seem to do about 90 flat out.
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An irregular driver. Not driven the "new" transit but several old ones (largely 3.5T) and they are agricultural at best. Sprinters are a far better place to be although tend to have lower weight limits - would like to try a 116 ;-)
The vivaro surprised me with its almost car like economy and was a pleasant drive.
The LDVs are worse than transits.
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An irregular driver.
That'll be the phone in one hand and the Greggs pasty in the other.
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We wanted a transporter shuttle, but ended up with the viano.
At the time Vianos (used) were around 15 - 20% cheaper and I couldn't justify the extra, plus the Viano's are better kitted out and a bit more pokey. For what we paid for the 150 bhp auto with leather and aircon we would have got a pretty basic transporter 102, or maybe a 130.
Guy at a transporter specialist told me the shuttles are popular with the camper conversion guys because of the side windows and tailgate which keeps the price up.
Mrs B loves the viano, and its surprisingly sprightly and easy to live with - fits in most spaces no problem, and in the 14 months we've had it only costs have been a suspension arm and a window regulator, so given it was cheap and had lots of miles its been ok so far
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Hope all van drivers are regular, otherwise it might prove embarrassing on a long stretch of the M6...:-)
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White Mercedes Sprinter with the biggest possible engine and the highest available axle ratio would be a decent sort of van. 'That damned elusive Pimpernel' as it were. No point in hanging around.
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Any regular van drivers on here? - Runfer D'Hills
