Way OT: Vans - opinions please..

Personally, I wouldn't touch a Pilot or Convoy with a VERY long pole.=20 They're extremely basic in design with nowhere near the comfort or=20 sophistication of the Transit. In the ones I've driven (2000MY onwards)=20 the drivers position is very cramped with limited fore/aft adjustment on =

the seat and no vertical adjustment at all. An hour in one of those and=20 I have trouble standing up straight again for several minutes - an=20 arthritic problem made worse by the lousy driving position.

The current Citroen is very nice although I've only driven 2005/6 models.=

--=20 Regards

Steve G

the reason they are cheap is because they are "cheap" the convoy uses transit engine /gearbox so fairly reliable in that department front axles need kingpins greasing very regular otherwise it's new stub axles but the interior build quality does leave a lot to be desired but I think they are worth it if it breaks down throw it away and buy another

convoys tend to be 3-3.5T but transit size whereas pilots are under 3T but not the same carrying capacity

ok - I've held off till you got some sensible replies - I suspect this isn't gonna help you at all, but when I was looking for a van I chose the

110. Does everything I ask of it.

I suspect you may be right - I've had 2 in the past. The only thing that is putting me off is the fact that on many of the hills I seem to come across in France they are *very* hard work - like 2nd gear screaming all the way to the top just to keep it going. The old

2.5Di engine might be reliable, but it isn't exactly powerful! The turbo models seem to be pretty rare (at least in the price range I am considering!)

Matt

Sorry - getting confused now - for whatever reason for 110 I read LWB (i.e. Transit LWB!) ????! I'd love to be able to use a 110, but it just isn't big enough for what I need - it might *just* do internally, but the rear door opening is nowhere near wide enough. I often used to struggle with the P38 for width with some items!

Matt

On or around Wed, 28 Jun 2006 14:39:49 +0100, Matthew Maddock enlightened us thusly:

The pilot is small and has the peugeot 1.9 diesel which is not really suited to a van. The Convoy is a lot bigger (but SWB ones are same wheelbase as the pilot) and uses transit DI engine and box (later ones have the duratorq). Good sound van, harsher ride and noisier when compared with transit.

bigger Convoys are twin-wheel. I'm just selling a minibus... had it for a year and it's nice and easy to drive, likesay a bit noisy and harsh compared to the tranny but not unbearably so. There are a few convoys around with air suspension on the back end.

Keep the P38 mate!!!

Dont leave us now.....

--

Subaru WRX Range Rover 4.6 HSE (The Tank!)

200cc Dirt Bike (Dirtbag)

We might be going on a summer holiday, the Greece Ball rally!!!!

BTW, i just got a 200cc dirtbike home in the back of mine!! No front wheel & i had to take the bars off, but it did fit!!!

nige

--

Subaru WRX Range Rover 4.6 HSE (The Tank!)

200cc Dirt Bike (Dirtbag)

We might be going on a summer holiday, the Greece Ball rally!!!!

P38 is already sadly departed :( 1000 miles a week soon got the mileage to over 200k, and I decided at that point that it was time to part company before something serious broke!

Just waiting for things to settle down with house (& country!) move before figuring out how much money is left to buy a nice LR play thing. For whatever reason I've got a hankering for a Series III

109.

Matt

cool - I have to go collect a bonnie in a few weeks - front wheel and bars off, that's my strategy too.

A real one, or a new one? I have to say, I've always hanlered after a classic Trumpet, even now.

Stuart

"Matthew Maddock" wrote in message news:CZ6dnaX68vY7Gz snipped-for-privacy@bt.com...

A lot of the self employed couriers working for our lot ( DHL) have gone for the Vauxhall Movano they reckon its a whole lot more civilised and Vauxhall are giving them good deals I wouldn't mind a couple of weeks out of the Merc the novelty of Tacho's wore out about 15 years ago Derek

Middlin' - '79 - unit 750, MKII Amals &c.

After having riden Harleys for a few years I'd forgotten how much fun the Triumph twins are - so light in comparison.

Sadly - this bonnie needs a bottom up refurb - hubs to head-stock - I think every part needs attention or replacing.

so, my shopping list now includes one o them blaster thingies - damnitt I need a bigger shed - anyone got a heavy duty canvas gazebo? :)

One of the traders on the market I work at has one. Says it's reliable, but has the worst steering lock of any of the vans that attend here. He has to do multiple point turns where other vehicles get round in one.

Also slightly out of reach of my £1500 budget! :-)

On or around Wed, 28 Jun 2006 20:23:10 GMT, SteveG enlightened us thusly:

have to admit, I modified mine by fitting a sierra seat - the additional side support makes it a different van altogether.

Then again, transit drivers seats are only good when new as well, they suffer the same collapsing at the edge as the LDV ones.

My transit also has a sierra seat in the driver's position, although it does gain height adjustment compared to the LDV. Mind, you could nick a tranny seat complete with the height-adjust frame and bolt that into the LDV.

main advantage in the LDV is the obvious one you've pointed out, you get about 100000 fewer miles and about 4 years less aging for yer money. Also the Convoy/Pilot are way better than the older 400/200 models in terms of dash and suchlike.

but the same applies to LR 110s - the standard seat is crap. You'll no doubt guess what I fitted to mine :-)

but seriously, the sierra seat, minus the underpinnings (4 bolts and they all come off) is far and a away the best seat I've found in anything recently, and available from yer local breakers for about a fiver. Passenger ones are often less worn, and the more "sporty" looking one with the obvious side-bolsters is the best. Much better lateral support and adjustable lumbar support as well.

The seat itself is not all that deep and thus easy to mount on most things.

We had an R reg Convoy at work which had height adjustable doofer on it. I don't know if it was an option extra.

I avoided driving it as it's when they swapped from V8 to the Diesels ... at least for our purposes anyway.

Lee D

Anyone had any experience with a Merc Vito? I've read some dreadful reviews on 'tinternet and a only few good ones. Mostly the bad ones are based around how unreliable they are. Surely they can't be that bad?!

Have seen a nice 2000 110CDi (ok, yes - way above my original budget, but I did say I would go more if I found the right one!)

Matt

On or around Fri, 30 Jun 2006 20:57:05 +0100, Matthew Maddock enlightened us thusly:

thought they were mostly smaller than you were looking for? The sprinter is the van-of-choice, it seems, for them as can afford it.