Vannies.. tell me about Vitos and VWs and stuff

[tim510]

have put 16,000kms on our Renault Traffic 2.0 TDI SWB since Aug 09...

fucking awesome van for the price. was $35,000 on road, auto, tdi, tow pack, rubber matt, cargo barrier and air-con curtain...

[TTerror]

Ok take it from a professional van owner, stay the fuck away from merc vans.

heres a rundown for you of the used van market

early mercs- fwd pieces of shit, parts are rare and outrageously expensive, and they are specifically designed to be a massive cunt to fix (ie expensive.) I can give you pages of mind bendingly retarded design flaws with those things, as you can see im still angry about them.
Only reason I got into one was cause the previous van was a kia pregio, which itself was a result of a half performed abortion between a model T and a coke can.

all the vans of that year ie up to early 2000s felt like pieces of agricultural shit, with hte hiace being the most reliable and worthwhile option.


If your budget is a bit higher then I have heard great things about those iLoads also, the double sliding door design is killer, every other manufacturer should be shot for not incorporating it.
If you still got room to move then yeah ive heard rave reviews about the VW Transporters.
But best of all are the Renaults, which are also pretty pricey.


Having said that, you couldnt pay me enough to go back to a van after switching to utes. There is NO reason anyone would have to use a van over a ute these days, unless you regularly overnight places with bikes on the back, and even then id rather get two massive chains and some blankets before stepping foot into another van.

[Asteroid]

A diesel Caddy is a pretty damn good option in the smaller segment. I'd have one in a heartbeat.

[tim510]

A diesel Caddy is a pretty damn good option in the smaller segment. I'd have one in a heartbeat.

1.9L TDI?

They don't look too bad, was my 2nd preference, but it couldn't fit my DRZ in the back

[TonyJZX]

actually the caddy looks good

but i'd want a 2nd set of seats option and maybe the 103TDI motar

[Euroboost]

have put 16,000kms on our Renault Traffic 2.0 TDI SWB since Aug 09...

fucking awesome van for the price. was $35,000 on road, auto, tdi, tow pack, rubber matt, cargo barrier and air-con curtain...

My old employer had one of the first Trafics off the boat and loved it so much they bought a Kangoo to join it, and replaced the Trafic with another one when the first one was written off. Great vans with a worse then shit dealer support, NO dealer in Canberra at all and the one that was here was a useless cockstain anyway.
Best van I have ever driven.
Oh yeah, current Hiaces are shitheaps. The one I've got now has a fucked central locking system so the sliding door is no longer connected and Toyota wants to replace the whole assembly, out of warranty. Not to mention the thing is shit to drive at highway speeds and is useless at night, the headlights are beyond shit.

[tim510]

euroboost,

my brother used to drive a kia pregio... it was better than the rental hiace he used when it was in for servicing..

the Renault is in a league of it's own compared to the hiace and pregio. Our was a 07 build, 09 plate van and was very cheap. the only quirk is the automatic-manual gearbox... but you learn to live with that.

[Sturmovik]

Euro, check the two prong connector on the door jam of the sliding door, the prongs snap off and the lock no longer works.
Also check the plug under the seat. People disconnect it to get rid of the seat belt chime reminder, but for some strange reason it also controls the central locking.

[goracing]

i have had so many hi aces its not funny, iveco, and a sprinter.....

i now have a merc 119 and love it.

Would proberly prefer the 120 but i can t afford a new one at this point.

i would not touch the front wheel drive mercs but.

[Eurorogerrevolution]

Personally I think the t4 manual petrol is the most reliable older VW van , the T3's had too many headstud issues to make em reliable (unless you shove a suby donk in there) and for the later ones the caddy 1.9tdi is the go . The T5's arent as reliable as the t4's although the auto was much better in the t5 !

[Gassed250]

I have an 07 slwb hiace d4d turbo diesel, bought it new it now has just over 370000km and not a single problem with it, gets driven pretty hard (will do 160 easy), its a little heavy on front tyres and the seats aren't the best but its damn reliable

One of our drivers has a VW and its on its 3rd trans (this time he's paying) and they're 12K a go and has less k's on it then my hiace

Hiace will give you years of problem free motoring

[Sturmovik]

You are forgetting they need front brakes every 40k kms (city driving)

[TonyJZX]

the iload auto diesel seems to get pretty piss poor city mileage

much better in manual form but who wants to drive manual these days?

[Eurorogerrevolution]

One of our drivers has a VW and its on its 3rd trans (this time he's paying) and they're 12K a go and has less k's on it then my hiace

He is getting ripped , I only charge around $8k for a t4 auto rebuilt . $12k would only be RS6 , S8 , A8 etc

[Gassed250]

You are forgetting they need front brakes every 40k kms (city driving)

on the hiace ???

Maybe with an auto

I find that hard to believe as mine haven't been changed yet, though my discs have hot spots so disc's and pads are on the agenda at 400000 service