Looking to get a new van soon got a 55 plate volkswagen Lt 35 lwb at the mo, the sprinter or crafter I want age and millage wise are around the 10k + vat and a bit out of my reach money wise. Been thinking about getting a newish Iveco daily then noticed that the Citreon Relay extra lwb has a load space of 4m does anyone have one and whats your opinion on them?
Stick with the LT, it will last longer than anything french ! Mines on a 53 plate, and just about hanging in there. It will still do 105 mph, and only stops because it`s limited. You can watch the fuel guage drop as your moving.
I'd rather stick needles in my eyes than buy a Citroen van. The depreciation will be astronomical and the difference in build quality and reliability will make it such false economy. You're basically saying you can't quite afford an 80/20 twist so you're looking at buying budget cord. A Sprinter or Crafter is the sensible choice. A friend of mine bought a Relay on an 07 plate and it literally started falling apart from day 1. He sold it on and lost a few grand in the process but bought a Sprinter and says it's the best thing he could have done.
Vito, I know your the main man for van info. As far as I can work out, by reading, getting info from other fitters etc, the new Crafters and Sprinters don`t seem to be as good as the old ones ? I had a 310 sprinter on an r plate, brand new. Fantasic van, as was my Hi-ace before that. The guys I know who have new Sprinters, and Crafters seem to have loads of greif ! Not as much as those who drive Citreons and Fiats though.
Y reg , 04 and a 56 plate sprinter never had a problem 56 and two 58 plate vito never had a problem either.
Dont get a french lwb van, absolute crap and you will wonder why the hell you have been charged so much its all ali and plastic, and they lose value like nobodys business.
The main problem with the reputation of the Sprinter was they did an "upgrade" to the CDi engine and it started destroying pistons so they went back to the older components. Steer clear of the 08 plates and you'll be fine. If you look at the mileage of vans on Ebay you'll see the Sprinters and Crafters are still driving to the moon and back. There will always be people who have bad experiences with any kind of motor but if you research them as I always do you'll get an idea of what you can expect. The research I did on mine has proved to be 100% correct in terms of good and bad but then I'm religious with oil and filter changes and always a good quality oil. 47k on a motor in 2 and a bit years for the cost of 2 window regs (£90), 2 arb droplinks (£50) and 5 oil and filter changes at around £60 a time mean I've spent less than £500 in that time on the upkeep of my van and it has the same engine as a Sprinter so buying one of those wouldn't hold any fears for me.............unless I bought an 08 plate
Sound`s o.k then. I had an R reg 310 sprinter(new), v reg 310, all great van`s. Then a 51 plate 311 (had lots of greif), then a 52 plate 313(new) huge problems, and merc dealer locked it in the compound because I would nt pay for work, that should have been under warranty! Not sure if I could go back to Mercs now. I have 2x Transporters, 1 had to have a new engine, and 1 LT. Overall they have been good vans. Always freighted up, and abused, but always serviced. Also have a Hilux. Toyota`s (Hiace vans, are the best mid vans imo) but why are they so UGLY
My LT is now on 130,000. Oil change every 10k. 2x intercoolers, 1 under warranty, other was £130 1x Turbo, under warranty Mid sec exhaust This week its had ball joints. Thats it, in all that time. Best ever.
The 51 had general problems. Electrical and mechanical. Far too many for a van with less than 100k The 52 had lots of probs. Gearbox seized. Major electrical greif, always going into limp(merc could not fix) and broke down 2-3 times, had to be recovered. This was a new van. As dealers, merc`s are the worst ! They are not interested in anything you have to say. My dealer won dealer of the year, and they were s**t. Not just me either. I wouldsit there next to drivers from big comany`s, with a shed load of units, all brand new. I don`t say I would never go back, but it was a bad experience. That year I bought a ML320, and the dealer there was also a merchant banker !
I never use Merc main dealers, like you say, the worst out there. Unusual to see a gearbox problem though, the only thing I've seen on the CDi is sloppy gearstick caused by stretched cables but that's a simple fix. Electrical problems usually involve the key but the canbus system Merc use can be a pain in the ass because even a blown brake light bulb can put it in limp mode. ALWAYS use an independent with a STAR diagnostic machine, it'll save you a fortune and generally make identifying any faults pretty simple.
A few folk had said the citreons were pish, but seen one 10 plate 60k miles for £8k kind of though it was to good to be true. Asked a courier the other day what he thought of the Crafters and he said the company he worked for changed their whole fleet from Crafters to Transit Jumbos because they were going into limp home mode something to do with start stopping all the time was causing havoc with ecu, air filters not getting a chance to clear? but if doing long distances there was no problems.
Air filters are exactly that, a filter. They work until clogged up and then need replacing, it would only throw up a fault in the ECU if it was ridiculously filthy, wish him luck with the Transits
I think its probably a DPF particulate filter. They take a long time to regenerate, and you need to be doing 50+ for a while. I have heard loads of couriers moan about this problem, with all vans
