New work car

[Vern]

I'm looking at trading up to a new work car (i'm an electrician), at the moment i have a VZ one tonner with a canopy, good to drive but can't get enough gear comfortably in the back.
What i'm after is peoples opinions on vans i'm looking at.
Mercedes Vito (diesel)
VW (diesel)(can't remember the model)
(would be purchased new for warranty reasons)
problem is i'm 6'4" and don't fit in most other brands of van.
or
4wd with big well set up canopy, but could be $$$$$$$$.

has anybody had any experiences with these vans?

[Utemad]

The only vans I have ever had experience with are the Mitsubishi Starwagon and Toyota Hiace (both commercial models). Both of early 2000 vintage.

My opinion as far as driving them goes is that the Hiace is pretty good and the Starwagon is crap. The Starwagon was downright dangerous in a crosswind.

I drove them for NDC and Skilled Communications so they were tech vans and loaded with gear. In comparison we also used to use Commodore wagons.

For what we did the Commodore wagons worked better in my opinion. They were quite often grossly overloaded though. They made long distance driving much more enjoyable and you could fit them in undercover carparks even with ladders on the roof. You just had to be more honest with what you really needed to drag around with you when you had a Commodore wagon.

As for the vans you are considering I have never been in one outside of the motor show.

[UncleHo]

G'day 6.5rangie :)

Why not order a 130 TD5 Single cab ;) it would then give you plenty of load space;)

cheers

[Utemad]

Why not order a 130 TD5 Single cab ;) it would then give you plenty of load space;)

or a D3 commercial :cool: You'd be the coolest sparky in town.

[Vern]

G'day 6.5rangie :)

Why not order a 130 TD5 Single cab ;) it would then give you plenty of load space;)

cheers
don't say that please, its gonna screw my mind now thinking of driving a 130 around. how i would love to, but have to be practical, BUT we are thinking of moving somewhere a bit more rural, now look what you've done.

[scrambler]

don't say that please, its gonna screw my mind now thinking of driving a 130 around. how i would love to, but have to be practical, BUT we are thinking of moving somewhere a bit more rural, now look what you've done.
If you really want to play with fire, think about a 101FC. Wouldn't need to worry about overloading, very similar running gear to the Rangie so could (perhaps) shoehorn a 6.5 in there...

[p38arover]

I know of a bloke with a P38A he can't sell - and it has bling bling wheels.

Convert it to a panel van - ideal for a young electrician. :D

Ron

[rangieman]

I know of a bloke with a P38A he can't sell - and it has bling bling wheels.

Convert it to a panel van - ideal for a young electrician. :D

Ron
nice ron:D

[Debacle]

i work as a courier and do 3000-3500 ks per week. Toyotas are great but the latest model is no good for a big bloke. The previous model rzh113 is fantastic, roomy and comfortable to drive (wish mine had 500000 less ks on it) but the new ones are a bit of an unknown quantity. Have heard that Toyota is sourcing a lot of parts including engines fron china these days.

Might be worth looking at a renault if looking for cheap running costs. One of our guys has one and was telling me about the fuel consumption the other day. The cost of running it on diesel was comparative to running my hiace on lpg but then some of these european commercials such as renault and peugeot which have just come on the market havent been really tested yet.

Stay away from Mercedes. Could tell you about a lot of bad experiences from our guys not only on unreliablitity but also the sheer arrogance of the service staff when there is a problem.

[George130]

G'day 6.5rangie :)

Why not order a 130 TD5 Single cab ;) it would then give you plenty of load space;)

cheers

That was my first thought. A 110 should count as a van also.

[abaddonxi]

Don't go the Mercedes. Had a mate with one, bought new, off road with everything wrong for literally months.

Which is you might write off as a one lemon thing, but the dealer and Merc Australia would do almost nothing. Like no replacement van, or a van of a lesser capacity, or just nothing.

Again, you expect that behaviour from a dealer, but when the manufacturer is messing you about too...

Cheers
Simon

[Debacle]

That was my first thought. A 110 should count as a van also.
Just realised after my previous post that we do have 2 landrovers on our fleet. Both are defenders, one is a 130 dual cab with 950000 on it and the other is a 110 trayback. Worth considering.

[DiscoTDI]

I used to have a VW Transporter years ago when I was a courier, it was a 95 model. It would have to be the most comfortable vehicle I drove, I would recomend that you get VW to look after it as if the wrong people look after them it could be costly (personal experience unfortunatly) due to lack of knowledge. I am 6'2" btw .

I cannot vouch for the merc, but I will say that VW do a good vehicle. I got rid of mine with 300000km on the clock and it was starting to fall apart at that stage, motor was still strong but it did start to rattle all the bits and pieces off being a 5 cyl diesel. Biggest problem happened around 230000km when the harmonic balencer died and it took 6 weeks to get one from germany:(. Apart from that a fantastic work vehicle:cool:

[Quiggers]

Our local insulator - Merv - who is 'the woolmen' has a Merc Sprinter - very tall and 6 metres long - absolutely hammers it. And loves it - the damn thing goes like a rocket - amazing.....

GQ

[dmdigital]

Buy a Ford Transit... then you can pretend its the 2007 Defender :twisted:


:wasntme:

[Mark86]

Hi there it just so happens the sparky we have used a couple of times has a VW van 03 model got tallking about it and has no probs the 2 years he has had it. Plenty of room i like the interior of them too.


Mark:)

[Outlaw]

a mate of mine runs 3 merc vans with no problems used for shifting av equipment for conferences... but the renault's look good

[incisor]

i hired the new vw version of the merc lwb van the other week, very very nice, way better than the merc equivilents i had hired before... lot cheaper to run and a bucket load more power...

[jase]

as far as I know all the euro vans are good
I've git a mate with a merc (got out of a mazda) he loves it and it's had zero issues
The VWs are also excellent
perhaps just to save a buck look at the not so popular (in oz) models
you can get fait here now (cheap trying to break into the market) they are very common in europe (just as common as VW & merc)
I sat in one (fait) the other day VERY comfy (front wheel drive though :eek: )
jase

[Wortho]

you can get fait here now


I think you ment FIAT, if so they make very good engines and were pioneers of common rail diesel, they have been around more than 100yr's now so you'd think they would know how to make an engine. They also own Ferrari,Maserati,Alfa and Lancia.

[Discobunny]

Try the Renault, traffic, a friend has one for his work, he's 6'4" and has heeeaaaps of head room. The diesel pulls well and can take a good load too.

[landrovermick]

We have an Iveco daily at work - our model is long and tall - there are different lenghts and heights - to suit most applications its a great vehicle with a turbocharged diesel engine.

the mercedes vans that NSW Fire use have probelms witht he diffs and gearboxes

Mick

[Vern]

thanks for the replies, the vito (swb) is perfect for size but comes in 65kw 5sp manual, or 110kw auto, price range between 36k and up to 50k.
Have to go check VW out now.
will not buy KIA, mazda, mitsubishi.
Toyota yes but don't fit.
Landrover YES:D
got some thinking to do , as i said may be moving and a 4wd work car could come in handy
Thanks again

[DeeJay]

Nobody has mentioned that the Mercedes is Korean made and re-badged.
Or does everybody know and I am stating the bleedig obvious;)

[Quiggers]

That depends on the Merc - the little FC box van (MB100?) is from Korea - but (I may be wrong, but I may not be) the bigger things like the Sprinter are built in Spain.

The Fuehrer would not be impressed.

How 'bout some big iron from the states, 6.5?

Have a squiz at this:

http://www.quigley4x4.com/index.cfm

I'm not advertising them and they're not even a relative (wish they were tho'.)

GQ