We're thinking about buying either a second-hand campervan or a second-hand transit van to convert ourselves. I know this question won't have a definitive answer, but can anyone advise roughly how many miles would you expect to get out of a van? Are some makes reknowned for lasting longer than others?
The vehicles we're considering are VW Transporter, Mercedes Vito, Mazda Bongo, Toyota Granvia or poss. Ford Transit.
We're trying to keep budget down but really want a van that'll last us several years. Any advice would be much appreciated!
Most diesels with a regular servicing will do 200,000 miles these days,i would make sure you have a checkable service history,you have to factor in how many miles your going to put on it as well,personally i wouldnt be worried about the mileage of the van ,i would go for a newer van thats been looked after rather than a 10 year old van with low miles.
If it helps then hubbys Transit vans and Citoren Relays he had for work were still going strong at 150k on the Clock, which was the time the fleets manager had set for their lifespan, stating that it wasnt cost effective to keep a van running for any longer for business use. They were used daily, mostly to do Motorway work for buliding maintainance jobs, and most managed to hit their 150k renewal day within 5 years.
One thing to watch out for if buying a van thats been carring heavy loads is the effect on the rear suspentions, im not a expert on vans by far, but i know the tranny had some serious problems with its rear axel which was put down to the ammount of gear and supplies that was carried in it everyday, and when it was taken off the road it went to a breakers yard for scrap and parts.
Its also worth considering how you feel driving a van, especially if changing up from being a car driver, some have a more car like feel than others, and the citorens, fiats and pergeots have most models with the hand brake on the right hand side of the driver and fairly low down, no good at all if you only have fairly short arms, and unless you want the added expense of fitting an extention handle, there no good to you as we discovered when we were handed the keys of the Relay, only hubby could drive it and not me!
Julia
------------- Just love to be out amoungst Nature and Wildlife
Celebrating 37 years of Caravanning in 2019, Recently Considered Retiring, but Totally Addicted for Life!
The engines are good for 200k miles or more but it is the other bits that are expensive to replace, injectors/pumps/clutches can all fail well before that time & cost a fortune to replace on modern vehicles. Routine cambelt changes are expensive as well.
So its possible that if you buy a van with say, 130k on't clock all that could have been done but one with 80k on't clock could have all those parts about to fail. If you are buying an ex company van it should come with a full service history so study carefully to see what parts have been changed.
Some years ago I spent many months searching for a decent campervan/motorhome. I could only afford about £6000 at that time which to me was a lot. For that money I found myself looking at vans sometimes up to 20 years old and for some strange reason practically every one of them had an oil leak.
It got to the stage where the very first thing I did was look underneath for the oil dripping off the engine, which could mean anything from seals to a cracked cylinder head to a cracked sump. The owners of course would always say they either hadn't noticed it or it was something simple like oil seals...well if it was simple why hadn't they repaired it?
So my advice to anyone buying a campervan is look underneath first then walk away when you see that blip of oil hanging off the sump.
I gave up in the end and bought a new car and a tent
Thanks everyone for your feedback, load of really useful pointers to set me off in the right direction! I won't rule out slightly higher mileage vans then if they've had parts renewed etc, and also noted to be wary of older vans with low mileage...
Thanks also Julia for the note about the low handbrake in some vans - am only 5'1 so this would def be a problem for me, and wouldn't have crossed my mind to check.
We've just finished a conversion on a 51 plate LDV convoy minibus. We did a fairly low-tech, low-cost conversion using an old caravan as a donor vehicle. We meet all the requirements though, and have successfully reregistered it.
One of the things that surprised me was the number of people who were spending thousands on converting reasonably old vehicles. I couldn't understand that, if I was doing an expensive conversion I would want a fairly modern low-mileage van.
Apparently Transits are not good for rust as they age. We had a 1990 Holdsworth on a Transit (with not too much mileage for its age) and got rid of it in 2007 when we were warned by our garage that it would need repairs every year to get it through the MOT. Apparently VWs are a lot better for not rusting so badly.
If you can have the plywood panelling removed before you inspect it then it's worth it. First van we considered had a BIG structural gash that had been tarted up on the outside, still visible inside, behind the plywood.
alan in lincs
I know of Ford mechanics with stories of transits being welded at 3 years old and a short supply of diesel pumps for 2002c models cause that many were faulty. I have \a 2002 Sprinter camper with 219k miles, goes like the clappers. No oil leaks, no smoke and certainly no welding, but rust scabs are an issue. To be honest its a question of an educated guess and luck
A day of all things motorhome and campervan. The show is held both in the main indoor arena and across the grounds. Catering, hot drinks and food options are available. Easy access to the site and free parking included. Win one of five pairs of day tickets
Topic: Campervan mileage
