[richard jagger]

Any body using this van its a 2004.What would the Tax pa be and a ruffly the  insurance premium pa.Thank to anyone taking the trouble.

[richard jagger]

anyone ?

[Spruce]

Hi Slumpy.

My son in law has a T220 LWB which is the identical body but with a lower payload (825kgs as to 900kgs). He is a one man operator and has a 500 litre tank in the back. With his hose reel behind the tank, combination step ladders down the one side and his poles down the other side with his leisure battery, there isn't much room left.
Some days he uses all his water, and others he may only use half.

IMHO it is too small for a twin man system with a 650 litre tank in the back.

His is a 1.8 tddi turbo engine which is fine and pretty economical and does ride and handle well with a full tank.

The early Transit Connects aren't without their problems, so I would ensure the one you get doesn't have tell tail signs of future expense.
 
Firstly, make sure the interior lights operate on the doors correctly, including the rear doors. If you are buying privately specifically ask if they have had issues and if so, what remedy did they take to correct it. For some reason Ford chose to control the final operation of the system through the ECU. There is a bug on the earlier Connects that needs a ECU reprogram to correct - expensive. The interior lights will work perfectly for a few days and then you will come to the van, the interior lights are on and the battery's flat.

Secondly, make sure there isn't a charging issue with the alternator. If the light comes on occassionally then its a rewire from the alternator, under the battery tray up to the fusebox. Ford have also chosen to let the ECU govern the alternator charging output. It appears that with time the insulation of these cables from the alternator breaks down and creates charging problems, especially when the cable gets wet. There is also the problem of the cable shorting to earth.

A helpful feature for us was that all LWB vans use the same wiring harness as the people carrier. On an 04 plate Transit Connect there is a connector on the offside rear middle horizontal subframe (it is behind the frame so panelling won't interfere with it) which in the people carrier has a power point (cig lighter). By tapping into that you have a power point for an intelligent type split charge relay to boost your leisure battery. You will need to put in a 15amp fuse into the fuse box behind the glove box.

As I think with most small vans, the diesel tank sits under the floor just where the back seat would be in the people carrier. Securing a tank can be an issue as the best way would be to remove the tank to fit spacer plates, especally is this a problem if you choose to mount the tank width ways rather the length ways.

http://www.cleanitup.co.uk/smf/index.php?topic=139067.0

Spruce

[richard jagger]

Thanks Spruce I always respect what advice you have as its always sound.I might chat again.Thanks Richard.

[Spruce]

Hi Richard.

Buying a van is never the easiest choice.

If you are looking at a Citroen Dispatch/Peugeot Expert/Fiat Scudo of the same year area, the Hdi is also a 900kg payload. They have a load length of 2059mm where the Connect is 2007mm. The Connect is advertised as a 4.4cm load volume whereas the PSA vans are 4.0cm. But the extra volume of the Connect is the space above the folded front passenger seat to the dash and up to the roof - useless for us.

If you compare both vans space wise, MHO is that the PSA models are better for WFP, and they also have the extra sliding door as standard. The dual passenger seat was standard on Citroen and Peugeots, but an optional extra on Fiats. Most Fiats were ordered with the dual passenger seat option. They are also solidly built as they also had a LWB version in France with a higher payload that was never imported into the UK which the UK version was a shorter version of.

But the Transit Connect is well built, perhaps over engineered by todays standards. So body and engine wise (Tdci is the Ford version of the Hdi engine) its pretty bomb proof. (As with any new models it takes a while to iron out the faults, so from 57 plate on they did get the above mentioned faults corrected, although Ford never admitted to anything as it would have meant product recalls and additional warranty costs.) So the only issue for me is that I feel the Connect is too small for me.

For the long haul I would certainly try to consider a slightly bigger van in the same catagory as the Vivaro/Trafic/Nissan although I don't believe those vans are substantial enough for our WFP business.

My van as a single operator 90% of the time is an 04 plate Citroen Relay hdi SWB with a payload of 1154kgs with a 650l tank 2 operators. It does use more fuel than a Connect T230 will do, but it is more solid for the job. A Transit T280 SWB will also be fine although the internal payload area is smaller by 1cm.

Spruce

[richard jagger]

Hi Spruce I have considered the Dispatch but have been told to be told the electrics is not that good I s there anything I should look out if I considered one. I have also taken a good look at the Relay and find a lot of value in the second hand vans, but working on my own I might not need the space as I am getting on and dont think I will expand that quick.What do you think? 

[robbo333]

I have a connect 220 swb on an 06 plate. Had it a few years now and good as gold. 350 tank in the back and 35mpg around town. Drives nice and I can get everything in...just. 

[richard jagger]

Robbo whats tax cost you and also your insurance just to give me an idea.

[robbo333]

6 months tax is £118.25 and i'll hunt out the insurance for you later (off out).

Pete

[richard jagger]

Thanks your a mate.

[Spruce]

Hi Spruce I have considered the Dispatch but have been told to be told the electrics is not that good I s there anything I should look out if I considered one. I have also taken a good look at the Relay and find a lot of value in the second hand vans, but working on my own I might not need the space as I am getting on and dont think I will expand that quick.What do you think?  

I think the only 'issue' with Dispatches around that year were keys and locks that became worn and they will usually be mileage related. They also might be because of constant starting and switching off and be job/work related - ie local parcel delivery. You will be able to see a problem by looking at all the keys.  Most later versions had central locking so its the ignition barrel that you look at. If its not nice and firm, like new, then back off or price the van for a new lock set. Do all the keys open and lock the doors and start the engine? (Any Citroen/Peugeot key will lock any Citroen/Peugeot van but only the right key will unlock it.) The problem is when you are in a hurry to buy a van, you might feel pressurised into buying something you aren't happy with out of necessity. If the van looks good on the outside but tatty on the inside, forget it. If it is second hand with new ply lining, I ask why - what are they hiding? Is the steering wheel, the wear on the front seat and the pedal rubbers consistent with the mileage on the speedo? Does the radio work or is the code missing?

If the van has had a premature replacement clutch which owners always seem to brag about if they have had to shell out the cash for it, I again would see that as a warning sign. It may have been a genuine failure, but again it may be indicative of how the vehicle was driven and treated.

How many owners has it had. If a vehicle has 70k on the clock with 4 or 5 owners, I wouldn't look at it, let alone buy it.

I won't buy something with a high mileage on now. It surprises me how many will look at a van with 100 - 135k on the clock. As far as I'm concerned, no matter how well the vehicle has been maintained and how much motorway mileage its done, wear and tear are going to cost me time and money. I have always gone with my gut - if something doesn't look or feel right, walk away. Sometimes, I don't actually know why I feel the way I do.

I would be happy to look at a good low mileage BT van. Yes they are blue but they also have 1 responsible driver who is held accountable for the vehicles condition. I wouldn't consider a Post Office van - they have a variety of drivers who don't care and drive the wheels off of them.

This Relay I have was 5 years old, had 33k on the clock and was privately owned as a weekend vehicle to cart the tent and equipment around. It wasn't the colour I wanted but the guy was desperate to sell and the price was 2 grand less than what the trade was asking for higher mileage vans at the time. It now has 42k on the clock.

I mainly work on my own, I'm 60 and have good days and not so good days. I probably do half the amount of work I did when I first started and that's taking into consideration lighter and stiffer poles and lighter brushes that weren't available 7 years ago. Our business has continued to grow, mainly by word of mouth and is now supporting my son and son in law. 7 years ago when we started I only had about 10 days work a month for myself.

I can't achieve a good financial day by banging out dozens of houses. So it's all about looking for good paying jobs (for our area) and work those. I also don't pressurise myself into a daily financial achievement and am happy to talk to the odd customers every day as its gives me a breather. Its about pacing myself; over do it today and tomorrow I pay the price.

If I need to climb into the back of the van and have a pee, I can without too much trouble in my van. I couldn't do that if I owned a LWB Transit Connect - its too small. So what is a necessity for me now because of my health issues may not be an issue for you. I've also collected a fair amount gear over the years - and tend to use pole and brush combos to suit what I'm doing. I will use an old ali pole for Juilet balonies we have on one job every 6 weeks - the pole stays in the van. I have an SLX22 and a CLX22 with different brushes and an old converted modular fishing pole with brush I use for cleaning gutters. I have a step ladder in the van, but also bought a 4.75m multi purpose ali ladder I can assemble for getting over a 6 foot fence by climbing up one side and down the other.

I also have 2 hose reels and a 3 tier box of spares, tools and hoses to sort almost any problem that should arise with me or that lads vans whilst out working.

I bought a backpack 18 months ago and son monopolises it. I am considering a backpack for myself fitted to a small trolley to make some work more 'me' friendly and less tiring with managing of hoses.

Spruce

[richard jagger]

Hi Spruce.reading that I thought I was reading about myself only difference is I am 62 -3 this summer and also lived in S A till 9 years. I will take a real good look at a relay as I said good value my neighbor just sold his with 18000 on the clock for 3 grand with a new respray and  new alloys.
     Whats the relays tax like and what insurance do you pay and were from ( just a guide). 
Thanks very much for the pointers I will defo take them on board.

[Spruce]

Hi Slumpy

RFL was £210.00 for the year and fully comp insurance £375.00 including windscreen cover and insured no claim bonus last time round. I have full no claims discount. The tank etc isn't covered in the case of an accident, which I could live with. I do minimum mileage a year - +- 3k and its mainly pottering around the villages. I also have all the time in the world to get to my next destination.

I'm also thinking of fitting DRL lights to warn others of my presence on the road, not because I particularily like them.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/250985150296?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1438.l2649

I think you will find that the RFL for vans around that time are all around that price. It is only just recently that they have been adjusting van tax to engine emissions. When I worked for Citroen, all new van tax was the same from Berlingos to LWB Relays.

This is the second Relay I've had WFP in 5 years. Each van insurance broker I've been with has secured a policy with Aegis, who I believe are the only ones who will insure WFP vans with a 650 litre tank. It appears that most of the others who do insure WFP vans stop at 500 litres, but that is only what I've heard from a broker I've dealt with. I work with my son for specific days but may have to work with him more often. On 'off' days I struggle and a co-worker is a great help. So for me a 650 litre tank is a must. But saying that, we do come back mostly with water in the tank when we have worked together, so maybe we could get by with a 500litre and a couple of plastic containers 'in case of emergency.'

I think the reason why Relays/Boxers/Ducatos are good value for money is that they have the reputation of being Fiat built. I was quite happy with anything after 03 plate (facelift) as the engine was the Hdi in all vans (Fiat rebadged the Hdi engine as their own JTD but it was the identical engine) and they also changed the gearbox (a problem issue on the previous 1.9 and 1.9TD vans prior to 2003.) Fiat made the bodies. Remote central locking, electric windows and heated, electric mirrors are important to me. Watch out for leaking heater matrixes. They leak into the van. PSA's cure was to replace the antifreeze, which worked on the previous Relay I had. Still have to do this one though.

Fuel economy is between 22 to 28MPG around the villages depending on the fuel and time of the year. I have found that supermarket fuel is not as good as Esso/Shell and each supermarket fill up results in a lower MPG. I can tell exactly which fuel I have in when driving up Saltburn bank with a tank full of water. My son has a Peugeot Partner and he finds exactly the same thing with regard to fuel economy on various fuels. Both our family cars are 110hp Xsaras and fuel quality doesn't effect either of them as much as the vans. So for a couple of pence difference in price at the pumps between the supermarkets and the others, it pays to use the better fuel.
I have also got an Eberspatcher diesel hot air heater in the van which I use a bit in the winter. It keeps the van cabin warm on really cold days and our lab dog, who is my mostly constant companion in the front also appreciates it.

The first thing I did was to put in a good second hand Fiat/Citroen/Boxer full steel bulkhead. Although they were asking silly money for them, I found one in good condition privately for £25.00 but I had the expense of collecting it. I also had to weld up some addition lower securing brackets as the owners no longer had them. The factory fit steel bulkhead is far superior to any of the flimsy after market units sold as van accessories.

The bodies are still Fiat supplied from 2006 and Fiat now use their own Multijet engine which has proved to be good. PSA (Citroen and Peugeot) still use the Hdi engines. My engine is the 2.0 litre 90 hp engine which is fine. I think they now favour the 2.2 100hp for emissions and better torque. I also think the new shape is a 'marmite' design - like it or loath it.

Where abouts in SA were you if you don't mind me asking?

Spruce

[Robert hawes]

i got 2 off them and very good vans, t230 lwb is a good 500lt system but i do know sum1 has a 650 in but i want go to it, 500lt 2 man system its good and be ok with 2 man poles and tank full of water so be sound with it i go hav one ladder on the van but am still ok with it.

[richard jagger]

I left S A living in Durbanville just outside Cape Town but lived in Johannesburg as a teenager and young man.Sold out all my business interests due to the politics and crime,it was getting out of hand and I felt my family was at risk.I wish I had come home to the UK 10 years earlier.To come to the U K with only Rand in your pocket and restart life is not easy.Life and culture of folk are quite different in the U K. Its easy to start a business in South Africa but difficult to make the grade there. But I am settling down and felling at home every day and consider my self as English.I don`t really want to go back its angers me to see the way South Africa has gone to the dogs.WE lost a lot by moving.

[Spruce]

Hi Slumpy

I agree with your sentiments. We left in 1994- sold up but were delayed financial clearance due to independence. Was ready to go end of March but only got clearance from the bank in late Sept. My wife had left the previous Dec with the kids and I sent the dogs across by air the following March.

Sad really as we had a nice house, I had a good job, but the infra-structure was falling apart. We mainly feared for the future of our children which was the main thing.

We have been back a couple of times due to circumstances. Our MD at the time had lost count of how many times he had had his Audi taken off him at gun point and how many times his house had been burgled. On the other hand, the chap who took over from me had never been 'touched' but every day he asked himself; is today the day? That type of pressure isn't easy to live with.

At one time we had about 10 stolen recovered company cars in our management basement parking waiting for CID finger printing, but they never came - too busy. (The sales reps were hijacking targets. They would have a gun pointed at them at traffic lights and the 'passenger' would then direct them to a quiet street. Usually there wasn't an issue if they co-operated and could be quite a pleasant experience according to one who described his hijacker as very polite and well mannered. Every car hijacker asked for a business card and within a few days got a phone call telling him which multi story carpark he could retrieve his car from and where the keys were and his new registration number. What they would do is steal a whole lot of the same model cars but different colours and swop the number plates around and then use them in a robbery. They seemed to target 1.6 GLS Toyota Corollas which we ran as rep company cars at the time. I don't recall any being damaged - in the end we collected them, cleaned them and had the correct number plates made up and fitted and given back to the driver. I remember the same car was hijacked a number of times - the driver was shaken up first time but after the third time took it in his stride.

Our house would have been paid for at the end of April this year, the same time I would have gone on pension at 80% of my last years salary. 6 months before I left the company (Bosch) my MD wrote a 5 year company business plan, a 10 year one, a 15 year one and a 20 year one. My name was in all but the 20 year plan where the job was to be filled by A N Other. His 20 year plan also noted that his job would be replaced by our then Marketing Manager on his retirement, and that is exactly what happened.

We all made these long term plans. The Bosch HQ in Leinfelden also had the same plans in place for all managerial staff. So I knew by the plan who was going to replace my counterpart in Leinfelden when he retired. The plan was the Service Manager in the Service Centre in Zurich, a Mr Meyer and ten years later when Alfred Ebner retired, that is exactly what happened.

We were a little fortunate. When my wife left the Rand was 5 to the pound. As the following year progressed the rand weaken against the pound so much that I opted to ship my Ford Sierra across as it was cheaper to do that than sell it and transfer the money at 18 rand to the pound.
I got a phone call from my bank in Pretoria in early Sept to say I had been granted reserve bank approval to leave but I was told to hold on and she would give me a call when I was to come through from Jhb to sign papers. After a few 'be patient' telephone calls with Pam, I got one first thing and was told to drop everything at come through immediately - all I had to do was sign the papers. The rand was manipulated to 5.50 to the pound for a couple of hours so the SA Government could pay a large international debt. By Lunch time it was heading back and by the time the stock exchanged closed it was at 22 rand to the pound.

Had I know this was going to happen it would have been better for me to sell my car and exchange the 14000 rand I would have got for the car for sterling.

The kids are much better off over here security wise, although this move cost us financially, which we will never recover from. I will be destined to retire when I expire.

But we manage, and hopefully the house will be paid off in 4 years time which will be a great help.

Where we live in Saltburn, Cleveland, crime is very low and we feel very secure, which is something we are extremely grateful for. I didn't realise how stressed the wife was about the security of the children until we came here. She was still accompanying our daughter to high school and collecting her in the afternoons. When I came across for a week in May before flying back, I suggested that she let our daughter walk to school on her own, and she just about fell apart with panick.

Spruce