[NWH]

Ask any good mechanic about french vans and when you’re driving about see how many 10-15 year old french van you see,it won’t be many.

[dd]

I bought my dispatch new 15 years ago. I have spent a lot less maintaining it than you have your transporter.

My sister in law's mechanic recently advised her against buying another VW due to reliability issues with the brand (which she was not going to do anyway because of the problems she had with her current VW car, which she had from new and was only 4 years old).

This is borne out by VW's low ranking in Which magazine's latest car reliability survey.

IMO VW are over rated, over priced, not particularly reliable and prone to faults.

I will concede though, they are nice to drive.

[NWH]

How many miles do you do in the van a week.

[NWH]

Everything that goes wrong on my van I have done I speak to no end of window cleaners that drive their van about with endless things that need doing but they don’t bother having them repaired,there’s a big difference between getting in and driving a 120000 mile van that’s been maintained and one that’s not been.
If you think you are going to carry a lot of weight everyday go down country lanes and tracks fit for tractors things will break,if you potter around a town in a van and hardly go anywhere of course it’ll last the main problem with most will be starter Alternator  and battery problems,and that’s coz they don’t do the miles.

[dd]

The dispatch is 15 years old in February and I have done approx 126k miles in it. Only major expense was cam belt at 9 years old and clutch last year.

Apart from that everything else pretty OK. No breakdowns. 2.0 hdi engine pulls 1/2 ton of water no problem.

Unfortunately I think most newer vans will be more prone to issues.

[NWH]

So you’ve done roughly 8500 a year I do closer to 20000 you have to judge makes and models of any vehicle overall you will always get what they call a Friday car-van.

[dd]

How many miles have you done in total in your Transporter?

I am not talking about Friday afternoon cars, VW (along with Audi, other German makes and Volvo)  do not come out well in reliabilty surveys.

[NWH]

The french make good wine and cheese and onions through and string as far as vans go I’d never buy a french one,speak to any good mechanic.

[EandM]

The french make good wine and cheese and onions through and string as far as vans go I’d never buy a french one,speak to any good mechanic.

I'm around a number of people in the motor trade and with the exception of Renault, that seems to be universally despised, I've never heard any of them complain about French vans.

All of our motor factors deliver using Berlingos and Partners that knock up 50,000+ miles a year with few issues.
It used to be Escort vans and a brief go at the Transit Connect but about 15 years ago the French won and have been the van of choice ever since. As a Ford fan I found that a bit of a shock.

We used to deal with a supplier at Cullompton who uneventfully ran a Talbot Express van for 440,000 miles.

France is exceedingly good at making diesel engines that last.  The 2.0 DW10, found in the Berlingo & Partner, is a near as bombproof as you'll ever find. They can often be found in taxis pushing 500k miles.

Similarly, the French are very good at making cars that last. We've had a dozen or more XM, CX, C5 & 406 over the last 30 years all of which have managed upward of 200k without any major issues. The fact that they use the same mechanicals in their vans inspires great confidence.

[Dave Willis]

BMW used to use french diesel engines, in return Peugeot put the BMW  petrol engine in some of their cars. It was the Mini cooper engine, so bad that BMW were taken to court in USA.
I had one, didn’t get past 30K miles. Utter crap.
Sons’ transporter never made it past 70k either.
Overrated and overpriced German rubbish.

[EandM]

BMW used to use french diesel engines, in return Peugeot put the BMW  petrol engine in some of their cars. It was the Mini cooper engine, so bad that BMW were taken to court in USA.
I had one, didn’t get past 30K miles. Utter crap.
Sons’ transporter never made it past 70k either.
Overrated and overpriced German rubbish.

BMW only used PSA diesels in the Mini as it was the only Front Wheel Drive application in the range and this replaced the Toyota 1.4d previously used in the R53 Mini.


The 1.6d was initially a rare miss from PSA and had some really stupid design issues - the oil ways carbonised, the turbo was starved of oil and died, amongst other things.
They did do a lot of work to improve it, though it was hopeless in the Ford application. My wife had one in a Focus and although really nice to drive it did suffer from reliability issues.
From about 2009 they seem to be very good having fixed all the original bodges that should never have been there.
The same problems affected the Mini Cooper D for the first year too. However, BMW also did a ton of work on it and drastically improved the mpg and the reliability too. From 2008-2010 they were pretty good and PSA sold them to Volvo  & Mazda
BMW then ditched the PSA 1.6 for a smaller version of their own N47 diesel - which was really good right up until the timing chain broke - twice in my brother in laws case.

[Dave Willis]

It was their petrol engine that was so bad.
I think the Transporter engine that failed was a five cylinder VW diesel.
VW reliability is a myth.
Most manufacturers seem capable of producing lemons, even the Germans but clever marketing methods have in the past hidden this.
Quick tap into google soon brings it up.

[NWH]

It’s not a myth at all the way they drive and you have to look on the “whole” longevity thing over years and across the board not just the odd story you’ve heard,you pay 13-15k for a reason you also pay 25-40k for a reason I think most consumers would have had enough by now or not gone back and had the same brand if it wasn’t the case.
Drive a few different makes and then make a decision it’s like the old saying you can’t make a silk purse out of a pigs ear,or you can’t buy taste 🤣.

[NWH]

Gardiner poles expensive for an extreme ? I don’t think so,do they last as long as a different manufacturers heavier pole no but are they 100% better without doubt.
Comparing a VW to something at  half the cost is like comparing apples to oranges,it’s like saying a Ferrari is crap coz you can’t afford one.

[Dave Willis]

You wouldn’t buy a Ferrari for reliability though or as a works vehicle.

I need a van that hauls a large load, goes from a to b without breaking down for the minimum outlay. That’s it really.

[NWH]

I need a bit more comfort Dave sometimes I’m doing a fair few miles in a week. 

[Susan Dean (1stclean)]

Just read that Yodel are taking on 2500 self employed delivery drivers. So if that hasn't already pushed van prices up it won't help bring them down. OK so Yodel drivers don't all use vans a lot of them will.

been there and done this yodel were dhl and we had 23 transits , 6 six 7,5 tonners  and 2 artics  in there as service partners for 10 years , made some very good money times then dhl bought back the service partnerships , sold the full package to yodel

and this is where it  fell apart we got out 2 years before this happened  . the rates  are poop and lads are flogging the guts out to make 100 pounds aday after costs , some guys i know are doing 200 miles aday and  12 hour shifts making 80-100 pounds after tax and fuel this is with out any break downs

[Ched]

Just read that Yodel are taking on 2500 self employed delivery drivers. So if that hasn't already pushed van prices up it won't help bring them down. OK so Yodel drivers don't all use vans a lot of them will.

been there and done this yodel were dhl and we had 23 transits , 6 six 7,5 tonners  and 2 artics  in there as service partners for 10 years , made some very good money times then dhl bought back the service partnerships , sold the full package to yodel

and this is where it  fell apart we got out 2 years before this happened  . the rates  are poop and lads are flogging the guts out to make 100 pounds aday after costs , some guys i know are doing 200 miles aday and  12 hour shifts making 80-100 pounds after tax and fuel this is with out any break downs

I bet that's not how Yodel are advertising it though!!! I bet they will be saying 'earn £200 a day' flexible hrs etc.....