Smallest vans that can carry 8' x 4' sheets of MDF/plasterboard inside?

Out of interest, which parts did you find unreliable? I know the fancy (but complicated) gearshift system gets a bad press, but I've found my two really good. Maybe a tiny bit notchy, but so much more convenient than finding a huge industrial wiggle stick on your left, pressed into your passenger's thighs.

Christian.

Reply to
Christian McArdle
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Some would pay good money for that.

Reply to
Dave Plowman (News)

On Thu, 30 Dec 2004 14:59:10 -0000, "Christian McArdle" strung together this:

Complicated? 5 gears + reverse.....

Well, I think was about the only thing that didn't break on the Boxer.

What In didn't like about the Boxer was the cheapness of it all. Everything was just, well, crap. Nice driving position though, and the low rear access was useful, as was the 'squareness' of the sides as I always rack my vans out which is PITA with curved sides.

While Budgens had it, on quite a few occasions during the 2 years I had it it had;

  • 3 new driveshafts.
  • 1 new ECU.
  • 1 new other ECU type thing, just as expensive as the main one.
  • Various other 'minor parts' replaced.
  • The back doors would never shut without a good slam, the same with the side door.
  • The door holder openers never held the front doors open.
  • There was a fairly major wiring fault with the vehicle that fried the 2 ECU's and meant the van was always a bad starter and that the cooling system never worked properly so the van was prone to overheating. This was missed at every service and the cause was fairly obvious apparently once you dug around in the engine bay, which the 'mechanics' had done on quite a few occasions. It was an auto electrician, appointed by me at a later date, that eventually fixed it shortly before I sold it, but my Dad had it by this time so I never got to drive it while it worked properly.

Moving on to the Partner;

  • 1 new alternator, current one on its way out. This is a fairly common fault as the two 206s owned by my cousins have had altrernators fail within 20k.
  • Crankshaft pulley bearings shattering and destroying half the bottom of the engine. A common fault apparantly, one which Peugeot have done nothing about and still fit the same crappy parts as a replacement.
  • Gear linkage\box prone to looseneing failing. Always needed adjusting\checking as there was always loads of play when in gear, (wore than my old 200k Maestro in fact). Again, garages saw it more than me.

So, in general, I can't say I'm impressed with Peugeots of late.

Reply to
Lurch

Depends on the type of surfaces/terrain you're driving on, doesn't it? If you have to negotiate slippery steep inclines, traction control would be an advantage, wouldn't it?

PG

Reply to
PG

If used well, it can help on descents down steep (and I mean really steep) hills, but can be a disadvantage on ascents (where keeping the wheels turning at all times can be critical).

Top end Range Rovers have an active hill decent system - you push a button and then steer the wheel. The computer does everything else! (The BMW X5 also has it - pinched during their brief ownership of Rover).

To go up again, you are better off with a low transfer box, plenty of torque low down in the rev range, diff locks all round, and off road tyres.

Reply to
John Rumm

I mean that the heath robinson contraption to take the movement from the dash mounted gear stick to the gear box itself was complicated, which gave it a somewhat temperamental reputation. One that I haven't run into personally, however.

Ouch! Was there common cause for this? Perhaps an overheated bearing that was taking out the rubber boots or something?

Mine stay nicely open!

Ah, this sounds like your major trouble, then. What was the wiring fault? Something wrong with the voltage regulator or something?

Yes, my new one likes a good slam, but the doors have clearly been reversed into at some point. The old one (before shunt) was not like this.

It certainly doesn't sound like you had a good time! Sounds like you got the Friday afternoon model.

Christian.

Reply to
Christian McArdle

It first appeared on the Freelander. Uses the ABS system to operate individual brakes to keep the vehicle at a constant low speed while on the over-run.

Reply to
Dave Plowman (News)

On Fri, 31 Dec 2004 09:43:09 -0000, "Christian McArdle" strung together this:

Ah, I getchya now!

Apparantly it was a reasonably commonish fault, but as per all the others Peugeot were never interested in doing anything about it!

I think there were several faults on the loom. A couple of them I found while I was doing other things under the bonnet, another couple of dodgy contacts somewhere on the cooling system that someone found, (not a dealerships mechanic), when he serviced it and the main one was the dodgy earth lead contact on the engine. Although I never drove the van after the earth lead was fixed my Dad says it was like a completely different van, it started first time every time rather than having to give it a good few turns and the cooling system worked properly. I think it was this fault that had caused all the other copmponents to fail prematurely.

I've heard about those! A lot of the things were cosmetic and general 'interior' issues but after all that and then having the the Partners mechanics be as unreliable I've decided to steer clear of the Peugeots for now, pity because I always used to like them as they were always a solid reliable vehicle.

Reply to
Lurch

replying to Kat, Paul Shears wrote: Perhaps I am missing something here & I know this does not help right now, but........ Why don't these medium size van manufacturers (VW Transporter, Ford Transit etc.) just redesign the front seats so that they can sit higher in the cab with a thinner base? Use different seat materials & perhaps at greater cost to manufacture. This would then allow 8X4 sheets to slide under the front seats. A steel retaining bar would obviously be required to stop the sheets sliding forward when the vehicle reduces speed. The benefit of this in, say, a short wheel base VW transporter, would be that the entire vehicle could be 670mm shorter which, if put into production as an additional model, open up an entire new market segment. I refer to the small builder looking for the smallest vehicle that can transport half a dozen 8X4 sheets. It seems to me that the excellent quality entire VW Caddy range could then be dropped from production as there would be a VW transporter body to satisfy every need including a disability vehicle.

Reply to
Paul Shears

What you're missing is that the design of vans may have changed a little in the last 14 years.

Reply to
Vir Campestris

replying to Kat, Edward Rees wrote: Good evening, I have a Renault traffic for sale 2013 with only 31.000miles from new,service history, i have owned this van from New, Excellent Condition, if interested ,give me a call on 07772583288,

Reply to
Edward Rees

Well, he's has 15 years to find out.

FYI:

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Reply to
Fredxx

Yes, I can see the date on that post, why don't people with good eyesight see it, is it hidden in some way? On the other hand badly designed web interfaces which do not sort for year should be taken down as not fit for purpose. Brian

Reply to
Brian Gaff (Sofa

Mitsubishi L300 is the smallest van that’ll do it comfortably. Two side doors and a sheltered loading area behind. Unfortunately they’re like rocking horse shit and always old. I think the reason they don’t make em like that any more is that the seats are in the crumple zone! Still the best van ever!

Reply to
Leoneoni

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