Find me a van then...

[Bigyin]

Mrs Weeksy wouldn't be feeling it in terms of size.... but... it's a nice thing

We have one of them at work for transporting bikes around. 2 bump locks in the back and i used it to take both my bikes to Manchester when i was doing my DAS assessment. Fitted the Multi and Fazer in, a huge kit bag as i was carrying 2 full sets of textiles in case the weather was proper shite and i got soaked. Good vans, run forever and shit loads of space in the back

[weeksy]

SO the big fella above was out.... partly because the expensive one was sold, the cheaper one wasn't as nice but was priced better... but was a Cat S.

So then jumped into a rabbit hole of, if but maybe and ended up thinking of an older Transit due to how much less.

Then @Couchy pinged me about it being a 5 speed and potentially prone to corrosion (which the MOT history then showed up too), along with Mrs Weeksy saying no due to lack of mod-cons.

So i'm now sitting with a short watch list
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/van-detail ... on=at_vans

Transit Custom, decent miles, good spec, slightly high on price, it's a company owned by a mate who we spend NYE with each year, but i don't think he'll be offering a massive discount as i don't think they have the margin these days.

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/van-detail ... on=at_vans

Another Transit Custom, slightly lower miles, slightly lower price, but also is the LWB version.

The last one is a minor curve ball. But only a little. Partly because, well, i really did like the Vito. Despite it having it's issues, if it hadn't had them it would've been a no-brainer. But it did miss out in the 'security' context as it was Windowed in the back meaning leaving £10,000 of MTBs in there when out riding wasn't the best plan.
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/van-detail ... on=at_vans

This I do like... but it's slightly lower than the transit, although possibly longer than the grey one?

[Le_Fromage_Grande]

Have you driven a Transit like the ones above, I like them to drive, but I haven't driven a Vito so I don't know if they're better

[weeksy]

Have you driven a Transit like the ones above, I like them to drive, but I haven't driven a Vito so I don't know if they're better

Only on a short test drive. About 6 months ago... it was nice, quiet and very un-van-like. But it had too many miles on, i was mostly just testing it for trying out. I then bought the fabled Vito.

[cheb]

I preferred the Transit to the Vito when I drove the minibus versions. The Vito didn't feel as well made to me. I'm not partisan about vehicle makes, they all have good and bad points.

Knowing that may or may not be of any use whatsoever.

[Pirahna]

Don't forget vans attract VAT for the first 7 years and are usually priced excluding VAT.

[weeksy]

Don't forget vans attract VAT for the first 7 years and are usually priced excluding VAT.

These days in 99% of adverts it's specified either way. Most sites will show you the overall price too.

[weeksy]

All thoughts and info is good thoughts and info... Even if you sometimes think not.

Can't have too many pieces of information.

[Couchy]

We had 3 transit customs and all of then have gone at the request of the lads, the seat squab on them is short and the ride can be a bit bouncy. The replacements have been a LWB boxer, a LWB vivaro and a MWB Transit. All better for them in the comfort stakes.
I do like a vito and they too ride better than the transits, but they are only useful for two adults in the front. A LWB or XLWB vito is my choice if going for the smaller van. If not a proper transit MWB would be worth a look as I think that's the comfiest van we have.

[weeksy]

https://www.swscommercials.co.uk/cars/f ... wb/790153/


As you've seen via Whatsapp, this one is being considered after chatting with you.

[Taipan]

https://www.swscommercials.co.uk/cars/f ... wb/790153/


As you've seen via Whatsapp, this one is being considered after chatting with you.

That looks more like it. The ones up there have too low a roof. You'll be banging your nut in there every time you're in there. Maybe avoid high roofs but deffo go medium height?

[Le_Fromage_Grande]

We've got one similar to that at work, I drove it from Ipswich to Wokingham and back (because it was the only vehicle available) in a day and it was actually quite nice for that trip.

[Felix]

We've got one similar to that at work, I drove it from Ipswich to Wokingham and back (because it was the only vehicle available) in a day and it was actually quite nice for that trip.

Im opposite. Hired one to do a small house removal from East Lothian to London and back. Found it a horrid drive empty or full but then it was a Luton with a tail lift. Never liked the look of the dash but it was a comfortable van to do long distance stuff in.

[v8-powered]

We've got one similar to that at work, I drove it from Ipswich to Wokingham and back (because it was the only vehicle available) in a day and it was actually quite nice for that trip.

I was loaned one on the last contract I worked on and was running about between Colchester, Cambridge and Norwich in it - drove really nicely and actually reasonably quick for a van, quicker than the Transit Connect I used a few times.
Only issue I found that when empty they are very tail happy, nearly looped it coming off the M11 - A120 slip road.

[Couchy]

https://www.swscommercials.co.uk/cars/f ... wb/790153/


As you've seen via Whatsapp, this one is being considered after chatting with you.

Yup of all the vans we've got that's the comfiest place to be, that one looks well looked after if you haven't bought it yet then get on with it

[Taipan]

We've got one similar to that at work, I drove it from Ipswich to Wokingham and back (because it was the only vehicle available) in a day and it was actually quite nice for that trip.

I was loaned one on the last contract I worked on and was running about between Colchester, Cambridge and Norwich in it - drove really nicely and actually reasonably quick for a van, quicker than the Transit Connect I used a few times.
Only issue I found that when empty they are very tail happy, nearly looped it coming off the M11 - A120 slip road.

Unladen vans and pick ups are pretty notorious for that! I like driving my Camper cos its weighed down, but still hate the short gears, especially 1st!

[weeksy]

Apologies, been away at https://www.anchorvans.co.uk/

Which is funnily enough where @dern bought his from too.

As i've said before, my mate own the place, so we get a bit of leeway in discussions and freedom to be a pain.

So he's got a SWB Custom, we tried that out for sizing and fitting.

It fits pretty well actually... No worries in terms of space.

2022-12-08_01-38-11 by Steve Weeks, on Flickr

We also tried a bigger Transit size which was MWB and Higher Top like the grey one above... Whilst it gives 'more' I'm not really sure how much more it gives in term of realistic functionality day to day. So you can stand up to load the bike... but that's 30s of your time. It's not like we'll be having BBQs in the van or working on the bike in there, that sort of stuff would be in the gazebo.

We also tried out a Trafic, but the seat space for 3 people was tighter in the Trafic so that was taken as a NO from the wife as we'll be putting 3 people in to Scotland more than once next year. The Transit Custom isn't exactly overflowing in the cabin with tonnes of room, but that's the thing with a van, they can only be what they can be... we either accept it, or keep the car lol.

So there was a minor issue with the Transit that it was missing wheel nuts, but i spoke to my mate who told them
"just fix it, even if you need to take the wheels off another van"

So he's giving us the SWB for the weekend to try out and test. He's sorted all the insurance etc, so we can borrow it and bring it back Monday, making a decision from there.

We then noticed they have a LWB Custom, but that one is out of our budget, threw the bike in it and yeah it gives more space, about 30" longer I'd hazard at a guess.. Which would kinda make it better for things like the BBQ, but in truth, both the SWB and LWB could work well enough for me and the lad .

So we'll try it out, give it a run up to FoD this weekend for racing and see where we are from there. It'll also give us a few hours testing with putting various loads into it and all the stuff we'd need on a weekends race.

[MrLongbeard]

https://www.swscommercials.co.uk/cars/f ... wb/790153/

As you've seen via Whatsapp, this one is being considered after chatting with you.

No cup holders ??

[cheb]

The only time I noticed the lack of height in my Transit (SWB low roof) was when wanting to load tall motorcycles in. I think I had to take the mirrors off my R100GS. And when I had some stuff on pallets and forgot I was 150mm closer to the roof than normal. Clonk, ouch. Repeat .

[Le_Fromage_Grande]

You can get 2 x Z1000J based track bikes, two lots of riding gear, a big gazebo, two tents, all the camping stuff required for a weekend at Cadwell and a generator in a swb Transit like that with no problems.

Obviously if you're at Cadwell you have to take a generator just so you can have it running all night