I'd like a bigger van but I was wondering how the Ivecos, Transits and Sprinters compare. I need an auto.

jetj wrote:

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I'd like a bigger van but I was wondering how the Ivecos, Transits and Sprinters compare. I need an auto.

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A lot of my friends have smaller vans and most Ive seen are very very well laid out and comfortable. However I prefer the larger Van and I guess by now Im spoilt. A larger Motorhome is of a size where you can walk inside standing up straight, with all the modern conveniences, solar power, shower, toilet, TV/DVD, hot water etc, and walk thru from the driving cabin to the living area.

My first Motorhome was an Iveco. You are asking about comparisons. The Iveco is a great Van. Downside, they are one of the most expensive to buy and service. Parts are expensive. Oil is $20.00 a liter and the diesel engines holds 5 liters. Service cost is about $800.00 to $900.00.  But they drive beautifully and give little trouble. I wanted something a bit cheaper to run and service.

I bought a brand new Mercedes 280SE Sedan in 1968. I was very impressed with it, but again, service was around $200.00 each time. That was a lot of money in 1968. I eventually sold it for that reason. When I was looking around for a Van to have a Motorhome built, I looked at Mercedes. Once again, expensive to buy and service.  I also heard, and I cant say this is correct, that there were a lot of mechanical problems with either the engine or transmission. I cant recall which.  Maybe another GN with a Mercedes could shed some light on that point.

Stories I heard about the Ford Transit were not encouraging, however I have a good friend who has several of them in his Courier business. I had a few beers with him one night and he convinced me the Transit was a good and reliable work horse, inexpensive to operate and service. He convinced me and I bought one. If it is a good work horse, it must be good for conversion to a Motorhome. The only service I had was 90,000 at a Ford Dealer here in Launceston. Cost $400.00 Mine has only done 89700 km but as I have  decided to sell, I had it checked over by the Ford Dealer and a 90,000 km service completed.

Most Vans have a Drivers seat and a dual passenger seat, holding 3 people. As I wanted a walk thru, I had the dual seat removed and I bought a new Drivers seat. So it has 2 drivers seats. There are two seats behind the two driving cabin seats and they can be made into a bed. Ive attached a couple of photos below. Regarding internal dimensions, most makes of vans are very similar in measurements and cubic area. My Ford is a LWB and is 7 meters long.

Finally you say you want an automatic transmission. Most vans give you 2 choices, manual or Sequential Manual Auto Clutch. In laymans terms, an automatic or it can be driven manually. It has a push button auto drive.  If you want to drive it in Manual, you simply press a button to change from auto to manual and change gears by pressing another button. There is no clutch.

I had intended to keep this Post brief, but I hope I have given you something to think about if you ever decide to upgrade to a larger vehicle.

Thanks BG,

I appreciated your very informative post. I think your Transit looks great.

I purchased it from a wrecking yard in Launceston Tasmania.  Bit far away for you. Even if they had another, the freight would be a killer. Suggest you try the wrecking yards in your area, also check out E-Bay. I recently sold the Ford Transit, now I have the Iveco. I bought a single driver's seat for the Iveco thru E-Bay.  You could have them converted to swivel bases, but I chose not to.

I had a look at a 2008 Ford Transit today BG, 3.5 Turbo Diesel with only 75,000 kms on it.

Although it was a homemade fit out, it was done reasonably well, had two single beds at rear, and at a reasonable level, microwave, fridge, sink and bench so no bending.   Also good cupboard space, one with pull out wire baskets.  Had been fully lined.  I would have liked to have seen an aircon in it but it had none, but for the price it seemed a good buy even if it had to be fitted later.  Also had a roll out awning.

The price is shown on this link is $34,990, now reduced to $29,990.  Salesman said owner (being sold on consignment) was selling as he needs the money as he has just bought a small business.

Would a 3.5 diesel be heavy on fuel consumption, or is the bigger motor a plus for a motorhome weight etc?

 http://www.actionrvcentre.com.au/RVdetail.aspx?ID=698 

Edit:  Looked like a nice clean unit, has a window in the sliding door on the passenger side.  Only ever used as an RV with two previous owners, the first did the fit out.

Hi Julie, yes that was the only pic available and I didn't take any myself.

The two beds were on either side of the van from the back forward and had foam matresses on them about 4 inches thick, I would imagine you would need to place something on top of them.  They had a wood surround on the wooden base beds about 2 inches wide to prevent the matress from slipping off.   The beds were fairly high with a wooden enclosed base, but I couldn't see any cupboards, base couldn't be lifted and no doors on the aisle side of the beds, except the rear third of the beds had a wooden bridge across them, blanked off in the aisle, this was for rear storage area accessed when you opened the rear doors, but they did not seem to extend for the full length of the bed.

As you stepped into the side door of the van (caravan step needed, very high) there was a sink with hand pump and cupboard underneath,  on the left also a water tank underneath and filler outside, drainage and inlet hoses going from the sink to somewhere under the vehicle.

Standing in the side doorway looking in, on the opposite wall, there were a couple of cupboards with good storage and a small Engle 12V/240V fridge (20 litre?) above one of the cupboards about waist high, one of the high cupboards had metal slide out baskets from top to bottom, enclosed by a door.  There was also a microwave set about waist high above a cupboard.  Now that I think about it I can't recall seeing a stove, so not sure whether the owner may have used a portable gas cannister one.

All of the cupboards, fridge and microwave had a wide laminex bench with a rolled edge over the top of them at a high level so you didn't have to bend.    I got the impression that the original owner must have been tall and didn't want to have to bend down to things.  I tried one of the single beds and it seemed wide enough and was certainly long enough for my 6 foot length.

A porta potti was stored behind the drivers seat, although one of the cupboards looked like it could accommodate it.  There was a storage area over the drivers cabin that was enclosed and had doors on it.  There was also an auxillary battery.

May I suggest you contact the dealer and ask them to provide pictures of the inside, especially the beds and storage under from the rear, they are able to photo their RV's etc, see enquire about this RV on this link; http://www.actionrvcentre.com.au/RVdetail.aspx?ID=698 

I am sorry I can't be more specific.  It did not have any A/C fitted. One leg of the roll out awning had to be unclipped at the bottom to give access to the fuel filler. 

Hi Duh,

Thanks for all the information, I really appreciate it. I will contact the dealer today and see if they will send me some photos of the interior.

I've attached a photo of my van, waiting for a fine weekend so I can give her a long overdue wash, we've had so much rain here.

:)

Julie

-- Edited by Where To Next on Saturday 9th of March 2013 11:35:00 AM

Thanks BG, what are your thoughts on the motor being 3.5 Diesel as opposed to the smaller engine?

Duh wrote:

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Thanks BG, what are your thoughts on the motor being 3.5 Diesel as opposed to the smaller engine?

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 My Iveco is a 2.3 Diesel and it really gets along. I can't recall the Ford Transit performance as I hardly used it.  But I think it was a 2.3 also. I always felt the Transit for some reason, was under powered. Possibly because it was the Jumbo, high roof, 7 meters long. The 3.5 will give you extra power which you sometimes need in an emergency especially if the one you are considering is the MWB at 6 meters.. It will of course use a bit more fuel. If I had a choice I'd go for the 3.5.

I've never heard of a 3.5 motor in Australia, definitely something strange there. Only 2.4 litre and 2.5 litre older vans. For that sort of price would be pretty ordinary conversion I would think, or an import. I've never heard of imported Transits but who knows?

I reckon their addy shows a typo jetj and it is a 2.5, not a 3.5.

They had a new manager and an assistant manager recently and I think they are a bit disorganised at the moment.

I asked if it was a 3.5 when I was there and the salesman said yes, but I don't think he really knew, he didn't seem to know too much about the vehicle in general. 

Thanks BG, See the 2014 models below;

http://www.ford.com/commercial-trucks/transit/2014/features/#page=FeatureCategory3 

It does appear that the USA and Canada had 3.5 diesel models. I am amazed at the number of countries who make or have made these over time, including China.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Transit 

These are the 2013 models selling in Perth presently plus prices, I wonder if they are made in China;

http://www.johnhughesford.com.au/list.php/ford/2429201,2429202,2429203,2429204,2429211,2429213,2429214/CPC82/?gclid=COOh5N6B8bUCFUdNpgodf0AAOQ 

msg wrote:

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Yep my 2008 Transit has indicator controls on left. Its labled 2.4TD on the back. I know should go out and get the manual. It runs well, seems to have plenty of go, 6 speed gearbox. Get around 9-10ltrs/100

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 Thanks msg, is that fuel consumption around the city or country cycle, or are both the same due to profile (high roof) etc?

I have negotiated a price of $27,000 with them, subject to tying up a couple of loose ends.  Has no stove, but does have microwave, small Engel fridge, Porta Pottie, Tow bar and TV Antenna.   Has a spot on top of sink area and side door where portable gas stove could be used. I would have liked some overhead lockers, but they can be fitted later, but plenty of other storage.  No rear airconditioning, supply and fit with a local campervan converter quoted about $2,600, have to think about the price if I go ahead and get this.

I've never had a turbo diesel before, do you have any hints for how to drive them etc (meaning is there much difference between driving them and petrol).   Due for a 75,000 Service, (or 12 months which is about September). 

I couldn't see anything about 2.4TD on the back (see photo), not too sure what is written underneath Transit on the back door.  See photo;