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[Viral_Jim]

Given the choice, I would take mechanical weakness and decent Corrosion resistance over the reverse.

[Doctor Gollum]

The PSA/Renault stuff might not rust, but they are very lightly built with stupidly expensive parts... But each to their own...

[STEMO]

The days of French shite and Italian rust buckets are long gone. They only live on in the minds of old and middle aged men.

[Viral_Jim]

No decision taken yet. Seeing as it’s auto, beggars may not be able to be choosers.  Other than AC Spec isn’t important though, as even the drivers seats.

FWIW, the 2 tradesmen I know personally  moved from 2x transits to Ducatos and rate them. But that could just be down to moving to a van that’s a generation newer. . 

[Nick W]

I have reached the conclusion that I work for complete idiots

Maybe they have complete sense, giving Mercedes Benz a wide berth

For Fiat

In cars (and we know vans are a different kettle of fish), at least a Fiat is designed correctly (and maybe slightly let down in execution), unlike MB, where they flick through the part suppliers catalogues, and play lego...

Have you been drinking?
Or had a stroke?
Or ever looked at a Fiat, let alone ever driven or worked on one?
And the Fiat vans are particularly bad, as they're designed and built in conjunction with Citroen - a combination that has disaster as an integral part.

[Viral_Jim]

So, clearly opinions are divided...

 

[Doctor Gollum]

So, clearly opinions are divided...

 

OK, to put it another way, that ten year Citroën van with a sofa bed and portaloo costs about the same as a pre-registered new one that you can fit out yourself... Still won't be any good

[Viral_Jim]

Don’t knock it!

I’m hoping to kit one out, have 5yrs of holidays and then selling it at cost 

As if...

[Rods2]

Sounds like your best bet is a couple of pairs of steel capped hiking boots for you and SWMBO, but be careful:

Brand A: Definitely avoid as after 10 years beach surf walking everyday, poor corrosion resistance, the steel toe caps had completely rusted away.
Brand B: Avoid as they fitted badly where the different parts came from the bitsa bins.
Brand C: Only got 1.5 times around the world before their weak mechanicals meant they fell to pieces.
Brand D: Poorly made with rough stitching, that gave way on our 3 circuit of Europe and weak laces meant a roadside rescue.
Brand E: Came out of the ugly bin and badly fitting, so sore feet, avoid.
Brand F: No heat resistance, they lasted notime when walking on hot lava in Hawaii.

Have you considerer the benefits of bare feet walking?

[Viral_Jim]

Hmm. If you’re alluding to a tent, I’d rather stay at home, on fire.

[Rods2]

No just making the point all of the comments are along the lines of don't buy this because....

I would have thought something along the lines of a,b,c are their good points, but watch out for these problems especially after x miles, z years would be much more useful to you when making a decision. More like secondhand reviews tend to do, but with the benefit of direct personal experience added from the contributors on here.

For example: I know the Renault/Vx vans tend to eat gearboxes but with regular oil changes and making sure regularly the oil is fully topped up massively extends the gearbox life so you probably won't have a problem.

[BazaJT]

The latest shape Transits are so easy to break into it's laughable[there is a fix out for this] and they have problems with the door hinges whereby the door hits the front wing when you open/close it-again there's a fix out for this.There are some very nice versions out though,the MS-Sport[I think that's what they call it] a Guy Martin edition and also a Valentine Rossi edition for three of them.

[Migv6 le Frog Fan]

The latest shape Transits are so easy to break into it's laughable[there is a fix out for this] and they have problems with the door hinges whereby the door hits the front wing when you open/close it-again there's a fix out for this.There are some very nice versions out though,the MS-Sport[I think that's what they call it] a Guy Martin edition and also a Valentine Rossi edition for three of them.

Your still talking about vans, yes ?? 

[aaronjb]

The latest shape Transits are so easy to break into it's laughable[there is a fix out for this] and they have problems with the door hinges whereby the door hits the front wing when you open/close it-again there's a fix out for this.There are some very nice versions out though,the MS-Sport[I think that's what they call it] a Guy Martin edition and also a Valentine Rossi edition for three of them.

Your still talking about vans, yes ?? 

https://guymartinracing.co.uk/brand-new-guy-martin-proper-van/

In terms of vehicle reviews - I briefly considered asking for recommendations (here) on small (think Swift/Corsa/clit sized) automatics for the other half.. then I realised all I'd get is "They're all shite" so I didn't bother

BTW Jimmy, IIRC, someone at your gaff is doing the same thing, though they are converting a VW transporter as that's what they fell in love with recently.

[Viral_Jim]

BTW Jimmy, IIRC, someone at your gaff is doing the same thing, though they are converting a VW transporter as that's what they fell in love with recently.

Interesting, I'll keep an eye out!

I can see why people like the transporter, they're the most "car like" I think of the vans, plus there's the vw thing but I definitely want a toilet and shower in ours (otherwise why not just take the car and a decent tent) which rules them out immediately. I also want a "garage" area for wet/dirty gear, and an external shower attachment for the muts.

Something like this may be a decent starting point.

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201801172840507?make=IVECO&model=DAILY&advertising-location=at_vans&body-type=Panel%20Van&radius=1500&wheelbase=LWB&sort=supplied-price-asc&transmission=Automatic&postcode=ox279bn&page=1