Abordnet

Hi, Any cargo van experts out there? I live in Sydney and am thinking of buying a used cargo van in the $8000 to $10000 region. I've done some research and have found the Toyota Townace, Volkswagen Transporter, Mercedes Vito, Ford Transit and Mitsubishi Express WA (1998 to 2001) to be pretty good vehicles. Does anyone have any real world experience with these vehicles? I am thinking of using it mainly for hauling around some work related stock. Do they all fit a standard pallett? Thanks

Does anyone have any real world experience with these vehicles? I am thinking of using it mainly for hauling around some work related stock. Do they all fit a standard pallett? No, they don't. Did you specifically want a walk-thru van or would you accept a regular one? If so, look at a regular Mitsubishi Express. There's not a better value, more reliable van on the market and that's really saying something given some of it's competition. Toyota makes a fine, if somewhat expensive van as well, but I'd forget the other three unless you're interested in over-priced temper-mental piles of unreliable crap. The Transit is hideous, and the Vito is one of the most unreliable heaps of shit you're likely to find. The VW is better, but it's still a mile away from the Toyota or Mitsubishi as far as being a reliable work van is concerned. A word of warning about palletised freight in vans. If you're going to be doing it then you need to check the vans obviously, as they won't all take a standard pallet between the inner wheel tubs. Another often over looked point that has caused a great deal of grief to some is having barn doors on the rear is a *huge* plus compared to the more common single lift up door if you want fork lift access. I cannot tell you the number of vans I've seen had their rear doors caved in when someone was trying to load a pallet in the back and forgot to check the fork mast clearance on the door. Barn type doors solve that problem on the spot, but then you're limited to the vehicles that have them. The Transit and Vito mainly, and to be honest I wouldn't have either if you gave me one for free.

A word of warning about palletised freight in vans. If you're going to be doing it then you need to check the vans obviously, as they won't all take a standard pallet between the inner wheel tubs. Another often over looked point that has caused a great deal of grief to some is having barn doors on the rear is a *huge* plus compared to the more common single lift up door if you want fork lift access. I cannot tell you the number of vans I've seen had their rear doors caved in when someone was trying to load a pallet in the back and forgot to check the fork mast clearance on the door. Barn type doors solve that problem on the spot, but then you're limited to the vehicles that have them. The Transit and Vito mainly, and to be honest I wouldn't have either if you gave me one for free. Which begs the question why do none of them have barn type doors, or even just one big swinging door. I'm wondering if it's specifically to discourage the transport of pallets or anything else that would be difficult to actually get in there by hand - restrict the accessibility and therefore restrict the load/stress it's put under carting stuff around.

IIRC, the Express WA also has barn doors.  Or was it the Hiace SBV?  I don't remember off hand... I think it was the Express WA.

Which begs the question why do none of them have barn type doors, or even just one big swinging door. I'm wondering if it's specifically to discourage the transport of pallets or anything else that would be difficult to actually get in there by hand - restrict the accessibility and therefore restrict the load/stress it's put under carting stuff around. I think the Express WA has barn type doors (which is the bonnetted walk-thru model as opposed to the regular Express). I don't know much about them other than the fact that for the convenience of being able to walk through into the rear without having to get out of the van they're around twice the money of the regular Express. The Toyota is the same. If I just wanted a good, reliable general work van I wouldn't think twice about getting a regular Express, as I've had excellent runs out of them and seen them being thrashed to death at the hands of Australia Post drivers and be the most reliable things they ever had. So much so that I was glad when they fucked them off and moved onto something else as I made very little money out of them while they had them. When they had Transits I could have run Top Fuel and not given a fuck about the fuel costs

Hi, Any cargo van experts out there? I live in Sydney and am thinking of buying a used cargo van in the $8000 to $10000 region. I've done some research and have found the Toyota Townace, Volkswagen Transporter, Mercedes Vito, Ford Transit and Mitsubishi Express WA (1998 to 2001) to be pretty good vehicles. Does anyone have any real world experience with these vehicles? I am thinking of using it mainly for hauling around some work related stock. Do they all fit a standard pallett? **My experience is strictly limited to what I've rented. A couple of years ago, I rented a Renault 1.5 Tonne van. Front wheel drive and 88kW. Very impressive. It lugged around it's full load for a week around Sydney and returned an impressive fuel economy (450km - 30 Litres of Diesel). It even performed well on the F3. Easily able to keep up with 100kph traffic. I have no idea how reliable the thing is, but it has a flat load area and will take a pallet. Radio was MP3 capable and the air con was excellent. 6 speed manual was nice to use. Trevor Wilson