Vauxhall combo or transit connect?

[si tate]

Not quite surf related but im after a van for work & either of the title vans will fit in the garage "once ive extended it" but ive no experience with either of them. Wondered if any of you lot know anything about them, "derv or petrol" im not fussed.
Don't want citreon, peugeot, renault, prefer ford of vauxhall.

Any help much appreciated.

[fingers21]

Transit connect. 99% of the time, a ford can always be fixed at the side of the road, so an AA guy once told me. Plus, they seem to hold there money a bit better than the combo.

[Bogus]

My son has had both, and prefers the Transit. Ive no idea about operability, maintainability, reliability or residuals, and I dont know what the specs say about load space, but you can definitely get more stuff in the Transit.

Bogus

[TonyN]

We've just got a Transit Connect for Linda as a dog van.

I wanted to avoid any french, not many jap options so wasn't left with much.

The Connect seemed much nicer, as it designed form the ground up as a small van, not a converted car.

I think its great, and our first tankfull of diesel lasted 450 miles, for about £60, which is fantastic.

Its pretty nippy, and can tow 2800kgs!!

Ours is an SWB 03' 1.8 intercooled turbo diesel with A/C. Cost about £3k with 100k miles but needed some minor bodywork sprucing up, mint ones that age but less milage seemed to be about £4k up.

Cos there is a minibus Tourneo version, you can get plush interior stuff quite easily too.

[si tate]

I think the connect has the edge even before your coments but it's most likley down to price at the end of the day & i'll only have a max of £2500 cash, thats without raping the visa "which i don't want to touch".

Thanks for your input.

[stormforce]

We had both types of van on the railway and i muck prefered the ford.The driving position was great compared to the french crap.Plenty of load space aswell in the ford

[John h]

Hello Si, I have a 'connection' at Ringways Ford if you need it ? give me your email address and I will send you a stock list so you know what the trade are doing at the moment

[lawsy]

one of the tilers that comes in to my place, has just bought an ex gas van for not much more than your budget

its a connect and is pretty decent shape, except for its 70-mph speed limiter

he bought direct from an auction so saved a few quid instead of going through a dealer/forecourt

[BigBobE]

one of the tilers that comes in to my place, has just bought an ex gas van for not much more than your budget

its a connect and is pretty decent shape, except for its 70-mph speed limiter

he bought direct from an auction so saved a few quid instead of going through a dealer/forecourt

I have oned of those gas vans, have a 03 one for about 4 years, not a bother or restricter,

And the kit in the load area that comes with it is unbelievable, 12v strip lighting and endless shelving and storage.

[GRASSMAN]

Na then Si,

Richard works for Northgate vehicle hire in
Wakefield, and they have their own van sales
called Vanmonster could be worth a look.
BTW he say's transit connect is best.

http://www.vanmonster.com/find_wakefield.php

Gman.

[Team Japan]

Is the Vauxhall Combo still based on a Corsa? The national speed limit for car-derived vans is the same as for cars - 60 on single carriageway, 70 on dual carriageway & motorway. The Connect was designed purely as a van so it comes under van speed limits - 50 for single c/way, 60 for dual & motorway.

See 4th & 5th questions here: http://www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/roadsafety...vanspeedlimits

Might or might not make a difference to you, depends how much out-of-town driving you'll be doing and how seriously you take speed limits & cameras, but thought I'd throw it in there...

For what it's worth, I've never driven a Combo but drove a few Connects and got on ok with them. Not spectacularly fast, but reasonably comfy & usual Ford driving style.


Andy

[si tate]

Na then Si,

Richard works for Northgate vehicle hire in
Wakefield, and they have their own van sales
called Vanmonster could be worth a look.
BTW he say's transit connect is best.

http://www.vanmonster.com/find_wakefield.php

Gman.

Cheers steve, nice vans but a bit out of my price range though.

[meooo]

the speed limiter on the connect (when activated) can be removed easily at any Ford dealership.....but beware, we had two high mileage ones in recently to take it off, and the engines turned out to be naff! Their condition was disguised by the limiter...


And wheel bearings/cv joints can be very expensive, usually needing new driveshafts....