Vans and mini-buses

Mitchell Hurd · 11 May 2019

The Ford Transit hah been the van / mini-bus of my childhood. In fact I'm sure my first trip on a bus was with Mum (definitely in my home county of Oxfordshire) from Grove to Wantage on a Thames Transit Ford Transit.

At Fitzwaryn School in Wantage, Oxfordshire, in January 2001 a new green Ford Transit mini-bus replaced the white Mercedes-Benz N207 mini-bus which I think wasn't popular with staff, nor was the blue LDV Convoy mini-bus new between September 2004 - February 2005. The green one, X-registered, was liked by staff more.

In fact, the Ford Transit was the best, most comfortable and reliable mini-bus at Fitzwaryn and Abingdon College, Abingdon. Put it this way, I not once can remember the green one ever breaking down when I was travelling in it. I think the blue LDV had a bit of trouble (possibly got a bit too hot) on a residential trip in 2007 which our class wasn't on.

Between Autumn and February 2009, a new silver 58-plate Renault was introduced. That was a good one.

I left School in July 2009.

At Abingdon College which I was at from Monday 14th September 2009 to Friday 6th July 2012, the 57-plate Vauxhall Movano twice had a problem and instead we took an X-reg LDV twice or that or an L-reg Ford Transit.

One mini-bus I didn't like was an 04-plate VW LT46. Every time the engine started up, you'd get a smell of fumes within seconds - not quite that bad, no. I dreaded it every time we'd get in it since.

In 2011 on a resident trip from Monday 16th - Friday 20th May, we took the white college car and a Ford Transit (both were 59-plate ones). The Transit was also the best, most comfortable and I guess reliable mini-bus in the college.

There will be more but I've forgotten what else to put !

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Bletchleyite · 11 May 2019

The ubiquitous Scout or school minibus of the 1990s was an ageing 17 seat LDV Convoy, but these were utter rubbish in every way compared with Transits. I guess they were cheaper, but it's not hard to understand why LDV later went out of business.

We're just not good at designing and building vehicles in the UK.

Mitchell Hurd · 11 May 2019

Bletchleyite said:
The ubiquitous Scout or school minibus of the 1990s was an ageing 17 seat LDV Convoy, but these were utter rubbish in every way compared with Transits. I guess they were cheaper, but it's not hard to understand why LDV later went out of business.

We're just not good at designing and building vehicles in the UK.

I remember in Okehampton, 22-26th June 2009 we were there for, riding in an S and 51-plate LDV. Dare I say this but they were hot, smelly and not the smoothest. I said to our teacher Mrs Higton that I could feel the vibration under my feet (when the S-reg LDV was in the gear gear when we should have been in the next one, put it that way) and that the green one (X-reg) would have been better. She agreed with me.

The best LDV was the 52-plate / 04-plate.

I know what it was I forgot - in them mini-bus, I loved the 3 seats behind the driver, like you get on Plaxton Elite InterDeck coaches now.

Bletchleyite · 11 May 2019

The best seat without doubt in any minibus (other than the one at the front on the right with a wheel and pedals

) is the extra legroom one at the door. I always used to fight for that, being tall

GusB · 11 May 2019

There will be many people who will swear by the Ford Transit. Equally there will be many who swear at it on a daily basis

When I was a kid, one of the local taxi operators (Dunbar's, Elgin) had a small fleet of Transits for school work etc, as well as a small fleet of coaches. We had a regular driver to take us to and from playgroup, and he had one of the first of the then new Mk2 (it was 1978), short wheelbase Transits. https://images.app.goo.gl/JVBfx2YwZ2euS94VA
I met the same driver many years later, still working with the same firm and still doing school runs, and he recognised me right away.

Maybe memories are becoming a bit hazy, but the market seemed a good bit smaller then. Most similar-sized vans on the road were either Transits, Leyland Sherpas or the Bedford CF. While the Transit has had a fairly long career, the old Sherpa carried on for a fair bit too, eventually becoming the Freight Rover Sherpa, Freight Rover 200, Leyland DAF series 200 and ultimately the LDV Pilot. Wasn't there a "buy British" requirement for organisations like BR, Post Office Telephones/BT and Royal Mail? Our local postie had a Bedford HA for many years before moving onto a Mk3 Ford Escort.

Master29 · 12 May 2019

I used to work for a Tobacco and confectionary wholesalers when I left school and they had a transit with a 3 litre engine. I would have loved to had driven that baby but at the time having just left school couldn't drive. The delivery blokes weren`t allowed to drive it for obvious reasons and it ended it`s days being driven by a lady who was near retirement in the firm. At least when they sold it they could say with honesty it did have one careful old lady driver.

Gooner18 · 12 May 2019

Transits are complete and utter rubbish now

071 · 13 May 2019

The second generation Transits (1990's) were very noisy. That was my only complaint about them. The drivers seat was great and apart from the engine noise I had only good experiences tooling around in a Transit HighCube, parking with impunity.

Was given an LDV Convoy for a few weeks - that was even noisier and uncomfortable. Didn't like it at all.
Always fancied a go of a Mercedes Sprinter, but never got the chance.

DarloRich · 13 May 2019

Sprinters are good vans as are VW Crafters. Our camper van is based on a Citroen Relay ( which is basically a Fiat Ducato). That is a really good van.

pdeaves · 13 May 2019

I did a school trip where we took one of these around Switzerland

yes in 'rabbit' livery too. I feel embarrassed just thinking about it now!
(image at https://www.flickr.com/photos/peagreenbus/13784977554)

Tom B · 13 May 2019

I've driven a few of the new transits, what I don't like is the gearstick mounted on the dashboard - always end up feeling for fresh air where the gearstick 'should' be!

Bletchleyite · 13 May 2019

Tom B said:
I've driven a few of the new transits, what I don't like is the gearstick mounted on the dashboard - always end up feeling for fresh air where the gearstick 'should' be!

I don't like that design as invariably the dash curve is where my knee wants to go.

LOL The Irony · 13 May 2019

DarloRich said:
Our camper van is based on a Citroen Relay ( which is basically a Fiat Ducato). That is a really good van.

One of the roughest riding vehicles I've ever been in is a Fiat Ducato.

Bletchleyite · 13 May 2019

DarloRich said:
Sprinters are good vans as are VW Crafters. Our camper van is based on a Citroen Relay ( which is basically a Fiat Ducato). That is a really good van.

Fix It Again Tomorrow?

CarltonA · 13 May 2019

At a firm I used to work for we had a two litre petrol long wheelbase Transit and three Mk 1 Mondeo Estates 1.8 litre diesel. The Transit was the superior vehicle in almost every way especially with a bit of a load on board. The early Mondeos were a pile of s**t with wobbly handling and a tendency to try and turn left as well as a homicidal ashtray which would come open on the move and block the gear stick. The previous van had been a Renault Traffic which was good to drive but very unreliable, the gearbox disintegrated at 90,000 miles. The transit did not have a single fault after we had driven it for 50,000 miles.

LOL The Irony · 13 May 2019

I've been in a Tranny from Cheshire to Crawley via Thornton Heath and back and it was quite alright (even if the gearbox was screwed. Rentals hey.). Still doesn't beat a mk4 Renault Espace...

Puffing Devil · 13 May 2019

pdeaves said:
I did a school trip where we took one of these around Switzerland

yes in 'rabbit' livery too. I feel embarrassed just thinking about it now!
(image at https://www.flickr.com/photos/peagreenbus/13784977554)

I thought that was an ice cream van at first look!

Cowley · 13 May 2019

Puffing Devil said:
I thought that was an ice cream van at first look!

They replaced all our double deckers in Exeter with those things in the 1980s. Diabolical...
16 seated and 5 standing from what I remember.

GusB · 13 May 2019

Cowley said:
They replaced all our double deckers in Exeter with those things in the 1980s. Diabolical...
16 seated and 5 standing from what I remember.

I often wonder if the then parent company was deliberately named "Transit Holdings"

richw · 14 May 2019

When I was at school we had M reg LDV Convoy and S reg Transit minibus. The transit was miles ahead in quality.

Having driven a selection of vans in my adult working life, the Sprinter and Crafter are without question the class leaders for driver comfort and quality.

DarloRich · 14 May 2019

The worst van I have driven: Vauxhall Movano or Traffic ( That is part of the Renault Master / Traffic range) awful

LOL The Irony said:
One of the roughest riding vehicles I've ever been in is a Fiat Ducato.

Bletchleyite said:
Fix It Again Tomorrow?

That is odd. The Ducato family ( inc the Boxter and Relay) are the first choice for camper van use in Europe. somewhere around 2/3rds of such usages are on this platform. There is a reason for that, and while price is a factor, it is because they drive well and are reliable. It has a decent range of engines, a good size range of vechile, a good gear box, a strong chassis and a decent price.

For panel van to camper conversions ( like ours) the Ducato is also popular because it does not taper in at the top meaning you don't lose any head height. For coach built camper vans ( that's ones with a new box on the back) the chassis, engine and gearbox are very reliable.

We tried loads of styles of vans for our camper and, honestly, the Ducato family is MILES ahead. A Transit is not a common base vehicle.

Cowley · 14 May 2019

DarloRich said:
The worst van I have driven: Vauxhall Movano or Traffic ( That is part of the Renault Master / Traffic range) awful

That is odd. The Ducato family ( inc the Boxter and Relay) are the first choice for camper van use in Europe. somewhere around 2/3rds of such usages are on this platform. There is a reason for that, and while price is a factor, it is because they drive well and are reliable. It has a decent range of engines, a good size range of vechile, a good gear box, a strong chassis and a decent price.

For panel van to camper conversions ( like ours) the Ducato is also popular because it does not taper in at the top meaning you don't lose any head height. For coach built camper vans ( that's ones with a new box on the back) the chassis, engine and gearbox are very reliable.

We tried loads of styles of vans for our camper and, honestly, the Ducato is MILES ahead. A Transit is not a common base vehicle.

I’m with you on the Renault Master. A friend of mine went from a W reg Sprinter to a 2006 Renault Master because he was able to buy one that was 3 years newer than the equivalent Merc.
He’s paid for it twice over in repairs, renting other vans and missed work due to it being off the road so much.
I bought my 2003 Sprinter around the same time and it passed 250000 miles a couple of months ago. Still drives as good as it did when I got it.
The only problem is that you have to keep on top of the rust.
He’s just sold his Renault as a non runner (after yet another gearbox gave up) and got himself Mercedes Vito...

I drove a Ducato the same shape as yours up to London and back in January and it was a nice drive. Much nicer than the equivalent age Transit or Renault.
Still wouldn’t swap though.

Going back to minibuses. In the early 2000s I used to take groups of learning disabled people out on work trips which meant doing my Devon County Council minibus training. We had to learn how much weight we were allowed to put on an LDV roof rack amongst other things. :lol:

It was quite a fun day out doing a driving test again, my camper at the time (another Sprinter) was actually bigger than the van we did the training in.

The LDV minibuses that Devon County had were alright for pottering around Tiverton, but as you got out of town and started to build up speed you soon realised that there was absolutely no soundproofing around the engine bay whatsoever. I don’t know if I’ve ever been in a more noisy vehicle at 50 mph.
I think they had Ford Transit running gear. But I’m not sure?

DarloRich · 14 May 2019

The Sprinter is an expensive van and lots of the second hand ones have had a hard life! We nearly bought one but the cost was prohibitive for a one in decent nick.

It will be the rust, especially on the underframe, that will kill our van

LOL The Irony · 14 May 2019

DarloRich said:
The Sprinter is an expensive van and lots of the second hand ones have had a hard life! We nearly bought one but the cost was prohibitive for a one in decent nick.

It will be the rust, especially on the underframe, that will kill our van

Sprinters rust at age 7. My dad nearly bought a vito but went with an Espace instead. Espace had less rust problems.

DarloRich · 14 May 2019

Is the Espace classed as a van? Is it not an MPV?

(The best Espace i ever saw had a Williams Renault f1 engine in it!. It was the engine from a 1993 Williams FW15C - i would have bought that Espace!)

https://www.racefans.net/2018/01/04/renault-espace-f1-197mph-mpv/ )

LOL The Irony · 14 May 2019

DarloRich said:
The best Espace i ever saw and a Williams Renault f1 engine in it!. It was the engine from a 1993 Williams FW15C - i would have bought that Espace!

World's best people carrier.

Tom B · 14 May 2019

Bletchleyite said:
I don't like that design as invariably the dash curve is where my knee wants to go.

I turned up to help a family member move house in the middle of summer in a t shirt and shorts, but carrying a thick woollen jumper. They found this unusual. I wrapped it around my knee to provide some cushioning since, as you say, it's exactly where knees should go.

Next time I asked the hire company for a previous design which has a more standard position!

Strathclyder · 15 May 2019

DarloRich said:
(The best Espace i ever saw had a Williams Renault f1 engine in it!. It was the engine from a 1993 Williams FW15C - i would have bought that Espace!)

https://www.racefans.net/2018/01/04/renault-espace-f1-197mph-mpv/ )

Of course, we can't mention the Espace F1 without mentioning the Ford Transit Supervans. And we can't mention those without mentioning the Mk.3 Transit with a Jaguar XJ220 chassis underneath (it being built by Jaguar in 1989 as a test/development vehicle for the XJ220). The last one is the byword for 'sleeper' and all these vehicles are just bonkers in general.

LOL The Irony · 15 May 2019

Strathclyder said:
Of course, we can't mention the Espace F1 without mentioning the Ford Transit Supervans.

Supervan 3 wasn't actually a Transit body. It was 90% scale.

Strathclyder said:
And we can't mention those without mentioning the Mk.3 Transit with a Jaguar XJ220 chassis underneath (it being built by Jaguar in 1989 as a test/development vehicle for the XJ220). The last one is the byword for 'sleeper' and all these vehicles are just bonkers in general.

ATW Alex 101 · 15 May 2019

I can't say too much about minibuses, as I've not used them a great deal! When I was in high-school they had an 54-reg peugeot boxer minibus and it seemed to do ok, though it looked tired!

As for vans, being an owner of a light removals as well as an overseas freight forwarding company, I do have a fair bit of experience with vans! The first van I had experience with, was a Ford Transit Luton van, W-reg I think. It died around 120k, which for a tranny is not a bad innings given the life it had! After that, I was relying on rentals so that was whatever was available on the day! The second van I really got to know was the first van I actually owned. A 2004 Mercedes-Benz Sprinter MWB 2.0. I purchased it with 347,000 miles on the clock. Yes 347,000. I'd purchased it with a full service history, I personally knew the last owner, whom he'd got the van from a very well known automotive glass company, of which my van was part of their fleet. To this day, I regularly drive fully laden to London, Wales and anywhere where I'm required to! The general feel, drive and ergonomics of the Sprinter has made me realize that I won't ever buy a Transit!

Vans and mini-buses

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