Work vans

[wantafaster1]

For anyone self employed, or who uses a van for towing a Motorsport mini or caravan or whatever, what do you have and how do you find it?

[woodypup59]

V6 Vito does the job.

[Pete]

Have a 2016 VW T6 Euro 6 for towing now which is fine, thought it might be underpowered when I got it but it’s great, don’t own a road car anymore so it’s replaced that and I can kip in it. Used to tow with the work Transit, the pre Euro 6 generation which whilst towed great is an absolute pile of shit mechanically and has cost me a bomb in under bonnet repairs compared to the really old transits which were bomb proof. Wouldn’t touch another.

[wantafaster1]

Hmmm can't really afford another VW, was going to try a transit, the Peugeot Citroen things don't float my boat really.
Bit of a conundrum. Van is my daily driver, sometimes tows a mini, sometimes the caravan, sometimes a motorbike in the back.

[peasantslife]

N1 vehicle? With a tow hitch, vosa will expect it to be tacho'd. Is the drawbar compliant with the vehicle weights? 90 % of vans are run over permitted weight. Declare to insurance and most of us old UN's have an automatic licence to tow, but most of the next generation have no idea they have to take a test.
I gave up heavy hauling 10 years ago as trailers are sooo unreliable. In constant use we were servicing trailers every 1500 miles - weekly when working.
I swapped to a fwd 5.5 tonne crew cab with a Rohill tandem back end. Never looked back, so much safer.....but I used exclusively jlr towcars from suffix A Ranger rover, G'WAC, 2x Carmichael's, disco2 and all the more modern ones too.

[OzOAP]

Depends how big your caravan is, but I love my Transit Connect.
Best looking vans imo. Goes well, 50mpg, no problems in 5 years of ownership. Will hit 100k in the next couple of days.

[Richspec]

I've used my previous works vivaro and the transit custom i have now on towing duties a few times without issue.
Always have a factory fit towbar and whatever towing electric gizmos ticked on the options list when speccing a new van! that and heated seats are a must..

[mgcm1598]

After years of using my wife's Shoguns and now her Ssangyong Rexton (both brilliant towing vehicles) I heave recently bought a 16 plate Transit Custom (125 bhp model), swb, low roof and I'm very impressed with it. It's extremely comfortable, quiet, more than quick enough and drives exceptionally well. At present its completely standard in the back but will eventually receive some insulation behind the ply lining to (hopefully) reduce the amount of condensation in the back on cold mornings and I'll also fit a small amount of wooden racking. I primarily went for a Transit as it has a higher towing capacity than most vans of similar size. The majority of L1H1 vans are 2 tonnes towing capacity (Vivaro/Trafic/Boxer/Ducato/Vito etc - there are exceptions, but mostly 2 tonnes) but the 2012 on Transit custom is 2.3 tonnes for a 105 bhp model and 2.5 tonnes for 125 & 155. While most of my towing is much less than that, occasionally I have to shift our mini digger or a large horse trailer. In line with many, I would have liked to try a VW transporter (which is available in a wide range of towing capacities), but the prices are way beyond my reach.

[wantafaster1]

Thanks for your inputs.

I'd like a 2.2 transit but it's just that I may need to future proof in case we get a low emission zone or something stupid.

I do like the transporter but they're too expensive, transit looks more modern, drove one on Saturday it's more car like to drive.

[mgcm1598]

Transit Customs from about 2017 or 2018 went to a 2.0 with AdBlue, which I think is Euro 6 emissions. If your budget stretches that far, it could be worth looking into further.