Fiat Ducato -VS- Ford Transit

cormie

After being given the No Go from carcheck.ie on a Ford Transit I was interested in, I'm getting a bit pessimistic of finding a decent van that I can use for courier work for about 3K.

The Transit and the Ducato were the top 2 vans recommended for my budget.

Looking at the price of new ones of each, they both seem to be around 22K but yet the Ducator depreciates in value so much quicker. It seems I can pick up a 01 Ducato for around the same price as a 98 Transit.

I just want a van that will last me about a year being used for courier work.

So what's the story with the different depreciation values

stifz

Well one's a fiat and the others a ford. There's no comparison.. The fiat's are complete S**t boxes..and give nothing but trouble. I'd hold out for the tranist. There's a place between enfield and cllonard on the right about 3miles past enfield.. He specializes in vans and jeeps. Worth a look.

I'd imagine it easy to pick up a transit throught the B&S mag? For 3k it's the best place to be looking. Would you not up the budget a 5k loan would cost you 90 quid a month over 5 years.. Get your years use and pay the balance off the loan.. when ya sell..

stifz

stifz wrote:

Well one's a fiat and the others a ford. There's no comparison.. The fiat's are complete S**t boxes..

:rolleyes:

Care to enlighten us why the Ducato is a complete shít box?

Or are you just regurgitating what you mate Dave in the pub thinks about Fiats?

They are cheaper than the competition, have excellent diesel engines and long warrenties. They are also much better speced than an equivelent transit. Oh and parts are cheaper too.

Henry Ford III

You need to substantially up your budget cormie.

Pay peanuts and you'll only ever get a monkey I'm afraid.

peasant

I would disagree that there is a major difference between Ducato and Transit when it comes to general reliability.
Both are designed as commercial workhorses, to run up high miles within a short time and take all sorts of abuse while doing so.

Your problem is, you only have a very small budget and therefore are left looking at fairly old vehicles that had more than their fair share of abuse.

The main reason why I recommended the Ducato is that it still has the old Fix it again tomorrow reputation (unjustified I think) and depreciates quite steeply. Therefore the average Ducato for your money will be a good bit younger and less abused than the average Transit. That makes it worthy of consideration.

But the bottom line is ...for your budget you can't reasonably expect a pristine vehicle. It will either have mechanical or bodywork issues (or both) ...otherwise the original owner would have just kept it and continued to drive the ****e out of it.

cormie

Ok thanks for the input. I've been onto the guy from carcheck and he also recommended the Transit or VW over the Fiat, saying they are like the Peugeot and another one I forget which though.

So I'm looking for a Transit, 97 at the oldest with under 130 miles for under 3K. He said it might require some digging but I could find one.

junkyard

The Ducato is fine for about 4 years if your doing a high mileage in that time but literally falls apart from there on, suspension failure, gearbox failure, you name it and Fiat will oblige. Stick with the Transit but, as was said already, you'll have to up your finances.

Mailman

merc 208D might be an option.
agricultural but mechanically simple
very impressed by how simple it looks under the hood of my father's one.

peasant

Mailman wrote:

merc 208D might be an option.
agricultural but mechanically simple
very impressed by how simple it looks under the hood of my father's one.

Rusts like hell, though.
We used to have on in work and you could literally watch it falling apart.
Same for the MB 100.

On all accounts the newer sprinters aren't much better.

cormie

I think a Transit is definitely the one I should keep looking for anyway.

Could anyone help with this thread?

Wishbone Ash

The HSE use a lot of minibuses. Several years ago, for financial reasons, they switched fron Transits to Ducatos as they could almost get two Ducatos for the price of one Transit. The Ducatos were crap, totally unreliable and constantly had bits and pieces falling off them. When the warranties were up, they switched back to the more expensive Transits.



EDIT: The only positive thing I heard the drivers saying about the Ducatos was that they were faster.

BarryM3

I run a transport company, we have had every sort of van.

And the most cost effective/ best all round van is the Fiat Ducato/Citroen Relay/ Peugoet Boxer (they're al basicallt the same but Fiats have a different engine)

Make no mistake - they are not perfect, no vehicle is but on the whole a better option than a Transit/VW/Renault.

While the Renault/VW/Merc is a match for the Ducato/Relay/Boxer in terms of comfort etc I'm afraid the Transit is WAY WAY behind - I've driven them all and after a day in a Transit you come home exhausted and deaf - not so in the others. This should be of big importance to ya as you will be spending 8 hrs plus per day driving whichever you decide

cormie

Thanks for the input. When you say Fiats have a diff engine, is it better or worse than the others? The Renault and VW are too expensive for me I'm afraid. Would you have any vans you'd be looking to get rid of yourself in my price region?:)

peasant

Fiat and PSA (Citroen + Peugeot) have an agreement to co-develop small vans and MPV's . All the bodywork is the same (except for grilles and brightwork) but both use their own respective engines.

Fiats are JTD's, PSA are HDI's (the newer ones anyway)

Both engines have good reputations, with Fiat having the slightly better ones of the two. Fiat developed this whole direct injection / common rail game on smaller diesels. They're at it for a while and know what they're doing.

If you intend to carry heavy loads best avoid both offerings of the older 1.9 or 2.0 Td's though ...they have to work too hard. 2.5 upwards is the way to go. (with the exception of the new 2.3 Fiat JTD diesel which is supposed to be excellent and stronger than the well proven 2.8)

(My camper has a 89 Fiat/Iveco 2.4 Turbo diesel with 95 bhp ...very nice and strong engine, the 3.5 tonne camper is no problem for it ...a transit of similar age will offer you all of 75/80 bhp)

BarryM3

People will say its better, others will say its worse. None of our Ducatos have ever given engine trouble. Thats all I can tell you.

Nothing in your price range I'm afraid Cormie.

We have a number of contract drivers with their own vans and they can afford new or nearly new vans, are you sure you can't stretch any further. Sometimes buying the cheap stuff works out dearer in the end...not to mention the uncomfort of having to spend all day every day in a sh!tter!!!!

BarryM3

The van that gives us the most trouble is a 05 VW Transporter. Bits of trim falling off inside and out...Oh and the small matter of the clutch exploding--- TWICE!!!

The Renaults weren't a bad van in fairness but the little problems they did tended to be the sort to have them off the road... A MAJOR problem for you as it will mean letting down customers!

colm_mcm

LDV Convoy?

(I know it's a relic, but it'll be cheap and reliable)

gary the great

What about a toyota Hiace?My dads one is unbreakable, hes had it since 97 and will never change it, even though it carrys about a tonne of weight in the back every day, has 200k miles on the clock, has been crashed into several times and the cab got burnt out twice, it still goes grand, not a bother.

cormie

Haha Gary:D Yeah the Hi-ace has been recommended to me before but it's too small for what I want it for unfortunately.

Barry, how many Ducatos have you dealt with within your business? Would you be buying these from new and at what age would you sell them on and why?

gary the great

Is the long wheel base Hiace even to small? You can get the high roofed ones aswell, although they look awful!

Good luck in your quest!

cormie

Yeah I've seen all sorts of hi-aces and none of them appeal to me. The high roof one does look awful and that would be what I'd be after but even still, the doors on them are tiny so wouldn't be a good option. Thanks for the good wishes:)

overdriver

OI!!
My high roof Hiace is a thing of beauty.



Ok its ugly.




Go to the UK, and pick one up over there. The VRT's only 50 quid on a commercial.

bazz26

If you could stretch your budget that little bit more:
http://www.carzone.ie/usedcars/index.cfm?fuseaction=car&carID=531674

Or this one, though it isn't a high roof and it's yellow but it has a roof rack and 11 months DOE cert:
http://www.carzone.ie/usedcars/index.cfm?fuseaction=car&carid=545343

cormie

That ducato is a nice one all right. I do think they are a perfect van with regards size etc but it's just the volume of people who say stear clear that is off putting.

Quotes like this:

The Ducato is fine for about 4 years if your doing a high mileage in that time but literally falls apart from there on, suspension failure, gearbox failure, you name it and Fiat will oblige. Stick with the Transit but, as was said already, you'll have to up your finances.

The HSE use a lot of minibuses. Several years ago, for financial reasons, they switched fron Transits to Ducatos as they could almost get two Ducatos for the price of one Transit. The Ducatos were crap, totally unreliable and constantly had bits and pieces falling off them. When the warranties were up, they switched back to the more expensive Transits.

If I could get those of you who support the Ducato to promise to pay me if it fails in the first 6 months, maybe that would convince me:D

stifz

ronoc wrote:

:rolleyes:

Care to enlighten us why the Ducato is a complete shít box?

Or are you just regurgitating what you mate Dave in the pub thinks about Fiats?

They are cheaper than the competition, have excellent diesel engines and long warrenties. They are also much better speced than an equivelent transit. Oh and parts are cheaper too.

I've had numerous fiats.. and each one fell apart.. so maybe it's just "my opinion" on an open forum.. but "i believe fiats to be sh*tboxes". Also 4 of my brothers have vans my uncle's drive vans and of the 6 of them none would buy a fiat as they had trouble with them in the past..


Oh and i don't have any mates called dave.. fiats are cheaper for a reason, yes their parts are cheaper for a reason also and their re sale value plumets for a reason also... coz their sh*tboxes..:D

colm_mcm

Fiat commercial vans are a lot better built than the cars.

3ps

I have a Ducato based Motorhome and the only real known problem is that 5th gear can be weak. I have the 2.8JTD and I can cruise at 120kph on the motorway if I wish and accelerate is very good... and that's pulling nearly 3.5tonnes at all times. I find it comfortable too.