Peter Pan Posted March 30, 2021 Share Posted March 30, 2021 Hello everyone It is a while since I ventured onto Out&About Motorhome forum and I was amazed to see my last thread from 2018 is still in active discussion. At the time I had a Hobby Van which we run for 11 years. However a few months after the saga of the washroom roof vent we sold it on because we were not getting the use out of it due to personal circumstances. But times have moved on and we are now in a different world, at least my wife & I are. So we decided we need transport with our own personal built in toilet facilities. I am not aware of any cars which meet that requirement so we are back to buying a 'campervan'. After much online research I believe the Wildax Pulsar is the best compromise being 'only' 5 metre in length. My question which I would appreciate advice on is whether to go for the Citroen Relay 140hp 6 speed manual transmission or the Fiat Ducato with 140hp 9 speed auto gearbox (costing £3000 more)? I have already decided on a name for this new van - 'The Last Fling' so you can see it is important I make the best choice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slowdriver Posted March 30, 2021 Share Posted March 30, 2021 I cannot speak to the Citroen manual. However I have the 180hp Ducato with the 9 speed auto, and it is very smooth indeed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted March 31, 2021 Share Posted March 31, 2021 There’s a late-2020 review of the Citroen Relay here https://www.autoexpress.co.uk/citroen/relay The cubic capacity of the BlueHDI powerplant used in the Relay is now 2.2-litre (up from the earlier 2.0-litres). The design of the BlueHDI motor is more modern than the Ducato’s 2.3-litre engine that’s been around since 2006. I believe the intervals between major service tasks (eg. timing-belt replacement) are significantly longer for the Relay compared to the Ducato and, on a like-for-like basis, I’d expect the Relay to be a bit more economical. As stated in the review, it continues to be the case that automatic transmission is not offered for the Relay. The “9-Speed” transmission available for Ducato has been around for a while and problems with it were reported in the UK (with Jeep models) some years ago. But there do not seem to be any online reliability complaints about the latest version fitted to Ducato and reviews (example here) have been positive. https://www.commercialfleet.org/van/reviews/large-panel-vans/first-drive-fiat-ducato Some potential buyers will NEED an automatic transmission and, consequently, the £3k extra cost will be irrelevant. It’s generally accepted that automatic motorhomes command a higher price secondhand and this might defray some of the original cost. But if Peter does not need an auto-box, it’s really down to him to decide whether to fork out the extra money, or ’save’ by opting for the Relay. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Kirby Posted March 31, 2021 Share Posted March 31, 2021 One thought in addition, is to check local dealerships for Fiat and Citroen to see if they can accommodate the vans for service, and to gauge whether they seem to be sound and well established businesses with acceptable reputations. My impression is that Fiat dealerships have been subject to a fair bit of "churn" over the past few years (I think three in this area have now ceased as Fiat dealers/authorised repairers). The problem seems to be the Fiat 500 car, which has become very popular in UK, to the extent that one dealer described Fiat as a "one car franchise" on which they could not make money, leading them to decide to relinquish all Fiat dealings, including the commercial vehicles. Our service journeys have gradually become more extended as a result! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted March 31, 2021 Share Posted March 31, 2021 The Wildax “Pulsar” model is pretty compact (Length – 5.00m, Width – 2.05m (without mirrors), Height – 2.75m (approx). If the Fiat Ducato version were chosen, there are several Fiat Professional (FP) agencies reasonably close to Andover. This FP retailer search application https://www.fiatprofessional.com/uk/retailers identifies 11 FP agencies, with the distance from Andover ranging from 20 miles to 59 miles. Penton Andover is a Citroen car dealership https://www.pentonmotorgroup.com/citroen/contact-us/penton-citroen-andover/ but may be able to deal with a small PVC like the Pulsar (or at least advise where the nearest Citroen ‘van’ agency would be). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Pan Posted April 1, 2021 Author Share Posted April 1, 2021 Thank you for your advice gentlemen. I have decided to go with the Citroen. I have always had good experience with Peugot/Citroen diesels in the past and the dealer in Salisbury who services my Citroen car can accommodate the Pulsar. So I look forward to getting out and about again this summer, if I can find a campsite that isn't already fully booked! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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