Guest Tracker Posted February 28, 2008 Share Posted February 28, 2008 Now that we all know that Fiat, Peugeot, Citroen and Ford are all basically fine vans but suffer from a of lack of development which the makers are very kindly allowing their customers to discover and report back on, I wonder whether Renault, VW or Mercedes have any ongoing issues that we should know about just to even the playing field a little - unless these are all faultless? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Usinmyknaus Posted February 29, 2008 Share Posted February 29, 2008 I spent 12 months researching base vehicles as well as the motorhome that goes on top. Based on (bad) experiences with new cars in the past I decided to go for a model that had several years' development in the marketplace. So, despite the strong temptation of the new Fiat Ducato and Ford Transit I opted for the Renault Master. In light of the emerging problems with the latest vehicles, I am much relieved that I bought the Renault. I knew Renault cars had had reliability issues but searching the internet for van tests and comments on various sites it was clear that Renault Vans were very different. So it has proved, after 6000 miles and 8 months the Renault Master 2.5 120DCI has been flawless and I am very impressed. The vehicle handles far better than I could have hoped, it is pleasant to drive, with excellent visibilty and a very flexible seating arrangement which ensures I can find a comfortable setting. The economy from the Quickshift6 autobox has been surprisingly good at 29.48 mpg on average, for a vehicle always loaded close to 3500Kg. The autobox, coupled to cruise control makes for relaxed, almost effortless progression. The only very small negative is that, as I expected, the autobox is not as capable on site - e.g. positioning on ramps, as a manual clutch would be but this is mainly countered by adaptation of technique. Disability dictates that I have the autobox so I can live with that minor issue. Manoeuvering the vehicle at low speed is very good using left foot braking and in reverse it romps up my 1 in 8 driveway with ease. In the most severe mountain passes we encountered in France last autumn I occasionally, as a driver, would have liked more power - there is a larger engine as an option - but on balance it was so rare an event that I don't think I could have justified the extra expense. Even on those few occasions the 120DCI was adequate for the task. (My desire for more power may have been coloured by the fact that until a month before the trip I had been driving a vehicle with a far higher power to weight ratio.) Bob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Basil Posted February 29, 2008 Share Posted February 29, 2008 All I have to say is Google Mercedes Sprintshift! The only base that appears to be problem free, currently, appears to be the Renault. Bas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Peters Posted February 29, 2008 Share Posted February 29, 2008 i myself own a mercedes based 2005 burstner and i can say with hand on heart its the best thing since sliced bread. the only draw back may be that servicing might be slightly more exspensive than other base vehicles but its a small price to pay for, touch wood, problem free motoring. brian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clive Posted February 29, 2008 Share Posted February 29, 2008 Clive,s choice. Mercedes manual box and the 6 cylinder 3 litre engine is No 1 up to 5 tonne. Renault / Vauxhall Movano for front wheel drive and a lot less cash. Above that its only one choice, Iveco 3 litre 6 tonne chassis up-rateable to 6.7. After that you are on the 7.5 tonne base vehicles and wheeey!. Try and ensure you pick one which has a chain driven cam shaft. The mileage we do in motorhomes is normally quite minimal (unless you are Don Madge) but cam belts need changing on time as well as mileage. Chains don,t. (The reason I did not put VW next to Merc is because VW has a cam belt and the Merc a chain). Hope that helps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Le Thou Posted February 29, 2008 Share Posted February 29, 2008 Having heard and read the horror stories about the new base vehicle we are counting it as a lucky escape that we chose the Renault 2.5 Dci, it delivers 120 bhp and is more than happy pulling a 3.8 tonne Autotrail. We have the manual 6 speed box....it is superb. The 3.0 litre version was an option but the only difference of 30 bhp didn't justify the extra cost. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Abb Posted February 29, 2008 Share Posted February 29, 2008 I imported twice from Germany 2 Fiat based motorhomes. Over the 4 years of ownership I never had any problem. The German dealers were very very helpful in every respects and one of them even took the trouble to phone me at home in UK in the evening from his home in Germany to make sure that I received the Fiat recall voucher (which was in German) and that I understood what I must do as he put! Having sold my last motorhome last year I started searching a new replacement. My heart tells me to carry on with a Fiat based MH, but the new Fiat X250 with its water ingress and the gearbox judders when reversing uphill made me think twice about committing myself to Fiat again. Perhaps I’m wrong but the chorus of worried/unsatisfied new Fiat owners is getting louder by the day. The most disturbing aspect of this saga is Fiat denying the gearbox problem exists at all. Now I’m going to digress a bit, I bought a new sport Mercedes in 2004 and within a month, the whole electronics went bang! after investigation it was found that the petrol contained a substantial amount of water. The dealer insisted that I must bear the full cost (£7500 then!), and sue the owner of the petrol station. I asked to talk to someone in Mercedes customer care. Within one hour I had a phone call from somewhere in Mercedes advising me to decide between ordering another car which will take some 6 months or they replace the faulty parts in less than a month. I decided for the latter. I had a new C class as a courtesy car for the month that it took them to do whatever. I suppose the Mercedes guys must have consulted their legal team which perhaps they thought they are not completely blameless, since the car was supplied new with a tank full of petrol!!!!! On the other hand my wife bought a new 307 way back in 2003. From day one things started to go wrong. The most worrying aspect was that on motorway speed sometimes but not always the engine goes dead. No warning, no brake or warning lights come on to warn the driver behind that the car is stopping! it was a nightmare to think that an innocent driver behind might ram us causing death/injuries to us him her and others. Peugeot took the car for examination several times but always the answer is ‘nothing wrong with the car, change the way you or wife drive’. A battle ensued where I took the dealer (Peugeot themselves in Derby) to court. Few days before the court appearance they agreed to replace the 307 with a new 307 of my choice if I dropped the case and they reimburse me the court fees. Does anyone remember 3 or 4 years ago when owners of the new Renault based MH had difficulties getting Renault UK to honour warranty jobs, simply because Renault-UK had not yet finalise the procedure with Renault Commercial France! Now back to our subject; Any thing with moving parts is susceptible to braking down whether it be Fiat, Mercedes, Peugeot or Rolls Royce. (If you want total reliability buy a camel, just feed it and water it once a month and the world is yours from Morocco to Siberia.) My experience tells me that I should go with the manufacturer which in the past had responsibly handle claims and did not make the customers chases tails. I would like to ‘pair’ with a manufacturer/dealer who I know is there to back me up and listen to my plea when thing go wrong because they do. I should stay and will stay away from Manufacturers refusing to face up responsibly to warranty-obligations and I hope that anyone contemplating buying a new motor home thinks very seriously about the after sale care offered by manufacturers and dealers before committing his/her hard earned cash. I decided to move to a Mercedes based MH simply because I had a better experience dealing with Mercedes than Peugeot, Fiat, Renault of this world. Last month while on holiday in the Vendee France, I visited the biggest Rapido dealer in France in Rennes Brittany. There I had the pleasure of seeing and comparing the whole Rapido range under one roof. I bit the bullet when a determined hungry saleman made me an offer I find difficult to refuse. Now I’m expecting a June delivery of an Rapido auto 983M with 2 years manufac guaranty and 4yrs habitation. The problem is when I signed under the dotted line, the Euro was at 1.47, guess what, today it is 1.32; let hope it’ll improve steadily till June. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XTRAVELLER Posted February 29, 2008 Share Posted February 29, 2008 HAVE CONVERTED 3 MERC VANS IN LAST 10 YRS,A 307,308 AND MY PRESENT VEHICLE A 508 BASED DISABLED BUS EX NORFOLK COUNCIL,MERCS ARE VERY RELIABLE VEHICLES BUT PARTS ARE VERY EXPENSIVE.I THINK MY SPEEDO CABLE WAS £60 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colin Posted February 29, 2008 Share Posted February 29, 2008 The Renault is actualy getting on a bit now, the latest model is just a series of refinments to a design several years old, and so has most if not all faults ironed out,and I find it nice to drive. I was willing the new sevel vans to be good as the extra width is a big bonus in a panel van layout such as the Twin. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gregory Posted March 1, 2008 Share Posted March 1, 2008 Good thread, can I make another point here - are we mainly concerned with the reliability factor over the period from new to around 4 years old, or are we talking long term ? For me, I've only owned two campers, a Bedford CF 2.3litre petrol and our present van a VW 2.1litre petrol Transporter which we've had for 14 years, We got it when it was 3 years old. Both great vehicles no major problems I imagine most of us can't afford to change our vans every few years and only now are we considering buying our first and probably last new van so I'm trying to do my homework but to keep an open mind re base vehicle. So far on reading Andy Stothert's and others' problems, I'm sure it's not going to be from the Sevel range. Cheers, Greg. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest JudgeMental Posted March 1, 2008 Share Posted March 1, 2008 I have the 2.2 130bhp Ford from last year and so far it is a marked improvement over any other van's I have driven. With standard cruise control it is an effortless and comfortable cruiser and returns reasonable fuel economy. Yes the sharp clutch/ first gear is a stalling problem, but hardly significant when compared to the frankly agricultural diesel vans of the not so distant past...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clive Posted March 1, 2008 Share Posted March 1, 2008 Gregory, that CF 2.3 we had one too for about 12 years. 1974 to about 1987. Gearbox was a problem, it could get in two gears at the same time and sieze up, ours did a couple of times resulting in a slideback ride home and a new gearbox. Also the rear wheels were only held in by the half shafts, and these were retained into the bearing by a press fit colar. We had a wheel bearing changed and the plonkers re-used the press fit colar. The half shaft worked its way partly out at some traffic lights in Reading one dark night leaving us stranded. Another slide back to the garage forecourt to suprise them in the morning. Oh on a long run the carburettor would freeze up. If you had a cup of tea the ambient air around the engine would thaw it out and all was well again. Nostalgia. We have had our present Merc 312 Scout for 10.5 years and all I have replaced is the plastic spill off pipes around the injectors. Keep on truckin! C. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gregory Posted March 1, 2008 Share Posted March 1, 2008 I won't say we had no trouble at all with the CF Clive but it only let us down once (HT leads) and even then we still managed to limp to a garage, also it was 10 years old when we got it and we only had it a few years. The VW, so far also just once, a sensor plug blew out resulting in a serious loss of coolant and we had to be recovered but it was just a rusty circlip, only other fairly big thing a radiator replacement. It's maybe just pot luck then and now whether you get a good one or a duffer. Cheers, Greg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cronkle Posted March 1, 2008 Share Posted March 1, 2008 JudgeMental - 2008-03-01 12:10 PM I have the 2.2 130bhp Ford from last year and so far it is a marked improvement over any other van's I have driven. With standard cruise control it is an effortless and comfortable cruiser and returns reasonable fuel economy. Yes the sharp clutch/ first gear is a stalling problem, but hardly significant when compared to the frankly agricultural diesel vans of the not so distant past...... Seconded! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mel E Posted March 1, 2008 Share Posted March 1, 2008 To add to the info on the Renault Master, a couple of things: 1. The 3 litre Nissan engine is no longer available - all the engines are uprated or downrated versions of the 2.5 and seem to be very reliable 2. One reason why the famed reliability issues with Renault cars may not affect the Master is that it is not built by Renault Cars but by Renault Trucks which is owned and run by Volvo with a Renault shareholding. I too find the Master is the best base vehicle I've had by a large margin. Mel E ==== Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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