Old Vans

luddite · Post by **luddite** » 28 Jan 2018, 16:59

Had a Fiat for while, utter shite! Always had a warning light on! One Saturday it went into limp mode miles from home. Boss asked to take the van home and he'd get a mechanic out. Spannermonkey turns up and says the cat is blocked and he's gonna rev the tits out of it for 10 minutes!! Not on my f***ing drive your not, go and find a carpark!!!

Post by **97gaz** » 28 Jan 2018, 17:27

Post by **97gaz** » 28 Jan 2018, 17:43

Seymour Buts · Post by **Seymour Buts** » 28 Jan 2018, 17:45

I was pissing around for fully 20 minutes yesterday in a Combo van; the interior light WOULD NOT go off. There's no (so I thought) switch, the light just comes on and goes off as you open and shut the doors normally. It wouldn't go off yesterday so I assumed I'd left a door open, I pulled over and checked the doors to no avail. I then started looking at the actual switches that control the light thinking there must be a problem, there wasn't. I ignored it then and took my merge which took about an hour, this light on all the while. I got back to the office to find nobody, all managers and other staff had gone bar two guys in the callers. I knew if I left it we'd be a van down Monday as the battery would be flat. Literally pissing around for 20 minutes. Eventually I realised there IS a switch, push the headlight switch in and it turns the interior light on. I'd obviously knocked the light on by mistake when putting the headlights on coz it was raining.

Post by **97gaz** » 28 Jan 2018, 17:49

Seymour Buts · Post by **Seymour Buts** » 28 Jan 2018, 18:14

97gaz wrote:
postietom wrote:I was pissing around for fully 20 minutes yesterday in a Combo van; the interior light WOULD NOT go off. There's no (so I thought) switch, the light just comes on and goes off as you open and shut the doors normally. It wouldn't go off yesterday so I assumed I'd left a door open, I pulled over and checked the doors to no avail. I then started looking at the actual switches that control the light thinking there must be a problem, there wasn't. I ignored it then and took my merge which took about an hour, this light on all the while. I got back to the office to find nobody, all managers and other staff had gone bar two guys in the callers. I knew if I left it we'd be a van down Monday as the battery would be flat. Literally pissing around for 20 minutes. Eventually I realised there IS a switch, push the headlight switch in and it turns the interior light on. I'd obviously knocked the light on by mistake when putting the headlights on coz it was raining.
Catches everyone out that one.
Not everyone knows either that if you turn the mirror control all the way round on some of the newer peugeots it will fold the mirrors in while you're parked.

Ha! My other half had a company car, a Cleo that did that. We only realised it did literally a week before they had it back when her dad pointed it out to us, we'd had the car 3 years.

vigilante · Post by **vigilante** » 29 Jan 2018, 17:37

I think it's 10 years now, bloody ridiculous.
As a 'proper' rural driver, the vans are absolutely knackered.

Don't get me started on Corsa's!

What a pile of cr*p!

Always in the garage, I repeat other replies about the lowness of the vans and the continual breaking of the back door straps.
The gear linkage bar always slipped out of the ball and socket joint leaving you with no gears!! Until they fixed it with plastic ties....I kid you not!
I used to fix mine with an elastic band!!

Hopeless, useless vans.
The one I drive sometimes has 110,000 or more on the clock, is 10 years old, sounds like a tank and is an embarrassment to drive with customers continually remarking about it!

The Bipper is better to get out of but too small in the back!!

Our fleet is an embarrassment.

The competition must be laughing when they see the sh*t we drive.

What's more the RM gargage's do private car's as well now and they take priority???

maisymoo04 · Post by **maisymoo04** » 29 Jan 2018, 19:31

97gaz wrote:
luddite wrote:Had a Fiat for while, utter shite! Always had a warning light on! One Saturday it went into limp mode miles from home. Boss asked to take the van home and he'd get a mechanic out. Spannermonkey turns up and says the cat is blocked and he's gonna rev the tits out of it for 10 minutes!! Not on my f***ing drive your not, go and find a carpark!!!
The newer Fiats have a diesel particulate filter (DPF) that needs clearing now and then. If you're on a duty that stops a lot then that could be 2-3 times a week. Once the warning light comes on it should be cleared within about 150mls. The light looks a bit like a fish.
We've got a relatively secure yard so the lads do it after the duty and while they're pouching off. Use the spare key to lock it while it's clearing.

The engine must be up to working temperature (about halfway on the gauge). Switch the ignition on but don't start. Hold down the throttle and brake pedal until you get a message on the dash to start engine. Let go throttle and brake and start engine. Revs will rise to 2k and will sit there for about 9 mins. Job done. If it doesn't work it's usually because the engine is not hot enough.

gaz I no ye mean well mate and true what your saying but do we really need this crap in the first place shouldn't have to rev nothing should we really etc

Celgar · Post by **Celgar** » 29 Jan 2018, 23:48

I quite like my Bipper personally but it does tend to spend more time in the garage than with me. I had a Fiat this Christmas while it was in the garage again. It was useful in terms of the increase in parcels we had this year. If we get another increase in parcels next Christmas I fear the Bipper won't be large enough.

Post by **97gaz** » 30 Jan 2018, 00:11

Post by **CPTNemoUK** » 30 Jan 2018, 00:14

I have a 08 transit at the mo with 100k miles. Still one of the best vans we have. Shame the radio is locked though

Xr4 · Post by **Xr4** » 30 Jan 2018, 07:07

CPTNemoUK wrote:I have a 08 transit at the mo with 100k miles. Still one of the best vans we have. Shame the radio is locked though

I was lent to another office for a week last year, the round I was on had a very battered 200k transit that the holder refused to get rid of. After a couple of days I could see why and wished I could keep it!

Shame we can't have a fleet of the old shaped transits

Post by **CPTNemoUK** » 30 Jan 2018, 07:10

Xr4 wrote:
CPTNemoUK wrote:I have a 08 transit at the mo with 100k miles. Still one of the best vans we have. Shame the radio is locked though
I was lent to another office for a week last year, the round I was on had a very battered 200k transit that the holder refused to get rid of. After a couple of days I could see why and wished I could keep it!

Shame we can't have a fleet of the old shaped transits

I just like how they drive the turning circle is brilliant. And they are easy to get in and out off. Plus loads of room.

vigilante · Post by **vigilante** » 01 Feb 2018, 20:19

97gaz wrote:
vigilante wrote:I think it's 10 years now, bloody ridiculous.
As a 'proper' rural driver, the vans are absolutely knackered.

Don't get me started on Corsa's!

What a pile of cr*p!

Always in the garage, I repeat other replies about the lowness of the vans and the continual breaking of the back door straps.
The gear linkage bar always slipped out of the ball and socket joint leaving you with no gears!! Until they fixed it with plastic ties....I kid you not!
I used to fix mine with an elastic band!!

Hopeless, useless vans.
The one I drive sometimes has 110,000 or more on the clock, is 10 years old, sounds like a tank and is an embarrassment to drive with customers continually remarking about it!

The Bipper is better to get out of but too small in the back!!

Our fleet is an embarrassment.

The competition must be laughing when they see the sh*t we drive.

What's more the RM gargage's do private car's as well now and they take priority???
The combos were crap but no worse than the other vans we've got. It's a different set of common faults. The partners have an issue with the ABS. It's not unusual for us to have 6+ ABS lights on out of 45 vans. Easy fix though. The gearboxes are made of cheese. The suspension is constantly popping struts. There's a rear brake pipe issue also. We've had a few where the pedal has gone to the floor recently.
The Fiats have the annoying DPF. The engines and turbos are crap. We've got a couple that were in the garage for 3 months while the engines were changed. .Constantly dropping into limp mode.

We're a mostly rural office. We've got a couple of 14 plate vans with 120k+ miles.

Yes agree but the Corsa's are the worst for getting in and out of, absolute nightmare for the taller person and the cause of shoulder/back and knee problems!!