o/t Fiat Ducato Vans

[sawmiller]

I am hearing quite mixed reviews on the reliability of these- possibly purchasing a couple of used vans for business purposes what experiences if any have you had of these vans - we need something that will be reasonably reliable to run

Thanks

[John2]

I bought a Citroen Relay LWB last October and it's been absolutely fantastic. The Citroen Relay, Peugeot Boxer and Fiat Ducato are all exactly the same van and production line, just different badges and the Ducato has some different engine options.

I just had it serviced and MOT'd the other week. It's coming up to 4 years old and despite 85k miles the mechanic said it was all still like new including the brakes, no advisaries.

Long term I can't offer an opinion on reliability, but I wouldn't hesitate to buy another. I converted it into a campervan so I could follow the best snow in the Alps in the ski season and its been flawless. I did tons of research, and it was by far the best value for money, the well regarded Transit engine and unlike the Mercedes/VW/Transit etc its galvanised steel and will have a lot less rust issues long term. The dashboard plastics are cheap, and the rear door requires a hard slam to be recognised as closed, but other than that its fantastic. I've only driven an LWB transit for comparison though.

For a fully serviced van that had done 80k long distance (international) courier miles and impeccably maintained I paid £7,750 and it's top spec with cruise control, dab, touch screen, air con etc. Cruise control is fantastic, though to be fair if you're not doing 16 hour drives like I did its less important.

[sawmiller]

Thank you John good amount of helpful information there. The two vans in question are around 70,000 mile mark The reason I asked is that I have heard of issues with gearbox problems and also cam belt failure causing engine damage. I guess regular cam belt and perhaps water pump changes are advisable?

[stonewaller]

As mentioned, Citroen Relay, Peugeot Boxer or Fiat Ducato.
The HDI engine is very reliable, I’ve had a Peugeot Boxer 2.2 HDI and it’s virtually bomb proof.
But, the three vans are basically all the same apart from badges, but definitely you should go for the HDI engine.
I’ve got a 2.2 Transit now, will probably be my last, back to the Peugeot Boxer after this Transit has had its day.

[John2]

I've got the common 2.2l Transit engine (which has achieved upto 37mpg even with weight of comprehensive conversion). This engine has a chain so no cambelt to worry about, I'm not sure about the Fiat engines.

The Transit I drove had a smoother feeling gearbox, but my gearbox doesn't feel like it has any issues at all, just the way its designed was my interpretation. Obviously I only have an individual experience on one quite modern van I've owned less than a year, but in my research I had no reliability or gearbox concerns, only time can tell.

Edit: Just looked, the 2.2 HDI engines are Relay and Boxer only. The Fiats use Multijet engines, in my research I would have been happy with one of these too, not sure if they have cam belt or chain though. All the engines were highly thought of.

[sawmiller]

Thanks stonewaller - are you having problems with the transit?

[stonewaller]

Sawmiller, not having problems as such with the Transit as such, but it doesn’t feel as solid as a Peugeot Boxer, the Transit has let me down once.
Another very good van to consider for reliability is a Toyota Hiace, had one a few years ago, solid and very reliable.

[Nogbad]

The Ducato (Boxer, Relay) in its post-2007 guise is a decent van, let down in the main by main dealers, and parts availability and prices against the Transit (in comparison with which it has a larger and better-shaped load area). I've driven both, and not much to choose between them.

The recently superseded 2.2 engine in the Boxer/Relay (and a limited number of Ducato models) is a chain-cam one of Ford origin, the current, Euro VI 2.0 in the Boxer/Relay is belt-cam (and Ad-Blu required.) All 2.3 engines in the Ducato to date are belt-cam, and the current Euro VI version surprisingly does not require Ad-Blu.

There is a decent forum supporting Ducato users at https://www.fiatforum.com/ducato/ from which you can pick up the common faults, and, if you do your own servicing, a laptop with MultiECUscan software and a couple of EOBD adapters is a godsend (near dealer-level diagnostics and reset capability for under £100, excl the laptop).

[mikemiller]

if you do your own servicing, a laptop with MultiECUscan software and a couple of EOBD adapters is a godsend

Godsend? with MULTI-ecuscan? Is that the nakedtruth, K?

[caytonmiller]

My dad drives the relay. Heap of bobar. Gearbox, clutch been a nightmare. Low on power (don't know engine size)

I've got the smaller fiat scudo 2.0 hdi. Won't have another. There's not enough room on here to list the problems it's had

I had the old scudo before non turbo. Apart from low on power it was built proof..
Getting ready for a new one and was going to try the new transit though like the ducato it has mixed reviews...