Omega Owners Forum

Chat Area => General Discussion Area => Topic started by: Marks DTM Calib on 21 July 2009, 19:46:13

Title: Dont buy an LDV van....
Post by: Marks DTM Calib on 21 July 2009, 19:46:13
....unless your gonna break it!

Bits are pretty much impossible to get with body panels fetching serious premiums (600 quid for a single rear door!)

It would appear that a large percentage of thier recent sales have been to the UK government.....
Title: Re: Dont buy an LDV van....
Post by: mantahatch on 21 July 2009, 19:57:07
My last van was a twin rear wheel LDV convoy crew cab. And I loved it. Fast good road holding for a van, and I could drift it, 2.5 turbo diesel, but noisy engine when pushed.
Title: Re: Dont buy an LDV van....
Post by: CaptainZok on 21 July 2009, 20:15:47
Firm I worked for had a fleet of Maxus vans.
Biggest pile of s***e I've ever driven.
More metal in a kitkat wrapper than the body panels.
Title: Re: Dont buy an LDV van....
Post by: TheBoy on 21 July 2009, 22:12:37
Quote
....unless your gonna break it!

Bits are pretty much impossible to get with body panels fetching serious premiums (600 quid for a single rear door!)

It would appear that a large percentage of thier recent sales have been to the UK government.....
similar story when any manufacturer goes tits up.  trust me, I know ;)
Title: Re: Dont buy an LDV van....
Post by: AndyVXR300 on 21 July 2009, 22:18:00
Quote
....unless your gonna break it!

Bits are pretty much impossible to get with body panels fetching serious premiums (600 quid for a single rear door!)

It would appear that a large percentage of thier recent sales have been to the UK government.....


Im my courier days i had a

Transit 350 LWB 125ps Rubbish
Merc sprinter 308 MWB average
Merc Sprinter 313 LWB Superb to be honest

Ok the Merc is expensive to buy and run but will out live the Transit and others by far..
Title: Re: Dont buy an LDV van....
Post by: raywilb on 21 July 2009, 22:18:50
got rid of a lwb 2.5 td in january. it needed a new cab floor. i even bought a mig to attempt the job, but let it go for £200. great weight carrier, and the peugot engine once up to speed went like hell. :) 
Title: Re: Dont buy an LDV van....
Post by: amigov6 on 21 July 2009, 22:25:40
Hav'nt driven vans full time since the days of the Merc 307/8D. Took ages to wind up & steering was heavy to say the least!!! Tough as old boots though.
    Prior to that most mainstream panel/luton vans came with petrol engines...really they did!!! :o ::)
Title: Re: Dont buy an LDV van....
Post by: TheBoy on 21 July 2009, 22:28:31
had a few transits when i used to do a real job.  the K reg one i had was brilliant, i loved that one.  other largr vans i had were mk3 tranny, and sherpas. they were both shite
Title: Re: Dont buy an LDV van....
Post by: AndyVXR300 on 21 July 2009, 22:30:49
Quote
had a few transits when i used to do a real job.  the K reg one i had was brilliant, i loved that one.  other largr vans i had were mk3 tranny, and sherpas. they were both shite


I spent 12 years at Royal Mail and know all about the sherpa and the early LDV......lol :y
Title: Re: Dont buy an LDV van....
Post by: Vamps on 21 July 2009, 22:30:56
Quote
had a few transits when i used to do a real job.  the K reg one i had was brilliant, i loved that one.  other largr vans i had were mk3 tranny, and sherpas. they were both shite

Yep, I have many a fond memory of the Mk1 Transit, vans and crew buses.... :y :y :y
Title: Re: Dont buy an LDV van....
Post by: Andy B on 21 July 2009, 22:39:49
Quote
....
 and know all about the sherpa and the early LDV......lol :y

30 years ago the bloke I helped do a milk round for had a Sherpa flat bed. I just remember reverse was across & back, somewhere into one of the seat cushions!  ;D  ;D  ;D  ;D
Title: Re: Dont buy an LDV van....
Post by: candyman on 21 July 2009, 23:18:54
 A fitter in the post office said about the old ldv convoys was that they where the only van that could
take the abuse, and when they did you fixed them
with a hammer and screwdriver. they wernt that quick
but fast enough for the posties. Dont rate the transits
at all, mercs disappear wfter 5 yrs, vw to expensive
and not that realible.  only van thats best is the toyota
hiace, a thousand pikeys couldent be wrong!
Title: Re: Dont buy an LDV van....
Post by: amigov6 on 21 July 2009, 23:46:01
Quote
Quote
....
 and know all about the sherpa and the early LDV......lol :y

30 years ago the bloke I helped do a milk round for had a Sherpa flat bed. I just remember reverse was across & back, somewhere into one of the seat cushions!  ;D  ;D  ;D  ;D
Hi Andy. Had the same job at 13/14 years old but this milk van was an early Bedford CF 1800 petrol. I'd drive, do most of the legwork while he took the money i'd collected & do the book. This was working out of the Storrington W.Sx Unigate depot.
    You'd never get away with that nowadays!!! ::)
Title: Re: Dont buy an LDV van....
Post by: Andy B on 21 July 2009, 23:59:50
Quote
Quote
Quote
....
 and know all about the sherpa and the early LDV......lol :y

30 years ago the bloke I helped do a milk round for had a Sherpa flat bed. I just remember reverse was across & back, somewhere into one of the seat cushions!  ;D  ;D  ;D  ;D
Hi Andy. Had the same job at 13/14 years old but this milk van was an early Bedford CF 1800 petrol. I'd drive, do most of the legwork while he took the money i'd collected & do the book. This was working out of the Storrington W.Sx Unigate depot.
    You'd never get away with that nowadays!!! ::)

I used to drive the van down the road lane from being about the same age as you, that's when he had a Commer van VVV ???L. Years later at 17 just after I'd passed my test he used to let me drive on the road, I even did the round a couple of times while he stopped at the farm. He'd 'progressed' to a Crona pop (Peter Kay's Rola Cola  ;D) delivery van by then. The gear box on that was just guess work, you knew the next gear was in there somewhere ...... it was just finding it!  ;D  ;D  ;D  ;D
Title: Re: Dont buy an LDV van....
Post by: Marks DTM Calib on 22 July 2009, 08:12:18
Quote
Quote
....unless your gonna break it!

Bits are pretty much impossible to get with body panels fetching serious premiums (600 quid for a single rear door!)

It would appear that a large percentage of thier recent sales have been to the UK government.....
similar story when any manufacturer goes tits up.  trust me, I know ;)

Nah, this is much worse......you cant get ANYTHING body work wise.

He currently has an 18 month old MOD one with a bashed rear quarter....and the only parts available are from breakers!
Title: Re: Dont buy an LDV van....
Post by: albitz on 22 July 2009, 11:17:04
Had the dubious honour of wrting off an LDV van a couple of years ago,it had one of those high fibreglass roof things which I forgot about as I drove under a low archway,took the rather roof off,the bloke I hired it from was not impressed. :-[ ::) ;D
Title: Re: Dont buy an LDV van....
Post by: Del Boy on 22 July 2009, 19:28:59
Drove an LDV maxus not that long ago, absolutley hated it, it was pot luck of you got a gear and it only had 48k on the clock. Had an 08 reg transit GLX last year, that had everything quto lights, wipers, 6 cd changer, elec windows, ESP, heated front screen, was the 200BHP model with 6 speed that bloody flew what a brilliant van that was  :y
Title: Re: Dont buy an LDV van....
Post by: Martin_1962 on 22 July 2009, 21:57:50
I was once chased by a LDV400 on a dual carriage way, only lost it by out cornering it at the next roundabout
Title: Re: Dont buy an LDV van....
Post by: miggcddave on 22 July 2009, 22:42:07
id like to find a cheap l d v flat bed and turn it in to a recovery truck , but it would have to be very cheap, lol
Title: Re: Dont buy an LDV van....
Post by: Steve Brookman on 23 July 2009, 09:29:10
Had a new school LDV Sherpa minibus in 1992 to replace the old Bedford Cf . The Geog teacher took it to Penarth on a field trip-he used to park the CF in the old multi-story but didn't realise that the new (one day old) sherpa was nearly 2 feet higher. Smashed in the roof and got it totally jammed under the multi- story roof ;D ;D ;D. Still take the p*** 17 years later.
Title: Re: Dont buy an LDV van....
Post by: Mr Skrunts on 23 July 2009, 10:09:15
That would have been scary.  Seen a few reports on the news over the years of buses and lorries that have hit bridges.  But not seen the actual accident filmed.

just found this on YT

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nEXaDtXemy0[/media]
Title: Re: Dont buy an LDV van....
Post by: Mr Skrunts on 23 July 2009, 10:12:16
Surely bridge designers ought to take a lesson from this and reshape  the leading edge under the bridge.  Then to shave money bus companys could drive them in as double deckers and out again as single deckers. ;D ;D