would you consider your van as reliable

[geenjay]

robbed from another forum ..sorry ..but i was interested to see how many of us on here consider there van as reliable and how many of us use them daily.. :?:

 

[Toad]

Last year I covered 25,000 miles in my bus (with only a couple of minor glitches that I sorted at the roadside and carried on), and also lived in it for half that time too.

So YES VERY RELIABLE

 

[fritz68]

just passed another mot and get me where ever i point it, so yes, until it actualy breaks down, its reliable!!

the above comment does not stop me from worrying every time i go out in it though! :?

 

[Doris]

although Doris is being restored at the mo, yes,I do consider her reliable. in 8 years the only things I've had are:accelerator cable snapped,the starter motor stuck once,no.3 spark plug failed once but that was a helicoil that colapsed into the cylinder.I could leave her for months,go out and she'd fire up straight away.many a holiday without hiccup.

 

[sparkywig]

Yes, it's just bits of bodywork that fall off....

 

[strongy]

very reliable

in 4 years and 10s of thousands of miles ive had a carb linkage come loose (5min job)and the bakerlite on the back of the points snap.
new points £3

my 3 year old bmw has done less miles and had a new turbo £1000 traction control unit £300 fuel over flow pipe the list goes on and on

my old t4 had rear springs nearly every year and new injectors at £700


so the bus wins hands down :mrgreen:

 

[Trikky2]

In 38 years I have had one indicator fail - needed a thump, once the spindle of the fuel pump fell out (but was laying there so I could put it back) and twice its stopped mysteriously, like something switched the ignition off whilst driving, only to re start after I just looked at the inside of the dissy (aliens?) - so yes - very reliable. (hope I dont regret posting this :lol:

Oh yes and a couple of punctures - neither of which could have been fixed with a can of sealant - and recently half the exhaust fell off due to a design error on my part.

 

[THE LAST PANZER]

Only had my bus a year but has just gone through its second M O T with only one advise which is very very minor and i'm going to do the simple fix anyway, i've covered thousands of miles with only very minor issues on a few times. I've used the bus for all sorts of thing like a prom, car boots, the band van, moving house, a recovery van, weddings, camping, a late night taxi.........the list goes on. Old type 2s just seem to be all things to all men there great.

YES my bus is definately reliable considering its age.

 

[61 stu]

used daily, every weather, Asda runs, school drops, photo shoots, without fail as long as i keep on top of pampering it it does just fine

 

[krusty]

I use mine every day to get to and from work, flew through its last MOT, and I've never actually broken down!
PS. I'am touching lots of things made from wood! :lol:

edit;
Also just remembered, one of the first things I bought after getting my truck on the road was a towing bar, I've only used it once and that was on my dads merc 500sl! haha

 

[Pete B]

Mmmmm..... reluctant to comment, bearing in mind am heading for EBI 4 next Thursday. Threads had pulled in the dizzy baseplate so points closed up when there last time but got home fine. Now taken out to M5 and carry 2 spare sets with the slot filed out for an M5 screw. Brass tube from accelerator pump drilling into venturi fell out and down said venturi, tranforming No1 piston and head into something resembling a shotgun victim.This was just after I had stripped and 'rebuilt' the carb.... Cleaned up and smoothed everything out so it would hopefully last for Brighton Breeze 2009.
Has since done B.Breeze '09 then Bus Types '10, Stanford Hall '10 & '11, The Bus-stopover '10, Alive & v'dubbin '10 & '11, VoWo show '10 &'11, Ninove '10, Peppercorn '10, Le Bug Show-Spa '10, Viva-skeg-vegas '10, SSVC Ace Cafe lots of times, Ninove '11 plus countless miles just being used as regular transport ('cos it makes me smile whenever I get behind the wheel)
Treating my lovely little 1600 SP with loads of love, fresh oil and respect. Seems to so far being repaying the compliment but by making that statement I have surely over stepped the mark and am now destined to be reaching for the 'big yellow card' soon :lol:
So yes, so far the little babe has 'done good', fingers crossed it continues.

 

[ed.]

No, broke down on the way home when i first bought the bus, and that one break down has shattered my confidence.

always gets an mot but needs a new engine. Has loads of end float, if the Titanic had this much float she would have never gone down. and i'm skint.

hopefuly one day

 

[john the horse]

bus i super reliable and cheapo to run too, costs zero in petrol as on low loader every 5 mins and is a 100% reliable when it comes to a fooking breakdown.

apart from that everything else works

so apart from the small thing off the engines {Past} its reliable yes.

 

[lard]

Did have a long running battle with dying on idle - but never failed to get me home

Probably done around 2000 miles in the last year - currently need to adjust the carb and I'll have fixed the latest rough running (tight valve is my suspected cause which I adjusted so fingers crossed next time out!)

Been recovered once which knocked the confidence (annoying as it would have restarted if I'd taken note of the warm start method!) - but it's done some hefty 400 mile trips in a day and not missed a beat so I'm building back my confidence and currently have a large collection of spares that I've replaced to fix the idle issue that weren't needed

All in - knowing that for 6 months it was getting me to/from my destination with a massive air leak - I'd say that it's certainly resilient and forgiving when things aren't quite right - and reliable enough for my needs!

I only use for pleasure - it would be easier if I was using daily as any slight issues would become more noticeable and I could fix them - rather than intermit ant as I don't drive it often. Enough at the moment

 

[stevefhot]

Had the same van for 24 years done 10s of thousands of miles and only had a starter motor fail, just a quick bump start got home ok. New starter motor next day delivery fitted no problems back to normal, LOVELY ....

 

[weeboll]

i'm making mine progressively more reliable everytime!

never broke down once in new zealand in two years of running around both islands, get back here and in the last five years;

the engine seized three weeks before our wedding so had to frantically build a replacement,

the rocker cover leaked all the oil out on the honeymoon (roadside refill and thought was fine)

the alternator seized (lorry home) and new one fitted next day

the fuel pump spindle popped out whilst in france (roadside fixed) and new pump now fitted

the rocker cover leaked all the oil out again (roadside refill) replaced the rocker cover clips and all fine

a carb jet got blocked in devon (fixed at campsite and got home)

indicator relay packed up the morning of the MOT this year

we think the van is telling us to move back to NZ!

 

[Tofufi]

I drove mine daily for several years. It's never failed to make a journey, although it has had a few hiccoughs.

My van certainly is a trooper, and that's why I love it. Currently uses a lot of oil and needs an engine rebuild but it made it 80 miles sitting at 60mph (except on the hills) while loaded to the roof while moving house yesterday 8)

 

[dubs and classics]

Had my current van about 12 years, its on its 3rd time round the clock, I have done well over 100,000 in it and it has let me down twice.. once when the throttle cable snapped (got it home by winding the idle screws in so it idled at 3000 rpm :lol: ), and once a new set of points had a break in the wire....

Yes I would consider it reliable.. 8)

 

[geenjay]

it makes you wonder why so many people consider these vans as unreliable :? ive had one van go down after a rebuild and that was my fault i re-used a knackerd case. drove to gibralter 4 times starter motor went down at salamanca took it into town bosch repaired it for 45 euros and she cut out on the madrid ring road [oh baby please not now ]vroom away she went did it again on gibralter runway looked in the engine bay and found a dodgy terminal i usually find that if you effect a tempery repair shes ok but if you dont sort it as promised she will get miffed and let you know when you least need remimding..[they are an innanement box with 4 wheels beyond human emotions].. :lol: :lol: who-ever it was that came up with that one has never owned one of these vans..something the modern day van owner will never have :mrgreen:

 

[jacks906]

touching wood

mines only ever stopped going once when i got beached going up a drive way into a pub

and the only problem thats slowed me was a pertronixs electronic ignition that went tits up but still managed 200miles home on 3cylinders at 45-50mph an alot slower on hills :mrgreen:

all in all with my van i have realised if you keep it as it was intended it will never let you down ....... (vw intended it to be low from the start, so thats were its best to keep it as low to the tarmac as possible )