Looking for an employee vehicle any ideas?

[Farmer]

Had a few issues with DOT today with one of the farm vans. Technically nobody is licensed at work that can drive it. Looking to downsize, any ideas on a reliable vehicle that isn't going to break the bank. Listed below is my criteria.


- Reliable
- Seats 5-8, if its 7-8 people has easy to get in and out of
- - No Passenger Vans i.e. GMC Savana
- Decent off road performance

 

[exranger06]

What are you hauling in it? Just people? Why wouldn't you want a passenger van if you're just hauling...passengers?

 

[Nick1994]

Suburban or Expedition

 

[Farmer]

Originally Posted By: exranger06
What are you hauling in it? Just people? Why wouldn't you want a passenger van if you're just hauling...passengers?


They're very strict on them around here, I will list the downsides of having them...

- RWD and heavy
- Special drivers license
- Commercial inspection annually
- No one has the license to drive the van on a daily basis

 

[OilyWaterMIXER]

Ford Excursion

 

[Doc8404]

a front wheel drive mini van
or find an old Chevy Astro 4x4 van

Are you looking to not be on the road with it?
You said no one has a license...I can read between the lines but that doesn't help us.

 

[OilyWaterMIXER]

^ I agree. A Chevy Express would be ideal for hauling many people. Or the 15-passenger E350.

A vehicle I sold to an individual currently residing in Pennsylvania and a deal done in Texas had an issue like this, after relocating to there he dropped the insurance etc and has it registered as a Farm/Woods Only vehicle so
Maybe something like that can go on here.

Are you feeling the vans may not be able to handle rough terrain? That said, something like a Suburban is going to be tough to beat, unless you look at some mid to full-size pickups, anything from Toyota Tacoma to whatever open-bed pickup to haul people around in. Does not have to be seats.

 

[Farmer]

Hauling people in a bed of a pickup is illegal here. I should of explained better, a 15 passenger van here needs to be operated with a commercial, bus or taxi drivers license. The vehicle will be on the road, but only short trips between farms. Our van is already licensed as a farm vehicle but they still go after you like a regular commercial vehicle if not worse.

What about a Suzuki Tracker? Seats only 4 but seems alright for offroad.

 

[IndyIan]

Manual 4wd in a Tracker, although with stock tires it won't care too much if its left in 4wd the odd time. Ours did 10's of thousands of km in the winter on mostly wet roads in 4wd with my wife driving. There is 3 belts in the back seat but that would be for kids. The 4 banger is pretty simple and tough. Look for a rusty front sub frame, and ours had the oil pan rust out too. I was going to use ours to run a ground drive manure spreader in low range, but haven't found a decent spreader yet.
99-05 XL7's had a 7 seat option(stretched tracker), the rear two are small but for a short trip it would be fine I guess. Downside is its got a wonderfully complex V6 with potential timing chain issues but if you keep decent oil in it, it could last and last.
Older Dodge Journey's could be cheap now, 7 seats and AWD were available.

 

[exranger06]

I think the problem isn't so much the type of vehicle, but the number of passengers the vehicle is capable of carrying. In some areas, vehicles capable of carrying between 10-15 people need a special license/passenger endorsement. But if you used say, an 8 passenger E150, you should be fine.

 

[Ramblejam]

Originally Posted By: Farmer
nobody is licensed at work that can drive it.

As exranger06 just said, configure the seating arrangement to comply with class 5 requirements.

 

[KD0AXS]

Remove some seats so the vehicle you currently have can carry fewer people. Maybe the laws on this are different in Canada, but that would solve the problem here.

 

[Superflop]

Removing a seat is exactly what we do here for people with regular licenses to drive them.

 

[Doog]

Honda Civic...."You guys Ok back there eh?? "

 

[Farmer]

Originally Posted By: Superflop
Removing a seat is exactly what we do here for people with regular licenses to drive them.


I asked the DOT officer that this morning and he said that is not allowed as it has to be certified secondary manufacturer. Not sure if he's blowing smoke or that it's true. He said, if it's a bus it's a bus you can't alter it unless it's approved by a secondary manufacturer.

 

[Tosh]

Originally Posted By: Doog
Honda Civic...."You guys Ok back there eh?? "

Honda CR-V seats 5 people.

 

[Ramblejam]

A few points...

1. DOT (or whatever agency) is merely the enforcement arm to what's on the books.
2. Do not reply upon their interpretation. Look directly at the applicable regulations/laws; your Motor Vehicle/Passenger Transportation Acts lay everything out in specific detail. Likewise, I'll mention that third-party websites, and even those of government agencies, get very sloppy with language. Again, look specifically at how the law is worded/written, as that's all that matters
3. "Approved secondary manufacturer" is in their vocabulary because of this: http://cvse.ca/vehicle_inspections/PDF/080807_bulletin_2_crummy.pdf
**Removing a row of factory seating from your vehicle is not a modification. However, adding a row (where one was never designed to be) would be a modification**

....after having said all of that though, I get the distinct impression that you wanted a different vehicle anyway, and that all of this is just a convenient justification to do so.

 

[AZjeff]

Originally Posted By: Farmer

What about a Suzuki Tracker? Seats only 4 but seems alright for offroad.


You want capacity for 5-8 people and you're looking at a Tracker??

Some of the older mid size SUVs have 3 rows. GMC Envoy XL, Chevy Trailblazer EXT might be in your price range.

 

[KD0AXS]

Originally Posted By: Farmer
Originally Posted By: Superflop
Removing a seat is exactly what we do here for people with regular licenses to drive them.


I asked the DOT officer that this morning and he said that is not allowed as it has to be certified secondary manufacturer. Not sure if he's blowing smoke or that it's true. He said, if it's a bus it's a bus you can't alter it unless it's approved by a secondary manufacturer.




Interesting, that's exactly what we did at my old job too. They got a good deal on a bunch of E-350 15 passenger vans. They had "bus" registration and required a passenger endorsement to drive them. We removed all the seats in back to use them as cargo vans and put regular registration on them. Then anyone with a drivers license could drive them.

I guess either the laws on this are different in Canada, or the DOT officer you spoke to is mistaken.

 

[The_Jeff]

Rip out a seat or two and put in a compost toilet and little propane stove. This'll count as an "RV conversion" and you can put RV plates on there.

Though in your humourless province, maybe not.