How come? The one we are looking at has around 120k miles and is about 10 years old. 4.0 V6I would personally lean towards the Nissan myself
Work Vans - Lots of options out there.
- Thread starter JGmazda
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Solid choice.
The VQ40 is a great reliable engine, and for long life a 40-grade oil has been proven to work the best in any of the VQ engine offerings. Ideally something with a strong add pack, like Euro rated 0W-40/5W-40, but realistically even a 15W-40 HDEO will work great, if climate allows. Any SAE 15W-40 HDEO is designed to work between -25C and +40C temperature range. (That's -13F to 104F.)
For the transmission I'd look into the biggest ATF cooler you can fit in there and change the fluid every 30k-40k miles. (Heat is #1 automatic transmission killer. Lack of maintenance is #2.) Or just change the ATF every 15k-20k miles with the stock trans cooler. I wouldn't go longer considering the intended usage in construction field. With that recipe it will live a long and healthy life. Considering longevity is very important here - I'd look into ATF offerings of @High Performance Lubricants. If their ATF is as good as their motor oil, then maybe change every 50k miles? Write off the cost at the end of the year
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Honestly Grahams response is exactly why. The Nissan is simple, motor and trans are reliable. I'd say if you can get it for a good price it should be a solid work vehicle
Medium roof transit will almost let a 6 footer stand up, high roof will.
We have a Sprinter in service for a 501c - it s nightmare... and it was bought new... Mercedes is no help at all, dealers rude... my advice Sprinter is stay FAR away.
We have a Sprinter in service for a 501c - it s nightmare... and it was bought new... Mercedes is no help at all, dealers rude... my advice Sprinter is stay FAR away.
Thanks for your detailed response and knowledge! Appreciate this!Solid choice.
The VQ40 is a great reliable engine, and for long life a 40-grade oil has been proven to work the best in any of the VQ engine offerings. Ideally something with a strong add pack, like Euro rated 0W-40/5W-40, but realistically even a 15W-40 HDEO will work great, if climate allows. Any SAE 15W-40 HDEO is designed to work between -25C and +40C temperature range. (That's -13F to 104F.)
For the transmission I'd look into the biggest ATF cooler you can fit in there and change the fluid every 30k-40k miles. (Heat is #1 automatic transmission killer. Lack of maintenance is #2.) Or just change the ATF every 15k-20k miles with the stock trans cooler. I wouldn't go longer considering the intended usage in construction field. With that recipe it will live a long and healthy life. Considering longevity is very important here - I'd look into ATF offerings of @High Performance Lubricants. If their ATF is as good as their motor oil, then maybe change every 50k miles? Write off the cost at the end of the year
Out of all of those, the Express is going to be running long after the others are scrapped imo.
You can stand in a promaster if you get a high roof.
I work on them, though, and Iād advise you to steer clear of them. Lots and lots of repairs to them and our fleet of a few hundred of them only have a max of about 25-30k miles.
I work on them, though, and Iād advise you to steer clear of them. Lots and lots of repairs to them and our fleet of a few hundred of them only have a max of about 25-30k miles.
Well... Not to confuse the issue... but the boss asked me to drive one of these today (Transit) and it was pretty nice. Definitely a better ride than the Ram and Nissan.
Any thoughts or experience?
Chevy Express has pretty terrible build quality, fit and finish but are very reliable and parts are cheap and available. Gas mileage is also bad if you care. We have a lot in our fleet they all have pretty basic issues. Paint peeling off after a couple years is the most annoying
Yes, I see those paint issues all the time with those. The GM V-8 engines are why they are good.
Nick1994
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The Chevy IMO is probably the better bet to go high miles more reliably.
But, if the Promaster can get 13 mpg vs 11 mpg of the other vans, over 200k miles at $3 a gallon that's a $10k savings in fuel.
But, if the Promaster can get 13 mpg vs 11 mpg of the other vans, over 200k miles at $3 a gallon that's a $10k savings in fuel.
The $8k transmission replacement eats that savings up. We have 3 Promasters in our fleet and 2 needed transmissions before 100k miles
Promasters seem to be nothing but problems from what I have seen. Good friend of mine has one and is on the 3rd engine. On the flip side another friend of mine runs a service shop and sent me a picture of a Ford transit with over 700k miles on it without any major work having ever been done to it.
I have driven the ram promaster, express vans, and transit at work. They were all new. The ram seating position gets tiring after a while and i found the pedal area was small and my boot kept getting hung up down there which is very dangerous. The chevy vans were great but yeah the interior fit and finish is trash but who cares. The inside is a bit cramped in the back with the low roof. The one we had topped out at 98 mph i think but pulled very well all the way until the computer stopped the speed. The transit vans were my favorite. The ride was excellent and the seating position was good. I have driven the 3.7 and the 3.5 ecoboost. The 3.5 absolutely rips. It actually feels kind of fast unloaded. We had cargo and passenger variationās. It was nice to be able to stand in the back and sweep it out without bending over. I didnāt like the low roof transit but the medium height was my favorite. The high roof looks a little wierd to me.
I actually drive a transit with a 3.7 for on the road repairs. It gets the job done. I dislike the tow mirrors, very hard to find a good position for them, but itās full of wheels and tires, brakes, a jack, and some tools and gets A to B. I think I see about 17-19mpg when Iām the sole driver of it, it drops to about 15-16 when I use e85 in it.
I wish the back doors opened 270 degrees like the pro masters, and the battery is quite the pain to replace as itās under the drivers seat, so far thatās all I can think of that I dislike.
Iām 6ā4ā and itād be nice if we had a high roof one (if thatās even available with the ford).
My employer has many Chevy 2500 vans and 2 or 3 Ford transits. Itās nice being able to stand up in them. Thatās about it. The Chevy is apparently hard to find right now. They have 5 or 6 on order.
The Nissan is interesting.. it just reminds me of the dumb and dumber dog van for whatever reason. The Dodge has a grasshopper looking front end.
The Nissan is interesting.. it just reminds me of the dumb and dumber dog van for whatever reason. The Dodge has a grasshopper looking front end.
Company I work for had the Transit vans. Worse thing I drove in NH. They're awful in the snow, the track width is too narrow for its height. Get caught in a cross wind on the highway doing 65-70, your seat will have a crease in the middle.
Oh yeah, misfires and gas pedal breakage on a few.
Oh yeah, misfires and gas pedal breakage on a few.
I had one (a medium roof) for 90something thousand miles. it was reasonably trouble free, had a sync issue, a rear end cover leak and an oil pressure sender issue, other than that tires brakes and oil changes.
Although it is getting better, tires of the proper specification were not easy to find. Michelin, Hancook, and Conti were it at the time. Mine had Contis, I liked them.
They are known for eating rear brakes.
The 3.7 has adequate power, it was faster than a 4.3L G van i had by a reasonable margin, but not as fast as the 5.3 G van. They are also available with 3.5 ecoboost and a 5 cylinder diesel. Neither the 3.7 or 3.5 have the internal water pump in this application.
The driving experience was much more car like than a G Van, it is easy to forget its a van.
If you buy it make sure to have any open recalls fixed, the drive shaft recall in particular.
If I was in the market the Transit and G Van would be top on my list, the Sprinter and Promaster would be off my list. I'm ambivalent about the Nissan and have no experience with them.
Need GOOD tires, with good tread (preferably studless winter if you can afford an extra set of wheels/changing them), put EVERYTHING heavy as low and far forward as possible. They still won't be great in snow, but the stability issues & uncontrollable rear axle sliding will mostly disappear. That being said, my personal Express with its' studded BFG Traction T/A rears is better in snow/ice with only 200-300 pounds over the rear axle than the Transit 250 with a full load! My Transit has the Conti VanContacts, and will be getting a new set as soon as my Christmas vacation is over, at 45K they're basically worn out.
Adding, if you live in the rust belt, DO NOT buy a Sprinter! In addition to the repair issues, they rust in weird spots that can be impossible to fix, like under the windshield, from the INSIDE OUT!
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