Fordmad!

What are they like? Looking at picking up an Expert tonight hopfully. 52 plate 91k really clean 1.9 for £1350.

Anyone have one?

Fordmad!

Its going to be doing mainly short trips. Had a look lastnight and its perfect for what i need as its got 2 side doors.
10 months MOT

What are they like for reliability/fuel etc...

Fudgey

iTrader: (4)

check gearbox, especially 3rd gear syncro. make sure all gears go in without crunching. usually around the 70k mark they start to get trouble in my experiences of them anyway.
make sure its not running hot etc as they do HG's check for mayo in filler cap etc
i broke an engine mount on mine, the one at the bottom that stops the engine rocking back and forth, kind of a Y shape bracket
i once blew a boost hose
i needed tyres every 3 months and front discs and pads every 6 months, be careful if buying pattern parts as ATS had a right fuck up due to pads that didnt quite fit properly and left me with no brakes...

i was getting around 500/550 miles to a full tank, but i drove that thing absolutely flat out everywhere and was doing 50k odd per year.

good little vans tho if they have been looked after, serviced every 12k iirc

Fordmad!

It looks as if its been looked after very clean and tidy, i no that can be decieving!

All the locks work suprisingly!

Its the non turbo as i don't need one or the problems.

Havnt drove it yet but there seems to be no problems with the box etc.

Its off a vicar so he should be genuine Lol

S3an

As said mine used discs and pads regulary, there was a lot of road noise came from the back, specially the side loading doors. I use to have to change the heater plugs every time the hard frosts came, usually about november time (halfords about £30 a set) had to change 'O' rings on the air intake because it was on and off doing the plugs. The 1.9D i had was gutless, really poor. Tyres changed regulary(only put the cheapest on mind) watch for rusting around the back door hinges. its French so be prepared for the odd electrical gremlins. Apart from that not a bad little van for the price.

Fordmad!

Yeah the rear hinges are poor. Not a spot of rust anywhere else!

Don't mind heater plugs as my escort van is the same and as for gutless im in an escort van the slowest thing on the road but im not after speed at all! Noise again isnt a problem as mines the same.

Electrical problems do scare me abit as thats my weakness Lol

Fudgey

iTrader: (4)

ah ones i had were TD. i didnt find them to be that sluggish, scraped 114mph on the gps on one of them lol

oh, some of the dash lights stopped working, so at night when lights were on only half the thing lit up. air bag light kept coming on and had to be reset, shitron never found the fault

also the side doors, as sean said you get some road noise, constant high speed bends the tops of the doors or something and they dont seal. i tried to bend them back and adjust them etc but that didnt really work so i ended up sticking a load of foam gasket around them to seal them up.

but if a vicar owns it, i expect it will be ok. unless he turns into the devil once behind the wheel

Fudgey

iTrader: (4)

oh and not that you will, but never EVER take it swindon motor park citroen garage, robbing cunts that invent faults and charge the earth...

had a massive falling out with them when the engine mount broke, they had diconnected the map sensor to put it in limp mode, said it had a bad fuel leak and that the sump was leaking... but they done a service on it and changed oil and filter then said the sump had to come off...

only went in for the small Y bracket i was on about....

so i took the van back after my company told them to fuck off, and fixed it myself lol

took 15 mins to fit bracket and reconnect everything they took off... no fuel leak and no leaking sump..... CUNTS

Fordmad!

Would prefer a peugeot over a citreon really but i suppose they a pretty much the same.

Did notice the back door didnt sit properly at the top.

Suppose for £1350 i cant ask for much Lol

So all in all they don't seem to be too bad!

rossco22

Ive had both the 1.9d & currently have a facelift hdi , Great vans my 1.9d had 190k on before i sold it on an the engine was still sweet , as others have said there pretty guttless in non turbo form , Common faults that im aware of Heater controls become faulty , After time the slidding doors dont seal correctly when closed causeing some wind noise, Models with out rcl can have the door locks fail after years of use , tell tell sign is occasionaly the key will spin completly in the lock & not engage , Mileage illumination disapers , Drivers seat base's can wear heavily ... & of course the normal things with ware & tare...

Fudgey

iTrader: (4)

the pug, fiat, citroen versions are all exactly the same bar the badge on the grill and steering wheel

S3an

The heater controls are a nightmare, you need to replace the full fan unit if it starts failing,(£200 from stealers) mine stopped on constantly! got one from a breakers, about £60 i think. The air bag light issues can occur with the sensors under the seats, normally when pushing things under the seats and knocking them. The 1.9D (none turbo) i had easily returned 40mpg. I used tie down straps to hold the sliding back doors in to stop the wind noise. bloody cold in the winter with no FF bulkhead, i used a old sheet across to stop the noise and cold. Just another little thing a full sheet of plaster board or sheeting 2400x1200 doesnt fit in the back without the rear doors being left open.

DanW@FastFord

iTrader: (1)

I would suggest that a 'normal' driver would expect a longer life from these components

Fordmad!

I was hoping to sort of upgrade to one from my escort van but tbh its not sounding worth it!

Apart from being bigger and having the side doors that i want there dosnt seem to be many more plus points!

Fordmad!

Is that really the only difference?

Fudgey

iTrader: (4)

the company i worked for when i had one was tighter than you mate, they only put budget tyres on and patternt brakes.

decent tyres like michalin would last 15-20k miles the budget ones would last 10k if you were lucky!

as for brakes, the original citroen ones lasted over 30k... pattern ones about 10-15k

but as i said, that cunt was flat oooot everywhere lol

Fudgey

iTrader: (4)

im pretty sure mate. the bodys are the same anyhow lol

Fordmad!

I thought it was just the body.

I was put of the fiats as my brother had a punto and it really was a problem everyday Lol.

So its between the Dispatch and Expert!

Eagle

iTrader: (2)

our company had the dispatch for 4 years, tdi one shifted well and mine was ok.. however main failing on all of them was the egr valve. i had 3 one other engineer had 7 so really annoying having a van that dont work..had a set of driveshafts normal wear and tear on brakes etc. no other real issues with it did about 120k .
now have the pugeot version. all good driving so far small tdi version can get 35mpg with ac on even with driving it like a van driver dont mind them as a van at all and was quite happy with it unlike the rubbish vito we had before..