Dayvan ownership whats it like for everyday use?

[saleen 192]

generic picture



Ok dayvans long wheel base short wheel base, ford chevy dodge been a few with in club black magic /white lighting . the astra vans more so now

so good bad points ?
Easy to work on? don't think so engine wise parts ? practical ? ok differant set ups in rear area would need the kitchen side and bed set up
engines heavy on fuel as heavy compared to car set up
general running costs
worth looking at the lpg converted ones ? know nothing about LPG

Just had quick look on ebay .com very rare they seam of similar to generic picture or even the ford type
so wonder in time will these become collectable /up in value or just harder to find repair look after????

 

[AmericanThunder]

On LPG, I can comment.
I ran a daily driver on LPG for almost 9 years.
Converted at 20k miles, I calculated a return on the investment at 9 months given mileage at the time. I actually managed it in 8 months.
Very practical conversion as there are lots of LPG filling stations around making it no different to normal. The fact that it also still ran on petrol meant it was never a concern and for long trips you could fill both tanks and get double the range.
LPG burns cleans. Normally Petrol cars dirty their oil very quickly but on LPG the oil was very clean even after 10k miles.
The car was eventually sold at almost 1/4 million miles with most of them done on LPG. I never even had the LPG system serviced!
Is it worth it? Yes if you do sufficient mileage. The conversion cost wasn’t cheap but with my daily grind at the time I was able to recoup the cost very quickly. For a van or hobby vehicle that covers much less mileage it’s going to take much longer (unless you do the conversion yourself and just get it certified?). So perhaps if the plan is to hold onto the van for many years, otherwise I would make sure the van has been converted before you buy, make it part of the must haves on the list.
LPG is only 80% efficient compared to Petrol. So for every 100 miles driven on petrol you would only get 80 miles on LPG for the Same amount of fuel. This 80% efficiency also translates into 20% less power than Petrol. Anyone who claims it’s quicker on LPG is lying or talking out their arse! It’s simply not true without further modification. This 80% efficiency didn’t bother me in a lightweight cheap family car. In a vehicle weighing in at around 6000lbs it really might be an issue.

 

[saleen 192]

Thanks A/T.
weighing that much even with out me in there lol wont go on ramp only 3.5ton ramp doh, engines look a pig to work on,

come peeps any more feed back plent on van owner past and prescent on here,

 

[AmericanThunder]

I’m only guessing the weight of the sort of thing you posted a picture of. Astro/Safari would be less dependent on whether low or high top.
They are a bitch to work in the engines. The dog kennel access is liked by some but I would prefer the van met with an accident before I worked on the engine again!

 

[an88fiero]

They're pretty good towing vehicles

We have pulled this twice now - once to Sidmouth and once to Snowdonia



First time the exhausted droned - sorted that with a new stainless system
Second time the tensioner was noisy - sorted that with a new once.

Hopefully the third time will be nice and quiet

 

[saleen 192]

You done well get all that around some of the roads around here,

 

[an88fiero]

yes it was narrow in some places .............