I have driven loads of vans, I do work at the weekends totally unrelated to my day job. So far this year I have driven,
2 VW Transporters, 2.0 TDi, 1 was a 110 hp and the other an 82 hp. The 110 was good, very nice van, the 82 was too basic and very slow. The 110 was actually better on fuel, even though they both had 5 gears.
VW Crafter SWB. Bad on fuel and felt huge. Sounds nice though, being a 5 cylinder engine, but was slow. Wouldn't bother unless you have seriously large loads.
Transit SWB 75. Look a bit dated now, but by far has the best interior of anything, so much space, cubby holes etc. Really good place to be. Drive nice, go well and have good load capacity. Average on fuel. Very noisy.
Transit Connect LWB 1.8 TDCi 75bhp. I drove this for my day job for 16 months and it was good, but looks dated, is bad on fuel and the interior was wasteful on space. Quite quick and was great to drive.
Citroen Berlingo SWB 1.6 HDi, which is now my daily drive. May as well have an estate car, because the space in the back is limited. Feels like you are driving a sponge. However, the 1.6 is very frugal on the motorway, it is very quiet and comfortable and keeps up with traffic well. The dash looks nice, but there isn't a great deal of cubby space and having 3 seats in the front is a waste of time, unless your colleagues have broken or no legs. The gearbox feels like it is made from recycled plastic too. Combined I am getting about 37 MPG on the motorway the van is restricted to 62mph, so I was seeing high 50s.
LDV Maxus. Suprisingly not bad on fuel. Build quality and design are shocking. Wouldn't bother, there are much better things out there unless being British gives you special feelings.
Vauxhall Vivaro. Not bad at all, good dash, lots of cubby space. Looks quite good still. Good on fuel, especially since it has a 6 speed box. Quite quick, although it did struggle a little with a heavy load on an incline. The models I have driven were both 1.9 CDTi, with the red Ti. I think they are 120 bhp? One was LWB and one was SWB, but there isn't a great deal of difference.
Citroen Relay MWB. Didn't feel as big as it actually was. Poor on fuel, but they are a 3.0l I think? Interior isn't bad and they come with some decent kit. Too big for most people, even the SWB.
For me, it would either be a Transit or a Vivaro. I like the Citroen Dispatch/Peugeot Partner, but I have never driven one, only been a passenger. The dash is good on them and they do the same engine as what's in my Berlingo, but the extra weight of the van means they are a bit slower.
