With a $10k budget,
no board over 2700mm,
a priority for reliability
It needs to store 3 boards 4 sails etc and a bed.

What is the best van?
Vw, hi ace, Renault, iLoad, or another?

one full of windsurfing gear

The biggest one with 4WD - and a bar fridge.

Not sure if you could buy a iLoad for $10K or you would want to buy a VW for $10K. Most probably the best bet is a Hi Ace. Cheapest is a Mitsubishi Express however they are pretty basic and nasty though.

2.70m will be an issue for most vans, from memory the I load will only manage 2.37m at floor level, and less above because of the separation panel.

If you find a renault trafic, it has to be the L2 (as opposed to L1 : normal length) stores 2.80m
then you can also choose from h1 (normal height) and H2 extended height

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seanhogan said..
2.70m will be an issue for most vans, from memory the I load will only manage 2.37m at floor level, and less above because of the separation panel.

If you find a renault trafic, it has to be the L2 (as opposed to L1 : normal length) stores 2.80m
then you can also choose from h1 (normal height) and H2 extended height

I think they have started using the trafic's as postie vans over here. So hopefully they make it onto the secondhand market for windsurfing vans.

I had to load a longer board into an iload while on holiday, and I think it had a cargo barrier as well. It worked at an angle, so that might be an option if you only have a few boards.

Hello, Yuppy,

Reliability: HiAce

Spare Parts Availability: HiAce

2nd Hand Spare Parts: HiAce

Non-specialised Service Tools and Procedures: HiAce.

Get Them Serviced Anywhere: HiAce.

You’ll have to measure the load space to make sure it meets your spec.

For info, I run a competitive vehicle.

FormulaNova: Aust Post have only started using the Renault Master within the last 12 months, so it will be some time before they begin to trade them out of the fleet.

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The one on the far right should go for < 10K, the one on far left? Maybe.

That one on the right is free with a weed fin thrown in

Lwb delica.

FWIW, you can configure a Imax to carry gear and tribe of kids, swap crappy rear seat for a tradies front 2 seat and remove the single slider from the centre, fits sub 250 boards down side, or MTB, remove head rests (and Kids!) and SUP goes over the top of the seats.

My HIACE does the job I have a double bed in the back it offers as a board rack hold up to 6 boards, 6 sails & 2 booms being 3mts in the back allows some room for your wet box in front bit rough to drive some of the euros are lower & more comfy. Have a look at Facebook page (Hiaces only) heaps for sale there.

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Dezza said..
That one on the right is free with a weed fin thrown in

that offer stands for GUSTBUSTERS and brown nose's only , it's had a new clutch and alternator , I stuck 6 months rego on it so I can fit the new one out
"edit" it's also a 4 seater

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keef said..

Dezza said..
That one on the right is free with a weed fin thrown in

that offer stands for GUSTBUSTERS and brown nose's only , it's had a new clutch and alternator , I stuck 6 months rego on it so I can fit the new one out
"edit" it's also a 4 seater and duel fuel

For $10k you might just be able to afford one of the newer Hiaces, I got mine for $12k a couple of years ago.

These have all the advantages of the older Hiaces but also much more fuel efficient, and airbags/ some kind of safety features help. Also they are 'semi' long wheel base which is perfect for windsurfing, not crazy long, but enough space to have a changing area in the front.

This is mine... which I took skiing last weekend... with all my WS gear under the bed... just in case hah!

Albently

That looks the goods.

What model, year and Kms was yours when you bought it?

Hey mate, I'm from VIC as well, and about to sell my Hiace which is all setup with removal cushioned racks for windgear, water proofed tarring for rust prevention and great rubber layout. If you are interested let drop me a pm :)

It's not long wheel base, but fits boards up to 250/260, and is ultra reliable.....

Me personally, I didn't want to spend top dollars on a van when you can spend it on the gear, I just wanted reliable and lasting.

Sorry if this post is naughty Laurie. I will be advertising on SB soon in any case :P

personally I would go for the LWB commuter or high top van with the extra head room .
my van has over 1 million k's and has let me down twice in 7 years , last week an alternator and last year a clutch, it uses 1/2 a lt of oil between changes with basically no oil leak's

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keef said..
personally I would go for the LWB commuter or high top van with the extra head room .
my van has over 1 million k's and has let me down twice in 7 years , last week an alternator and last year a clutch, it uses 1/2 a lt of oil between changes with basically no oil leak's

That'samazing keef

Is it a hi ace?
What year?

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Yuppy said..

keef said..
personally I would go for the LWB commuter or high top van with the extra head room .
my van has over 1 million k's and has let me down twice in 7 years , last week an alternator and last year a clutch, it uses 1/2 a lt of oil between changes with basically no oil leak's

That'samazing keef

Is it a hi ace?
What year?

yes yes Yuppy as dezza said it's the van on the right in the photo, it's a 1976, for the last 7 years it has passed a pink slip still needing back shackle bushes , the mechanic kept suggesting to have them done before the next rego which I never got around to doing, it was reregistered 2 weeks ago with 6 months rego as the mechanic wouldn't pass it unless I did the bushes , he also said if I don't get them done i'm not aloud to sell it after the rego runs out
1'm up upgrading it this week to a 2005 model with only 740,000 klms so it will give me until febuary to fit it out ,
it will be sad to see it go because it has only let me down twice in the 7 years , it's amazing it fires up every time and I feel very confident I was going to take it to GL last year
i'm sure you know the story about the LWB commuters , Toyota had very little changes in there plan shape since there first model 1985? 2005 because they didn't have any competitors until, fiat ,ford ,iload, and a few more , parts aren't a problem , the only difference with the low top is the roof but the doors are still the same as well as most other parts
I forgot to mention that the engine was rebuilt at 300,000kls because a valve went through the second piston , after that not a problem
also forgot to mention it has been running on LPG most of it's life until 12months ago , it needs a new gasket kit in the converter , other than that it's still solid

1976! Thats a very good innings for any vehicle.
What colour is the new van keef?

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Dezza said..
1976! Thats a very good innings for any vehicle.
What colour is the new van keef?

dezza Toyota don't like to make to many changes , you will notice most Toyota vans are white (Toyota white ) the body is a bit straighter than the old one

here's my 2003 Hiace. Just a spring chicken with 230,000 km on it. I hope to drive it to 500,000 at the very least.
SWB takes up to a 270 board. Paid $6500.

and in those 6500$ was included a 800$ gear knob ;-)

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Yuppy said..
Albently

That looks the goods.

What model, year and Kms was yours when you bought it?

This is a 2005, Diesel manual, the catch was that it had 280km on the clock - but for a Hiace that isn't really a problem. Bought early 2013.

I have only had to replace the injectors so far, which is pretty common every 300km, you can do it for ~$1000 if you know where to look!

Any thoughts on the ford econovan / Mazda e2000.

Could get my hands on one ready to go

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ikw777 said..
here's my 2003 Hiace. Just a spring chicken with 230,000 km on it. I hope to drive it to 500,000 at the very least.
SWB takes up to a 270 board. Paid $6500.

seanhogan said..
and in those 6500$ was included a 800$ gear knob ;-)

seanhogan said..
and in those 6500$ was included a 800$ gear knob ;-)

........... but will that fit in my garage

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Yuppy said..
Any thoughts on the ford econovan / Mazda e2000.

Could get my hands on one ready to go

I had an e2000 ages ago. I think it was a '95 model and was a 2L petrol.

Heaps of room, but slow and noisy. I don't know if this is typical of them, but from a windsurfing van perspective, heaps of room. I think it was 3m for the LWB model.

Drive one first to see if it matches what you want. My idea of slow and noisy may not be the same as yours.

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FormulaNova said..

Yuppy said..
Any thoughts on the ford econovan / Mazda e2000.

Could get my hands on one ready to go

I had an e2000 ages ago. I think it was a '95 model and was a 2L petrol.

Heaps of room, but slow and noisy. I don't know if this is typical of them, but from a windsurfing van perspective, heaps of room. I think it was 3m for the LWB model.

Drive one first to see if it matches what you want. My idea of slow and noisy may not be the same as yours.

Yep, been there done that, heaps of space , just a noisy slow piece of crap, the diesel motors absolute ****e, body shape length height etc great, (you can make board racks up that sit in the extra height the roof has, great set up, mechanically 'everything' I had to replace, even crap like indicator sticks, light switches...in the end I gave it away was sick of throwing money at it! night mare, especially when traversing remote WA like I was!

Reason why I stuck the Hyundai in, is that you now can start to get them for low teens, so just over your budget for a much more modern comfy car...probably could get mine for under $15k!!

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FormulaNova said..

Yuppy said..
Any thoughts on the ford econovan / Mazda e2000.

Could get my hands on one ready to go

I had an e2000 ages ago. I think it was a '95 model and was a 2L petrol.

Heaps of room, but slow and noisy. I don't know if this is typical of them, but from a windsurfing van perspective, heaps of room. I think it was 3m for the LWB model.

Drive one first to see if it matches what you want. My idea of slow and noisy may not be the same as yours.

While I remember my van, I have to mention the rust in the roof sills. On that particular model, they must have used some sort of seam sealer that absorbs water, or it was a bad design. All of them seem to have rust in this part of the roof, and when you know what you are looking for you can see it as spots in that location. My van had a serious problem with it.

Also, I had an auto, so maybe the manuals are a bit better.

On the positive side, I removed one of the rear 'helper' springs from each leaf on the rear suspension and it drove much nicer. I guess they are built to carry a tonne, and windsurfing gear is so light, the suspension is too stiff.

Also, and I hope they changed this, the locks on the doors were garbage. You could open them with almost anything. I replaced them with Solex locks and that fixed that problem.

Hi, Yuppy,

Isn’t this fun? You think you’ve got it sorted, then somebody helps more and you’re back to square one.

Looking for comments from Bondalucci on his Mazda E2000/Ford Econovan.

Glad that others raised the engine noise issue. When you’ve got the engine sitting alongside of you, its noise can get vey noticeable on a trip. The older the van, the less sound-proofing in the engine compartment. Petrol engines are MUCH quieter than diesels, so please be aware of this.

On a test drive, you might care to roll all the windows up and see how much engine noise there is. You can quieten the engine noise down by using aftermarket sound absorption material on the engine-side, but make sure it can stand the heat. Similarly, you can add insulation within the cabin. If worst comes to worst, ear muffs are a cheap alternative (and you’d be surprised how the radio is not deadened).

I agree with others that, the later the van, the quieter it’ll be. And I still reckon that, all things being equal, the way to go for you is a HiAce.

Hope this helps.