budget is early to mid 20k. seems to narrow down to this van for a multipurpose and ticked all our boxes. im after the diesel auto version only. anyone has any opinions on them? we do lots of camping in summer time, towing a caravan, lots of gear and 3x kids. we currently got a 2l cvt 2005 Nissan serena , bloody good around town but gutless with a caravan plus is front wheel drive
twincam1,
Jan 8, 3:37pm
LDVs are reasonable price at moment.
brapbrap8,
Jan 8, 4:01pm
They must be, certainly see quite a few of them on the roads. All manner of companys seem to be buying them.
jason18,
Jan 8, 4:07pm
I test drove a LDV Seems ok, Drives ok. I think resale will really kill those compared to Vw, Ford etc.
msigg,
Jan 8, 4:31pm
Talk to Stevo about the Hyundai, excellent van, the choice for Australians. As above LDV are on sale, good buying. You will probably be inundated with posts now. View some of the older posts. Talk to those in the know, ask around the traps. Cheers.
jason18,
Jan 8, 4:46pm
I really liked the Hyundai van. Nearly bought without considering other vans. The only thing that killed it for me was the lap belt in the middle seat. Although with you getting a imax with seating in the rear there will most likely be no issues
timmo1,
Jan 8, 5:47pm
Also liked the hyundai iLoad- Nice to drive, quiet and roomy enough. Haven't driven an LDV but they look really cheaply built?
esprit,
Jan 8, 6:04pm
iMax:
Pro - Park it outside your house and everyone will drive slowly past it, thinking it's a speed camera. Especially if you leave the park lights on.
Con - People will probably key it.
jason18,
Jan 8, 7:24pm
Agreed.
thejazzpianoma,
Jan 8, 11:23pm
Towing a caravan with Hyundai's 1980's technology 4 speed auto. no thanks.
I would go for:
VW T5 but MUST have the 7 speed DSG auto not the Toyota subsidiary made regular auto which just doesn't last. So that means generally 2.0 or 1.9 litre engines to get that transmission. No torque converter to get hot or sap 1/3 of your power/economy when slipping, sensible amount of gears. Absolutely beautiful transmission to live with. Tow stability control which can save your butt like nothing else if you have to take evasive action or have a fault with the caravan. Considerably better on fuel than the Hyundai.
Fiat Ducato (if you don't mind larger), it's a single clutch Dualogic, very reliable, robust, no torque converter as above but you will feel a slight delay between changes (just like a manual box). 6 speed, great unit.
Mercedes Vito Very nicely built van, usually very well priced secondhand for what you get. Probably looking at a 5 speed auto version in your price range.
All of the above have better engines that Hyundai's offerings, no one that I am aware of has come on here with one that has ingested water and catastrophically failed. Hyundai however. we must be up to about person number 4 now who has come on with a Hyundai diesel where the water trap hasn't worked and the engine failed. In these cases it seems Hyundai just laugh at the owners even if it's quite a new van and present them with a $15'000 bill if they want it fixed.
See the Fair Go episode online to see first hand what Hyundai were like, their representative speaks on the episode.
There is a lot of bias in NZ towards Hyundai vans as a result of heavy marketing and our absurd brainwashing against anything European (which is plainly NUTS when the Europeans build by far and away the best vans and diesel engines).
The result is people paying top dollar for what is a very out of date van underneath the sleek interior, even fundamental modern items like a three point seatbelt in the centre front are missing. However this isn't immediately apparent as they trick NZ models out with every conceivable superficial extra to make them look "modern".
If I got to pick one of the above for your purpose it would be a VW T5 with the 2.0 and DSG. Lovely van and ideal for your purpose, especially in auto.
My voice will likely be discredited or drowned out though (as usually happens) because this is an "Asian or nothing" kind of messageboard.
Best of luck with it all.
jmma,
Jan 9, 1:14am
Troll here, OP ask about a certain Vehicle,can we stick to the subject please. Agree that steveo only has good things to say about them.
skiff1,
Jan 9, 1:19am
Buy a space shuttle, they are surprisingly economical and I can get parts on eBay for them that are shipped with US $100 notes as packaging. The old model did have intermittent explosion issues, but they cleared that up with the latest model. Sheep on here will tell you Hyundai, but I know best. Also the police are mean.
jinx317,
Jan 9, 2:46pm
See the Fair Go episode online to see first hand what Hyundai were like, their representative speaks on the episode.
Any idea where that guy is now? you must be very proud to have him working for VW.
thejazzpianoma,
Jan 9, 3:48pm
Front wheel drive is a GOOD thing, makes for more load space, better traction when empty and actually tow's better, not worse for it.
The majority of decent vans are front wheel drive nowadays, the Hyundai is only RWD because it's an out of date design.
But I will leave it at that since you only want to talk about the Hyundai and not compare it's pros and cons vs what else is available.
mugenb20b,
Jan 9, 7:58pm
No, most vans are FWD because they are cheaper to make than RWD. Can you explain to me why Ferrari, Porsche, Jaguar, BMW and Mercedes haven't gone FWD? (I'm talking generally about larger models, not grandma mobiles).
mugenb20b,
Jan 9, 8:02pm
Better traction when empty. Why bother buying a van then? FWD is not a good thing in a van or any commercial vehicle for that matter, and definitely not better for towing. More load space. wip a dee doo.
j_fung9007,
Jan 9, 9:50pm
Jazz: I've seen many of your posts and I love the fact that you ALWAYS "discretely" or should I say constantly slip in a few bits of "non-euros are crap, outdated, unsafe, overpriced and etc". I won't even bother going to argue about FWD vs RWD -I'm sure we all can do our research. Like I said in the original post, I'm ONLY after Pros & Cons for Hyundai Imax. If I want to compare other vans, I can go through the history (which I have seen) and there are MANY threads of you arguing with others. Please stick to the topic and double pleassssssssse don't reply with your usual negative / sarcastic comments.
Mugenb20b: totally agreed with you.
ema1,
Jan 10, 12:55am
I totally agree j_fung9007. He'll never learn, it's like a Pro Euro - anti non Euro crusade fest he goes on often as in this case when it's not asked for. Talk about one eyed, it's that alright but to a total obsession degree, why the heck does he go into novel length posts, it's the wrong way to convince us non affected folks I fear. If Euro's are that "good" I doub't very much that all the novel length diatribes would actually be needed. It almost makes one wonder if there's the possibility of "back hander's" being in the mix given the boring novel length attempts to convince all in sundry that we all see far too damn often. I get utterly sick & fed up at the "Holier Than Thou" & What do the rest of us know at all theme, his arrogance knows no bounds and tact certainly isn't a strong point either. Frankly I'd sum lots of it up in a single category "HATE FEST ON ANYTHING NON EURO! " There's a 2nd category that can be applied as well. "Ridiculous Annoying & Un Warranted - Waste Of Space!" 3rd category. Dismissive & Vitriolic When Not Complying With Euro Biased Agenda ( and there is definitely a big one of those folks.)
ema1,
Jan 10, 1:39am
Don't get me wrong Euro's are his (Jazz's) pet love and all on here can see that and that's fine in itself but the total foisting of Euro's onto other folks when it's not asked for is bloody irritating to say the least. If he gets all poo'sy about it when he gets picked up for the foisting dissing vitriolic ways then so be it and as far as I'm concerned until he learns discretion then the backlash will continue. His informative posts on Euro's ( some a bit stretched ) are fine when a OP is asking about certain facets etc on a particular Euro make. It's when he barges(TROLL'S. yes TROLL'S) in on threads that are Japanese/Korean or other non Euro make specific offering alternatives and a total dissing of anything non Euro frankly is just plain RUDE and UNCALLED FOR and if he can't work that out then his mentality comes into question, strewth he often brings the mentality and math capability of us mere mortals into question in the various "Holier Than Thou" veiled rhetoric. Bloody demeaning at times. and again uncalled for. I for one am more than capable of looking after my own affairs/anything automotive plus have a sound mathematical & engineering (nearly half of my working life of motor trade experience) capability as well, thanks very much. I don't go about dissing Euro's per say but I DO KNOW what I prefer . period.
ema1,
Jan 10, 1:56am
BTW lots of Hyundai vans of various models down our way going extremely well and doing a sterling service in the various roles their owners originally purchased them with confidence for. I've had a bit to do with them before I retired and I found them to be a worthy contender for any commercial or camper purpose. I like em a lot actually.
slarty45,
Jan 10, 2:02am
he might be into (quote jizim) "heavy marketing and absurd brainwashing"
skiff1,
Jan 10, 3:29am
ema1, these last 3 posts are getting dangerously novel like
ema1,
Jan 10, 4:09am
Maybe 2 but not the 3rd, your opinion which you are free to express, I don't necessarily have to agree with though? At least I speak for lots of others & myself here that have been treated in a similar manner and I consider it my right to do so, I for one won't be intimidated/ convinced or converted.
j_fung9007,
Jan 10, 11:22am
Thanks ema1. Personally I got nothing against euros, I had a few euros in the past with their ups & downs just like any other cars, if I have the money I would love to get a VW Mulitvan.
I respects Jazz for his knowledge on euros and his helpfulness but once he starts trolling "over and over again", it gets quite annoying and actually pushes me away from euros.
pauldw,
Jan 10, 12:25pm
Is Jazz on his own or do the Euro agents bother to do any promotion of their own?
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