[starwarrior1981]

Hello everyone. After reading that forum for some time, I've decided to join that great community. At the moment haven't got any Vito/V-class yet, but looking to buy one when I find one good enough... not many of them about and most of them are rusty and look untidy... some of them had many owners, even found one with 23 former owners which says just one thing to me: avoid... probably had so many problems that people was just selling it as quick as possible... thinking about one v220 on T plates, which I can buy quite cheap, surprising it's not even rusty and the only problem with it is glow plug light all the time and an SRS light. It's on autotrader for £1899. Maybe someone knows that van or can share any opinions about it?
Sorry for my English, but it's not my native language.


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[jonny rash]

I have a T-reg V220.

The glow plug light is on all of the time because the glow plug relay has failed on mine. I will not replace it anytime soon because the van still starts just fine.

Also the SRS light comes and goes as it pleases either due to the sensor or the wiring under the passenger seat. It usually comes on if you moves the seat. The SRS light is an MOT failure, the glow plug light is not. I was fortunate that the SRS light was off on the day of the last MOT

 

[starwarrior1981]

Thanks for your reply. Should I worry about Turbo whistling? It's not really loud, but you can hear it when pushing pedal to the floor on hard acceleration. Was hoping that someone know that van and can share any info

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[jonny rash]

I have looked at the advert. The car certainly looks great, very tidy. I would expect that it has been tidied up with filler and a respray. How does it look underneath?

It is difficult to say about the turbo without seeing and hearing it. Does any black or blue smoke come from the exhaust? Is there any sign of water emulsion in the coolant expansion tank or under the oil filler cap?

The basic parts of the engine are really very robust. The turbo on mine sounds fairly noisy, if the van is parked and I rev the engine it whines really loudly and takes a surprisingly long time to spool down and I have been meaning to look more closely at it for the last 6 months but the engine still runs perfectly.

I also suspect that I have a head gasket problem because the cooling system gets pressurised so much that it forces all of the coolant out of the expansion tank when the engine is running so that the coolant light comes on. The engine doesn't use any fluids though. If I take the cap off it doesn't happen.

I don't know if I am reassuring you or putting you off. What I am saying is the vans are really great to be in and drive. Because of its age there are bound to be things wrong with it but most of those problems you can live with. What really matters is how able are you to solve any of these problems yourself? I would say if you are handy with spanners then go for it. If you have to rely on a dealer to do any repairs then it is probably not worthwhile

 

[starwarrior1981]

Paint doesn't look that good with close inspection, you can tell it's few years old (at least) but still nothing wrong with it and whole bodywork looks sound apart of little rust patch in the corner below rear window. I'm not too worried about little problems and got few good mates in the garages which helping me a lot with different cars ;-)

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[Mountain]

Welcome to the forum I bought my X reg 110cdi for a bargain price with a couple of lights on the dash (hence the bargain price). Luckily for me, these proved to be an easy fix and typically tatty paintwork aside it's been very good. The odd niggle with windows not working and temperamental central locking...........

My turbo whistles/whines a bit and takes ages to stop spooling but I figured the van's done 97k and I bet it's the original one on there so I'm not surprised it's moaning a bit

Buy with your eyes wide open and I think you can't go wrong. No other van offers the build quality, driver comfort and practicality for the money (in my opinion)

 

[martinriff]

Turbo used to whistle on my 110 X reg. It was quite nice really, made the most noise in 3rd. It had done 155k when I sold it, it's at 178k now with no problems. I see it driving round all the time and miss it a bit.

Again, mine had lots of electrical faults which turned out to be easy fixes. The engines are generally very good. It's the rest of it that causes the problems.

Drive it a few times. Take your time with it. If it goes, it's not the end of the world, there will be another.