Faults:

Some electronic board problems within weeks... got it resoldered.

Usual stuff:

Tyres (goes thru front tyres quick. Maybe I should put on better tyres? LOL).

Water ingress on the driver's side.

Oil leak (they look worse than they are!).

Gearbox has just gone (135000 miles); a bit irritated as I don't think this is huge mileage?

I think the 1.7Di is a good engine and I'm going to spend more to get it fixed than it's worth... but... it's never packed up on me... 45 MPG... I never change the oil (my bad... will start changing it every 5k).

It's no speed machine... but I would recommend it, 1.7Di, don't touch common rails, they are awful... the dual mass flywheel is a disaster waiting to happen. My mate's Pug 206 DMF packed up... 100,000 miles and cost 2k to fix!!!

General Comments:

Good van... doesn't rust. My dad had a ex mail Combo; he used it as a day van! It's not as uncomfortable as they say... 45MPG, and probably 55+ driven careful on the motorway

Faults:

Rough idle, fixed under warranty. Van was an ex-demonstrator so wasn't perfect.

General Comments:

As a works van it has had a lot of use over the last year or so, and generally has held up OK. To drive the van feels OK handling wise, acceleration could be better though, but it is only a 1.3, try a bigger engine if you carry heavy loads.

Love the fact there are sliding doors on both dies, normally most vans would have one side door only. Makes it very practical. Comfort level is good and driving position is OK, however there are a blind spots that take getting used to like most vans - probably because I'm used to driving cars. The interior feels cheap if I'm honest and the gear change already feels loose, but maybe it's meant to be that way, it was like that from new.

Overall a decent little van that gets the job done, my only concern is will it last for many years? So far so good, but a mate of mine has a 1996 Combo van and it's still going. It has had an easier life though and was used privately, not as a works van, where as unfortunately most vans like this have a hard life ahead of them.

Faults:

Early days, so nothing has gone wrong as yet (and I hope it stays that way).

I used to rave about my old 1.7 Di, but I find the 1.3 CDTi very good. When I first got my 1.3, the MPG was approx 46. After giving it a full service (all filters and quality oil), I can achieve 55-56, and this is with recently fitted roof rack and towbar plus my tools etc. Motorway speeds 65-70, normal roads 40-60.

I always said my next van would be another Combo. I find them practical, they drive like a car not a van, and that makes a big difference on a journey.

My advice is go Combo; keep your Connects, Berlingos etc. All they are, are door to door work vans. Viva Combo!