Vito Panel Van Swb L1 2007 - If You Had One Let Me Know!

I had one for 10 years until I got a Crafter back in August this year. I used it to transport bikes. It’s fine, as long as they’re not Multistradas or the old ST2/3/4s. I had to remove mirrors and sometimes screens occasionally too. Its main issue is the access height, it’s slightly lower at the rear door than the roof height inside (1150mm from memory).

On the flip side, having a sliding door on both left and right sides of the van eases access for lashing bikes down.

I used a wheel chock up front and up against at the bulkhead and pushed the bikes into that.

On a few occasions I even got 2 bikes in there, a 900SS and a Pantah once and 2 x monster 600/900s another time.

 

Yup, I had one for a couple years before I got my Transit Custom.
For a van it was pretty fast, smooth, quiet and reliable.
Check for:
a) side door faulty switch/wiring (triggers dash light indicating door is open)
b) rust (obvious places)
c) and if the Diesel Particulate Filter has been replaced recently.
Oh, and test drive it to see if you can get on with the stupid hand brake setup.
Happy travels

 

10cm is not a lot of leeway!

I drove a (63?) Vito a fair bit ten years ago. Never has an issue and it was nice to drive. I never hauled bikes with it though!

 

Your van looks very tidy and low milage too! Well done.
Ya, it'll be tight getting both bikes in, but having 2 opening rear doors should help a lot.
Also, you might be able to make use of those floor tracks... various fittings for those, so might help with tie-down mounts, and fixing bolts for your wheel chocks.

 

I wouldn't be too concerned about the DPF, it's certainly not a deal breaker!
It's pretty easily sorted if there is an issue and be aware that a lot of diesel engines of a certain age that don't have a regular high speed blast down a motorway can be affected.
It looks like you've got a good solid van there! Enjoy!

 

Put the MX bike in first. Put it as far to the right as you can. It helps to have a block of wood to bring the drop down step where the door is up to the floor level. Dont use a wheel chock. Lean it against and lash it to the RHS of the van as best you can. You may need to add some lashing points at the mid height level in the woodwork.

The 999 can then go on the left into a wheel chock and can be lashed using the floor points.

Mine had done 275,000km. I never had any issues with the DPF at all. TBH I’m not even sure if it had a DPF, it may have predated when emissions regs caused them to be installed. On the other hand the 2011 Sprinter I also had was always having issues with the DOF.

Apart from consumables eg brakes, and 3 prop shafts (UJ wearing) and tie rods having to be replaced because the joints had worn, the only not par for the course issue was having to have the turbo charger rebuilt. Which was due to 5 of the 6 bolts which hold the 2 halves of the turbocharger together having rusted and given up causing the turbocharger to leak and thus be down on power.

Oh, the resistor for the fan unit had to be replaced 2x in my use, it failed meaning the fan was either off or on max.

They drive like a car and are good small vans.

 

I had a DPF sensor fail on my Vito at just over 100k.

That’s about the worst that the van has suffered during my ownership.

 

Exactly. Perhaps a little less space in back than some SWB vans, but better looking too.

 

My 900 SL in my dad's Vito. He can get two old British bikes in there . Only issue he has is he's quite tall and now 78 years old it's a pain to step in hunched right over as you push the bike up the ramp . He had to buy a van as he's now to old to hire one . His is a 61 plate, he's had it about 4 years and it's been good as gold, just usual stuff like brake pads etc

 

I'm not sure about how much room is left behind the bike once it's in . Not masses from memory. Hopefully he's picking it up for me next week from being serviced, I'll take some more pics if it helps.