I don't know if we're getting off track or not - that depends on how serious Tom Ciaramitaro is about a strictly work vehicle, or if he needs to buy a dual (multi?) purpose vehicle that he can use for domestic transportation as well. If this is a production work vehicle the step van and Japanese diesel boxvans are the top contenders.
On 08/05/02 22:37.11, ItsColdInMN said...
Comparing a diesel to the inline
six isn't quite fair, but comparing it to a V-8,
the diesel is worth the extra bucks up front,
it pays off with the fuel efficiency, and reliability.
I don't think I'm really trying to compare diesels to inline sixes, and besides that when you graduate up in classes most of the import diesels are inline sixes.
In all honesty the Isuzu NPR boxvan I rented (with a rockin' automatic transmission) would outperform my Grumman stepvan in every nearly every category: Drag race, maneuvering, load capacity, ease of loading, COMFORT. The one place the Grumman would SMOKE the NPR's was on the grades.
If it's a steel stepvan, RUN FROM IT, if it's a Grumman stepvan, consider it, if it's a small cabover diesel and it's anywhere near the price of the stepvan it's a no-brainer - the little diesel wins the logic race. Or you could buy a PT Cruiser and have Inspector Gadget create all your job tools. (Including the pry-bar I'd need to get myself in/out of a PT.)
added: oIf you DO consider a stepvan, and start shopping used fleet from bakerys, STAY AWAY from anything made by 'Holiday Rambler' !! Their big sales pitch was that they were extra wide - the problem is that with a little distraction they will clean all the traffic lights, street lights, and parking meters off the sidewalk. Notice the frequency of right side front end damage when you see an "HR" van. Also I had a bread guy tell me that his lifted a front wheel in a high wind.
This message was edited by Sheik_Yerbouhti on 08/05/02 23:34.37.
