One of the reasons I have kept my van so long is the more problematic issues with newer diesel vans.

If I ever change my van I suppose electric would be the way to go (I may retire in near future), but then bolting down a tank and hosereel does not seem so straightforward.

One option would be to buy a Toyota as they have a 10 year warranty (assuming they are serviced by Toyota).

20 years ago (in Feb) I paid £11500 for a brand new 2.0hdi dispatch. I still run it as my only work vehicle and it is going in for annual service and MOT tomorrow. 160k plus on the clock.

From your posts I understand your VW is several years younger than my dispatch and you are having to replace it because it is falling apart with rust. Personally this would not persuade me to part with £40k (which must be at least a whole years profit for you), to buy another one.

Also from reading your posts, your VW has needed significantly more things replaced on it than my 20 year old van. Personally I think VW is over hyped and over priced.

The trouble is that I believe all new diesel engined vans are drama due to Emissions regulations. VW and Mercedes Sprinters have always had rust issues. All rust issues are very visible with local parcel delivery vans. Vans made by Peugeot and Fiat in their Italian factory (Vauxhall now included) are galvanised, but the latest diesel engines seem to have major reliability issues. Added to that, the paint work is very poor. Fiat and Iveco appear to be using the Fiat sourced 2.3 and 3.0 litre lumps. At one time, the Iveco 2.3 litre engine was better than the 2.0 litre PSA engine or the 2.2 Puma engine.

Anyone come across replacement filters for the Skyvac Atom  Sonic cheaper than going through Skyvac?

Another issue is screwing the electric hose reel down. It’ll have to be right by the rear doors in the e transit custom, as the battery doesn’t go that far back. What did you do KS?

I used 18mm ply tight between the wheel arches and screwed the reel to that😉

Quote from: KS Cleaning on January 16, 2026, 05:06:08 pm

Quote from: robert mitchell on January 16, 2026, 03:41:21 pm

Quote from: KS Cleaning on January 12, 2026, 11:26:22 pm

So that’s me done a weeks work with my E Custom. The van itself is quite brilliant, a pleasure to drive, very smooth and it glides nicely over the various road surfaces, in fact it’s such a comfortable ride that I now find it a drag to drive our X4M about town as it obviously has much stiffer suspension.

I don’t have a home charger installed yet so I’m relying on public chargers at the moment which is a bit of a pain. The van only charges to 90% ( I will need to look into this ) which gives a range of 160 miles, the reality is that of the predicted 160 miles I will actually get around 130 miles in the winter months. Not a problem as I don’t do a lot of miles.

The ratchet strapping of the flat tank isn’t ideal but it is the best solution at the moment, I have one  strap going over the top to pull it down to the floor and another going around it pulling it towards the bulkhead, it does feel solid but of course it isn’t crash tested, but then the Waterworks professionaly fitted system for EV’s won’t have been crash tested either?

I mentioned in another thread that the water sloshing was terrible in the flat tank, I have added 25 metres of 100mm perforated drainage pipe cut into shorter lengths, this has made a big difference.

All in all a very positive first week, the only negative so far being that there doesn’t seem to be a viable option of a bolted in tank/frame.

The waterworks systems are crash tested now .

Are they crash tested in an EV? How do they secure them?

They are bolted through the floor (not chassis), the waterworks system has a panel that blows out and releases the water in big impact , meaning you will get wet but the tank wont move.

You’re not meant to drill through the floor of an Electric van without dropping the battery pack which is a major job. Even then there might not be the required clearance between the floor and the replaced battery pack for the protruding bolt thread and spreader plate. I will give Ionics a phone and get a definitive answer as to how they secure the tank and if it’s been crash tested.