Give me your recommendation,please...

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Nomad74

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Promaster. Better build and the side walls don't taper inward like the sprinters and transits. Also lower to the ground so it's easier to load rugs into it.
 
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Dolly Llama

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never put a tape to any of the eurofaq vans
so someone tell me the length from behind the seats to a rear closed door?

is it 12ft?

..L.T.A.
 

Cleanworks

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It depends on the size and amount of rugs you will be picking up. In the minivans, the largest rug that will fit will be 9x12 or maybe 10x14. A full size ford transit long wheelbase will handle larger and more rugs but at a greater cost in fuel and parking.
 

Cleanworks

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you mean one rug with one end laying on the dash board??

.L.T.A.
Something wrong with that? The price some of these guys charge, you only need one rug like that a day lol. Just thinking where Bryan is and the traffic and lack of parking. If you can get a 10 ft rug into a nv200, that's pretty good. They have a good suspension for a minivan, I think it's rated for 1800 lbs. What is the average rug size you are picking up?
 

Joe Appleby

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Got a friend with 20 Promasters. Says no problems and his guys like them. The lower back entry is a plus.
 

Brian H

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We just bought our 2nd Promaster 3500. We bought the first one about a year ago and liked it enough to get a 2nd one. We had been using box trucks with a GVW under 10,000 lbs for our rug pick-up trucks. That way we avoid having to do the whole D.O.T. thing. The problem is that manufactures aren't making them on the lighter GVW frames anymore. We still have four full size box trucks with a couple of them being newer and having to be D.O.T. registered with registered drivers. The Promaster though gives us more flexibility when it comes to drivers because the GVW is less than that 10.00 lbs. .

We will use the new truck as one of our inter-store shuttle trucks.
 

The Great Oz

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I had noticed in the past that most of the carpet cleaners and drapery cleaners that regularly bring rugs in to us were using various Sprinters. Our receiving desk crews told me they haven't seen a Sprinter in a long time.

I called a few regulars got the following responses. (Sorry, didn't think to ask what year, mileage or engine.)

Transit (3 companies): Bought because they were the cheapest (all took advantage of rebates). None of the issues or expensive repairs they had with Sprinters. Drivers liked them. Two had the largest, one had an extended with a lower roof. Only negative mentioned was tight space in the cab.

We had one with the X-Drive prototype in it. Driver loved it, mentioned the narrow cab required storing stuff that would typically be up front in the back. Didn't have it long enough to wear anything out.

Promaster(2 companies): Bought because of the walk-in floor height. Both had the extended high roof. One had his totalled at 35k and bought a new one to replace it. One purchased one and then the following year bought five more to replace his other Sprinters and a small box truck. Two negatives from that owner: broken slider door handle. headlight bulbs don't last long(?!). He said that compared to Sprinters, these weren't problems.


I think we still need more room than these vans provide, but a cutaway cab and 14-16 foot box on either vehicle might be the answer.
 

Brian H

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I had noticed in the past that most of the carpet cleaners and drapery cleaners that regularly bring rugs in to us were using various Sprinters. Our receiving desk crews told me they haven't seen a Sprinter in a long time.

I called a few regulars got the following responses. (Sorry, didn't think to ask what year, mileage or engine.)

Transit (3 companies): Bought because they were the cheapest (all took advantage of rebates). None of the issues or expensive repairs they had with Sprinters. Drivers liked them. Two had the largest, one had an extended with a lower roof. Only negative mentioned was tight space in the cab.

We had one with the X-Drive prototype in it. Driver loved it, mentioned the narrow cab required storing stuff that would typically be up front in the back. Didn't have it long enough to wear anything out.

Promaster(2 companies): Bought because of the walk-in floor height. Both had the extended high roof. One had his totalled at 35k and bought a new one to replace it. One purchased one and then the following year bought five more to replace his other Sprinters and a small box truck. Two negatives from that owner: broken slider door handle. headlight bulbs don't last long(?!). He said that compared to Sprinters, these weren't problems.


I think we still need more room than these vans provide, but a cutaway cab and 14-16 foot box on either vehicle might be the answer.

Brian,

Good job with your research! Nothing like getting real world experience feedback.

As far as the cutaway is concerned, we wanted to do the same thing. We checked with two different companies that build boxes and they won't put the larger boxes on the "less than 10,000 GVW" vehicles. We were told that it is being mandated by D.O.T. that those size boxes have to be on a larger frame. Our older trucks we got with the 9,900 GVW and the new box trucks are all 12,300 GVW or higher. All drivers of trucks over 10,000 GVW must be DOT certified and pass yearly physicals. And the vehicles must have a DOT inspection yearly as well.
 

Cleanworks

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Ever give any thought to the Grumman type of delivery vans used by UPS or FedEx? They are walk in height and seem to be available in very long bases.
 

The Great Oz

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All drivers of trucks over 10,000 GVW must be DOT certified and pass yearly physicals. And the vehicles must have a DOT inspection yearly as well.
With these rules how does a truck rental company stay in business?

DOT rules can vary from State to State. Luckily here the Wsdot rules say certification is needed for a vehicle with multiple rear axles, over 26,000 pound GVW, or a bed length over 26 feet long. Could be that there are far fewer Teamsters looking to limit non-union competition.

This is a Unicell box - max length 17 feet on a Transit, can't find anything longer than 16 feet on a Promaster.

Transit_2014_K8A0054-600px.png



Ever give any thought to the Grumman type of delivery vans used by UPS or FedEx? They are walk in height and seem to be available in very long bases.
I borrowed a Workhorse for a week to see if would be a good fit. (They build UPS trucks) Loved driving around in the summertime with the doors open but it was uncomfortable for drives longer than about fifteen minutes . Seemed very well built and I think it cost a little under three times more than a cutaway van. There's a really old one in use by a rug cleaner in the area, so the price might be worthwhile if your needs never change.
 
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The Great Oz

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Update:
Two guys I called earlier got back to me...
One has three Sprinters and one brand-new Transit. He said the earlier version of the Sprinter was great, and most failures that others complain about he was able to repair himself. He got really tired of brake work though. He really likes his newer Sprinters (under three years) other than the Bluetec system. Which fails at about 30k intervals, and since he no longer works on his trucks the $2300 cost to repair the injectors is irritating.

His Transit was purchased because it was so much cheaper than a Sprinter. He personally does not like the lower driving position in the Transit. His guys like it though, and he said if it works out OK he would probably keep buying them when the Sprinters wear out.

The other guy has a 15 year-old Sprinter as a rug delivery van, which is the largest dual-wheel model. He felt it did the job for him, but had no particular likes or dislikes. He's only put a total of 75, 000 miles on it, so maintenance hasn't been a problem.

Conclusion? None at all. Good luck Joe.
 

Cleanworks

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Update:
Two guys I called earlier got back to me...
One has three Sprinters and one brand-new Transit. He said the earlier version of the Sprinter was great, and most failures that others complain about he was able to repair himself. He got really tired of brake work though. He really likes his newer Sprinters (under three years) other than the Bluetec system. Which fails at about 30k intervals, and since he no longer works on his trucks the $2300 cost to repair the injectors is irritating.

His Transit was purchased because it was so much cheaper than a Sprinter. He personally does not like the lower driving position in the Transit. His guys like it though, and he said if it works out OK he would probably keep buying them when the Sprinters wear out.

The other guy has a 15 year-old Sprinter as a rug delivery van, which is the largest dual-wheel model. He felt it did the job for him, but had no particular likes or dislikes. He's only put a total of 75, 000 miles on it, so maintenance hasn't been a problem.

Conclusion? None at all. Good luck Joe.
Probably the big difference if maintenance isn't an issue, is that the sprinters with get better fuel mileage with their small diesels.
 

Big papa

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Swani...You little shi*t...LOl...That was funny.

What part of " the big sky country are you from "?

I have been to Plentywood, Sydney, Boseman ( I was a gambler then )It was gold rush days when I was out there.
Love...Just loved it out that direction...and the beef was just knock your socks off.
Restorx Border States( google it ) is my long time bud...Like I have rode with him for 30 plus years.
Did some major water and fire losses...millon plus jobs...It was so much fun.
 

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