Why do you not suggest petrol vans?

Recently someone sought advice on a small van primarily for short journeys with one 350 mile trip per month. You suggested a 2.0 TDI VW Caddy. I’m of the thinking that diesel engines are less suited to short journeys than petrol. Petrol engines have now closed the gap against diesel for economy. Plus it’s cheaper.

I’ve recently bought a Transit Courier with the 1.0 litre petrol engine, specifically for short, stop-start journeys. I get 39-40 mpg on those journeys. On a longer motorway run, I’ll get 49mpg. I think this is a better suggestion than a 2.0 litre oil burner. Do you have something against petrol?

Asked on 2 July 2025 by mark Goodman

Answered by Craig Cheetham

The reader was very concerned about reliability on this occasion and the VW TDI engine is a proven, reliable unit. Unfortunately, the 1.0-litre Ford EcoBoost petrol is known for poor reliability issues at higher mileages. We have nothing against petrol vans, but for the specific reader's purposes and the fact he wanted an older model, we advised him to buy the van we thought most appropriate for his requirements.

Tags: vans petrol vans

Similar questions

What's a good small petrol van on a budget?

My son is looking for a van for work. There are lots of Renault Kangoo models for sale in our area, but they are all diesels. Can you recommend a small petrol van? His Budget is up to £3k.

Can you recommend a petrol van to replace my old, diesel Ford Transit?

I need to replace my 2010 Ford Transit van (diesel) for a less polluting one. Euro 6 or 6.2 maybe. My van has a capacity of eight cubic metres and carries 1.5 tonnes. Is there a petrol van of this size...

Is a diesel van a no go if I only do journeys of 10 miles?

I want to change my Ford Connect for a Transit or Transit Custom. Most of my journeys are less than 10 miles - will I have DPF problems?