General Most reliable build years?

[traveldude]

Hello forum...

During my limitied reseach, based on our budget 2013 - 2016 are the years to check out.

Regardless of budget, what years has the most reliable engine, ransmission and drive - your opinion?

I'm planning to purchase a motorhome home in about three years and trying get get a feel for what year range to look into.

Thanks.

 

[the green vanper]

The actual Ducato model is a generally the same model since 2006, that had several improvements and faceliftings.

The early ones (x250) had problems with water ingress into the engine bay, which was improved over the years. It's already better in the x290 (2014+).

The 2,3 and 3,0 l diesel engines seem to be the most reliable diesel engines from what was offered during those 18 (!) years. They were also improved and modified, some say the requirements to meet the environmental standards made them more problematic. I have no experience myself, as I am not a diesel fan. The general idea is the simpler the engine, the more reliable it is.

As for the transmission, most of the time there was only manual + Comformatic (which is problematic if not taken care of properly), which was then replaced a few years ago by an automatic transmission.

The base is only a commercial van, even if improved, the comfort will never be the same as in a modern car. But it has other advantages

 

[Reg 65]

Further to the above I would add that pre 2011 X2/50's are probably best avoided as the reverse gear was too high. I lived in fear of having to reverse uphill fully loaded without overheating the clutch. Comfortmatic apparently great till it went wrong and you tried to find anyone with the knowledge and tools to repair it. So few about it wasn't worth training a fitter to fix them. The 9 speed automatic that followed might be even harder to get service for as its more complex and its being discontinued already.