Good day. I am new to the forum - and very interested in getting a new Ducato 2.3 Maxi built as a motorhome in South Africa. It is called the Vista 3 from Vista mortorhomes.

I really would like to hear forum members your opinion on the general reliability of the Ducato as well as its gravel capabilities. We have a lot of gravel to travel in South Africa. I would thus like to have assurances about this vehicles reliability and capabilities on gravel roads.

On reading other forums and trying to compare the vehicle with other panelvan types, I struggle to get a clear picture on my concerns. I do read a lot about clutches slipping, shuddering on reverse, loosing power, bad aftersales help from Fiat, etc.

Is it only on old Ducato's and is it all old prblems one do not have to be worried about with newer vehicles? I also know that a lot of motorhome builders use the Ducato as a base vehicle.

I do read a lot about problems and problem solving, not a lot about people raving about their vehicles? I am no mechanic and do not want to buy myself something that I must attend to mechanically every now and then.

This would be an expensive investment and I would not like to make a wrong choice! I like the cabin features and the car like characteristics -

I do hope to get some feedback on my plea - and much appreciated!

I've never driven a Ducato on gravel.
On muddy fields, tyres are the key.
But I've driven other cars and 4x4's on gravel in Iceland, and tbh, they're all similar.
I don't know what your gravel roads are like, but on compacted firm roads, apart from the continuous pinging, they've been fine on standard tarmac tyres.
So I guess the ducato is similar.

Fiat aftersales depends on your area, so we need anyone in South Africa to help out on this.
My van isn't new, so hopefully others will respond queries on new vans.

Hope you enjoy whatever you end up with though.

I have done a LOT of gravel driving with my 2.8JTD. It is very poor on corrugated roads, but good on smooth or loose gravel.

I see that the Vista 3 is a campervan conversion, not a cab-chassis motorhome. As such it should perform well on gravel. The cab-chassis motorhomes are evidently overloaded on the front suspension, especially the Luton Peak types.

Thank you for your feedback. I would watch this space for some more reaction..I learned from experience that releasing tyre pressure on corrugated roads is important.

Corrugated roads are always a problem, depending on wheelbase.
I've driven on worn motorways in France, and the ridges have been perfect to catch the front and back wheels together, and bounced the van all over the show.
Had a car and trailer on another road, and the trailers left the ground.

Luck of the draw.

Ive got a 2011 ducato maxi mwb low roof 2.3 with 425000kms on it its been on the tanami track and the buntine highway in the Northern Territory in Australia numerous times (both are considered vehicle wreckers) and so far the van has performed well. The vehicle is used as a pilot/escort vehicle foe overdimensional loads hence the high number of kms. Had a few teething probs at around 65000kms 4 injectors o2 sensor and a turbo but it all settled down.Replaced the clutch at 380000kms as one of the anti rattle springs snapped and fell between the clutch plate and the flywheel but the vehicle was still drivable albeit with gear changes done on engine revs .I replaced the front springs when i purchased the van as i didnt like the amount of rebound travel (King Springs part no.KFFR-37) which raised the front end approx 3 inches and transformed the handling this with the diff locking feature makes it truly remarkable as to where it goes hope this helps .Cheers Adam P.S. btw the van weighs in at 3.8 tonnes with a full fuel load this is its working wieght

adlarplant said:

btw the van weighs in at 3.8 tonnes with a full fuel load this is its working wieght

Click to expand...

There some heavy warning lights

Wish we had a king springs here are they progressive springs?

No just thicker coils and two extra coils off memory

A stone broke the diff housing on my old one spilling all the oil out, was only going very steady on a semi rough road. Thought a metal sump and diff guard might be a good move . .

OK, let us leave the gravel capabilities question - I think I've got an idea.

But people will help me as a prospective buyer a lot if I can have some feedback on the general reliability of the Fiat Ducato as a base vehicle.

People with experience on the newer models (2011- 2013?) would help a lot please?!

found that my ducato has been reliabe the only thing letting fiat down in australia is parts availabiltity most engine parts i go to iveco for price and availability had a bad run at 60000kms but since then its been mainly services i service at 22500 as per fiat scheduling