I have a couple of VW transporter T5’s an older 2.5 5cylinder and a 2.0 4motion, the 4motion is a nicer van to drive, but the 2.0 140hp engine needs to worked quite a bit and is worse on fuel than the 2.5 with a remap to 210hp. 2.5’s are starting to be a bit of a gamble now in my opinion as they are susceptible to camshaft and injector faults, injectors wear the head and injector bodies, T5.1’s are common for egr issues, some twin turbo 180’s the egr cooler breaks up internally and destroys the engines. I think in all cases anything with a dual mass flywheel is a bill in waiting! T5’s carry a “high scene tax” and lots of turds have been well polished and painted.
I think the Vauxhall/Renault offer a decent size and quality, but again clutch / flywheel &gearbox issues are fairly common
Mercedes Sprinters rust too fast but offer a few choices in size & engines
Unfortunately due to the increase in online shopping most cheaper vans seem to getting bought to become Amazon/ Hermes delivery vehicles and the delay in supply of new vans has pushed demand and cost up