I aim to buy my first van at the end of this year..

[WaterTight]

I'm not a car person and know jack all - so rather than get shafted looking for bargains I thought it best to hedge my bets and go for a small/medium van (it's all I need) with reasonably low mileage and spend about 2.5 - 3k. I'm thinking if it's got service history (or at least part service history,) fairly low mileage (which can be checked) and one of the types that loads of people seem to go for (carry / expert / combo / berlingo) I'd have to be quite unlucky to get something about to fall apart. Does this sound like it should work as a plan? Or would it be madness not to try and get it looked over by someone independant (at great cost no doubt...)

As a sidepoint - why the hell are vans so expensive? It looks to me like cars are generally cheaper. I mean obviously you can spend lots on a car but there are lots of cheap cars. There don't seem to be any cheap vans. The only ones that seem cheap turn out to have 200k on the clock and appear to have been banger racing. I thought it might simply be because they're bigger and therefore more materials used but big vans are really not all that more expensive than small vans. Is it because they're built to be tougher or something?

Any other tips would be appreciated.

 

[Billy Bob Bob]

I'm not a car person and know jack all - so rather than get shafted looking for bargains I thought it best to hedge my bets and go for a small/medium van (it's all I need) with reasonably low mileage and spend about 2.5 - 3k. I'm thinking if it's got service history (or at least part service history,) fairly low mileage (which can be checked) and one of the types that loads of people seem to go for (carry / expert / combo / berlingo) I'd have to be quite unlucky to get something about to fall apart. Does this sound like it should work as a plan? Or would it be madness not to try and get it looked over by someone independant (at great cost no doubt...)

As a sidepoint - why the hell are vans so expensive? It looks to me like cars are generally cheaper. I mean obviously you can spend lots on a car but there are lots of cheap cars. There don't seem to be any cheap vans. The only ones that seem cheap turn out to have 200k on the clock and appear to have been banger racing. I thought it might simply be because they're bigger and therefore more materials used but big vans are really not all that more expensive than small vans. Is it because they're built to be tougher or something?

Any other tips would be appreciated.

out of all the vehicles you have listed,the expert/scudo is a good size,seats 3 up front with a push if its the mk 1 like mine it comes with 3 engines 1.9 which is gutless but good on diesel,1.9 td or the one i have the 2.0 hdi which will take out most cars but with power comes bigger diesel bills get the van from a dealer you will pay a bit more but the head failed on mine (because the previous owner let it run out of water) but the dealer picked up the bill since its been fixed its been excellent,can get all my kit in and its reliable

 

[GQuigley67]

I've got a swb transit 2.2 tdci transit, i still havent racked it out ye but it is pretty much full at the moment, got a steel bulkhead fitted aswell so now i don't hear things moving about as much which is great !! Transit is ideal for taking away scrap like boilers etc, but anything like bathroom suites i refuse and just say i dont have a license for waste removal

 

[Guest123]

I've got a swb transit 2.2 tdci transit, i still havent racked it out ye but it is pretty much full at the moment, got a steel bulkhead fitted aswell so now i don't hear things moving about as much which is great !! Transit is ideal for taking away scrap like boilers etc, but anything like bathroom suites i refuse and just say i dont have a license for waste removal

Our local council charges me £40 for the privilege of recycling my waste. Taking the pee out of local business they are. I take 3 or 4 old bathrooms and waste at a time to get my money's worth out of the £40 fee.

 

[GQuigley67]

i just refuse to take it, unless its valuable of course I just recommend a hippo bag now

 

[Guest123]

i just refuse to take it, unless its valuable of course I just recommend a hippo bag now

Unfortunately it's one of the first things they ask me is about taking away the old suite. It's a selling point that I'm able to do this for them, though I hate it.

 

[cdodds2004]

had a transit connect its defo a good van for the price 3k and mine served me excellent just upgraded to a vivaro its bigger but i need extra room now to carry alot of spares on the van going to be economical with my time this winter and minimize 2nd returns to jobs!

selling my connect mate if ur interested 04 plate 52k good nick

 

[Spanner2k7]

I had a nice
lwb transit connect It was ideal could get my tools in and a complete bathroom suite, only downside was I bought a dual fuel, petrol/ LPG, thought I could save money using LPG, what we did not know (my mate got one aswell) the fuel ecomomy was awful. Got about 23MPG on the gas and 29mpg on petrol. The other we did not know was that you cannot run them on just gas.
Drove mine hard down the motor way and notice it started missing, (had to have a coil assembly).

Told my mate about and in 4 weeks he said his van was under powered, took it in and he had burnt out the valve, it was going to cost £1200 to fix.

All because the engine does not have any lubrication from the gas, so either you run it half on gas and half on petrol, or get a lubrication kit fitted.

Other than that it was a good van.

 

[jase158]

I have a Combo and the passanger seat has a massive permenent box of waster traps on it with a seat belt round it and the footwell has a similar box with waste pipe fittings although finding a certain one (normally right at bottom) means you have to make a right mess.One thing I've never been able to organise is my silicone tubes, I have 15 - 20 normally. Pink grip, builders mastic Dow Corning etc, at the moment they are in a plastic tub but I'd like to rack them up somewhere so I can pick the one I want without having to trash my van everytime I wasnt one.

I get 110mm pipe and screw them in to my racking then can fit 2-3 in each,, has to be on the floor though oherwise they will fall out, either that or get a box to put them in, wine box, i.e.

 

[jase158]

I'm not a car person and know jack all - so rather than get shafted looking for bargains I thought it best to hedge my bets and go for a small/medium van (it's all I need) with reasonably low mileage and spend about 2.5 - 3k. I'm thinking if it's got service history (or at least part service history,) fairly low mileage (which can be checked) and one of the types that loads of people seem to go for (carry / expert / combo / berlingo) I'd have to be quite unlucky to get something about to fall apart. Does this sound like it should work as a plan? Or would it be madness not to try and get it looked over by someone independant (at great cost no doubt...)

As a sidepoint - why the hell are vans so expensive? It looks to me like cars are generally cheaper. I mean obviously you can spend lots on a car but there are lots of cheap cars. There don't seem to be any cheap vans. The only ones that seem cheap turn out to have 200k on the clock and appear to have been banger racing. I thought it might simply be because they're bigger and therefore more materials used but big vans are really not all that more expensive than small vans. Is it because they're built to be tougher or something?

Any other tips would be appreciated.

I went to BCA, (british car auctions) they have a commercial vechile sale once a week, all old british gas, royal mail, southern electrical and ex finance vehicles, you can choose exactly which one you have been looking for, the mileage is average, depending on price your willing to pay, Full service history on 90% you can go and have a look at it starting up, before you buy, check it out, hear it run and sometimes they are even already shelved.
The only 2 things I would say is, 1. take a mechanic friend with you, he will instantly tell you if there is something wrong with it or not (if you know one)
2. go once to see how it all works, and do not buy anything this time, Just a practise run, i.e.

 

[armourer]

I bought an 04 Citreon Dispatch about a month ago.
Ex meals on wheels wagon so no hard driving and only 40K mileage.

One owner and full service history, cost me £2000.
Decent sized van and very reliable.
The garage I get them from buys them direct and valets them then knocks them out on a quick turnover and £200 mark up.

If your in the midlands pm me and I will put you on to them.