Van HELL!!! Any advice very welcome - going to buy a new one.

[Dannypipe]

Well my van won't start. The AA are on the way....but I've had it with the van anyway. It's too small by a long way. (Vauxhall Combo).

So anyone who's recently bought a new or nearly new van, who has any advice on lease hire, or hp or anything at all. Please let me know.

I bought my last two vans at auction. The one before that off a mate....so don't have much to go on with regards to leasing.

I want something pretty big, LWB transit size ideally.

I'm now going to start shopping.

Oh and have about £3000.00 deposit. So not much.

 

[Destroyer2813]

Thats the risk ya take but could of been worse though couldnt it

 

[Dannypipe]

Thats the risk ya take but could of been worse though couldnt it

Yeah. It takes the shine off it a bit, but it still works out a fair price. Going to seriously dip into the savings though. Thing is the lost productivity of not having a van has been steep. I've also peed off new and old customers as I haven't been able to visit on their booked times (some of them having been waiting weeks for me to come). So it's been one big pain in the backside.

Back in the old Combo tomorrow, and loads of work to do too. Starting trying to earn a few quid!

 

[Leo21]

Love the transporter, I'm having one next. No ones mentioned the Toyota. Mines six years old, new tyres and brake pads. That's it. Zero rust as well.

 

[Dannypipe]

It's funny, when I was van hunting I went into Toyota to enquire about a new Hiace.

Mate of mine has one that's done 200K and still going strong. Well I got told by the very polite girl on reception that the Hiace is no longer sold in the UK but she thinks its still sold in Europe. Wasn't sure.

I said it's a shame as they have a good reputation which she agreed with, but said they just didn't sell enough to warrant selling them here anymore.

They're great vans from what I can gather.

 

[dancinplumba]

ugly tho

 

[Dannypipe]

Beauty is in the eye of the beer holder mate. :54::54:

 

[Phil]

I'm really lucky as most of my work is local and mostly bathrooms with the odd kitchen. If I have to drive more than 20 mins I'm annoyed and over 45 mins forget it, £10/15 a week on diesel max.

I take my hat off to you guys who drive all over the place and clock up hundreds of miles a week, I just couldn't do it.

 

[mfgs]

It's funny, when I was van hunting I went into Toyota to enquire about a new Hiace.

Mate of mine has one that's done 200K and still going strong. Well I got told by the very polite girl on reception that the Hiace is no longer sold in the UK but she thinks its still sold in Europe. Wasn't sure.

I said it's a shame as they have a good reputation which she agreed with, but said they just didn't sell enough to warrant selling them here anymore.

They're great vans from what I can gather.

I used to have a Hiace. They are uncomfortable, cold, noisy, not very nice to drive etc etc. They are however indestructible and rear wheel drive which makes for lots and lots of fun. Anyone after a cheap second hand van couldn't do any better than to look at getting one. They are not refined at all, but if you want a van to be purely a van then you cannot go wrong.

 

[Leo21]

I used to have a Hiace. They are uncomfortable, cold, noisy, not very nice to drive etc etc. They are however indestructible and rear wheel drive which makes for lots and lots of fun. Anyone after a cheap second hand van couldn't do any better than to look at getting one. They are not refined at all, but if you want a van to be purely a van then you cannot go wrong.

Couldnt agree with you more. I bought mine new because I got so fed up with vans costing me money in repairs.

 

[SimonG]

My first van was a Hiace, cracking van.

 

[kay-jay]

anyone know about transits? 53 plate they reliable model or not...been offered one cheap ish, good nick,low mileage full electric pack, stereo, silver for a grand, they aregoing on auto trader for around 1500-2k. anyone know if these are prone to expensive faults??

cheers

 

[Leo21]

Mine was a 51 plate and the gearboxes fail in the fwd models around that year.

 

[kay-jay]

Is the 53 plate prone to gearbox failure also then Leo? How much is it it to put right?

 

[Leo21]

Not 100% sure weather if it was resolved. Cost me about £1600. It was six or seven years ago. I took it to an independant garage who butchered it, I could select gears but it was a pig. So I drive it straight to the Toyota garage.

 

[Leo21]

Though to be fair if it's nearly ten heads old, it's either bad a new one or its ok. Just don't change gears over a speed bump. That's what I did and it never left second gear again.

 

[Dannypipe]

I haven't got the photos off the phone yet. But I've spent the weekend racking and loading the new van.

It's almost 100% now. I need to buy one more small box for the racking (for my 22mm pushfit fittings). I've fitted a Rhino roof rack and a Rhino pipe carrier.

I'm actually excited about going to work in it tomorrow. Haven't been excited about going to work in a looooooooong time!!

Going to be a treat compared to the last van. I will get some photos up tomorrow I promise. Thanks for all the help advise and general kind words I've had on this thread!

 

[michael c]

I haven't got the photos off the phone yet. But I've spent the weekend racking and loading the new van.

It's almost 100% now. I need to buy one more small box for the racking (for my 22mm pushfit fittings). I've fitted a Rhino roof rack and a Rhino pipe carrier.

I'm actually excited about going to work in it tomorrow. Haven't been excited about going to work in a looooooooong time!!

Going to be a treat compared to the last van. I will get some photos up tomorrow I promise. Thanks for all the help advise and general kind words I've had on this thread!

Can you not upload from your phone mate?

 

[SimonG]

I was wondering when we would see the pics Danny?

 

[Gerard17]

I had van hell with a transit connect not so long ago and needed 2 grand to fix all the problems. Knew a feller who runs an auction house so he told me to put it in his auction even tho it had a lot of problems an got nearly 2500 grand for it. It was an ex virgin media van with full service history on it so when I bought it thought I was buying good

 

[Dannypipe]

 

[michael c]

bloody hell it does exist

 

[Destroyer2813]

The myth is broken

 

[Dannypipe]

I've taken some new photos today, as the original ones I took just looked too perfect!!

I've now been working out the van for a week or two. I don't intend to drive the pipe freezer and transformer around with me but I have been as it's handy.

I haven't had a chance to label the boxes yet....I will eventually.

I think this van is the perfect size. I can get in the back and grab what I need no problems but I'm not driving around in some huge, LWB monster!

It's so fast too!

The roof rack, pipe rack and ply racking cost me £640 fitted. Which I think is a bargain.

 

[vern]

Nice one Danny too busy to wash it then like me!

 

[SafeGasInstall]

danny good choice ,
just like my but I have the van Vault bolted down to the floor ,
also get secondary locks fitted

 

[mfgs]

That racking does look very good. Makes my attempt at doing mine look awful lol.

 

[vern]

Rhino delta bars and pipe rack with ply lining etc a steal at £640!

 

[Leo21]

Looks half empty to me, mines full to the roof. Nice van, I fancy one of these next.

 

[Dannypipe]

HA!!

Anyway to explain briefly my 'system'.

The big box at the back has loose power tools. (it's screwed to the ply floor).

The F&E tank next to it is also screwed to the floor. That's got tubes of silicon and gas, etc in it.
Against that I normally have my tote bag full of tools I take in on the job. (It was on the job when I took this photo!).

Then is my 'engineers' box. Which has all sorts of crap that I don't use often, like smoke pellets, pressure gauges, glass fuses, water finding paste, the list goes on.

Then I have my 'hop up'.

Then I have my tool box full of hand tools I don't often use.

Then I have my pipe freezer.

On the left hand side racking is useful things like hose adapters, jubilee clips, tape, etc. On the right hand side I have my large plastic tubs. Filled with waste fittings, comp fittings, pumps, valves ect.

Then I have my Makita cordless drills in one box.

Then I have drill bits, jigsaw, crimpers, and all manner of tools. Then on the back I have my benders, formers, hose pipe, cable, kitchen roll, U gauge and the like.

I love working out this van. compared to the old one, my stress level has less than halved!

 

[SafeGasInstall]

go for merc Leo21