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Would you buy a 8 year old Ionic system and van?

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No water meter fortunately, I know there may be cheaper ones on the market I just thought Ionics was a decent system to use albeit second hand but its been lovingly looked after. I have looked at other brands, i.e. Grippamax, Varetech and Adepta.

Very confused .....

 
No water meter fortunately, I know there may be cheaper ones on the market I just thought Ionics was a decent system to use albeit second hand but its been lovingly looked after. I have looked at other brands, i.e. Grippamax, Varetech and Adepta.
Very confused .....
aah sorry mate,when you look at an ionics stystem it looks georgous and indeed it is,but its still a tank,and pump,controller.

for instance you could get a stystem very similar to the ionics less the hot water,all brand new for under 2k fitted to your van,gas hot water might be an extra £150,

if you wanted the same stystem as ionics as in hot water it would be around 2k just for that alone

if i was you,and please don't take this too personally-your going to be running a business-first asess your market-is there enough room for you locally?whats your local market like?what competition would you have and of course the prices

you would need a business plan in place first before you lash out on a van and stystem as previous members have said it can take years to build up a decent round and its true,five years for me and the money is starting to come back in after all the investment

 
Hey Pepsi, and welcome. I would definitely say to start off small, buy a sound van for about no more than 2k, and then maybe start with a resin vessel? I live in a softwater area, so don't really look into how good systems like ionics are for hard water areas. but why such a big outlay if you have no work? small van, all second hand gear and you will take a whole load of pressure off yourself! I started 18 months ago out of a yaris, but now I have 107 custys and feel more comfortable about investing more in my company. Hope this helps mate

 
I'd agree with most on here that you should focus on the work first and not the equipment...I started with a Fiesta, a basic trolley and a lot of leaflets, about 4 months in I had a website, paid yell.com add lots of Facebooking and I picked up a van on ebay for £1k (tidy 52plate escort with 350litre system and a load of extras) a year on my round was growing steadily and I part-exd for a Nissan Primastar (the escort owed me about £200 for that years work!) I've fitted a diy system designed and layed out just how I want it and have no debt....

Bit of a ramble I know but the point is you should let your business grow equally in all areas (experience/knowledge, customer base and equipment) as you may put a lot of money in and find out that your not suited to this line of work.

 
I'm nearly a year in, well Apr 15 to now and still manage with a trolley and 25 Ltr containers in a C4 grand Picasso. Not saying I don't have a customer base I do and I'm really pleased with what I've achieved in 10 months. A lot of hard work canvassing but it does pay off.

Once I feel I can't manage the way I'm doing it and have enough customers to justify the cost, I will convert to a van and system.

Don't run before you can walk.

Start small and once to the right level increase with a van and system. You may find you don't even like window cleaning, so starting small is less risk, especially on finances.

 
As said above I would advise spending much less on a van

If you have money to invest buy a round - that will go up in value

A van will be worth nothing in 10 years

 
This van has been on eBay for as long as I can remember !!
Yes it has. Didn't he want £9500 for it to begin with?

It is too much for Mr average window cleaner to afford, but I think that even at that price it's still better value than some of the rubbish I've seen on Ebay.

 
The hot water set up on this can be added to any system for under £150.
Does not seem like a great bargain this van.
I agree that it cheaper for a DIY competent person to go gas. But this van has a diesel heater and those are more expensive. We don't need all the bells and whistles Ionic fit to their tanks as we have DIYed something that works just as well. But Ionics are still around which means there are people buying their systems.

I understood the op was looking toward a ready made system so he could start working immediately with it. There was talk of £11000 being available for a ready made van and system.

No, I wouldn't buy it TBH.

 
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