What mileage is too high for a van?

[JohnDoeWindows]

Hey guys,

Just wondering what your thoughts were on this, I've always leased vehicles prior to getting into window cleaning so have never really experienced a high mileage van, my current van has the highest I've had at 62000 but from what I gather that's considered low?

Been offered a 2015 Vivaro with a fully fitted PF RO/DI system at what I consider to be a fair price based on what others with similar mileage are going for, but it does have 120000 miles on the clock. Would I be taking a massive risk or is that not too high?

Thanks guys

 

[AW Services]

Hey guys,

Just wondering what your thoughts were on this, I've always leased vehicles prior to getting into window cleaning so have never really experienced a high mileage van, my current van has the highest I've had at 62000 but from what I gather that's considered low?

Been offered a 2015 Vivaro with a fully fitted PF RO/DI system at what I consider to be a fair price based on what others with similar mileage are going for, but it does have 120000 miles on the clock. Would I be taking a massive risk or is that not too high?

Thanks guys

If it's regularly serviced with endless preventative maintenance, no corrosion or black smoke it's irrelevant.

120,000 miles is only technically just run in

 

[Part Timer]

We sold our Vivaro that had 170k miles, it had new injectors, regular fault with Vivaros, around 90k and a new gearbox at around 140k. It would also depend what it had been used for as I would be very wary of buying a van that had done 120k with a fitted system in due to it being fully loaded a lot of its life.

 

[Pjj]

I would say if it’s been a window cleaning van for that 120000 miles it will have had a very hard life , but if it’s been going up and down the motorway with little in it then it should be fine , take each vehicle on it’s own merits .

 

[Iron Giant]

I wouldn't touch a 7 year old window cleaning van with that mileage I have had various jobs done on mine replacement springs etc which are no doubt down to wear and tear but also the weight I carry, my current van has 72,000 on the clock and is 8 years old which I am just going to keep as better the devil you know, the prices for vans are stupid these days

 

[Baldmonkey]

It is virtually irrelevant about mileage, more on condition, service history and maintenance. One of my cv joints was knocking on my ex aa van that has 180k on it, so I replaced both cv joints and drive shafts while they were being done, my van has full service history by Ford and has never been neglected... But you can go and by a van that has 50k on the clock that has been thrashed and abused and never looked after.... Everything is relative

 

[Damo]

Weight in my opinion is irrelevant on a vehicle as long as it hasn't been overloaded.

My first custom is coming up to 90k and 8 years old and it needs new rear shocks, apart from that there isn't anything weight related that's failed.

It was a 3100 GVW and had an 850 Tank it in, my latest custom is a 320 and has a 650 in it. You really cannot tell the difference.

Where it goes wrong in my opinion is when people buy a small van and see the payload as a target to get to. Especially if the van is a car/derived van.

If a van is going to fail because its overloaded the suspension components will fail first and not the van floor falling out.

I don't see the issue with buying a window cleaning van at all, it will be owed by a one man band and he will want it to be reliable as if its off the road he's losing money. It's not that easy to hire a water fed pole van, trust me! That's why I have a spare van in the company.

A builder probably wont bother maintaining his van as if it breaks down he can easily hire one, if its just for transferring materials and getting to jobs.

Have you seen the inside of a builders van?

There is so many reasons why a van is going to be good or bad!

Quick example I bought a low mileage van and the cam chain snapped at 66k! I since found out the van I purchased was on tick over for most of it's life. So the engine didn't technically have 66k miles......

I look at vans completely differently now, as long as the van is in good condition what's the absolute worst that can happen? Engine seizes, DPF fails, ECU. Depending on how much you paid for the van, it's hardly going to write it off.

A thorough vehicle inspection should identify most problems. A simple split in a cv boot can be a £100-£200 job.

 

[Iron Giant]

It is virtually irrelevant about mileage, more on condition, service history and maintenance. One of my cv joints was knocking on my ex aa van that has 180k on it, so I replaced both cv joints and drive shafts while they were being done, my van has full service history by Ford and has never been neglected... But you can go and by a van that has 50k on the clock that has been thrashed and abused and never looked after.... Everything is relative

Fair points made, my van was one of those thrashed vans as it was ex-lease and I bought through van monster, cv joints I have had done plus front springs top mounts as well it had full-service history but I have my doubts about the service and mot as 2 weeks after I bought the van the handbrake cable snapped on the right-hand side,

I only do a few thousand miles a year and it gets a full service every year and any issues get fixed the same day, absolutely pointless for me to change vans as to get get 180k on mine would take more than 10 years

 

[Pjj]

Weight in my opinion is irrelevant on a vehicle as long as it hasn't been overloaded.

My first custom is coming up to 90k and 8 years old and it needs new rear shocks, apart from that there isn't anything weight related that's failed.

It was a 3100 GVW and had an 850 Tank it in, my latest custom is a 320 and has a 650 in it. You really cannot tell the difference.

Where it goes wrong in my opinion is when people buy a small van and see the payload as a target to get to. Especially if the van is a car/derived van.

If a van is going to fail because its overloaded the suspension components will fail first and not the van floor falling out.

I don't see the issue with buying a window cleaning van at all, it will be owed by a one man band and he will want it to be reliable as if its off the road he's losing money. It's not that easy to hire a water fed pole van, trust me! That's why I have a spare van in the company.

A builder probably wont bother maintaining his van as if it breaks down he can easily hire one, if its just for transferring materials and getting to jobs.

Have you seen the inside of a builders van?

There is so many reasons why a van is going to be good or bad!

Quick example I bought a low mileage van and the cam chain snapped at 66k! I since found out the van I purchased was on tick over for most of it's life. So the engine didn't technically have 66k miles......

I look at vans completely differently now, as long as the van is in good condition what's the absolute worst that can happen? Engine seizes, DPF fails, ECU. Depending on how much you paid for the van, it's hardly going to write it off.

A thorough vehicle inspection should identify most problems. A simple split in a cv boot can be a £100-£200 job.

I think a van that’s been used for window cleaning will be a lot of stop start driving so not up to running temperature this causes premature engine ware , also they are renowned for running at maximum payload all the time or mine certainly are , so although they are designed to carry weight ones that’s has carried less weight doing longer journeys will have less ware and tare than a lower mileage one , a friend of mine has a renault traffic that he had from new it’s now done 120,000 and had gearbox replaced , clutch twice, and shocks front and rear and new springs as they had gone weak , plus egr valve , injectors , not that I think theses things are due to window cleaning but certainly short stop start journeys hasn’t helped . Also the terrain has a big impact if you live in a reasonably flat area the strains on the vehicles will be a lot less we live in a very hilly area and this definitely affects the ware rate if components, and fuel consumption, when at home our vans use far more fuel than when we work in Bath , Bristol and London .

 

[Damo]

Modern Diesel engines get up to temperature far quicker than they used to. Our customs get hot within a few miles. They’re designed like that.

Stop start will only really do maybe the starter motor.

Two clutches and a gearbox before 120,000 I’d be looking at the driver.

 

[Pjj]

Modern Diesel engines get up to temperature far quicker than they used to. Our customs get hot within a few miles. They’re designed like that.

Stop start will only really do maybe the starter motor.

Two clutches and a gearbox before 120,000 I’d be looking at the driver.

Yes I understand that but depending how far you are traveling to first job it might not get hot , a lot of our work is less than 3 miles from home base and they don’t get hot , some days less than a mile travelled all day di that week in week out and it causes a carbon build up in all the engine components.
As for the clutches it’s down to repeatedly stop start on steep hills fully loaded my Vito has had two clutches in that mileage and it’s not down to driver error , the gearboxes in the traffic are absolutely rubbish and again arnt suitable for constant pulling away fully loaded on hills . This is why vw stopped putting the 5 cylender engines in the t4 as they had exactly the same issues gearing was all wrong first gear and reverse were to high , we had a clutch go in that after 30,000 miles vw eventually replaced it free of charge admitting it wasn’t fit for purpose and shortly after stoped doing the 5 cylinder engine in it . If working in a flatter area it’s not an issue .

 

[Robt100]

I'd definitely say buy based on condition rather than mileage. Our window cleaning van has been regularly serviced from new, only problems I had was a failed clutch master cylinder (£150 fix) and the only biggie was a worn camshaft......but it has done 289,000 miles! Still runs and drives fine and can't find anything that I would want to 'upgrade' to that I can trust wouldn't cause me more problems.

 

[mike007]

Modern diesels can do well over 250.000 miles if properly serviced. Of course the rest of the van as done 250,000 miles too. Similarly a van can be clapped out at 69,000 miles. Depends on type of work it has been used for and how it has been maintained.

 

[Baldmonkey]

Tbf they are a Renault, none of the French cars/vans are any good. Yes I know I'm going to get some that say mines been to the moon and back and never had anything wrong with it... But the honest truth is French vans are #+*t and you are more likely for them to break or break down than other models

Yes I understand that but depending how far you are traveling to first job it might not get hot , a lot of our work is less than 3 miles from home base and they don’t get hot , some days less than a mile travelled all day di that week in week out and it causes a carbon build up in all the engine components.
As for the clutches it’s down to repeatedly stop start on steep hills fully loaded my Vito has had two clutches in that mileage and it’s not down to driver error , the gearboxes in the traffic are absolutely rubbish and again arnt suitable for constant pulling away fully loaded on hills . This is why vw stopped putting the 5 cylender engines in the t4 as they had exactly the same issues gearing was all wrong first gear and reverse were to high , we had a clutch go in that after 30,000 miles vw eventually replaced it free of charge admitting it wasn’t fit for purpose and shortly after stoped doing the 5 cylinder engine in it . If working in a flatter area it’s not an issue .

 

[kevinc250]

@JohnDoeWindows do you have the reg number to hand?. it is easier to look at the previous mot history so you get a history of how the van has been maintained, and also the mileage between mot's can denote motorway mileage or stop n go.
miles doesn't mean a lot to me, i have at the moment a 13 plate mercedes vito (had to be pre 14 as they used traffic engines after that so it was no longer a merc),
the mileage is very nearly 260,000 miles but its as sweet as a nut.
for the last 140,000 odd miles was mainly driving from sheffield to london and back by the previous owner you can see this by the mot history, as it was his job as a courier he couldn't afford break downs so servicing was paramount to him.
the older vivaros/traffics were plagued by issues ie injectors and gearbox issues but were resolved with the newer models i know as i still have the older vivaro and, in all honesty its not a bad van at all.
i had a drive recently of a newer ford custom and wasn't that impressed with it- just my opinion it did look good though
no-one has mentioned this as its all been van talk but, how long has the system been fitted? again change of ownership and mileage could tell you when, either way you need to factor in a change of filters and probably a new 40/40 membrane.
also, i'm sure you are aware that to you the pf system as it is you'll need to supply a water and electric feed to the van for filling and filtration purposes, also access to a drain for the waste water from the ro this could be a couple of hours every night babysitting the system as it fills up, there are other options of course ie static fill but, i don't know your circumstances.
i don't know what you have at the moment but with hindsight and a lot of years in this game making mistakes or errors of judgement i would err on the side of sticking with what you have for the moment, van prices are high but, when the chips arrive and full production begins again with new vans s/h van prices will plummitt and god only knows what is the future now with russia and deisal prices.

 

[Pjj]

Tbf they are a Renault, none of the French cars/vans are any good. Yes I know I'm going to get some that say mines been to the moon and back and never had anything wrong with it... But the honest truth is French vans are #+*t and you are more likely for them to break or break down than other models

I do agree with you totally, but I had similar issues with a brand new vw T4 transporter ???as well .

 

[adamangler]

Problem is these days a 7 year old van with 120k is probably worth about 10k, prices are ridiculous.

My renault trafic had 120k on it when i bought it, now a year later its been faultless, a 15 year old van and i cant knock it. Ive had newer vans, older vans, trucks, low mileage, high mileage etc and its always just a case of pot luck to be honest. With any second hand vehicle you pay your money and take your chances.