Buying a van?

[slippy]

Could you get a good enough one for £3000? How do you waterproof it? I thought - small - medium sized (Renault Vivaro), but not a Renault as I heard engines are bad.

Where's the best place? Auto Trader or a dealer? I heard you need to check the suspension as previous tradesmen owners might have knackered it. And it's best to avoid previous owners who were brickies or roofers and were carrying heavy loads!

 

[Green Pro Clean Ltd]

Nothing wrong with my Renault and it cost £2400 and is a 2008. Make sure ti get a six speed jot the 5 speed as they do tend to have issues.

Het a mith with some mechanical skills to go look at any vans you like with you.

Buying private will get you better prices normally.

Buying from a dealer gives you safeguards under the goods and services act so the vehicle needs to be fit for purpose for at least (but not limited to) six months regardless of any warranty / guarantee given or implied.

I will buy another Renault at the end of February. Personally i think they're great and at the end of the day if you see how many trafic / vivaros / primastars are on the road then yes, a few are bound to go wrong along the way, law of averages.

 

[Neil]

Vivaros, traffics both have problems I've heard Nissan primastars are ok

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[peter rogers]

that wud be my choice of van

dont go down transit route in mk6 as to much rust going thru them i have a mk6 transit and will be going vivaro or traffic for next wagon

i done my floor with bitumen black paint out of screwfix works perfect and is a fraction of the price of proteckakote

 

[noddy]

sorry to be blunt here but the first thing I would do judgeing buy the way you asked this question is first find a good grease monkey as its clear to me you know northing about vans and you most likey to get a ******* and not have the money to fix it which I wouldn't like to see sometime worth paying a grease monkey 50 quid as it may save you big time

ive had around 70 vans in the last 20 years , from the cheapest to the dearest . ive done 1000s of miles to go and see minters to find northing but scrap at the end or a 7hours trip my friend the second hand van market is full of sharks so keep your eyes open !

doesn't matter what make or model they are at 3k I would want the lowest milage , with the least of owners and the thickest history you can !

keep away from , ex royal mail . ex dhl,tnt , any that as orange lights in oppersite corners , not all one owner private van are good as most have been kept on the road as cheap as they can

good vans ex aa , ex rac , ex gas ,ex bt ex council vans are ok but eyes open to see what job they have been doing , 99% of the good vans ive put have had trackers in from day one and are limited

 

[boarcity]

ive had around 70 vans in the last 20 years , from the cheapest to the dearest . ive done 1000s of miles to go and see minters to find northing but scrap at the end or a 7hours trip my friend the second hand van market is full of sharks so keep your eyes open !

out of interest where was the 7 hour trip to?

 

[adamangler]

The thing with buying a used van of any age is that its pot luck just how reliable it will be and how much it will cost you to maintain.

Take my 51 plate fiat scudo with 300k on the clock i paid 500 quid for it

Ive had it 2 years, its never once let me down and the last m.o.t it only need a bulb.

It looks tatty as hell, bits are dropping off but luckily it keeps going

Now you could buy a van for 3k with 200k on the clock that needs nothing as its alrwady had all the usual replaced, belts, alternator, injectors, gearbox etc and you could buy one with 80k that hasnt needed anything thus far but could throw the cam belt off within a week.

The same goes if you spend 5k or 8k or whatever, buying used out of warranty is always a risk, and whilst a regularly serviced low mileage van should give you less trouble its really in the hands of the gods.

I would buy the best van you can for however much you can afford to lose.

Remember vans depreciate and whilst having a nice van is great if you can afford it dont forget to factor in being able to afford to fix it when it blows up

In terms of reliablity, traffics, vivaros and primastars are well known to have gearbox and injector issues, transits at least the older ones are rot boxes.

Imo for 3k i would i look at a hdi version of a citroen or peugeot, solid engines and they dont rot.

 

[noddy]

out of interest where was the 7 hour trip to?

went from Newcastle (home) to the other side on London , we needed rare van for a job we had tendered for and got , we need a transit long cube , these are smiley transits 190s and are exlong but only semi high roofs , it had to be a turbo one due the weight and the long miles it was going to do I wanted one with as lowest miles as I could think it was 4 years old 65k on the clock and was 7kplus vat

think it had 200k took off the clock as when I got there I wasn't happy

 

[Alien Human]

ive had around 70 vans in the last 20 years , from the cheapest to the dearest . ive done 1000s of miles to go and see minters to find northing but scrap at the end or a 7hours trip my friend the second hand van market is full of sharks so keep your eyes open !

&...........70 vans!!!!!!

Which one was the biggest crock of :turd:?

 

[noddy]

&...........70 vans!!!!!!
Which one was the biggest crock of :turd:?

best buy far were smilly transits , rubbish were Renault traffics and there gearboxes and low raditors night mare

 

[boarcity]

went from Newcastle (home) to the other side on London , we needed rare van for a job we had tendered for and got , we need a transit long cube , these are smiley transits 190s and are exlong but only semi high roofs , it had to be a turbo one due the weight and the long miles it was going to do I wanted one with as lowest miles as I could think it was 4 years old 65k on the clock and was 7kplus vat
think it had 200k took off the clock as when I got there I wasn't happy

did u drive straight back then ? thats 14 hours on the road ,grim

 

[tench0771]

i dont think ude go rong with a toyota hiace u can get a nce one for £3000 ive got a vivaro it had 48k just had a new gear box fitted as other one was fuked dont no if i was unlucky but it would have cost me £1000 + fitted but it was lucky coverd under warnty there good vans nce to drive but if the injectors go its not guna b cheep as @Neil found out my next van will b toyota or maby the new pug expert with the 2.0hdi enging in it

TOYOTA HIACE 2446 cc 2.4D Compact Panel Van

 

[boarcity]

lad i know went to look at a van took 500 cash with him to put down on it . but decided not to buy it and stopped off for a pint on the way home . at the pub he somehow lost the 500 notes .

 

[tench0771]

if u get a toyota hiace check the glow plugs arnt rusty as i found out once lol the tend to snap in the head and also if they do come out they bugger the freds up but if its got fsh then should b fine

 

[Eviestevie]

Stay away vivaros traffic and primastar

Good looking vans but awful engines and transmission

Like tenchy go for expert etc

Service is so important on new vans especially after 2009 do this and you should have years of pretty much trouble free motoring

 

[DMD]

i lease my vans so i never have any problems /emoticons/smile.png

 

[tench0771]

i thault about geting van lease how does it wrk can u get it sign riten also how long can u keep the van for? @DMD

 

[slippy]

My window cleaning and gardening etc is part time, but I want to slowly build this up. I work out of a car with a trolley and am sick of carrying heavy barrels. Also getting a mower in is an absolute nightmare. with a van can stick a tank in there and I will be laughing. I thought about a Berlingo, but my mate said they have the same storage as an estate so maybe something a bit bigger. Is it worth keeping the car if I get a van or is that a waste of money?

 

[peter rogers]

if i can free up extra coin and the right one comes up id be going for a sprinter swb new shape one cant be ze germans for good engines service regular and look after it

it will look after u

 

[Alien Human]

Stay away vivaros traffic and primastarGood looking vans but awful engines and transmission

Like tenchy go for expert etc

Service is so important on new vans especially after 2009 do this and you should have years of pretty much trouble free motoring

Hi Eviestevie - would you recommend a servicing a new van after X1 year of ownership?

Service centres seem to suggest x2 years.....cheers

 

[High-tower]

if i can free up extra coin and the right one comes up id be going for a sprinter swb new shape one cant be ze germans for good engines service regular and look after it
it will look after u

Thats a big van for window cleaning?

Ive got a transporter, and its a fantastic van. i think i might switch to a new transit connect, with the 1000kg payload so i can still use the same size tank but in a more compact van, which should be easier to park...