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Good van?

slippy

Active member
Messages
840
Location
Bournemouth
Wanted a van with three seats in front- one for child seat, one for missus on the rare occasion she needed me to give her a lift with 19 month old. Small enough to park in my awkward/small parking spaces where I live, bulk head so water doesn't fly forward if little one is in there and big enough to carry poles a mower and other tools as well as wfp stuff, obviously I could take poles out and put gardening or other tools in when needed. I have a garage for storage.

Money- willing to pay for a cheap an old banger or if it's good up to £5500.

 
I just ordered a new Renault Trafic today, been a good year so treating myself.

My current one is a 2008 Trafic SWB and that's going up for sale as soon as my new one is ready. Has a 500L 2 man system with RO & DI and the three seats in the front you need. Loads of space for extra power washers, mowers etc.

So my advice is get a Trafic (or Vivaro, or Primastar, they are all the same van)

Some will say they have issues with this and that but that's true of any van. This one however runs and drives a treat and has loads of service history and just last week flew through it's MOT with 1 advisory! My number plate was on the dash board so he told me to screw it back on! /emoticons/smile.png)

 
I like you green are thinking of a new van, did you buy it from main dealer ? franchise, or independent trader, so many options all a bit confusing, what version have you got ? and what is the payload ? did you get long wheel base or standard.

 
I got the LWB sport model which comes with the upgraded springs so can take 250kg more. Getting it from main dealer.
Nice. Better share some pics of that when you get it.

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Slippy, I like the look of the Peugeot Expert or the fiat scudo etc (there are four different brands that do the same van), nice van decent payload (up to 1200 I think) and smallish.

If cheap and cheerful I think a ldv maxus is still way to go as ex post office has low mileage but bodywork is a bit shabby but for 2.5k you can get something that's 10 years old has done 65k miles but needs a respray, well within budget and not a banger!!

Good luck with the hunt [emoji1303]

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Based on what you have said Slippy a Nissan NV200 might suit you, its smaller than a SWB vivaro, Peugeot expert etc. but still big enough for everything you need.

Drawback is the payload, 739kg but you can still have a 400L tank or so.

Its also pretty cheap!

 
Based on what you have said Slippy a Nissan NV200 might suit you, its smaller than a SWB vivaro, Peugeot expert etc. but still big enough for everything you need.
Drawback is the payload, 739kg but you can still have a 400L tank or so.

Its also pretty cheap!
Has it got 3 seats?

 
The Peugeot looks good. Is it a bit long for parking in small spaces? Also, the 3 seats in the front. If you had a kids chair in one seat could my girlfriend sit next to him or would the chair take up too much space?

 
I got the LWB sport model which comes with the upgraded springs so can take 250kg more. Getting it from main dealer.
Out of interest, how long do you have to wait for it? I've had a test drive of a transporter highline recently, 6 months wait. Last Sunday I tried the transit sport, 4-5 months wait. It complicates things for them as I have told both manufacturers that the vans must have twin sliding doors (I prefer my reels facing the sides of the van). Because of this, they cannot order the van from the stock they have, and have to put it on order.

This would mean I'd take delivery in the winter which I don't want as I want the longer days to transfer everything over. So going to wait to January now

 
Still at least Mid October. I haven't gone 'new new' it is a 2 year old low mileage so I save £6k on retail.

The guy that actually has the van right now gets a new one every two years and chops his in. I have already driven it and it's mint. Trouble is like yours his new one wont be ready for about 2 months yet. I did offer to buy direct from him but he already had a deal with dealership in place so going through them.

 
Slippy, 3 seats for Peugeot are ok but car chair may get in way of gearbox so may want to put by door (personally not somthing I would do but I think you will have this issue with any van you buy)

Not any longer than other vans, if you have not driven a van before then it takes a bit of getting used to, parking sensors are obviously a good perk or you can buy reversing cameras that are even better and by what I have been told not too hard to fit[emoji1303]

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Out of interest, how long do you have to wait for it? I've had a test drive of a transporter highline recently, 6 months wait. Last Sunday I tried the transit sport, 4-5 months wait. It complicates things for them as I have told both manufacturers that the vans must have twin sliding doors (I prefer my reels facing the sides of the van). Because of this, they cannot order the van from the stock they have, and have to put it on order.This would mean I'd take delivery in the winter which I don't want as I want the longer days to transfer everything over. So going to wait to January now
.. and as they have to order it as a factory order especially for you, you can't be guaranteed of what deal will apply to your order when it finally arrives. If its a poor deal then you have to take it as they won't want a 'special' order (twin side doors) sitting in their stock holding. You need to ask what deals will apply to your van before you commit yourself.

They may not want to do that so my advice is to tread very carefully before signing on the dotted line.

Deals (cash backs, no VAT offers etc.) vary on different vans and models. They are usually an incentive for the dealers and buyers to move excess stock of a model they are over stocked with at the factory. Special factory orders don't usually fall under these terms.

Looking at it from another angle. If you ordered a van in a special colour, say pink, the factory are going to make sure you don't renege on your order. Katie Price may not want your van.

-

 
.. and as they have to order it as a factory order especially for you, you can't be guaranteed of what deal will apply to your order when it finally arrives. If its a poor deal then you have to take it as they won't want a 'special' order (twin side doors) sitting in their stock holding. You need to ask what deals will apply to your van before you commit yourself.
They may not want to do that so my advice is to tread very carefully before signing on the dotted line.

Deals (cash backs, no VAT offers etc.) vary on different vans and models. They are usually an incentive for the dealers and buyers to move excess stock of a model they are over stocked with at the factory. Special factory orders don't usually fall under these terms.

Looking at it from another angle. If you ordered a van in a special colour, say pink, the factory are going to make sure you don't renege on your order. Katie Price may not want your van.

-
Thanks spruce. I love getting into haggling at times like these. I've just upgraded our car and at one point had the salesman holding his head in his hands through shear frustration because I pushed for every last penny.

As I've said, I'm going to wait until the new year now as there's no big rush, my vans only done about 49,000, so should easily make it through another winter /emoticons/smile.png

 
How about a Peugeot Partner? Would that be big enough for a tank and then sometimes throw in other tools like mowers wood etc? Might not have 3 seats in the front. It is about the same length as my car so I could park it in the difficult to park spaces near my flat.

 
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