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dan2016

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Hi guys

Looking to buy a 2-3 year old dispatch.

Any of you bought vans from auction? Any auction places you recommend?

Thanks

Dan

 
I bought my Ex British Gas VW Caddy Maxi from the auction. I got lucky, I could of easily sold it for £800/£1000 more than I bought it for. But I really love the van and love blue.

Yeh try one out, go to a few to see what sells for what etc. I went to the one in Poole, Dorset. Have no idea where you’re based.

 
Read the terms as there is usually VAT, insurance indemnity, buyers premium. The bid price can go up quite a few hundred at the till so work it out before you get carried away bidding. It’ll still be cheaper than sales forecourt as they only buy from auctions anyway.


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I have some experience of this, i went to blackbush car and van auctions near Basingstoke , they normally have different days for cars and commercial vehicles, there is a nation wide auction company that have about 20 auctions sites around the UK, they are generally held once or twice a week, at different locations. One thing to bere in mind if you are after a specific van, you might not find one near you, as i found out that different leasing companies will sell there vehicles at certain auction sites. the one i went is run buy a company called BCA, pretty good web site,   it gives you the opportunity to view the vehicles online about 14 days before they go to auction, you can search bye manufacturer or location. and if you get there early enough you can view the vehicles just before the go through the auction, When you get to the auction site you can buy a booklet of all the vehicles that are being sold and it gives you what building its being sold in, if there are more than one building, and a rough time it will go through the auction. There are some really good deal to be had but like most thinks just keep your wits about you. If i was you i would go and do a dry run just to check it out how it works, and there are normally big canteens were you can get food and some drink.  

 
jason1965 said:
I have some experience of this, i went to blackbush car and van auctions near Basingstoke , they normally have different days for cars and commercial vehicles, there is a nation wide auction company that have about 20 auctions sites around the UK, they are generally held once or twice a week, at different locations. One thing to bere in mind if you are after a specific van, you might not find one near you, as i found out that different leasing companies will sell there vehicles at certain auction sites. the one i went is run buy a company called BCA, pretty good web site,   it gives you the opportunity to view the vehicles online about 14 days before they go to auction, you can search bye manufacturer or location. and if you get there early enough you can view the vehicles just before the go through the auction, When you get to the auction site you can buy a booklet of all the vehicles that are being sold and it gives you what building its being sold in, if there are more than one building, and a rough time it will go through the auction. There are some really good deal to be had but like most thinks just keep your wits about you. If i was you i would go and do a dry run just to check it out how it works, and there are normally big canteens were you can get food and some drink.  
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Its a bit easier buying a good van when the vans are newer. I'm afraid buying an older van can be more tricky as the dealers also send their 'rejects' to auction.

 
spruce said:
Its a bit easier buying a good van when the vans are newer. I'm afraid buying an older van can be more tricky as the dealers also send their 'rejects' to auction.
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I bought my current van at auction nearly 8 years ago, 2 year old van at the time, but I have bought at least 6 cars at auction as well. I'm no mechanic but the auction site will give you a list of cosmetic faults, they will tell you if it has full service history and you can check previous MOT's if the van is older. They will also list how many previous owners, I won't buy a vehicle that has changed hands more than once every 2 years. I then wait beside the vehicle when they start it, quite often they've stood for a few days, and check how easy it starts, what comes out the exhaust and after it moves if any fluids left behind. This method either works or I've been  lucky on numerous occasions for the last 20 years. 

 
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If you are buying a nearly new van then I would go to a dealer. You will pay a grand more but for peace of mind its well worth it. If you have an expanding business then you buy new and put it through your business. The way I see it, you don't have a business if the van isn't working.

 
scottish cleaning service said:
If you are buying a nearly new van then I would go to a dealer. You will pay a grand more but for peace of mind its well worth it. If you have an expanding business then you buy new and put it through your business. The way I see it, you don't have a business if the van isn't working.
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Most vans come with a 3 year warranty so as long as it's been serviced and hasn't done 120,000 miles it will be covered by the manufacturers guarantee.

 
Part Timer said:
Most vans come with a 3 year warranty so as long as it's been serviced and hasn't done 120,000 miles it will be covered by the manufacturers guarantee.
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No one seems to understand that our van is everything, our office, equipment, travel and without it we are finished. I would buy new all day long because reliability is the first rule with the customer.

 
scottish cleaning service said:
No one seems to understand that our van is everything, our office, equipment, travel and without it we are finished. I would buy new all day long because reliability is the first rule with the customer.
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I do, and I also understand that modern vehicles are engineered to do 200,000+ miles. You can buy a brand new vehicle and spend more time with it in the garage then a 2 year old one with 40,000 miles. Just because it's new doesn't mean it won't have any problems. One thing I have noticed recently is the differential from buying brand new in comparison to a nearly new van is very small. With the new regulations coming out, Euro 6, anything with that engine in is holding it's price very well.

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/van-search?radius=1500&postcode=sr46ty&body-type=Panel Van&year-from=2017&keywords=3500

 
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I worked for an energy company there and they supplied brand new Citroens. After a few months the side door fell off. When anything has been tested for a while then they iron out all the teething problems from 1st and 2nd generation types. As you said, sometimes you can become the guinea pig for the manufacturers.

 
scottish cleaning service said:
I worked for an energy company there and they supplied brand new Citroens. After a few months the side door fell off. When anything has been tested for a while then they iron out all the teething problems from 1st and 2nd generation types. As you said, sometimes you can become the guinea pig for the manufacturers.
Click to expand...
My last company had debt collection vans. They scaled down from MWB Transit to SWB Transit courier. Previously when a customer couldn't afford items we would collect them in the transit, suddenly we could only fit a TV or a washer in, not a sofa or a fridge for example. These new vans had no end of problems. Constantly needed new tyres as the steering seemed to be held on track with play dough. The heating systems constantly failed. The worse I experienced was all warning lights coming on at once, driving down the road and randomly losing power with the speedo shooting from 0 to 40... I'll see if I can find the video. AA towed it to the ford garage, they told us it was a computer problem. They removed the one computer and replaced it with 4 which means its cheaper to fix. The problem is its in a loop like old fashioned christmas lights so if one computer fails the entire system is F**ked. A 3 year old van that you can research is much better IMO.

 
RWCleaning said:
I bought my Ex British Gas VW Caddy Maxi from the auction. I got lucky, I could of easily sold it for £800/£1000 more than I bought it for. But I really love the van and love blue.

Yeh try one out, go to a few to see what sells for what etc. I went to the one in Poole, Dorset. Have no idea where you’re based.
Click to expand...


At one time British gas vans were the ones that were the best looked after.

The downside is that they order (or used to order) vans from the manufacturer in blue that was to their corporate colour. So the blue you get isn't a standard factory colour, so matching it up becomes a bit of a challenge. We know, as we have an ex BG Berlingo van in blue.

And anything red was a warning to stay clear of as it was most likely a Royal Mail van.

 
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spruce said:
At one time British gas vans were the ones that were the best looked after.

The downside is that they order (or used to order) vans from the manufacturer in blue that was to their corporate colour. So the blue you get isn't a standard factory colour, so matching it up becomes a bit of a challenge. We know, as we have an ex BG Berlingo van in blue.
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Yeh there’s a couple of scratches and I small stone chip on the bonnet I wanna get touched up some time but a mate of mine said exactly what you said. But I love the colour, still get so many people say “wow your van looks brand new” after I give it a good clean  I just say well dont look to closely lol.

It’s 8 yrs old now. 

 
As most vans are there because they are ex-leased vans you can't go wrong. They have to be serviced and maintained as part of the lease agreement.

Auctions are fine now, not like the old" arthur Daly" days!!!

 
P4dstar said:
My last company had debt collection vans. They scaled down from MWB Transit to SWB Transit courier. Previously when a customer couldn't afford items we would collect them in the transit, suddenly we could only fit a TV or a washer in, not a sofa or a fridge for example. These new vans had no end of problems. Constantly needed new tyres as the steering seemed to be held on track with play dough. The heating systems constantly failed. The worse I experienced was all warning lights coming on at once, driving down the road and randomly losing power with the speedo shooting from 0 to 40... I'll see if I can find the video. AA towed it to the ford garage, they told us it was a computer problem. They removed the one computer and replaced it with 4 which means its cheaper to fix. The problem is its in a loop like old fashioned christmas lights so if one computer fails the entire system is F**ked. A 3 year old van that you can research is much better IMO.
Click to expand...
I bought my current transit brand new 18 months ago.

Last November a warning came up on the dashboard saying ‘oil change required’

Took it in for the work and an ‘update’.

A year on and only 5000 miles done since said work, it’s displaying it again!?

Phoned them and it’s ‘oh it’s due it’s next update. Apparently they do something to burn and clean the filter that catches the carbon ?.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s the best  van I’ve ever driven, but our car (BMW) as mentioned earlier and my van, seem miles to sensitive.

Could do without the disco dashboard ?

 
steve garwood said:
I bought my current transit brand new 18 months ago.

Last November a warning came up on the dashboard saying ‘oil change required’

Took it in for the work and an ‘update’.

A year on and only 5000 miles done since said work, it’s displaying it again!?

Phoned them and it’s ‘oh it’s due it’s next update. Apparently they do something to burn and clean the filter that catches the carbon ?.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s the best  van I’ve ever driven, but our car (BMW) as mentioned earlier and my van, seem miles to sensitive.

Could do without the disco dashboard ?
Click to expand...
The DPF's never got blocked on the Brighthouse vans which is strange with the amount of short journeys they do. The filter doesn't regenerate until it reaches the right temperature and it doesn't reach the right temperature for at least 15 minutes. The chap who does all the work on the wires car told me to put some cleaner in the tank and blast it up the motorway at over 4000 revs for about 20 miles, that cleans it out nicely.

 

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