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HWCS

Well-known member
Messages
1,130
Location
North Norfolk
So i got my vivaro in Jan have spent £500 on her in a month, and im thinking i want to get rid before she becomes unsellable, im hoping to use her as a deposit on a newer van no older than 4-5yrs with under 50k miles.

The vivaro is perfect size but my mechanic has said best bet would be a ford transit. Ive got upto £2.5k to put towards it if i need to and finance the rest, im not looking to pay more than £200 a month.

Ive spent hrs trawling the internet but cant get my head round the ins & outs of finance, i see lots of vans for sale but all from car/van dealers, how do i know these are reputable and the vans are ok, am i better off going to main dealer?

Is there other options for me?

Is lease hire good, and if so how doesit work?

Cheers

Jon

 
I used to lease vans but now i own , a lot more cheaper.

1 van costs £100.00 per month to maintain(£1200 per year)

not pretty bad and better then paying £250/£300 for a lease van which u dont even own


For example... bought one of my ford transits 15 months ago for £1500... paid a £100 service , £120 for tyres and tracking within the first month then never cost me a penny until month 15... fuel pump cost me £650 last week and its now in for welding and thats going to be another £500 

but ive owed the van for 15 months meaning and with all that money spent im still under my £100 budget for the van per month. 
 

Buying vans outright is the key , i learnt my lesson lol

 
I agree with harunh. I think in most situations it’s better to own your vehicle outright.
No need to worry about excessive mileages, small damages, or any modifications. No need to find an extra £8-10-12k at the end of the agreement to pay off the balloon.

I have several friends and family who have ended up losing out with leased vehicles and getting stuck in a never ending cycle, costing them money at the end of the term rather than on maintenance.
There’s no guarantee a new van won’t have problems, a friend had a brand new Custom in the garage for several months waiting on parts, fine for him he just used a courtesy van, but no good if you need a fitted system in your van. 
 

 
Brought a ex demonstrator Combo with 300 miles on clock but over 3 years I have had it its had new suspension mount ,new steering rack 2 new sets of glow plugs and its only just done over 12,000 miles now so new is no garantee of trouble free ownership

 
I use older Van's as well just pay cash for them but you have to remember if it's in getting fixed you lose that days wages.
No mate, you don't lose any wages. They're only delayed till you can get back to work and complete the jobs. The money will still come to you. No difference if a new-ish lease van is in for repair or service.

This is different to taking time off from employed work. In that case the money is lost, unless perhaps you take the time as holiday.

 
I use older Van's as well just pay cash for them but you have to remember if it's in getting fixed you lose that days wages.
Yeah thats what i want to avoid, i had 2 days last week with no van.

£250 bill plus £500 earnings is a nut ache, i know i caught up the 2 days but it ment 5 long tiresome days after, and the inconvienience of letting people down on the days i was supposed to go.

 
No mate, you don't lose any wages. They're only delayed till you can get back to work and complete the jobs. The money will still come to you. No difference if a new-ish lease van is in for repair or service.

This is different to taking time off from employed work. In that case the money is lost, unless perhaps you take the time as holiday.
No mate if it's in for two days getting fixed that's two days out of the week that you can't work. If your full theres just no time to catch up...

 
I've had brand new motors and old un's and have an older van now, brand new motor speak to the dealership fetch it in for a service first thing sir and the swines have it all day 1 full day missed put a old van in for a service and a trusted local garage they will have it back asap need a repair my local garage has gone above and beyond to sort out repairs asap and fitted mine in before others as they understand if I don't have my van I ain't earning 

factor all the above in over the cost of a pricey new motor it's a no brainer, for the lads on here that do a serious amount of mileage the maths will work out differently in the need for a new motor with all the bells and whistles 

 
I use older Van's as well just pay cash for them but you have to remember if it's in getting fixed you lose that days wages.
Mine went in about six weeks ago to have some work done. Did 25 houses with a Gardiner back pack used my motor.. Saved working a Saturday to catch up.

 
Mine went in about six weeks ago to have some work done. Did 25 houses with a Gardiner back pack used my motor.. Saved working a Saturday to catch up.
I did a conny clean and windows on a big gaff and 90mtrs gutter clearing yesterday in the car with back pack, was a total ball ache now im used to the van system ??

 
No mate if it's in for two days getting fixed that's two days out of the week that you can't work. If your full theres just no time to catch up...
I don't recall ever losing money from work due to a van being in for repair. We service around 600 properties on a mostly 6 weekly basis, a respectable sized round, I'd like to think. We're usually on the way home by about 3pm and we often complete our week's work by Thursday afternoon. We rarely have  difficulty catching up. We've always had the van back within a few days. If my work/life balance was that much biased to the working side that I couldn't catch up after a vehicle was down for a few days, I'd suggest it's not what I became self employed for. "Work to live" as they say, "rather than live to work."

Like Iron Giant does, I use a trusted local garage. I've known him for years and trust him implicitly. For servicing we check the weather forecast and book it in for a wet day or a Friday as we very often get all our work done in four days. On the very rare occasion of an urgent repair being needed he gives me as much priority as possible as it's my work vehicle.

I read plenty on the forums regarding people paying huge money on leases and finance for new or nearly new vans. From what I read, even so they are a long way from immune from mechanical problems. Each to their own. I know some guys do huge distances. For them I can see the value. All my work is in my local towns and villages. Going on my experience to date, and as I'm never far away with the work van. I'll stick to second hand vans rather than pay loads of interest and lose loads of money on depreciation.

 
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You need to find out the payload of a vehicle first to see if it will carry what you want to put in it , I think the Vauxhall’s will have a higher payload compared to most customs unless you go for  the 300, 340 but they are expensive and less of them about 
Just been to look at this and, the payload is 1200kg give or take which is fine, but while i was there they told me about a 62 plate vivaro coming in tomorrow as a part ex with low mileage and in his words possibly the bargain van of the century (hes my mechanics best mate so i know hes not gonna rip me off) he thinks i may be able to have that for a cpl hundred quid over what they pay for it so they dont have to bother with getting it to auction.

??

Screenshot_20200726-085318_Facebook.jpg

 
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Nothing guarantees trouble and cost free with vans.

I now try to buy something a year old with a bit of warranty on it and the lowest possible millage.

I have had a couple of vauxhalls and they all cost money to keep on the road they just don't seam built to last any more.

There are a lot of cheap ways to finance vans at the minute you could probably get a loan for 2-3%.

 
Nothing guarantees trouble and cost free with vans.

I now try to buy something a year old with a bit of warranty on it and the lowest possible millage.

I have had a couple of vauxhalls and they all cost money to keep on the road they just don't seam built to last any more.

There are a lot of cheap ways to finance vans at the minute you could probably get a loan for 2-3%.
I've had my 12yr old Crafter van 10yrs now. I think if you can afford a German van then go for it. Hard to beat German vans for their reliability. ?

 
I've had my 12yr old Crafter van 10yrs now. I think if you can afford a German van then go for it. Hard to beat German vans for their reliability. ?
German vans are very good but payload is useless that’s why I had to buy a Renault sprinters/ crafters struggle to get 1200 kg payload I need 1500 kg at least , don’t want to go down the 5 ton route as operators licence and 6 weekly servicing then comes into the equation, 

 
German vans are very good but payload is useless that’s why I had to buy a Renault sprinters/ crafters struggle to get 1200 kg payload I need 1500 kg at least , don’t want to go down the 5 ton route as operators licence and 6 weekly servicing then comes into the equation, 
I've had loads of VW's over the years and have been a fan,  and when I went wfp a Caddy was the obvious choice however the payload was poor so I opted for a Peugeot Partner and to be fair 3 years on it hasnt missed a beat.

 
German vans are very good but payload is useless that’s why I had to buy a Renault sprinters/ crafters struggle to get 1200 kg payload I need 1500 kg at least , don’t want to go down the 5 ton route as operators licence and 6 weekly servicing then comes into the equation, 
Aye the payload is rubbish. I see Renault is doing a big sales promotion at the moment.

 
Anybody used or have experience of

Network Q or New Vehicle Solutions

Any tips or advice welcome, ive got an appointment at Vauxhall (network Q) on Thursday and NVS are putting me together a few different deals to look at.

 
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