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upgrading van, any reviews

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johnny bravo

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teesside
Im looking to upgrade from my dispatch swb  2.0 litre deisel.

Dont know weather to upgrade to newer model,      or a cheaper make of van.     Im too used to using right hand side doors as it parks that way in driveway.     Just started looking and its a nightmare ,  most are a distance away.     Any reviews on the Vivaro,  or similar.      keeping an open mind atm.    around 33000 / £7000  for a low mileage   

Hoping to find that one owner,    full service,  low mileage.      i wish

 
Van prices seem to have gone through the roof this year. Good luck finding one on you budget. Then again your van will probably be worth more than you expect.

I think first vivaros had gearbox issues but any still running should be fine.

 
My opinion @johnny bravo. Unless your van has become unreliable or expensive to maintain I would stick with it a little longer. I would rather first spend the money and get your r/o sorted out and plumbed into your outhouse along with frost protection.

As @ched999uksays, used vans are at a premium atm. With more and more people loosing their jobs self employment is going to become the flavour of the month. Because the price of vans has risen so much in the last 10 years or so, owners are holding on to them longer and so have a higher mileage. This goes for vans off lease as well.

Never would we have seen leasing deals 20 years ago that would be over 150,000 miles when I was in the trade. It seems fairly common now.

Wanting twin side sliding doors limits your prospects as well even more.

 
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dispatch  getting a bit of work  done for mot next week.   nothing major.   ill keep saving up and put aside , using  my own van untill i see that one owner   needing a quick sale.  needing cash.

 
Second hand vans are sky high atm. On the other hand if youve got the cash to splash now has never been better to buy brand new. Ive just picked up a new transit custom 340 for not much more than a 5 year old equivalent with 60,000 on the clock. Once you take into account the free servicing no mots for 3 years and they even bunged 2 years tax on it it was a no brainier really. Most makes are offering crazy deals on their new 20 plates as they want rid to make way for the 70’s. Maybe there’s been some sort of back log due to COVID I don’t know. I was gonna wait till next year but when my fuel pump went I thought what the hell and glad I did. 

 
Cleanco said:
Second hand vans are sky high atm. On the other hand if youve got the cash to splash now has never been better to buy brand new. Ive just picked up a new transit custom 340 for not much more than a 5 year old equivalent with 60,000 on the clock. Once you take into account the free servicing no mots for 3 years and they even bunged 2 years tax on it it was a no brainier really. Most makes are offering crazy deals on their new 20 plates as they want rid to make way for the 70’s. Maybe there’s been some sort of back log due to COVID I don’t know. I was gonna wait till next year but when my fuel pump went I thought what the hell and glad I did. 
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What did you pay for the 340? 

 
@Cleanco yep your right about the deals kn new Van's. I have had problems with my last 2 Van's both diesel both bought 4 or 5 year old etc 50000 miles roughly on each when I got them. Problem is my round is so compact and close i rarely do go more than 15 mins from the house and stop starting a diesel all day with no long runs obviously hasnt helped my Van's. At the moment after getting rid of my old one before a huge repair bill I'm back to basics working with my backpack and barrels in the car. It's like when I started out again lol. I was thinking I might just go this through the winter with shorter days anyway it's no problem on my round and with all going on in the world if we have to stop work any point through the winter cos of covid i was thinking i don't want an expensive new van just sitting there. But now I've seen at a local dealer 70 plate Peugeot partner 1.2 petrol with 1 ton payload. Sat nav dab radio the lot. 0 miles on the clock with 3 year manufacturer's warranty for 14k including vat. That's a lot of van for the money. I'm really tempted cos I'm fed up of buying mid age diesels in the 7-10k range cos I think for my type of work I'm better off with a petrol. Any thoughts or advice on which direction I should take would be appreciated!! @ched999uk sorry I've jumped on your post 

 
chris clean said:
@Cleanco yep your right about the deals kn new Van's. I have had problems with my last 2 Van's both diesel both bought 4 or 5 year old etc 50000 miles roughly on each when I got them. Problem is my round is so compact and close i rarely do go more than 15 mins from the house and stop starting a diesel all day with no long runs obviously hasnt helped my Van's. At the moment after getting rid of my old one before a huge repair bill I'm back to basics working with my backpack and barrels in the car. It's like when I started out again lol. I was thinking I might just go this through the winter with shorter days anyway it's no problem on my round and with all going on in the world if we have to stop work any point through the winter cos of covid i was thinking i don't want an expensive new van just sitting there. But now I've seen at a local dealer 70 plate Peugeot partner 1.2 petrol with 1 ton payload. Sat nav dab radio the lot. 0 miles on the clock with 3 year manufacturer's warranty for 14k including vat. That's a lot of van for the money. I'm really tempted cos I'm fed up of buying mid age diesels in the 7-10k range cos I think for my type of work I'm better off with a petrol. Any thoughts or advice on which direction I should take would be appreciated!! @ched999uk sorry I've jumped on your post 
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I appreciate that things change, but I expect that a second hand petrol van will be worth less at trade in time than its equivalent diesel.

However, that decision can only be made by you in view of the times we are living in and your round. I agree that a petrol would be better with regard to continuous short trips so this might be your answer.

I suspect that that petrol van was either a special order on the factory that was cancelled on a mistake by the person ordering stock.

The same thing happened many years ago at the Citroen dealership I worked for. Our sales manager ordered a number of Citroen C5 Hpi instead of C5 Hdi. He tried to blame me. Thankfully they were ordered on Saturday and happened to be the day I wasn't working so I couldn't have done it.

 
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Cleanco said:
16,000 + vat. Most of the good second hand ones I was looking at that were roughly the same price or a little lower were about five years old with around 50,000 on the clock. 
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That’s a great deal. I need this! Where did you get it from?

 
chris clean said:
@Cleanco yep your right about the deals kn new Van's. I have had problems with my last 2 Van's both diesel both bought 4 or 5 year old etc 50000 miles roughly on each when I got them. Problem is my round is so compact and close i rarely do go more than 15 mins from the house and stop starting a diesel all day with no long runs obviously hasnt helped my Van's. At the moment after getting rid of my old one before a huge repair bill I'm back to basics working with my backpack and barrels in the car. It's like when I started out again lol. I was thinking I might just go this through the winter with shorter days anyway it's no problem on my round and with all going on in the world if we have to stop work any point through the winter cos of covid i was thinking i don't want an expensive new van just sitting there. But now I've seen at a local dealer 70 plate Peugeot partner 1.2 petrol with 1 ton payload. Sat nav dab radio the lot. 0 miles on the clock with 3 year manufacturer's warranty for 14k including vat. That's a lot of van for the money. I'm really tempted cos I'm fed up of buying mid age diesels in the 7-10k range cos I think for my type of work I'm better off with a petrol. Any thoughts or advice on which direction I should take would be appreciated!! @ched999uk sorry I've jumped on your post 
Click to expand...
With short runs you need to give your van a run out for 30-40 minutes once a month or so down the motorway, also you need to use Cataclean Diesel  to stop the dpf clogging up I have had my van over 2 years a 64 plate combo with over 60k on the clock I think now and not once have I had any issues or the dpf light come on. 

 
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Louie said:
That’s a great deal. I need this! Where did you get it from?
Click to expand...
Im in the market for a brand new van also... Would like to know where you got it from as well!

Also anyone found any hidden gems to buy a new expert/dispatch/etc?

 
Mx19 said:
Also anyone found any hidden gems to buy a new expert/dispatch/etc?
Click to expand...
I have a new Dispatch, had it in my head I wanted a Trafic as was convinced it was bigger.. eventually realised that it looks bigger, but there’s actually only about 20mm in it.

Having now driven a Trafic the difference is surprisingly night and day. The Citroen almost feels German built in comparison, plus the Citroen has way more toys, CarPlay being a big plus.

Should point out it’s leased, but on 15k miles, fully maintained even including tyres and wiper blades, couldn’t beat it at £250 a month

 
i was also thinking Petrol or Deisel.        Its a worry now with deisels over 5 year old, DPF  etc.   so strict on emmissions,      Going to look around auctions to see what they go for.    i noticed in Halshaws  Local council vivaros  + Traffic  vans   2017  plates,  all   heading to Auctions .        Id like a Dispatch,  / Expert.    2.0  deisel.   Left + Right  Side doors   .      May look to see what reviews on Deisels.

Without a Van   you will be   knacked up.   No work.      I used to enjoy having a couple of days off when i wanted  to.     but lately  im working around 5 days. .   always seem to be catching up.       May think of Selling some work.   Great to have a decent reliable van. 

 
So are petrol vans any difference now for your main vehicle.   any one use petrol.  if so do they perform good enough used daily, stop / start,   low mileage journeys

 

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