Buying a small van from auction

rude_dog

How do.

I'm in the market for a small van (Berlingo/Partner/Kangoo/Combo/Astra etc.)

Having trawlled Auto Trader, ebay, Friday Motors, I have to say that there seems to be a lot of overpriced junk about.

My (tight) budget is £1500 (inc VAT). There are 10 yr old Escorts / Old shape Vx Combos aplenty, most with 100k + miles and have been through the wars. Anything newer, even with high mileage seems to be up for £2k +.

So....having noticed a few ex-lease type vans up for sale (Royal Mail, BT, ex Building Contractors) which seem reasonabley priced, but offered for sale by traders, I got thinking that buying direct from an auction could bag me one of these within budget.

I don't waste a whole day off work, so wondered if anybody new what these sort of vans sold for at auction. Hoping really for something under 5 years old with reasonable mileage (under 100k).

Any other advice welcome.

Cheers

Pew_Pew_Pew_Lasers!

Don't buy on age or mileage. Buy on condition.

For instance, you may find a 10 year old van with 150,000 on the clock in great condition, quiet engine, no smoke, and nice interior.

Or you may find a 5 year old van with 50,000 on the clock, but dented panels, a clattery engine, blue smoke, and tobacco stains.

Always condition - always.

anewman

I think ex-lease vans from companies like royal mail and BT will have been very well serviced so high mileage shouldn't be much of a problem.

nullogik

anewman wrote: »

I think ex-lease vans from companies like royal mail and BT will have been very well serviced so high mileage shouldn't be much of a problem.

Not the ones in my local area! The way the drivers and postmen thrash those vans around the streets and across sleeping speed bumps :eek: . Well serviced or not, I wouldn't touch one with a barge pole. Those vans have a very hard life.

custardy

nullogik wrote: »

Not the ones in my local area! The way the drivers and postmen thrash those vans around the streets and across sleeping speed bumps :eek: . Well serviced or not, I wouldn't touch one with a barge pole. Those vans have a very hard life.

sometimes you need to
in our office the vans are years past their supposed replacement dates so are bag of bolts
if this is the same as other delivery office vans then i would steer(no pun) clear of RM vans
sure the vans are serviced as required but for example i picked up a van from service/repairs the other day and the back doors were held shut with cable ties!

rude_dog

I guess any work van may have been subject to a hard life!

Anyone know what they fetch at auction?

vansboy

You'll have difficulty at this price range, finding ANYTHING worthwhile in auction.

Certainly the fleets will offer pretty much as genuine a van as you want, but it'd be verrrry rare for anything to be old enough, to get to the £1000 you're really looking to spend. Don't forget VAT is added to the bid price, plus auction buyers premium, so you're £$£$ won't go far.

About the only fleet which does offer older vans is the Police. & contrary to some peoples ideas, a Police VAN, is a million times a better option than a Police (blues n twos/liveried) car.

If you check https://www.auctionview.co.uk you can pay for searches of auction stock, but not all centres have Police sales.

A better option, if close to you, is www.woma.co.uk they have regular Police sales & it's still free to search on their site, I think.

But the other thing is, do you REALLY need a van? You'll find more choice & less hard worked estate cars, for less £$£$£ than the equivelent van of same year. Just check Astras, to see what I mean!!

VB