Best cheap light van please?

Bob_the_Saver

Nothing French (They cost too much to repair) and nothing Italian (if they see a speed trap they give themselves up).

Paul_the_Painter

I had a Fiat Doblo 1.9 turbo diesel for a couple of years, great van! High driving position, twin side doors, great economy. Loved it

forgotmyname

Customer of mine regretted buying his fiat doblo after an old guy scraped the side when it was weeks old.

Fiat took months to get the right parts. Useless customer service.

benham3160

£500 old Escort van.

Slow, but engine is stoneage and very easy to fix, and incredibly reliable.

So cheap doesn't matter if it gets knocked on sites etc.

Regards,
Andy

emmell

He'd probably be better off at first using an estate car, Mondeo, Vectra, 406 or Escort (if you can still get them). The insurance will probably be cheaper.
ML.

Inactive

hethmar wrote: »

I cant believe the mileage on these vans. Nothing under 100k and some 155k and so on.

My Son in Law, a builder, purchased a V reg Diesel Transit that is ex BT with 62,000 miles on the clock for under a grand, he has had it for 18 months, without any problems.

It came with ladder rack, amber roof light and even hot water hand washing facilities fitted.

Flying-High_2

I've ran loads of vans over they last few years... Nothing wrong with the French stuff whatsoever and as for fixing them being expensive....Then I'd disagree...

Most of them Smiley face Transits will knackered now... Chap I know ran a few ranging from 93s to 2000s and nearly all of them had roten wings and cab steps etc come MOT time.. Mate had a 99 Bt SWB and that was rotten under all the BT racking and shelving we took out...

Peugeot Partner drove as new with 330K on it... Serviced regularly all it had was a clutch and new Front suspension... bushes and shocks etc were shot. Guy I'm working for now has a Partner and a Berlingo both with circa 250kmiles on them and they're sweet as nut aswell... only noticeable thing is one,I forget which is slow to start.

I had 3 LWB Masters running at 3.5t 75% of the time all over the UK and apart from High brake pad wear were Uber reliable and never missed a beat.. Had Sprinters and Transits and Dailys before them and although the Sprinter was by far the nicest to drive and spend the day in.. It was crap for the Job..... We were chasing Space and Payload....

Dont discount the French stuff....


As mentioned up there... a Large estate might be an option...

geordieracer

hethmar wrote: »

I cant believe the mileage on these vans. Nothing under 100k and some 155k and so on.

Me mate has been a plasterer for years and had the same small ford van for about 15 years. Takes some work every so often but gets him to and from jobs and pays virtually nothing in insurance


Also remember to get a lock and sticker saying nothing is in the van

hethmar

Many thanks everyone. Im really grateful for your suggestions. I shall write them all down.

Meanwhile, a friend of the family, who is a mechanic (vintage/classic vehicles) has asked if we would like the astravan he uses as a spare run around (for the last 12 years). Its 1994, petrol 1.4 and only 70k - he repairs and services it himself . He says he will put it in for a new MOT if we want it for £450? Is it worth getting that for the boy til he is more sorted money wise. Ive checked insurance which is about £690 fully comp with £500 total excess ! He will only be doing about 30 miles radius of where he and gf live and only light jobs. Or is it really too old?

misterspivvy

If you are worried about a vehicle being sluggish, then DON'T get a non-turbo 1.9D Berlingo. we had a 56 plate one as a works van, it was well maintained but had no guts whatsoever. I mean having to change down sometimes 2 gears to climb only moderate hills, and that was when it was empty. a Hateful,hateful van that did not reward its sedateness with appropriate fuel economy. it wasnt bad, but not as good as you'd think either.
If it was my money I'd be looking at an Astra van. The S reg onwards type cdti ones are fantastic- you won't believe how well a good one goes.There's millions of them about so you can afford to be picky, abused examples can have turbo and fuel pump problems so get the best you can afford.
However, the one you've been offered sounds fine. for that sort of money and mileage with a new ticket you can't go wrong. be weary of body rot, that's all.
The old type transits are great workhorses. (1986 onwards) the 2.5 di engines are no ball of fire but are economical- I used to get 40 mpg+ from mine consistantly.capable of huge mileages and very rarely go wrong. The only problem is finding one that isn't terminally rotten, plus the fact they are too easy to break into.