Help needed - whats the best way to get a van?

justmarried06

Afternoon all, I'm not sure if this is the right place to post this so mods please move if needed...

Basically hubby is fed up to the back teeth with his place of work and has been for the last few years. an opportunity has come up for him to move into becoming a multi drop delivery driver on a self employed basis and he really wants to do it - I do too as he really hates where he is at the moment. In order for him to do this he will need his own van but this is where we're a bit stuck - what would be the best way for him to get one? We can't afford to just buy one (he'd need a transit or similar) and as both of us have never had a new car or anything before we've always bought old cars outright we're a bit confused with the finance terminology....

Would leasing be the best bet? Most companies seem to have the option of making a payment up front and then monthly payments after that - at the end of the term would we have to pay the balance of the price or could we move onto a different van? does anyone have any recommendations of a good company to use? we're so confused....

All help much appreciated!!

JM xx

ukbill69

Id say get a few years old van, they get cheap this way. Otherwise if you want a new van, dont lease, as you will be stuck into the agreement and can only do 10,000 miles a year and so on. Get yourself a van from a dealer and get a finance agreement that after 1/2/3 years you can give it back, then at least you can get another new van. Think this is hearts and smoething.

motorguy

ukbill69 wrote:

Id say get a few years old van, they get cheap this way. Otherwise if you want a new van, dont lease, as you will be stuck into the agreement and can only do 10,000 miles a year and so on. Get yourself a van from a dealer and get a finance agreement that after 1/2/3 years you can give it back, then at least you can get another new van. Think this is hearts and smoething.

Depending on the volume / mileage done on some of these multi drop delivery vans it may be better to look at some sort of lease deal whereby all the maintenance is included and after say, three years you chop it in for another.

Why not get him to ask the company for maybe a few other drivers phone numbers to find out what they do?

I guess it depends on the mileage and volume of work. i know the guys that do the paper drops in our area lease and change them regularly due to the abuse / miles they take.

yeovilmac

I set myself up as a courier four years ago.

I went to a local vehicle hire company and leased a Vauxhall Combo van for £75 a week. This was cancellable with a months notice. These vans are roughly the same size as an Escort van so if your OH is doing multi-dropping, he will need something bigger which will obviously cost more. All maintenance was included as well as servicing at regular intervals. If you have a TLS Vehicle Rentals depot near you ( google it ) they're quite reasonable.....

If you choose to buy, don't get a vehicle thats too old as some multi-drop companies insist on you having a vehicle three years old at most. You will also need some form of "goods-in-transit" insurance (£50,000 was mine ) and maybe public liability insurance too ( £2 million was mine....)

You could also contact Home Delivery Network. They deliver club books ( Kays, Littlewoods etc ) for a month at a time four times a year. They pay between 35p and 45p each and in a Transit van, you could collect 500 at a time and deliver them over a two-day period comfortably. My local HDN is crying out for Catalogue Delivery Agents for the campaigns in April, July, October and January....

Also try and get your own customers, these pay more and will show more loyalty to you in the long run. I have four customers of my own now including a solicitor, a florist, a laundrette and a stationery company.

Finally, good luck to your husband. If he wants a chat about it, pm me and I'll speak with him. I decided shortly after getting the van that I could manage with an estate car then borrowing a van from a friend when necessary. I am more than happy with that and it kept the overheads down.

Best wishes

Martin

GingeG

Try the auctions. Always good deals to be had try and get an ex Government Van as these will have been well serviced etc.