Buying secondhand van - hints & tips please

mgdavid

Cazza wrote: »

Yes, he's quite anti-Transits - doesn't like the ride and finds the seats very uncomfortable. He will carry a 1,000kg bulk bag fairly often, so it needs to be able to take that plus other materials and tools but also stay under 3.5 gross weight as that's the maximum for his licence.

We've been searching Auto-trader this evening and found a few Ivecos which are possibles, within our cash budget.

Are there any particular niggles we should be looking out for with this vehicle? c6-8 years old, mileage up to 50,000.

I'd expect most to have done a massive mileage; so check thoroughly. Do you know about checking up on the MOT history online, where you will see all past MOT details since computerisation including declared mileages, Fails, and Advisories etc etc. Familiarise yourself with it, you need a number off the V5 to use it so if you find a posssible buy, ask to inspect documents and discreetly make a note of the number (I always take small notebook with me, have a list of things to check, and scribble notes as I go through the process.).

Cazza

I never knew you could check the MOT history - thanks!

s_b

im not into vans but i looked at iveco chassis cabs a few months back and worked out that by the time i had a recovery light weight body fitted ion the back i wouldnt be able to carry anything bigger than a bubble car to keep under 3 1/2 tonnes
the vans too are substantial so basically be aware that they might too easily be overweight once your husband has his stuff in the back especially as there are more vosa men on the road these days than police

Cazza

Following on from this, thank you all for your help and advice! We've found a definite maybe van, with a private seller.

I will be looking up the MOT history on the directgov website and doing a full HPI check.

It's 4 years old and we were considering getting the AA out to do a vehicle inspection - opinions on that please? The charge for a van seems to be £171. OH isn't great on knowledge in this area and I'm useless, so we'd like it checked over "properly"!

paddedjohn

If you are spending a few grand then and don't know much yourself then it's definitely worth spending a couple of hundred quid to get it checked out properly. As far as checking the the previous mot's go this is only possible with access to the v5 I think and will at most only have 2 tests to date to check on

Cazza

It's a lot to us! £10,500 incl VAT but having done research, we think it's priced right. Yes to needing the V5 info - we'll be asking for that as we need it for the HPI guarantee before buying.

benham3160

I don't think anybody makes a reliable van anymore.

Transit, Sprinter, Crafter, infact I reguarly here the Master is probably one of the better ones. Everything seems across the board to be troublesome now. I must admit I don't follow light-commercials that closely though.

Time was I'd have said Transit without question, but now I think it's put all the names in a hat and pick one out.

Regards,
Andy