Buying a van

sweetsand

forgotmyname said:

Private buyer after a one off vehicle, auctions are probably not the place to start looking.

Lots of bargains out there from private sellers or dealers, my last 4 or 5 cars have been from dealers
because private sellers are living in fantasy land.  Main dealer has these for ££££ so i want ££££, err
no it doesnt work like that. Your not offering a warranty and wont fix everything that breaks for the
next 12 months.

Up the mileage to 120k and you can get a newer transit for half that vivaro. 120k miles is nothing and
thats around the mileage i look for to get the bargains.

Out of interest I looked up car auctions they charge you quiet an amount to buy, ie purchase costs.
Ebay may be a good place to look.

burlingtonfl6

Van prices are through the roof. Stock is at an all time low and demand is high due to cheap bounce back loans. 
Before lockdown you would struggle to buy a cheap van. Now it's nearly impossible.
BCA is trade only at the moment and they are starting prices at CAP clean money, even if its a grade 4/5

ElephantBoy57

burlingtonfl6 said:

Van prices are through the roof. Stock is at an all time low and demand is high due to cheap bounce back loans.  Before lockdown you would struggle to buy a cheap van. Now it's nearly impossible.

The UK economy suffered its biggest slump on record between April and June as coronavirus lockdown measures pushed the country officially into recession. I am thinking that will catch up with reality when the Government stop pumping money into the economy. I understand house prices increased after lockdown, many are expecting a downturn in that sector too.

Ditzy_Mitzy

ElephantBoy57 said:

burlingtonfl6 said:

Van prices are through the roof. Stock is at an all time low and demand is high due to cheap bounce back loans.  Before lockdown you would struggle to buy a cheap van. Now it's nearly impossible.

The UK economy suffered its biggest slump on record between April and June as coronavirus lockdown measures pushed the country officially into recession. I am thinking that will catch up with reality when the Government stop pumping money into the economy. I understand house prices increased after lockdown, many are expecting a downturn in that sector too.

The downturn might, with the way millennials seem to think, actually secure van prices in the short term.  Vans pander to two delusions: one can make a living as a 'self employed courier entrepreneur'; and one can escape the rat race and housing market to live 'off grid' by fitting a few sheets of plywood and an old microwave into the back of a clapped out Transit.  The second one, the home made Heath Robinson conversion job, really baffles me; a proper motorhome is superior in every way to something cobbled together on someone's driveway and is usually cheaper when conversion costs are taken into account.

AdrianC

Ditzy_Mitzy said:

...and one can escape the rat race and housing market to live 'off grid' by fitting a few sheets of plywood and an old microwave into the back of a clapped out Transit.  The second one, the home made Heath Robinson conversion job, really baffles me; a proper motorhome is superior in every way to something cobbled together on someone's driveway and is usually cheaper when conversion costs are taken into account.

No, not even close.

A friend is looking for a camper at the moment. Anything pro-converted is ferociously expensive for what it is - she's looking at a £16k 18yo Transit... 

Then there's the sheer chintzy awfulness of so many pro-conversions.

Herzlos

sweetsand said:

forgotmyname said:

Private buyer after a one off vehicle, auctions are probably not the place to start looking.

Lots of bargains out there from private sellers or dealers, my last 4 or 5 cars have been from dealers
because private sellers are living in fantasy land.  Main dealer has these for ££££ so i want ££££, err
no it doesnt work like that. Your not offering a warranty and wont fix everything that breaks for the
next 12 months.

Up the mileage to 120k and you can get a newer transit for half that vivaro. 120k miles is nothing and
thats around the mileage i look for to get the bargains.

Out of interest I looked up car auctions they charge you quiet an amount to buy, ie purchase costs.
Ebay may be a good place to look.

That might be the first useful bit of information you've ever provided on here. As a private buyers in an auction, you're going to have to pay a fair whack in fees on top of whatever it sells for.

Ditzy_Mitzy said:

ElephantBoy57 said:

burlingtonfl6 said:

Van prices are through the roof. Stock is at an all time low and demand is high due to cheap bounce back loans.  Before lockdown you would struggle to buy a cheap van. Now it's nearly impossible.

The UK economy suffered its biggest slump on record between April and June as coronavirus lockdown measures pushed the country officially into recession. I am thinking that will catch up with reality when the Government stop pumping money into the economy. I understand house prices increased after lockdown, many are expecting a downturn in that sector too.

The downturn might, with the way millennials seem to think, actually secure van prices in the short term.  Vans pander to two delusions: one can make a living as a 'self employed courier entrepreneur'; and one can escape the rat race and housing market to live 'off grid' by fitting a few sheets of plywood and an old microwave into the back of a clapped out Transit.  The second one, the home made Heath Robinson conversion job, really baffles me; a proper motorhome is superior in every way to something cobbled together on someone's driveway and is usually cheaper when conversion costs are taken into account.

A big part of it is the stealth camping - you don't need much in a van to make it livable (we're not really talking about nice, here), and you can then park it in a lot of places you couldn't park a camper.

Couple that with people with too much time on their hands, staycations and so on means there's probably more demand for them right now, with a glut of awful conversions hitting the market in a year when they discover how awful it is to sleep on a mattress in the back of a van.

With the lockdown/recession/slump, most of the businesses hit aren't really van businesses, but I'd still expect there to be drop in supply as businesses decide to delay upgrades a bit. Conversely, there's probably some awesome deals out there for new/nearly new vans.