Buying a Mini van Cheap

tom9112

I'm looking to buy let's say Citroen Berlingo, the small size type of van. Those types of vans are typically rented/owned by a lot of companies in UK and lose value pretty quickly. What I imagine is that at some point such heavily industrial cars will be on sale/auction somewhere for cheap, do you know where/how to find the cheapest value for money for those types of cars?

Could I possibly ask companies directly if they are willing to sell?

forgotmyname

Ask them directly err yeah if you want to randomly contact hundreds of companies and know the persons name/contact

info who deals in the vehicle sales/purchases.

Goto the auction yourself and pay a premium?  Cheapest value search by price, although the value maybe the seller

who got lumbered with an auction purchase they regret and need shut quickly?

Lomast

They are not as cheap as you would think, a lot are being snapped up by local parcel delivery drivers like hermes

motorguy

tom9112 said:

I'm looking to buy let's say Citroen Berlingo, the small size type of van. Those types of vans are typically rented/owned by a lot of companies in UK and lose value pretty quickly. What I imagine is that at some point such heavily industrial cars will be on sale/auction somewhere for cheap, do you know where/how to find the cheapest value for money for those types of cars?

Could I possibly ask companies directly if they are willing to sell?

Theres a huge demand for small to medium sized vans and prices have went UP significant in the last year or so.

They'll go through auctions but dont expect to find any cheap.  

cymruchris

If it's a decent sized company - they might not own the vans anyway - they might be on lease. It's only one man band companies that might sell you a van direct - but that'd take a lot of hunting and cold calling and time. As others have said with the huge increase in home deliveries by the likes of Herme s - the demand for vans is up, up, up - so the likelihood of getting a 'cheap deal' would be limited over these next few months. The only 'cheap deal' you might find is some backstreet outfit selling off a bodged up banged around repair job that'll fall apart in 32 days so you won't be able to go back for a refund. If you really do want a van right now - you'll be paying a small premium over what you would have paid pre-Covid. 

motorguy

cymruchris said:

If it's a decent sized company - they might not own the vans anyway - they might be on lease. It's only one man band companies that might sell you a van direct - but that'd take a lot of hunting and cold calling and time. As others have said with the huge increase in home deliveries by the likes of Herme s - the demand for vans is up, up, up - so the likelihood of getting a 'cheap deal' would be limited over these next few months. The only 'cheap deal' you might find is some backstreet outfit selling off a bodged up banged around repair job that'll fall apart in 32 days so you won't be able to go back for a refund. If you really do want a van right now - you'll be paying a small premium over what you would have paid pre-Covid. 

Yup.  This was being discussed over on Pistonheads and some van dealers were commenting that trade price today on some 4 year old vans is the equivalent to the retail price of a 3 year old one this time last year.

ie, you could have bought a 3 year old van last year at retail price from a dealer, driven it a year and now sell it back to the dealer for the same price you paid for it.

Goudy

There is a trend these days to buy the car versions and do a bit of a quick conversion, ie remove the rear seats and tint the windows, you might even be able to pick up a mesh bulkhead to spilt the front from the rear.

You could even "sign write" one in a vinyl wrap if needed.

I've done it myself with a Doblo, Berlingo and even a Land Rover Discovery, but mainly for hobby use.

They don't attrach the same sort of attention vans do, I got sick of my van getting broken into even though it was empty.

There's usually a RFL benefit over the commercial version and insurance, even with business use, tends to be cheaper than a van with business use

If you aren't planning on trips in and out of the London low emssion zone, they'll be plenty of euro 5 diesels up for grabs around the zone.

burlingtonfl6

motorguy said:

cymruchris said:

If it's a decent sized company - they might not own the vans anyway - they might be on lease. It's only one man band companies that might sell you a van direct - but that'd take a lot of hunting and cold calling and time. As others have said with the huge increase in home deliveries by the likes of Herme s - the demand for vans is up, up, up - so the likelihood of getting a 'cheap deal' would be limited over these next few months. The only 'cheap deal' you might find is some backstreet outfit selling off a bodged up banged around repair job that'll fall apart in 32 days so you won't be able to go back for a refund. If you really do want a van right now - you'll be paying a small premium over what you would have paid pre-Covid. 

Yup.  This was being discussed over on Pistonheads and some van dealers were commenting that trade price today on some 4 year old vans is the equivalent to the retail price of a 3 year old one this time last year.

ie, you could have bought a 3 year old van last year at retail price from a deal, driven it a year and now sell it back to the dealer for the same price you paid for it.

I usually have 85 vans in stock and I've never known prices like they are at the moment. Even bad vans are making fortunes.
When the new Vivaro was released in 2014 the dealers were selling them new for £11,995 plus Vat. 
I could currently retail a nice example for £10,000 plus Vat........ 7 years later!

cymruchris

burlingtonfl6 said:

motorguy said:

cymruchris said:

If it's a decent sized company - they might not own the vans anyway - they might be on lease. It's only one man band companies that might sell you a van direct - but that'd take a lot of hunting and cold calling and time. As others have said with the huge increase in home deliveries by the likes of Herme s - the demand for vans is up, up, up - so the likelihood of getting a 'cheap deal' would be limited over these next few months. The only 'cheap deal' you might find is some backstreet outfit selling off a bodged up banged around repair job that'll fall apart in 32 days so you won't be able to go back for a refund. If you really do want a van right now - you'll be paying a small premium over what you would have paid pre-Covid. 

Yup.  This was being discussed over on Pistonheads and some van dealers were commenting that trade price today on some 4 year old vans is the equivalent to the retail price of a 3 year old one this time last year.

ie, you could have bought a 3 year old van last year at retail price from a deal, driven it a year and now sell it back to the dealer for the same price you paid for it.

I usually have 85 vans in stock and I've never known prices like they are at the moment. Even bad vans are making fortunes.
When the new Vivaro was released in 2014 the dealers were selling them new for £11,995 plus Vat. 
I could currently retail a nice example for £10,000 plus Vat........ 7 years later!

So from your perspective - now's a great time to buy a van - but for the OP - better off hanging fire if possible - although it might be something that can't wait. 

burlingtonfl6

cymruchris said:

burlingtonfl6 said:

motorguy said:

cymruchris said:

If it's a decent sized company - they might not own the vans anyway - they might be on lease. It's only one man band companies that might sell you a van direct - but that'd take a lot of hunting and cold calling and time. As others have said with the huge increase in home deliveries by the likes of Herme s - the demand for vans is up, up, up - so the likelihood of getting a 'cheap deal' would be limited over these next few months. The only 'cheap deal' you might find is some backstreet outfit selling off a bodged up banged around repair job that'll fall apart in 32 days so you won't be able to go back for a refund. If you really do want a van right now - you'll be paying a small premium over what you would have paid pre-Covid. 

Yup.  This was being discussed over on Pistonheads and some van dealers were commenting that trade price today on some 4 year old vans is the equivalent to the retail price of a 3 year old one this time last year.

ie, you could have bought a 3 year old van last year at retail price from a deal, driven it a year and now sell it back to the dealer for the same price you paid for it.

I usually have 85 vans in stock and I've never known prices like they are at the moment. Even bad vans are making fortunes.
When the new Vivaro was released in 2014 the dealers were selling them new for £11,995 plus Vat. 
I could currently retail a nice example for £10,000 plus Vat........ 7 years later!

So from your perspective - now's a great time to buy a van - but for the OP - better off hanging fire if possible - although it might be something that can't wait. 

It's not a great time to buy a van....but that's not going to change in the near future. (Especially regarding future VAT rates)
I think people are going to have to start to realise vans aren't like cars. They are generally harder to buy and hold their price better.