Advice on replacing van for commercial purposes

GillianD

Hubby has a 2014 Citroen Berlingo diesel van which was bought new through dealer. He is a mobile locksmith and van now has over 100,000 miles on the clock and we're wondering whether to replace with a second hand petrol van, possible Berlingo again. It has been a good vehicle and main gripe is the shelving we had done on the cheap which, as it is wood, creaks and groans very loudly when in transit.

So second part of question is would having it shelved out more expensively (eg plastic/ metal?) would we recoup when selling it? Hubby in late fifties and I'm hoping he won't be working for more than a couple of more years. SO buy or rent best? New or second hand?

Any advice welcome.

Thanks in advance.

Herzlos

It being racked out will be a big plus to someone wanting racking like that, and a nuisance against. You almost certainly won't get your money back on it.

If he's talking about retiring in another couple of years why go through the hassle of changing vans? 100k miles isn't that big a deal. He's only put about 12.5k a year on it, so in 2 years he'll only be at 125k.

Getting a petrol van will be hard - they will almost all be diesel. However, depending on how much stuff he needs to carry, he may be able to get away with a petrol estate car which he can obviously use through retirement too.

Flight3287462

OP get him to price up a replacement, he might change his mind very quickly.  Current shelving could be worth trying to tighten it up with a few screws?

Grumpy_chap

GillianD said:

Hubby has a 2014 Citroen Berlingo diesel van which was bought new through dealer. He is a mobile locksmith and van now has over 100,000 miles on the clock and we're wondering whether to replace with a second hand petrol van, possible Berlingo again. It has been a good vehicle and main gripe is the shelving we had done on the cheap which, as it is wood, creaks and groans very loudly when in transit.

So second part of question is would having it shelved out more expensively (eg plastic/ metal?) would we recoup when selling it? Hubby in late fifties and I'm hoping he won't be working for more than a couple of more years. SO buy or rent best? New or second hand?

Any advice welcome.

Thanks in advance.

Other than a psychological barrier being broken on the mileage, is there actually anything wrong with the van or reason why the van is not suitable for ongoing needs?

The current van is a second hand van with a known history.
Changing to a second hand van of unknown history for no apparent reason than 100k miles does not seem to be gaining much.

Goudy

I suspect the desire to swap to petrol might have something to do with clean air zones.
If that's true, your local clean air zone might consider a Euro 6 diesel to be exempt, so it's worth checking.

As already mentioned, petrol vans are fairly thin on the ground but there are a few, though they tend to be mainly new vans.

You could consider a car version of a Berlingo, Combo, Partner/Rifter or Doblo van.
You will often find more petrol versions available and you can remove (most just clip out) or just roll the seats forward.
I've done it myself and as long as the work isn't too dirty, it's back as a car again without too much trouble.

Security might be an issue though. Vans do attract a lot of attention but if items are on show in the back of a car, that can also lead to problems. I tended to tint the rear windows out as dark as I could.

These car versions are in the car VED bracket, so often cheaper to tax than the full van versions, though there are a few crew vans that look like car versions but are taxed as vans.
It might be an option if his load is light, van versions tend to have uprated suspension for much heavier loads than a couple of passengers and some cases or shopping in the boot.

This might be an option if your clean air zone is planning to hammer all diesel vans, these are classed as cars so a Euro 6 diesel should be ok (but check).

Racking is pretty cheap, you can get a double sided shelving kit for a Berlingo for around £200.
They come flat packed and you fit it yourself.

Paneling out a van is often more expensive and can make the rear a bit less boomy, but if he is only using it for light work as a locksmith locally it's probably money wasted, just sling some thick rubber mats on the floor and stick some acoustic tape on the inside of the larger side panels, that helps with some of the booming.

The latest models of vans of this type, the Berlingo, Combo, Doblo, Proace City and Partner are all the same van made in the same factory, there's really nothing but price between them.

Slightly older ones, the Berlingo and Partner are the same and the Combo and Doblo are the same.

They all got offered for sale with some fairly gutless petrol engines, some model petrols sold better than others, like the Berlingo and Partner.
They are ok for local work and the ones you do find for sale usually have lower mileage than diesel ones for sale.

There might be a case to get in there now, as more and more start looking to chop their diesels in for petrol, prices might soon rise.

CoastingHatbox

Goudy said:

You could consider a car version of a Berlingo, Combo, Partner/Rifter or Doblo van.
You will often find more petrol versions available and you can remove (most just clip out) or just roll the seats forward.
I've done it myself and as long as the work isn't too dirty, it's back as a car again without too much trouble.

The van will most likely be on a commercial vehicle insurance policy. NCD probably won't transfer to a car.

Unless ULEZ is the reason for the change, I would keep the van. With stringent maintenance (frequent oil changes) they will do 200,000 miles. Van prices are just silly at the moment.

Petrol versions do come up every now and then so it is worth keeping an eye out for them.

GillianD

Thanks for all of the advice. I think we will sit tight and have the inside reboarded with stronger, less squeaky material!