Van advice!

cormie

Saw this one. It looks pretty nice, but it's a 96, 10 years old. But it only has 60K miles. Would a 00/02 etc with 180K miles on it be a better or worse choice? Also, does anyone know what the vault in the back would be like and how difficult it would be to remove?

That's probably the nicest van I've seen, it looks in great aesthetic condition, is the right colour and condition to put a poker.ie banner on too;) I think if someone confirmed that the short mileage weighed up against the fact it's a bit older, and the vault was easy to remove, I'd buy it. Hmmm.

Actually this (a) and this (b) have pretty much equal mileage and are nearly twice as young. Van A looks pretty good actually, good condition, could put logo on, back windows and a side window too which would be handy, more windows the better:) It's long wheel base with a semi high roof. I wonder would that be going into a cat C license? Van b looks a bit rougher, has a roof rack and windows too but also has a tow bar which someone mentioned will put it in cat c.

At least I know theres ones out there with back windows:)

overdriver

Sorry to harp on, but my Haice is as big as both van b and c. If it's reliability you're after, that would be my choice.


Go see each van in person and look for signs of clocking. The '96 one seems to have very low mileage for it's age, given the average is twice that.Though it does have a nice high roof on it, which would make your ad look better.

cormie

Them transits look a lot bigger to me than the hi-aces do Door size, width, height, shape, it seems the transits would fit a lot more in?

I had a look on for 2nd hand hi-aces and the prices are pretty dear. I'm not doubting their reliability, and this is probably the reason for the high price, but I just can't go that high at this stage and would prefer to spend less on what seems to be a much bigger van for not anyway.

overdriver

I'll stick a tape-measure on it if you want! Cheapest is not always best, in my experience.


Any roadie will tell you that packing a van properly is 9/10ths of the fight.

cormie

I know cheapest isn't the best, but I actually can't go higher than 5K for the van:D

I'd be interested to see the door/inside area dimensions of both to compare alright, but we wouldn't be able to compare to the transit if you got yours:o

R.O.R

http://www.whatvan.co.uk

List dimensions and tech specs on current available vans so should give a rough idea - old vans may be on there as well, but I only look at new vans.

Great site for all van info and road tests. There is an Irish site launching soon

cormie

Thanks for the link, seems van of the year 2005 is Iveco, which peasant says the Fiat is built off and then the readers choice is Ford Transit. Hmm.

large panel vans of the year for the past 5 years are:

2001- Ford Transit
2002- Citroen Relay & Fiat Ducato & Peugeot Boxer with the Transit being commended
2003- Ford Transit with the above 3 being commended
2004- Nissan Interstar, Renault Master, Vauxaul Movano with the Transit being commended again
2005- Iveco daily with the above 3 being commended


Kinda gives me a bit more faith in the Transit and Ducato anyway!

3ps

The Ducato can have a weak 5th gear.

overdriver

cormie wrote:

I know cheapest isn't the best, but I actually can't go higher than 5K for the van:D

I'd be interested to see the door/inside area dimensions of both to compare alright, but we wouldn't be able to compare to the transit if you got yours:o[/QUOTEI


I paid €4,800 for my 2001 with 85k on the clock. FSH to back that up, too, but I did buy privately.

The good thing about the Transit is the fact that with so many of them about, you'll have lots of choice, and spares should be plentiful.

Would you not look in the UK, as they're generally better minded there - and chaeper, too?

I'm not sure what you mean about comparisons etc, but do be careful about going too big or you won't have a license for it.

The other thing to be wary of is insurance. You must have a valid reason to want a commercial vehicle. I have 3 big dogs amd cycle competetively (ahem!), and my existing company grudgingly covered me.

cormie

Yeah, I'll be using this for commercial use for sure. Does anyone know what the story with that is though? I'm currently insured with britton insurance on my fiesta, for about €1080 for the year (which is pretty good for a 22 year old). I think I was told if I keep the fiesta, I can't transfer the NCB. I have no real reason to keep the Fiesta and my friend may even want to buy it so I can get rid of that no problem. A guy I know said his insurance on the van (He's 21 and has a Transit) was only about €300/400 which is nothing really.

So how would I go about getting the cheap insurance? Is it cheap by default for commercials?

Is there not a lot of extra work involved in getting one over from the UK? How much would I be likely to save on a car that costs 5K here? What about changing the reg and everything, seems like quite a lot of work to be done?

overdriver

It's not just the saving on the purchase price, it's the fact the UK vans will be in better nick, and higher spec.

Re-registering it is very simple.

cormie

Do you say that because UK people are actually thought to drive where as Irish just have to pass a theory test and they could be driving a van like a LWB High Roof transit a week after:rolleyes:

So you reckon I should definitely go for a UK car? What if I get stung, as I said, I wont know anything about it and don't fancy thrawling around the UK looking for a van really. I wont know who to trust over them there waters:o

Torq

cormie wrote:

Thanks for the link, seems van of the year 2005 is Iveco, which peasant says the Fiat is built off and then the readers choice is Ford Transit. Hmm.

large panel vans of the year for the past 5 years are:

2001- Ford Transit
2002- Citroen Relay & Fiat Ducato & Peugeot Boxer with the Transit being commended
2003- Ford Transit with the above 3 being commended
2004- Nissan Interstar, Renault Master, Vauxaul Movano with the Transit being commended again
2005- Iveco daily with the above 3 being commended


Kinda gives me a bit more faith in the Transit and Ducato anyway!

Hi Guys,
I've heard stories of 5th gear wear on ducatos if the gearbox oil is not kept at the correct level. But having said that it's possible to replace 5th gear in situ in less than 2 hours, all going well it could be done in an hour. Nearly every van you will see in france is a ducato derivative with hardly a transit on the road, and as previoulsy stated most campers are based on the ducato.
Keep well,
Torq

cormie

Thanks for that. I think it will definitely be either the Ducato or Transit anyway. Now it's just a matter of finding the right one!