Van opinion

mondeo

I'm stuck between buying a van, I'm looking at citreon xsara 00 shape
and Renault megane van 00 shape. They are both 1.9d non turbo models.
Which do you reckon would be a better buy? I like them both, the xsara is better looking in my honest opinion but what ya reckon? I have been offered a good deal on a megane diesal van and I'm considering as opposed to waiting for an xsara to come up. I have an small IT business and want to put my business logo on the van also...
I know f**k all about vans so an honest opinion would be nice.

Also if I insure the van privately can i still tax it as commercial?

Cheers

Fey!

Not sure about which is better, but it should be possible to tax commercial and insure privately. However, and I am open to correction on this, you may need to be vat registered or have a tax clearance cert to avail of the commercial tax. I know that the goalposts have changed a bit over the last couple of years, but I can't remember how much.

Best of luck with whichever you decide on.

colm_mcm

The Megavan will be more spacious, but the non opening rear doors are a bit clumsy looking.
I'd go with the Xsara. neither of them would be on my shopping list, but both are equally capable.

mondeo

The clumbsy unopening rear doors on the megavan looks abit odd alright, I assumed they would open from the inside or somthing. So their welded shut?
I wonder why they left them there instead of smoothing everything out.. Cheaper I suppose.

The xsara looks very professional in my opinion hence I was kind of waiting for one to come up at a good price but it also falls in a higher tax bracket if im forced to privately tax it.

Im on a budget of 3k so both these vans fit nicely in my budget, as time goes by I can get a much newer van though. I still dunno what I wanna do though.

This is the megavan im looking at.. Im thinking i might ask them to do a direct trade with my 97 lancer glx since its a car of equal value in my honest opinion. Wonder would they do that I'll have to ask them before offering them cash for the van, Curiousity!

http://www.carzone.ie/used-cars/Renault/Megavan/1.9RTD-car/986051/

colm_mcm

Consider a 306 van, more likely to have the HDI engine, and much better looking than th other two. late models all got the GTI bumpers and skirts.

Here's a nice 98 306 D-Turbo. (car) high spec for €3,250.
http://www.carzone.ie/used-cars/Peugeot/306/1.9-LXDT/998148/

Would make a nice van conversion. I'm sure that price is negotiable too.

mondeo

Thanks dude but I'm not a PUG fan at all. I just dont like them never did.

Woodgate

I drive a 00 Megavan, never had a problem with it (owned it from new). Plenty of space, never thought the rear doors looked odd, but just used to them. There's only 38k miles on mine as I do little distance travelling, mostly local stuff.

colm_mcm

the Xsara is essentially a reskinned Pug 306. only not as good looking.

mondeo

306 looks nothing like the xsara, xsara looks like it has a longer chassis.
For a laugh I'll go up and take a look at that megavan in the link. I will
probably end up walking away from it as the mileage @160k miles is abit high for me..

Do you think it would look professional with a business logo on it? Or will people see it as a bangar in business?? I dont want people to get an ill impression by seeing an I.T logo on somthing tacky. Haha, you know what people are like when it comes to first impressions.

colm_mcm

the Xsara is based on the 306. it shares most of its compoents with it.

the 306's wheelbase is actually 40mm longer than the Xsara, but the Xsara has longer overhangs

mondeo

Okie Dokie,, nice info there

mondeo

Okie Dokie,, nice info there

colm_mcm

would the budget strech to a Focus van?

mondeo

God no I'm pennyless, everything I have has gone into the business except the small bit for some transport. At a later date a focus would be ideal, for the next yr or so a cheaper alternative is a must!

colm_mcm

had you considered box vans like the Berlingo/Caddy/ Kangoo? these can be had quite cheaply compared to car derived vans

mondeo

Ye I was offered a 01 berlingo, ex company car from a friend for 3k but
before I made my mind up about it he sold it to another friend.
Their great if your a plumber or carpenter but I would not have tall equipment
like shovels, window frames or any of that crap. A carvan is just ideal for a few pc's, laptops or whatever else which wouldn't depend on a box of cornflakes on wheels to carry them :P