best van on a budget

[BrokenBiker]

bloody van has died. not what I need at the moment. was on my way back from a job taking down some PIR lights for a couple that are moving house, pulled off from the lights, into 2nd, 3rd...bang! hell of a thud, loads of smoke and no power, no drive, no engine. called my mate out to tow me home, he had a quick look and the verdict is its died a death and isn't worth repairing.

I don't want the hastle of an engine swap, haven't got time, I just want to find a van, buy it and job done.

my current is a 2004 tranny swb. nothing special just a run of the mill tranny.

im open to any make and model as long as its cheap to buy and reliable. im a spark so not carrying large things, and have tube on roof for conduit, trunking and occasionally copper pipe.

don't really need the size of a tranny, it came in handy a few times with the bikes and moving house but if needs be I can lend a trailer

so, what is good, what needs to be avoided. don't mind manual or auto, engine size isn't much of an issue but don't really need any more than a 2litre

 

[CompoSimmonite]

I was happy when it was running with my 02 Peugeot Expert 2.0 HDi. However when clutch broke I was shocked at how complicated it was to work on, fasteners that simply snapped off rather then being undone and horrendous price of parts. In the end sold it in dismantled state just to get rid. If I was in that position again I'd have opted for a Transit ! So what about a Transit Connect ? VW T4 are nice vans but hold their value more than most other makes and maybe a little too big so what about a VW Caddy van ?

Paul H

 

[waldershelf]

Citroen Berlingo's are pretty good. Cheap to buy and fairly simple. go for the basic diesel and you will get good MPG. I wouldn't normally recommend anything French but the Berlingo has little in the way of electronics and even French cars don't rust much these days.

 

[BrokenBiker]

when you say the basic diesel do you mean non turbo? or just the entry level turbo diesel?

 

[TAITSIE]

If its a smallish van you are after the Nemo,s and Bippa,s are ok

 

[BrokenBiker]

I am considering downsizing for the time being. I had a connect which I liked but ended up selling it as I didn't need it. wish id kept it now

 

[CRB]

I had a colleague about fifteen years ago who bought an Escort, 3 I think, because and I quote 'There are a lot in the scrapyard'

I can only assume that the previous van, only ten years old had had a hard life, and little love.

I would concur with Compo and go Caddy or T4, but being looked after is more important than mileage. MY 1989 LT has 185K, is SDi and easy fixing.

I doubt you get anything other than TDi these days, unless you go back in time and get a pre96 Caddy. Dead cool though.

Have a read here, http://www.brick-yard.co.uk/forum/t4-section_forums_cat11.html not biased mind you.

 

[waddycall]

I've got an 06 berlingo. It's the non turbo basic 1.9 diesel. It has no power and isn't that great on diesel - around 35mpg combined but I really like it. It has plenty of space in the back is comfortable and fun to drive for some reason. It doesn't have a dual mass flywheel and it doesn't have common rail injection. It doesn't need expensive oil. Before I bought it I looked at a caddy and decided they're over priced and with too much to go wrong (dmf etc). The 06 berlingo seemed like the last of the dying breed of simple vehicles and I hope to keep it going for a while!

 

[BrokenBiker]

how much does a decent caddy go for these days? I am aware that anything with a vw badge on it is going to cost more than others.

am I right in thinking the caddy vans are 1.9 turbo dieslels?

 

[CRB]

From Wiki, really surprised that SDi are still available, since they are not as frugal or powerful as TDi.

2.0 SDI – 69 PS (51 kW; 68 hp) – 140 N·m (100 lb·ft) (diesel) (only for panel van and panel window van)
2.0 TDI – 140 PS (100 kW; 140 hp) – 320 N·m (240 lb·ft) (diesel)

 

[BrokenBiker]

I think I would have to go with tdi, there are a fair few steep hills, used to have a normally aspirated corsa 1700 diesel and it needed first on nearly all of them and it wasn't at all quick to get up them, and god forbid if you had to stop

 

[Rudi McAnichal]

Even more basic than a Berlingo is the Citroen C15 van. Not much to go wrong – manual locks, manual windows, etc. Non-turbo, non-common rail, one-piece flywheel. Most mechanical bits readily available because they are shared by so many Peugeot/Citroen models. I think the last ones were made about 2005, and can probably be bought for around £500.

 

[711jrp]

Central motor auctions (could have been British motor auctions)in Newport used to have the contract to sell the British gas vans, some very cheap low mileage vans used to pick up three or four a month and take them back to London. Might be worth checking to see if they still do them.

 

[sparkysy]

Haha we had a c15 van for ages it was nick named the onion van, was amazed at what it would do superb little quirky vans and dead simple to fix too and cheap! Even went across fields fill of kit to do jobs and had 87 out of it flat out! Personally I prefer vw for reliability have an lt28 atm had It 8 years and it's had a few sets of pads and 1 set of disks, new cam belt and a clutch. I got it for 2300 with 46k on it he's done 189k with me at the wheel! They are a bit pricey to fix tho!

 

[BrokenBiker]

what are merc vito's like? out of interest, are they reasonably priced?

 

[CompoSimmonite]

what are merc vito's like? out of interest, are they reasonably priced?

When I was looking at vans Vito's were either rusty or had been "bodged" by seller to hide rust !
Does it have to be a van - would an estate with windows blanked out and back seat folded / removed work ? Skoda Octavia estate would be a good workhorse.

Paul H

 

[sparkysy]

Vitos aren't too bad I have a few mates who have them, as said they rust like the best of them and we had an injector problem on one and we're told that was common too and expensive to sort out so it went!

 

[BrokenBiker]

vito out the window then.

a van isn't absolutely necessary, but I feel I would need more space than a stripped out estate, maybe a people carrier like a ford galaxy sized people carrier. I know for a fact that the Hyundai trajet isn't an option, drove my stepfathers one and it used 40 quid of petrol doing a run that cost less than a fiver in my van

 

[Robotstar5]

Ford C-max?

 

[BrokenBiker]

Ford C-max?

too pricey? haven't seen a cheap one on my searches that doesn't need serious work

EDIT** just had a glance on ebay for them, I stand corrected.

I know I said an estate may be too small but i think i might be being a bit daft.

all i really carry is a few power tools, drills and a small welder, grinder and jigsaw, tool bag with the essentials, a 50 litre box for the rest, step ladder (which could sit on roof racks) and the tube for conduit. and estate would be fine for space? and i reckon i could buy and insure a sensible estate for less than a van too