Best Small Van

[chilled]

hi folks

i am about to buy a new van i drive a vw caddy at the moment and I'm very happy with it apart from having to have it serviced every 10K
i was just wonding what people on this forum would recommend
service intervals and miles per gallon need to be good

cheers chilled

 

[Dieselman]

That doesn't really make sense Chilled.

You have a good van that is very economical but you worry about the service cost due to shorter intervals. That's nothing in the overall running costs and a van with longer intervals will just cost more at service time, best to stick with what you have.

 

[jaymanek]

the best selling small van in recent years has been the peugeot expert IIRC...

 

[chilled]

hi dieselman

the van i drive at the moment is company owned
i am just about to start-out on my own so running costs, intervals will be an issue at the start
i have to have the van serviced every three months due to the high mileage and most services at the moment seem to take a couple of days
lost working days mean lost money or will when i am working for myself
but if you think that the cost of servicing would level out over the year when compared with a van with longer service intervals them i will just have to take a couple of more days Holiday each year (shame)

thanks for the reply
chilled

 

[Dieselman]

well the VW is pretty fuel efficeint so probably covers the additonal service cost (if any).
Why is it taking a couple of days at service time?

 

[Benzowner]

There are one or two dealers out there who will service your van in the evening so no down time. You could also look at contract hire, they will provide you with a van when yours is off the road. If you are going on your own, there are several options. Good luck with your venture.

 

[gary350]

Ford transit connect my son has one it gets some abuse but never faulters, you should be able to get good deals on them. Get the side door option.

gary

 

[gaz_l]

Why is it taking a couple of days at service time?

Indeed.. should be in and out the same day, I'd have thought, for routine work.

You should also think about breakdowns.. even well maintained vehicles go wrong occasionally. What happens if you're involved in an accident and your van is undriveable afterwards? If your business plan is based on 100% availability, be prepared for it to all go pear-shaped at some point... and think of a disaster recovery strategy.

Best of luck,

Gaz

 

[chilled]

hi diesel-man

the van as had a couple of small faults in the past and
VW seem to have trouble deciding wither the faults should be repaired on warranty or not they have always repaired the faults on warranty the next day

(or perhaps they overbook service and B/S me)

 

[marcos]

I run a fleet of vans and we use Vito's, Escorts and Transit Connects.
The Vito's are not good, the Escorts have been brilliant but are now obselete and the Connect's are so far excellent. The only problem with the Connect is the fuel efficiency which is no where near as good as the Escorts were but then again they are a lot more powerfull.

 

[mw_C32]

I have a small Astra Van. Not very big inside but easily does 50 to the gallon and serviced at 18-20K miles last service £120.00 done in 3hrs, and thats at a stealer.

Cheapest van I have ever owned and I do about 25K a year in it.

Mark.

 

[jeremytaylor]

If you use decent oil in the Caddy, you can stretch the servicing to beyond 10,000 miles, surely?

 

[petef]

hi folks

i am about to buy a new van i drive a vw caddy at the moment and I'm very happy with it apart from having to have it serviced every 10K
i was just wonding what people on this forum would recommend
service intervals and miles per gallon need to be good

cheers chilled

I was thinking of purchasing a transit connect (which seems an excellent van) , however doing some research and being a bit tight (I hate loosing money in terms of depreciation ) the Citroen Berlingo drew my attention. Excellent reliability, superb high driving position, massive doors and high windscreen and rear load space is incredible for a small van, easy as big, if not bigger in my opinion than a connect. Cambelt intervals are from between 60,000 and 80,000 depending on driving conditions, oil changes every 10,000 miles. I am getting 46 / 49 mpg mixture of driving . I looked on the British Car Auction site for van sale sales and was amazed at how many older ones eg 1998 to 2003 models that had covered well over 200,000 miles. A couple had over 250,000 !!! Even the shape has not changed since the original model came out 10 years ago ( apart from larger headlights that came out in 2003 ) So if you do buy an older model it still looks up to date !

Last week I bought a 1999 T reg with 104,000 miles full citroen service history two owner van for £1,275 ( no vat ) that is immaculate. I am amazed with what I have got for my money.

I suppose it depends on how much you want to pay, but if you're looking at keeping it out of the dealers for services with an older van you can pop it down to a drive in drive out quik fit type place for an oil change which is usually done in half an hour.

Car and van build quality has improved so much over the past decade that I think more of us should take advantage of older models and not be too scared of things going wrong.

Good Luck

 

[Satch]

Friend of mine has a business that had a ragbag of light vans: Transits, VW's and even his first business vehicle, an ancient ex Post office Leyland thing.

All getting a bit of a chore so he chopped the lot and replaced with Toyota HiAce SWB vans. Very pleased and since all were specced with aircon even his surley and ungrateful employees cheered up a bit

 

[petef]

Friend of mine has a business that had a ragbag of light vans: Transits, VW's and even his first business vehicle, an ancient ex Post office Leyland thing.

All getting a bit of a chore so he chopped the lot and replaced with Toyota HiAce SWB vans. Very pleased and since all were specced with aircon even his surley and ungrateful employees cheered up a bit

Goodness..wonder why they were so unhappy ?...was it the vans ?

 

[R2e]

Might be worth considering one of those crew cab options with a van back on the rear, gives you effectively a family car at the weekends, but no tax liability as it's a commercial (according to a plumber friend of mine who's done this)

 

[chilled]

hi folks

thanks for all of your replies

i have been looking at the secondhand market as you seem to get a lot for your money and i would be able to service the van myself as there would not be a warranty problem

thanks again

chilled