Find me a van then...

[weeksy]

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/234732510191

[v8-powered]

Why not.just lease a new one? You'll never be happy with used and may end up with a shitter anyway...

£320 a month plus £2200 deposit over 2 years is £8000 paid out.

That's a lot of depreciation to cover

If I bought a van for £15k there is no way it'll only be worth £7000 in 2 years?

Agree but you could end up with a tarted up ex-builders van or something unreliable that in a years time will need ££££"s thrown at it.
Know its a big hit but I'd rather a new one with a decent warranty and known history

[ChrisW]

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/234732510191

Love the storage, even if both sides is a bit overkill.

[weeksy]

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/234732510191

Love the storage, even if both sides is a bit overkill.

It'd be ripped out matey. No use to me at all.

At times I'll need 4 MTB, gazebo, BBQ, tools, 4 spare MTB wheels, spares, riding kit with 4-5 helmets etc.

So arguably some storage would be good, but it'd have to be in right places

[Noggin]

I have nothing useful to offer, so -

20 pages

[Demannu]

get a sprinter, yes they're a bit more money, but imo money well spent.
mine has decent mileage on it but repair costs have been as minimal as they could be over 8 years of ownership.

[Kneerly Down]

I bought a mega-miles 11 plate transit medium top MWB a few years back for £3k.
It has cost me about £150 in maintenance, parts and MoT in the c.35k miles I've done in it since then.
I've concluded it'll probably fail the MoT in a year or 2 because of rot.
I could get replacement metal and weld it in but I think by then I'll consider I've had my money's worth from it.
I do like the 'convertible' passenger seat in the new ones and I do miss cruise control on long motorway journeys.

Can't quite believe how much 6yr old vans are these days so maybe the welder will see some action after all.

[Dodgy69]

What about a Qashqai.

[G.P]

I'm running 35+ vans in our fleet at the moment and there are a few trends I've identified:

Transits seem to be the nicest to drive but the most unreliable in terms of throwing up engine warning lights, having indicators come on when the brakes are applied etc.

Vauxhall Vivaro and Renault equivalents hae no problems apart from the users complaining about the roofs being too low (they have side doors and are racked out on the offside

Mercedes Sprinters a favourite as even though they are a longer wheelbase, everyone loves driving them and the roof is a little higher

We have 2 x VW transporters that the drivers just love and won't be parted with them

I drive an assortment of them occasionally and my favourite is a Ford Connect van, you can get a couple of pallets in the back, its got side and rear doors but will only take 2 humans (in seats).

Have you looked at the Mercedes Vito? All the German airport taxi drivers use them...

Its like Deja Vu, but all over again xx

[weeksy]

Sprinters are hard to find with decent miles and price, which arguably says as much about them as other things.. But still, it's a balance act of age, miles, spec.

Leasing would work if you could get ex-demo ones at a decent price. But the outlay to rent is just too high for me i feel.

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/van-detail ... on=at_vans

This Movano i think though does tick many/all off the boxes.

[weeksy]

I drive an assortment of them occasionally and my favourite is a Ford Connect van, you can get a couple of pallets in the back, its got side and rear doors but will only take 2 humans (in seats).

Have you looked at the Mercedes Vito? All the German airport taxi drivers use them...

Both them Mercs and the Connect are arguably too small. No real point getting a van and thinking "damn, wish i had more space"

[cheb]

Have you looked on Vanmonster, it's my first stop when looking for vans.

https://www.vanmonster.com/en-gb/home

[weeksy]

Have you looked on Vanmonster, it's my first stop when looking for vans.

https://www.vanmonster.com/en-gb/home

I've seen a few on there, but only in passing... Will have more of a looky now.

[weeksy]

Might need to persuade @dern to come round with his van to see how easily i can get 3/4 bikes in and where it leaves us for other things to carry... I guess that would answer a lot of 'is it big enough'

[cheb]

At risk of sounding liking a fanboy, I've bought three vans from them and from three different branches. They have all been very easy purchases, what you see is what you can have, and at that price. You might be able to knock a couple of hundred off if you try.

[Mussels]

Might need to persuade @dern to come round with his van to see how easily i can get 3/4 bikes in and where it leaves us for other things to carry... I guess that would answer a lot of 'is it big enough'

when I had the Transit Custom (lwb crew cab) I used to lay my 4 bike towbar carrier across the load area and attach 4 big bikes to it easily. if you work on 5' of load bed for bikes then you should be able to work out how much more space you need. Gazebos will go upright so don't need much.

[weeksy]

Gazebos will go upright so don't need much.

LOL ridiculous as it sounds, i never even considered that you know. I thought of laying it down, but yeah there's no reason at all it can't be upright in the corner.

[dern]

Might need to persuade @dern to come round with his van to see how easily i can get 3/4 bikes in and where it leaves us for other things to carry... I guess that would answer a lot of 'is it big enough'

That’s no problem although it’s full of stuff atm.

[weeksy]

This ticks the miles, condition and even the spec list. It also means i'm not balls deep in terms of cash/expense.

Obviously it's older... but it's a van... it's never going to be a £80,000 Merc in terms of comfort, noise, refinement etc... So may as well consdier.

MOT history stacks up that it's barely been used between each MOT, only 1000-2000 mostly... but that's OK as it's not like it's been stood for 5 years which would worry me more.

[Yorick]

I drive an assortment of them occasionally and my favourite is a Ford Connect van, you can get a couple of pallets in the back, its got side and rear doors but will only take 2 humans (in seats).

Have you looked at the Mercedes Vito? All the German airport taxi drivers use them...

Both them Mercs and the Connect are arguably too small. No real point getting a van and thinking "damn, wish i had more space"

Quite. My pal just spent 22k on van. Now pissed off he didn't get a bit bigger one to get his enduro bike in.