Best £1000 small van?

[J@mes]

As I'm only just starting out I'm looking at cheap vans.

Escort and Astra are the main ones I have been looking at but I'm open to other suggestions too!

I don't have huge amount of equipment/ tools, and as I do mainly agricultural work there is normally a workshop/ barn/ shed I can use if I need to work in the dry.

As with most things, insurance (Im 27) reliability, tax, MPG are the things I am interested in.

Thanks

 

[malcolmsanford]

For that grand you'll be lucky to get an X registration anything with 100 000 plus miles on it.

Best bet is to not actually think make but what will be relaible for perhaps a year or so. Exchange and Mart on line is good you can put price in, location and see what comes up. There may always be that lucky find or a mate of a mate who is selling ..............

If a choice between Astra or Escort only, Escort. I had 2 Astra's, granted they were 02 and 03 plates then, but both had diesel pumps go and both virtually had to be written off as they were over a grand for the pump only, so for me it was twice bitten,,,,,,,no thanks again,

 

[J@mes]

Thanks Malcolm.

I understand that for my budget I am not going to get a lot

Another idea then, does anyone use an estate car?

 

[Guest123]

You'll get a reasonable ford escort 75 van van (ex PO) for £800 - £1000.

Try flea bay.

 

[High Tower]

You will get a reasonable scudo/dispatch thing on about a 51 for a grand I have a 04 one, it's not amazing but it does the job and they are cheap, build quality is dubious but the pug/Citroën 1.9 in em is fairly bomb proof

 

[monkeyelectric]

Renault Kangoo are good and you should pick up a tidy one for that, i loved my little renault but sadly outgrew it, the fuel economy was amazing 50mpg and in the 2 years i had it nothing went wrong

 

[telectrix]

nissan vanette. loads ofd room. 45mpg ( diesel ) built like a tank. 51/02 plate for £1000

 

[Amp David]

Had an escort myself. Only downside was it was so slow, I had to set of half hour earlier in the morning to get to work. So basic nothing can go wrong on em.

 

[telectrix]

was the half hour the time taken to wind up the elastic?

 

[Amp David]

Something like that

 

[chrisgc]

Commercial vehicles do hold their price even a high mileage but as said previously you might find a bargain.

Only other alternative is an estate vehicle but still try looking for a diesel and if possible get the rear passenger and rear windows tinited to stop prying eyes a little.

Even if it only lasts a year at least it will give you time to possibly save up for a small van later on.

I got a Frontera B serious but so juicy as its a 3.2 v6 auto but with the seats down its like a van.

Looking at selling as looking for a van or estate car myself.

 

[J@mes]

Thanks for the replies, leaning towards an estate at the minute to replace my 306GTi, seems to be much more on the market in better condition for the money. 406 HDi, 306 HDi, focus TDCI and Mondeo TDCI looking the favourites at the minute, can always ply-line the boot and tint the windows as mentioned.

 

[telectrix]

only problem with an estate is you can fit the kids in it

 

[J@mes]

I'm not quite there yet.... but have a 7 seat Discovery 3 for when that time comes! :lol:

 

[telectrix]

nah! get a trailer for the kids

 

[BluSparx]

I paid 800 for a X plate Vauxhall Combo 1.7d with 73,000 on when I set up in June not bad but I know I am only running for 12mnths then changing already needing a bigger van to carry the stock in for the jobs I am getting now the business is growing

 

[Festerfly]

i started with an Astra Van, it has lasted me a year and did a great job but i did find i outgrew it VERy quickly.. plus the annoyance of having to bend over and climb in to the thing every time i wanted something from the far end of the van did me in.

So i sold it and have just replaced it with an EX BT Openreach Vauxhall Vivaro. Best move i ever made....

Moral of the story...??

Get something like a Kangoo/Berlingo/Disoeatch etc to save your back.. plus what it lacks in length it makes up for in height.

 

[kevyn]

I have just replaced my old Peugeot Partner it was a cracking van. The height in the back definitly makes up for the lack of length. Bought it for £400 off my old boss and got 2 years out of it (only used it for work for the past 6 months). Outgrown it now tho into a MWB Transit with the semi high roof.

 

[grantr37]

a thousand pounds will get you the road tax and a tank of petrol LOL and you will have enough left over for a bag of chips

 

[MarkieSparkie]

Agree with Festerfly, side door essential if don't want to be off work with back troubles.

 

[baz9799]

Whatever you get mate make sure it has had a cambelt change in the last 10 to 20 thousand miles as if it has'nt and you cant do it yourself your looking at upto £300 plus to get it changed or throw the van away when it snaps, if your willing to risk it and wait for it to snap as repair bill will out strip the price of the van.
I have run a berlingo in the past 1.9 diesel good mpg and highish roof pretty practical

 

[mattmoo1974]

DONT buy anastra the feul pump goes for a pass time 1k to fix.
Get a berlingo/kango somat like that. Very basic 1.9 diesel lump in them same engine in all the vans, So if you get any probs parts are cheap as
Iv got the best of both worlds chrysler grand voyager 7 seater, Pull 2 handles the back bench seat pops out on wheels, and the 2 other single seats pop out with 1 pull on a handle. Its 15foot 4 inchs long(about the same as a tranny) i get 30 mpg, Standard tinted windows twin side doors and the rear door is a up job Oh and the rear seat moves back and forth on runners,so i can get all my tools and the brats in So if you want a daul use van/people carrier id say get 1 of them mate, Theres plenty of older 1s on the bay. Oh and the bench seat with fit behind the drivers/passagers so you get a 5 seater and about 6 foot of clear space(more then a astra etc etc) Just a thought i cant fault the thing. Mr tax man will allow you 40p per mile with it as well

 

[mattmoo1974]

Oh and its 140 bhp it goes like a rocket

 

[Marvo]

How come nobody drives Transit vans anymore? Last time I was in the UK (18yrs ago) there were more Transits on the road than you could wave a stick at.

 

[mattmoo1974]

the new 1s are CRAP, Had a new 1 every 3 yrs and it spent alot of its time in the garage, And if i had to pay for the front tyres i would of sued FORD for there major design fault!

 

[telectrix]

just for interest, here's my chariot, slow, noisy, tempremental, but bought for £800 and gives 45mpg.

 

[mattmoo1974]

"slow, noisy, tempremental" How do you no your vans female?

 

[telectrix]

it's deffo female, hard to start, slow to warm up, but fantastic once it gets going. ( now i'll have the pc gestapo after me for being sexist. can you actually be offensive to a van, ? do vans have feelings? ) and before the RSPCA get on the bandwagon, no frogs were harmed in the making of the photo. it's not a real frog freezing to death on the front grille.

 

[mattmoo1974]

A van you can trade in NUFF Said

 

[telectrix]

this van will not trade in it will be weighed in as it's going to run till it dies a natural death. no more expensive, newish vans for me, spending more time in the renault dealers being " repaired"! than on the road.

 

[mattmoo1974]

Any thing i drive normal ends up with a dent in the front or "you ve got take the wheels off and drain the oil mate before we ll take it". Oh a bonus scrap is a good price at the mo lol.
My Voyager bless her socks weights 2 and 1/4 tons

 

[telectrix]

bet you've got a shell loyalty card then.

 

[mattmoo1974]

Constant 56 mph mate 30 mpg cant fault the old girl. 190k on the clock, smokes like the site dumper when she fires up in the morning, Heated everything leccy everything (all works touch wood) Straight threw the MOT(the 2 times iv had her) Was thinking about getting a van cant see i ll get much more MPG unless i spend a few grand(which i have nt got) Stick with what you no, i bought many a dog van in my time. Best bet buy it cheap when it breaks down and its gunna cost ne more then £200 to fix throw it away.

 

[telectrix]

my attitude eggsackly, ( sorry, spent my formative yeasrs in liverpool) . use it, abuse it, bin it.

 

[mattmoo1974]

And the van