Gonna buy a combo crew van....

[Eddiesparks]

Boys,

I'm a bit inexperienced with used vans and was wondering. Is it better to go for high mileage younger or low mileage older. My gut days high mileage younger is better because prob done lots of motorway driving??!! Wondered what u experienced sparks thought??!!

I've already decided on the combo as it's cheap and i need a crew van amongst other good, thought about reasons so no one try and hijack the thread with stuff like 'get a transit it's better' or 'combos are crap get a horse' etc etc haha

 

[Hawk]

I would have thought that the lower the mileage the less work the engine has done which in turn would mean less wear. Good ideas to check out the mileage is genuine thou.

 

[telectrix]

as above. older is better. the newer the van, the more things the manufacturers add on to go wrong and entail expensive repairs.

 

[Brightspark2]

It depends. It differs with each van, check the condition and history. Its a mixture of older vs more wear isnt it. Even if its older with lower miles everything on there has still aged. I think its more of getting the right balance between the two.

 

[telectrix]

i'd think a combo is a bit small for a crew van. though. it's smaller than my nissan, and that's too small without putting seats in it.

 

[Eddiesparks]

Seats will be folded down most of the time. Stick them up every other sunday for running kids around - 2 and 0 yrs old! Needs/ budget doesnt allow car AND van

 

[overskilled]

Vectra estate?
Dirt cheap, chain cam diesels go on forever, and relatively easy and cheap to fix if you don't mind wielding spanners...

Back on topic...higher miles and newer As long as it has service history, recent cam belt change (if a belt cam engine) and there aren't any horrendous advisories on the MOT (history can be checked online with the ref number from the last mot)

With a Vauxhall...get an opcom from ebay....makes finding faults a heck of a lot easier.

 

[Eddiesparks]

Oh dear some say one thing some say another!! That makes it nice and easy then haha!

For the same price-ish there are ten year old vans with 100k on the clock or 6 year old vans with 180k on the clock. Does that help? My budget is only £1500-£2000 TOPS.

Oversilled - thanks for suggestion but I already have an astra estate and security, size and professional impression (going to sign write the van) are what have led me towards getting a van.

 

[telectrix]

out of choice, i'd go for a toyota hiace. get a decent 02 plate for your budget.

 

[iamelectric]

if you are buying a combo , check passenger footwell for dampness they are murder for leaks avoid the 1.3 engine is crap also if you are getting a crew cab don't buy an ex royal mail one they are buckets

 

[overskilled]

170,000K could be talking dead gearbox....watch for crunching....though swapping a gearbox is doable (I did the vectras with the old man on a driveway)

I know your set on a combo....but what about a citroen berlingo...quite a lot of them about, many of which treated v gently by older owners...and the car version looks quite a lot like a van and a damn sight cheaper to insure than the van variant....

 

[tonto33]

2002 PEUGEOT EXPERT 2.0 HDI 6 SEATS CREW VAN | eBay

 

[telectrix]

nice. good price. the HDi engine is a great diesel.

 

[Eddiesparks]

My old man always said french motors are lame!!

Quite high mileage but fairly local, large van. Good price. Cheers mate. Will check it out.

 

[telectrix]

the 2.0 hdi is quite pokey. 0-60 in less than a week.