What do you get for your money?

[Denise]

Hello!

another newbie who doesn't know where to begin....

Ok we're looking for a transit (! ) swb, because its sort of car size.

It seems to me that you can divide into three categories - cheap - up to £1500, middling up to 4K and expensive - anything else. ( yes these divisions are entirely arbitrary and all depend on the state of the bank balance)

with no mechanical/engineering skills, I presume a older low value van will need work, and probably wouldn't be a good buy, but also is it worth spending a lot on a newer van - low milage? whats the depreciation like?

We talked to a dealer who wanted to sell a van, an O4 SWB L/R transit with 22,500 miles

For £8,000 + VAT



he said that main dealers wouldn't touch a van costing about 3K (a sort of ball park figure we'd like to spend) because of the age and high mileage.
He also said that although you could buy a van for that price it would be a pile of sh*t and things would go wrong on it which would need repairing - hence raising the cost.

How right/ wrong is he?

also lots of vans have milage over 100,000, for a transit is that an issue?

Thanks for your help

denise

[madmark]

denise
you must be near the auction in oxford ,woma i think its called ,they get rid of ex police transits oftern ,these will be a good buy and goodish price and well loocked after ,might be worth a look!

[Luke]

well my van cost me £75 and ive run it a year with only a snapped clutch cable

basically i'd say spend what money you can afford - the more you spend the better van you get but the more depreciation you will get too

100,000 miles is only an issue if you intend to put another 100,000 miles on - if your a low milage user then its not a serious issue

[FredTransit]

One thing I can tell you from experience, old vans are better built and when they do go wtong, they are cheaper to fix. Simpler engines are easier to understand for a bieginner, and therefore easier to fix yourself. Newish vans tend to be in the domain of the main dealer, and that's pleanty of ££££s. Old stuff can be fixed by your local garage or mobile mechanic. Of course the dealer will tell you not to go for the cheap van, where is the profit in that? The eight grand van can (and will) still go wrong, and you will have repair bills on top of high outlay or finanace payments.
Oh, welcome to the forum BTW.

[School Boy]

Police vans well loocked after

Not always the case, been thrashed and some of the maintainance can be a bit dodgey.

[madmark]

mate i disagree shurly a 2.5turbo riot transit can not aford to go wrong if its got a group of skinheads chaseing it down the road!

[Denise]

Thanks for the help guys!

[Altransit]

You can never guarantee that nothing will go wrong, no matter how much you pay for a vehicle.
With that in mind, just look for a tidy van, ideally, one which hasn't had any bodywork done, that way you can see how much rust is starting.
Mileage is not so important, so long as it starts, runs, and drives nicely when you buy it.

If you haven't paid too much, you won't mind if any small things need doing

[School Boy]

:shock: mate i disagree shurly a 2.5turbo riot transit can not aford to go wrong if its got a group of skinheads chaseing it down the road!

Seriously, youd be suprised.
The police do most stuff on the cheap.
When they had LDV convoys, they would be overloaded once it was full of the people and gear. LDV told the Met that they wouldnt do anything on warranty as they were being made to perform what they wernt designed for. The Met just said oh well and carried on overloading them, making them be driven fast with only standard brakes.


So, dont assume that police stuff is in top notch, they arnt cared for any better than most vans, you can prob get better. I dont mean that they are un road worthy, just that they arent something to jump at, as they are just like normal vans.