[George Gardner]

Say a dealer like Citroen offer finance on 3 year old vans??

New ones depreciate like stink, so makes more sense to buy a 3 year old one, at probably half the value of it when it was new, and pay in monthly instalments?

[mick hay]

Might be worth having a look at what deals are on for brand new at the mo......im going to look at a brand new Vivaro Sportive later.

[George Gardner]

I love love love them - however there's a J Lo (short for Jennifer Lopez) BIG BUT

The gear box I've heard nothing good about
Water pumps
Clutches

Got to be honest they don't have the reputation, Vauxhall that is, for sturdiness, like say a tranny.

There for that size are the best looking van IMO on the road

Looking at the merc site - omg the new small Citan needs a cam belt/ timing belt only every 125,000 miles!! That screams quality

[mick hay]

Ive done a lot of digging about with the problems.

Its a totally new gearbox now, so that problem should be gone. It'll have a 3 year warranty too.

I like the merc Vito, but load space is pretty small on them.

[Gav Camm lammy 283]

Excellent van now
Go for a cdti 2.0
No cam belt

[George Gardner]

Excellent van now
Go for a cdti 2.0
No cam belt

Gav no belt as in Chain driven??

[George Gardner]

No I'm not convinced about a new van due to the depreciation. I know one could argue this is a business cost and the new van is a claim able business expense in the first place.

3 year old ish vans I think for me, anyone know if you can finance these from a dealer?

[Gav Camm lammy 283]

Excellent van now
Go for a cdti 2.0
No cam belt

Gav no belt as in Chain driven??

The 2.0 cdti as a cam chain not a cam belt
It's not chain driven its got normal
Gearbox and transmission

[tompoole]

I love love love them - however there's a J Lo (short for Jennifer Lopez) BIG BUT

The gear box I've heard nothing good about
Water pumps
Clutches

Got to be honest they don't have the reputation, Vauxhall that is, for sturdiness, like say a tranny.

There for that size are the best looking van IMO on the road

Looking at the merc site - omg the new small Citan needs a cam belt/ timing belt only every 125,000 miles!! That screams quality

The new merc is just a fsa / ford with a merc badge!

[Michael Peterson]

i had a chain snap after 50k wrecked the engine no warning or anything,

[AshWhite]

George, they will offer finance, but there's not likely to be a load of them about - 3 year old vans rarely live up to the standards required to retail from a main dealership. Might have more option elsewhere.

[richard jagger]

Talk to your bank and take a personal loam if the cannot help.

[Spruce]

Say a dealer like Citroen offer finance on 3 year old vans??

New ones depreciate like stink, so makes more sense to buy a 3 year old one, at probably half the value of it when it was new, and pay in monthly instalments?

If they have it in stock then they will also do finance deals as well.

The offers on new vehicles with special finance terms are mostly manufacturer lead, but each dealer has a finance house in place for putting all other finance deals through. They love to offer finance as they also get a commission for selling the finance from the finance house.

[Fin Clearview]

New = low APR
Used = higher APR

Last year I went for a 1 yr old (ex demo) van for this reason. Higher Depreciation vs higher APR over 4 years.

[George Gardner]

New = low APR
Used = higher APR

Last year I went for a 1 yr old (ex demo) van for this reason. Higher Depreciation vs higher APR over 4 years.

Good point hadn't fully thought about that

[Spruce]

New = low APR
Used = higher APR

Last year I went for a 1 yr old (ex demo) van for this reason. Higher Depreciation vs higher APR over 4 years.

Probably works out that way as the manufacturers do deals to secure new vehicle sales.

At one time when the cash back deals were popular, different deals were put together to 'float different people's boats.' Cash back was a manufacturer led additional discount which allowed them to not change their retail pricing structure in 1999 when there was the 'rip off Britain compaign'.

The same cash back deal was disguised in a variety of ways.  It might be in the form of interest free credit, cash back, pay no vat, free insurance, free fuel and servicing for a year, or a mixture of some of them.

APR doesn't actually mean anything to you as a buyer BTW. You need to know what the flat rate of interest is that they are charging you. If you are paying 5% flat pa over 3 years you are paying an additional 15% interest on what you borrowed. Easy! If you take that same flat rate over 1 year, 2 years and 3 years and apply the APR formula, you will get a different APR for each period of time.

This means that when you think you are getting a lower APR, you may actually be paying a higher fat rate of interest.

[Fin Clearview]

New = low APR
Used = higher APR

Last year I went for a 1 yr old (ex demo) van for this reason. Higher Depreciation vs higher APR over 4 years.

Probably works out that way as the manufacturers do deals to secure new vehicle sales.

At one time when the cash back deals were popular, different deals were put together to 'float different people's boats.' Cash back was a manufacturer led additional discount which allowed them to not change their retail pricing structure in 1999 when there was the 'rip off Britain compaign'.

The same cash back deal was disguised in a variety of ways.  It might be in the form of interest free credit, cash back, pay no vat, free insurance, free fuel and servicing for a year, or a mixture of some of them.

APR doesn't actually mean anything to you as a buyer BTW. You need to know what the flat rate of interest is that they are charging you. If you are paying 5% flat pa over 3 years you are paying an additional 15% interest on what you borrowed. Easy! If you take that same flat rate over 1 year, 2 years and 3 years and apply the APR formula, you will get a different APR for each period of time.

This means that when you think you are getting a lower APR, you may actually be paying a higher fat rate of interest.

Agreed about the flat rate ( I just wrote APR assuming most know that). Total charge for credit is also an easy way to see the bottom line.