[AuRavelling79]

If you read my thread yesterday you'll know that a French lorry driver snuggled up a bit too close to my trusty Honda and has made it a driveable but cosmetic write-off! Even I realise my some of my customers don't want me pulling this onto their drives anymore.

I am now going to get a van and I want a Scudo/Partner/Expert size/type.

I have never:

Owned a van
Bought New
Leased/HP'd etc.
Spent more than £2K on a vehicle in my life!

But as this will take my w/c to the next level I am prepared to do what it takes but I don't want to be taken for a mug.

I've looked at new on Vans Direct
I've looked at 2nd/hand on Auto Trader/Trade-It etc.
Please give me your experience/advice.

Thanks.

[WavieDavie]

I get the occasional flyer from a Fiat main dealer who was having a promotion  (close to end of year - get rid of demonstrators etc) on commercials. I went in out of curiosity, but said the prices were too dear.

In the yard was a year-old Scudo trade-in from someone who had got the next size up. I don't know how much he originally paid, or got as part exchange, but I paid just over half the price of new. I know nobody actually pays list price, but . . . I'd been looking through AdTrader, AutoTrader vans, a local firm who do fleet buy-backs, but this was the best value and condition.

Apart from the fact that the previous owner was a landscape gardener and it stunk of manure for a while   

If you own your own home, and can borrow against it with no early redemption penalties, it'll be cheaper borrowing against that and paying as much off as soon as possible instead of going theough a finance deal.

Hope this helps.

Added later . . .

An even cheaper deal

get a credit card with 0% for first 12 mths, buy your system with it, pay it off WITHIN 12 months and thats a bargain! buy now, no interest, thats what i'm doing now as i need to buy a new carbon pole. just remember to cut the card up after 12 mths.
moneysupermarket.com list all the best deals

But get another 0% card lined up in plenty time to transfer if you haven't fully repaid when the year's up

[AuRavelling79]

Thanks WD

Anyone else with a van can advise! Please!

[Paul Coleman]

Thanks WD

Anyone else with a van can advise! Please!

A year ago I bought a second hand van myself that was about 2yrs 8 months old.  Looking back, I feel that may have been a mistake because the warranty is a good thing to have.  Also, although you pay more for a new one you do get more tax relief on the cost.
If I could turn the clock back a year, I would buy a brand new van with a three year warranty on it.  I would attempt to work it so that the van was paid for over three years then, when the three years was up, I would either put a new MOT on it and sell it on OR use it as a part exchange on the next one.  I would only keep it if I was expanding to two vans and wanted to avoid the cost of paying out for two.
Leasing is OK too as you get more tax relief but others on here have said that it's only a saving if you are VAT registered.

[Simply Clean Windows]

if you pop down your local main dealers you should be able to get a good deal,every quarter the main dealers have to hit there target sales,if they dont ,they just pre-register some of there vans,cars to achieve this and then sell them on quite cheaply, i saw a couple of fiat scudo 1.9 d going for £6700.hope this is some help.
malcolm

[macmac]

renault kangoos go for good money second hand for some reason, i have one with a 400ltr tank and never had any troubles, bought it 3 year old for 3,100 2.5 years ago. its the D65 (600kg pay load approx) its not too high to get ladders on/off too. go for the 800kg pay load though if poss.

hope this helps

tony

[crystal.clear]

i brought a sechond hand astra last year for £2500 with in six months it blew up on me. i Know own a fiat doblo from www.vansdirect.co.uk on a lease. on a lease you can claim back 100% on tax. i so which i didnt buy that astra. im not saying you should buy new but commerical vans are mainly used for carry heavy loads which does effect the van. and who really looks after there van. in my view if u can afford a new van go for it if not buy one that still has warranty. hope this helps

[julianbiggs]

I've got a Fiat Doblo 1.9 jtd and it is great. Comfortable, quick, brilliant on economy ( 50 miles mpg) tonnes of room in the back...no complaints at all.

[AuRavelling79]

Thanks again chaps!

Vansdirect have got offers on the Fiat Doblo and Scudo any views on lease/hp/bank loan - I'm sole trader self/employed and not vat registered.

[matt]

ive seen a few Scudo/Partner/Expert go on ebay for under 1500

sure they are slightly older, but you can still get nice 1's

i saw a fridge type Expert (with the fridge bit removed, as they sell for a fair bit) and it was ideal, was all lined inside for the fridge , went for 1200 on a P plate

[Art of Clean]

Big Taxrelief on a lease van is true. If you are not VAT reg. dont worry too much. You can claim up to 3years back. Only problem. your deposit on the van might be a bit big. Depends on dealer. I bought my new van from Alltec in Royston Fowlmere. They might be able to help.

[Extremeclean]

The only way you will get away with not paying VAT on a van is if you buy privately.

What and how you buy it is then up to you. My advice is go for new and buy outright if your cashflow allows.  Get a quote from Vans direct and then take it to your local dealer. Tell them you will buy there and then if they beat it and also push for an extra such as plylining thrown in.

If you do a lease puchase you will have to pay all the VAT up-front. Lease hire and contract hire you will probably pay 3 months deposit and then 24 or 36 monthy payments. They usually take these quarterly up front.  WATCH OUT for large balloon payments (Big payments at the end of a lease)  Monthly payments can look very cheap but then if you look at the balloon you can see why.

The Doblo is a fantastic van for say up to a 400ltr tank.  LOADS of room in the rear and very comfortable to drive and also ULTRA economical.  That little 1.3 diesel engine is a cracker.  I've just bought 2 of them. Went quote in hand from Vans direct to my dealer.  They beat it by £100.00 and threw in ply lining.  Dont expect much more discount than that.  I can tell you it is right to the bone.  A friend of mine runs a Vauxhall dealership and on new vans the make very and I do mean very little.  What they are after is the servicing and warranty work.

Rich.

[AuRavelling79]

Thanks extremeclean - I like the look of that doblo too. So are the prices on the vansdirect site inc. vat?

[Extremeclean]

No Malc

All the prices shown are PLUS VAT 

Rich.

[Neil Williams]

At  the end of the day what you spend out in connection with your work you can claim back against the tax bill at the end of the year.
It's a no boner really. Move onto the next level.

[www.crawleycarpetc]

Commercial auction if you want a real bargain!

[crystal.clear]

when i brought from vansdirect i had to put £500 depoist down and i pay £130 i think a month of which £115 is tax free the rest is vat which i can claim back because im vat reg. after i settled the money i waited a week and my van was delivered to my door. i got a doblo and have now fitted it with a 400 litre tank and still plenty of room in the back.

[tom_currie]

if chooseing dublo make sure 800 kg payload

[mark f]

i have a dispatch hdi from auction 1 and half year ago . paid less than dealers sell them for now, but is a risk and dunno if i have the nerve to do it again. Plus not vat registered so cant get that back

 good van though. Not many that size with three seats which is handy at times.

[Jon T.C.]

Have a look here, this is who I bought my van from http://www.tradevans.co.uk/index.htm