wiltshire_boy

Hi,

Should (touches wood) be moving house shortly and have a lot of building work planned so rather than mess up me Scooby any more i am after a van.

I have up to £2000 to spend (less=better) and i was planning on getting a Transit size one that i can also use to shift household items in.

Are transits the one to go for? I've seen a nice 4WD version up for grabs, are they any good? What else is worth considering? Should i stick with dealers or go private?

Any advice gratefully recieved

Cheers,

Roy.

jjones

what about a pick up - hilux or similar.

vans are ok but you can fit awkward shape loads in a pickup easily.

you are more likely to get in the local tip with a pickup.

if you buy a commercial van/truck from a dealer you will get charged VAT.

wiltshire_boy

Hi,

thanks for the speedy reply. I'd considered a pick up but really want a covered back as i will be using it to move house (slowly ) and it is summer so am expecting a fair bit of rain.

I am registered for VAT anyway so will look into that.

Good point about being let in the local tip though, i nearly got turned away in a mates Berlingo for being "trade".

DavidBrown

So get a pickup with a "snugtop".. very VAT friendly (for now).

http://www.snugtop.co.uk/news.html

wiltshire_boy

Thanks David, but i don't think a pickup will be big enough.

I'm swaying towards a Transit but there seems to be a lot of different models out there. Should i look out for or avoid anything in particular? Does anybody have experience of them? Petrol or diesel?

Ta,

Roy.

Terzo 333

I have an R reg short wheel base for sale thats witin your budget. It has been a plant fitters so is not the tidiest example but would scrub up well...

PM me if you want more details...

Regards,

Matthew

ProperCharlie

petrol transits were discontinued some time ago. the model before the latest transit had problems with the clutch - it had some wierd ratchet type system that was pretty awful and tended to break on a regular basis. the diesel engines tend to go on for long enough - it's everything else that gives up. most will have been abused. if you can find ex BT ones, they're ideal as have been looked after and not used to carry much weight.

the variations include short and long wheel base, semi high top, high top, side door. all depends what you want to carry. high top is unnecessary for most people - semi high top is a good option. LWB may not be necessary either. doesn't make them any easier to park.

DanTheMan

....are you sure about that as I took delivery of a brand new petrol Transit a couple of months ago.

I'd say go for a medium height roof, LWB Transit diesel, small enough to park & manouvre but big enough to fill with crap.

sti-04!!

dont buy a new shape transit, loads of problems, got for the old shape '95 style diesel only, try & get a non turbo as well, the less goodies the better.
The old style are as solid as a rock & not much transmission & engine faults, though the can be prone to the old rust

Hope this helps a little

Stephen

ALi-B

iTrader: (1)

I could give the Exact Opposite account of the above.
Avoid the slow chuggers and go for the later Duratorqs.

Probably due to the old shape ones having such low power that they get thrashed ALL the time, so something gives up (gearbox, injector pump, rear diff on the twin wheel axle version. The new ones have so much more power they don't need to be driven as hard. The reduction in fuel consumption on the later ones is shocking too.

ProperCharlie

i stand corrected

maybe i should have said "people in their right minds stopped buying petrol transits some time ago".

i didn't realise they were still available in the uk - the last one we had bit the dust about 10 years ago - iirc it had the old 2 litre lump from the cortina. not a bad engine, for its era.

Reffro

Current Transit Petrols use 2.3 litre lump out of the Galaxy. Its 145hp, and is used as the base for their LPG vehicles, which are selling very well in/around London, due to them being exempt from the Congestion Charge in central London.

ProperCharlie

ah - so Ken's to blame!

wiltshire_boy

Thanks guys, clear as a spint of Black Rat now! No, thanks, plenty to chew over there. I don't think that my money will get me a Duratorq so that decision is made for me.

So i'm after the newest semi-hi top, LWB, diesel, non-turbo ex-BT van my money will buy.

I think.

DanTheMan

mine is LPG too, but has about as much power as a gnats chuff so avoid at all costs unless you regularly go via RED KENS con zone

ALi-B

iTrader: (1)

When did they stop putting the the 24 valve cossie V6's - or was that Europe/Australia only?

Would be handy to use as a tow/support van

wiltshire_boy

Picked up a 2.5 diesel SWB tonight. £500

Off to buy my first (ahem) copy of The Sport to stick in the dash tomorrow.