Best small van for £2000?

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Thu 17 May 2018 22:56
Best small van for £2000? - Ashyrx8

My dad is looking for a small van for approx £2000. The size of van he is looking at is Transit Connect/Berlingo sized. I am warey of modern diesel engines being potentially problematic, and costly to repair.

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Thu 17 May 2018 23:26
Best small van for £2000? - SLO76
None of the above. Vans are generally only offloaded by businesses when they’re no longer economically viable or reliable. They’re not like cars where people sell just to have a change, they’re kept until they’re done. I’ve only ever sold vans from my business (convenience store) when they became troublesome with one exception being the VW Caddy I sold when I sold the business.

The exceptions to this are ex lease stock and ex NHS and BT. These are offloaded on a schedule at a particular age but they’re also far far out of budget here.

I’d recommend a rethink and aim instead for a petrol estate car such as a Toyota Avensis, Honda Accord, Ford Mondeo or Mazda 6. Possibly something from the size down like an Astra or Focus again stick with petrol.

If he absolutely must have a van then the Vauxhall Combo with either the old 1.4 petrol or 1.7 Isuzu diesel is cheap and robust but most have been utterly abused. The Citroen Berlingo 1.9d and 2.0 HDi are also good but again few decent ones survive. Don’t touch anything with the 1.6 PSA Diesel as used in the later Berlingo. The Renault Kangoo is a pain for electrical and suspension woes plus timing belts snap prematurely. The Ford Transit Connect was a good wee van but most are in ruins now and the TDCi diesels are a pain as they age, petrol examples are non-existent. Sadly there are really no good options at this money so again I’d rethink. Spend a lot more money or buy an estate.
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Thu 17 May 2018 23:29
Best small van for £2000? - badbusdriver

Citroën Berlingo/Peugeot Partner as either a 1.9 (n/a) diesel or 1.4 petrol, early (Polo based) VW Caddy/Seat Inca 1.9 (n/a) diesel, later shape Caddy 2.0 SDI (>2010), Transit Connect 1.8 petrol, Vauxhall combo 1.4/1.6 petrol or 1.7 diesel (Isuzu engine). Problem with a van at that budget is it is likely to have led a very hard life and had many owners, but the above are all fairly simple and reliable.

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Fri 18 May 2018 00:55
Best small van for £2000? - Avant

As well as NHS and BT, British Gas sell off their vans after 3 years. My elder son is a plumber and has had an ex-BG VW Caddy SDI for some years now - no problems. Very slow, but no turbo to go wrong and it does the job he needs it to.

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Fri 18 May 2018 06:05
Best small van for £2000? - SLO76
You’ll need more money to get a half decent Caddy though, these sell for a premium and are popular among the modifying fraternity too. For £2k it’ll be ready to drop with an interstellar mileage. Good wee vans though, mine was great and although it was no ball of fire it kept up with the flow of traffic.

The chap who bought it from me was going to use it to travel all round the UK as he was a wind turbine engineer of some sort. One thing to remember on these however is that they are classed as a panel van and not a car derived van so the lower speed limit of 50mph applies on B roads.

Edited by SLO76 on 18/05/2018 at 06:06

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Fri 18 May 2018 06:55
Best small van for £2000? - badbusdriver

Something else that occurred to me, if you can find one these days, is a Citroën C15. Not likely to be many left now, but very simple and reliable.

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Fri 18 May 2018 13:40
Best small van for £2000? - Gibbo_Wirral

+1 to a Berlingo 1.9. Had one from new to 120,000 miles and all it ever needed was brakes and tyres.

You might be lucky to get a little-used one for that price, but remember its an old vehicle so many parts will be reaching EOL due to age wear, and not necessarily mileage.

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Sat 19 May 2018 00:23
Best small van for £2000? - Ashyrx8

Thanks for your responses. Just to add, although I said £2k, my dad would raise his budget to a bit more - say £2.5k. He currently has an Astra estate and needs a van really.

I understand a cheap van could be more worn out etc than a cheap car. However I can do some repairs myself, and I work in a garage to. So it wouldnt be the end of the world if it needed a little bit spent on it to get it up to scratch.

Theres a mechanic at my work who has worked with diesels for years - used to work in a diesel specialist place. He too said the 1.9d Berlingo is slow but strong and simple.

Is the Peugeot partner the same as the Citroen Berlingo? If so a 1.9 Partner should be just as good I am thinking?

Also, are all Vauxhalll 1.7 Combo's non turbo? Are they all the Izuzu lump?

Edited by Ashyrx8 on 19/05/2018 at 00:25

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Sat 19 May 2018 06:11
Best small van for £2000? - SLO76
“Is the Peugeot partner the same as the Citroen Berlingo? If so a 1.9 Partner should be just as good I am thinking?”

Yup, same van. The 1.9 diesel is a good old lump but known for popping head gaskets around 100k. Not the end of the world though as catch it before it cooks and it’ll run for another 100k or so no bother. The best is the 8v 2.0 HDi which will run and run if looked after. Quite rare in these though.

Also, are all Vauxhalll 1.7 Combo's non turbo? Are they all the Izuzu lump?”

Yes, it’s not to be confused with the old GM 1.7 non-turbo in some Mk III Cavaliers. It’s a tough old lump but I’d avoid the Fiat 1250 diesels which although efficient are troublesome as they age.


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Sat 19 May 2018 11:43
Best small van for £2000? - Bromptonaut
“Is the Peugeot partner the same as the Citroen Berlingo? If so a 1.9 Partner should be just as good I am thinking?” Yup, same van. The 1.9 diesel is a good old lump but known for popping head gaskets around 100k.

The Berlingo Multispace and Peugeot equivalent have minor trim differences (eg seat covers) but are mechanically identical. Vans same.

The XUD turbo had an appetite for head gaskets. Both my BX (original XUD n/a) and Berlingo (1.9 DW) ran beyond 150k with original CHG. Both engines have tappets adjusted with shims. Over 100k plus the valve seats can wear leaving insufficient clearance when cold causing rough starting similar to a failed pre-heat plug. Fix requires camshaft out/in/out to re-shim and restore clearance. A fairly skilled job to do properly and cost me around £500 on the Berlingo. Took a long time for my garage to diagnose but it never grounded the vehicle. Only things that did in 160k+ were clutch *2 - I blame my son's pedal riding habit for second! and a broken alternator lead that should have been fixable at roadside.

Edited by Bromptonaut on 19/05/2018 at 11:43

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Sat 19 May 2018 23:33
Best small van for £2000? - daveyK_UK
For £2k you might find a Fiat Qubo /Citroen Nemo / Peugeot Bipper with the 1.4 petrol engine.

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Sun 20 May 2018 00:34
Best small van for £2000? - Alby Back
He could ( I've seen this done on a Mondeo estate ) take the back seat out of the Astra, cut a piece of plywood to make a flat floor, another to make a bulkhead, get the back windows film tinted and he'd have a van. Might have to put the back seat back in at MOT time but that's usually pretty easy.
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