P junior rides for a KIDS motorcycle display team and we cart all the gear (Jump ramps, bikes, spares) around in a 7.5t IVECO, trouble is this is rapidly approaching the end of its useful life and becoming v expensive to run Repairs/Insurance/Diesel etc etc, plus its not very popular on the driving rota ! Therefore we have thought about downsizing to a 3.5t van which if we make the Mums and Dads tow the larger bikes should be plenty large enough and hopefully cheaper to run, easier to find and a bit more popular to drive - Mums too.
The club is not particularly flush as any surplus funds are donated to kids charities each year, so we are looking for a cheap, mechanically sound van, which would give the club several years good use, bearing in mind that we do very limited mileage <5k pa. Obviously there are the Commercial Vehicle Ads but I wondered if there are any sources that it might be worth trying?
Thanks in advance for any ideas or suggestions.
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You say the club is not flush but could you give us some kind of idea over budjet?
Thanks
Hugo
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Hugo, I think realistically it would have to be in the £3.5-5k area. I know this isnt much but we are probably looking for something which is retiring from commercial life based on age/mileage, but is still likely to be reliable for a few years based upon a much reduced workload.
(PS The club isnt averse to carrying some sponsors logos on the vans in the right circumstances!)
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Vansboy is the local expert. He actually deals in these and will tell you what to go for and what to avoid etc. That being said, I haven't seen him for a while so he could be away or something.
When I was looking a few weeks ago I went on e bay and typed in Van on the search engine. That came up with a load of possibilities, though the better ones weren't doing very well at fetching their reserves, which may play to your advantage.
You need to think, do you want hi top or normal roof and are you likely to tow anything with it?
From memory, your budjet should get you something around 4 to 5 years old or more with ok mileage. When I originally set this budget for myself, I was looking at the Peugeot Boxer and Citroen Relay (I think), VW Transporter, Transit etc, but I was looking for something slightly smaller. I find with vans that private sellers tended to overprice them and some of the trade deals looked ok by comparison. I was interested in a Peugeot Boxer in Taunton, a good 3 hours drive from me, but I felt that it was overpriced and was a little reluctant to make the journey without knowing what the prospect was of getting it a little lower.
I'll leave it for now to see if VB turns up.
Hugo
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Hugo thanks for the info - I think we would want a hi-top, bearing in mind we are coming down from a 7.5 tonner.
Good point about towing - can you tow behind a 3.5t van on a standard D/L ?
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Good point about towing - can you tow behind a 3.5t van on a standard D/L ?
I believe so, look at your drivers licence
Hugo
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I think the classifiacation is C1E, next to that om ny DL is a sillouhette of a Luton type van towing some sort of box trailer.
Don't forget, the old 7.5 Tonne truck is probably worth a good p ex price or stick it on ebay.
Hugo
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Sorry I'm late getting in here!
What about the same as I suggested a week or 3 back, for the backroomer, wanting to shift his band around?
An ex Police personel carrier. You'll have a well maintained, not TOO scruffy van, with extra seating & a good loadspace.
Check www.woma.co.uk they even publish ACTUAL achieved selling prices, prom the previous entries!!
VB
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