UK car / van buying

[Janne]

If it has that many faults I think I would get a new vehicle!

We get used to the modern tech, and forget that we can live without it.

I do not mind it, but will not buy a car that has some.

 

[Paul_B]

This car was bought as something a bit different to our usual basic escort, Astra, focus type of practical family car. It was not a common car, had a bit more power to it and had a few gizmos. It was the first car I've had with cruise control (never used it) and the first with ac (in fact it had dual zone climate control which is a step up from normal ac). It had heated wing mirrors which were fully adjustable electronically from the area next to the gear stick, plus you could fold them in if passing cars in a narrow gap.

It was great for a year then it kept losing power until it just conked out. Turns out the rac guy found out it was a butterfly valve into the engine that was sticking. Cue a hard tap on the outside of that area of the engine and he left us with the heavy handled screwdriver he used. I did it once more then I've had no problems with it. Reliable mechanically after that except the ac stopped cooling us. That's what we used to use windows for right so no problem. We got it regassed but that didn't work they said some gas had leaked as they put some in.

Later on the heater failed. Plus other things. We had the driver's front wing replaced / repaired along with a significant part of the suspension after a building supplies truck hit our parked car sending it flying up onto two wheels. A very good body shop fixed it to a good standard and we got a Hyundai ix35i, I think, medium to large suv. We loved the high viewpoint but the car sucked and didn't actually give us more internal space. So we are confident that we don't like SUVs.

4x4s are good for what they're meant for. Plus our son is very keen on land rovers. Jeeps are good but not as good (if it's not a land rover it must be a jeep in his opinion).

We all like estate cars but they are a bit too low inside for easily putting bikes inside. MPVs are good and some have the height and length for bikes but not much else with three bikes, such as camping kit. Some are long enough but not very high inside like the Ford s-max. Ford Galaxy is better but not many come up used.

Small van type cars are good and the larger versions could take bikes and possibly camping kit too. If we're going to consider a car / van then they're boxy just like proper vans, so why not consider vans. Vans give you more space for kit and bikes. What about converting to a campervan? You can see our thought progression.

Today we dropped into a commercial van dealer. They sell a lot to people wanting to convert and even get vans partially converted or fully converted to sell. They had plain panel vans of all sizes and types, plus campervans, pickups, race vans (with a garage inside) and even a mazda bongo with a really carp conversion.

Some good value vans with potential. They had three VWs. One was not for sale but two were. They were being converted by the dealer. They don't normally convert but they got two good vw vans from a builder and from another trade. The guy wouldn't give us any idea of expected selling price when finished because the guy said they weren't sure how good it'll turn out to be. He said it would be expensive. He said over ten grand like that is a lot for a converted VW panel van! I've seen converted VWs for £19k and thought they were very cheap. If they do a decent job and sell for close to ten grand I'd be interested if only to sell on for a profit. Nice black vw 63 or 64 plate I think.

We saw a Renault minibus that was 6k or dead it 4.5k, but it was a 2011 registration. Not sure.

 

[Janne]

The base of many cars and vans are shared between the manufacturers.
If you find a vehicle you like, check which ‘clones/brothers ‘ it has.
They differ visually usually, but in many cases many parts are the same, some are even built in the same factory (= same quality).

If the heating is not working, it can be something as simple as the valve that allows the engine coolant to circulate through the heating matrix.
Should be an easy fix.

Tell your son Jeeps are a death trap. Plus awfully badly built, they rust and have truly bad paintwork.

Here we have the worst climate for vehicles.
Short driving distances, salt, humid air and a very strong sun.

We can see quickly the quality of a vehicle.
BMW X1 second gen for example. Interior plastic bleaches and cracks.
Paintwork fades and peels.....

Choose wisely!

 

[Paul_B]

It's interesting to look into car floorplans/beds/bases. There's some regional variation around the world but mostly companies like Ford rationalise to maybe 5 basic variations which all their cars are built onto. For example Ford kuga is the same chassis as the focus, ecosport is a fiesta, smax and galaxy are based on a mondeo. Bmax is fiesta and c max is focus. The grand cmax is based on the mazda 5 mpv from when ford owned mazda I believe. I'm not sure about vans. For example is the transit connect based on one of the car chassis or is it different?

 

[Janne]

No decent car has a chassis these days!

The Ford Transit is made all around the world, and I suspect Ford did not need to cooperate or share the excellent design with anybody.

 

[Paul_B]

No decent car has a chassis these days!

The Ford Transit is made all around the world, and I suspect Ford did not need to cooperate or share the excellent design with anybody.

You know what I mean, platforms. I couldn't think of the word late last night but I thought at least with chassis people would work out my meaning. Ford is 5 global platforms and a few more regional ones. Although they're talking of moving away from platforms towards "architecture". Funnily enough 5 "architectures" from which all vehicles are built from. What the difference is I don't know but it's things like front wheel drive unibody, rear wheel drive unibody, van, etc. All about faster design cycles which obviously saves money.

 

[Janne]

I have read that it is the design of the floor that is the most important for the rigidity and other aspects for the vehicle, and very difgicult to get right.

 

[Paul_B]

Well after a long decision making process we're about to buy the van. A VIVARO bus or one of two trafic WAV.?

With one we have two rows of seats to take out. Anyone want to buy them?

With the other it's a 350kg wheelchair lift plus a single seat.

One is ex MOD lease van with FSH and low mileage. The others are private owner ls with FSH and low mileage.

The MOD one is 2012, both WAVs 2010 registration. Now I've always bought cars at 4 or 5 years of age so these 7 or 9 year old vans do concern me. Since we're putting more money into the van to convert should this age concern me if they're FSH?

We're talking 36k to 44k miles too. Not a lot of miles for vans. We're talking 4000 miles /year for the WAV or 6280 miles / year for MOD van. Minibuses tend to be low loads and better looked after I read once.

Any car / van nuts with advice? Should I consider these vans or walk away. We're about 2k to 3k shy of the budget we really need to get a decent van. That's with ruling out a vw.

 

[firedfromthecircus]

A quick Google will tell you if the models you are looking at have any known issues and you can then check for those issues. If you check the Gov MOT check website with the reg numbers then you can get the MOT history and any recalls that have been in force for that model. Again it just lets you know potential issues and how well it has been maintained.
While the MOD lease vehicle will have been well maintained it will also have been ragged within an inch of its life if driven by squaddies, and for that reason I personally would avoid.

 

[Stew]

I have friends in the forces.

I would never buy an ex-MOD vehicle....

 

[Nomad64]

I would never buy an ex-MOD vehicle....

One careful previous owner!

I’ve always fancied a Pulse ambulance - maybe not that one though!

 

[Stew]

One careful previous owner!

I’ve always fancied a Pulse ambulance - maybe not that one though!

Not much mileage on it though - a bargain!

 

[moocher]

I would carefully read online about the Renault trafic/vauxhall vivaro vans ,few people I know who owned them ended spending thousands on repairs ,they are not the most reliable ones.

 

[Paul_B]

I bought an ex mod Astra once. A most reliable car that didn't cost me much in the 10 years we had it.

 

[GuestD]

I have read that it is the design of the floor that is the most important for the rigidity and other aspects for the vehicle, and very difgicult to get right.

see "Monocoque".

 

[Janne]

I know what a monocoque is, but the floorpan is the most important part, as on a well designed floor you can put different ’tops’ or even cabriolets.

Check out the floorpan sharing amongst the VW group.

 

[GuestD]

I know what a monocoque is,

Good. It makes an interesting in depth study into the integrity of modern vehicle design, including automobiles with, or without fixed roofs.

 

[Janne]

What sometimes surprised me is that ( seldom these days of industrial copying) they can get it so very, very wrong.

Not only the floorpan.

 

[Van-Wild]

What will you be using the van for is the first question.....

I brought mine for full time living and spent a year converting it. VW T6. I brought mine direct from a dealership. I knew I would keep it until it dies so was happy to pay for a new van. I brought it convert to full time campervan.

But if you're using it for work, load carriage, throwing your fishing gear in, a run around, or whatever I really wouldn't buy new. Look in the small adds. Or join a van forum. There's millions of them on Facebook.

Sent from my SM-G903F using Tapatalk

 

[demographic]

QUOTE="Paul_B, post: 1892400, member: 10061"]Well after a long decision making process we're about to buy the van. A VIVARO bus or one of two trafic WAV.?

With one we have two rows of seats to take out. Anyone want to buy them?

With the other it's a 350kg wheelchair lift plus a single seat.

One is ex MOD lease van with FSH and low mileage. The others are private owner ls with FSH and low mileage.

The MOD one is 2012, both WAVs 2010 registration. Now I've always bought cars at 4 or 5 years of age so these 7 or 9 year old vans do concern me. Since we're putting more money into the van to convert should this age concern me if they're FSH?

We're talking 36k to 44k miles too. Not a lot of miles for vans. We're talking 4000 miles /year for the WAV or 6280 miles / year for MOD van. Minibuses tend to be low loads and better looked after I read once.

Any car / van nuts with advice? Should I consider these vans or walk away. We're about 2k to 3k shy of the budget we really need to get a decent van. That's with ruling out a vw.[/QUOTE]

Personally I'd avoid Vivaros/Primastars like plague.
Or if you must, drive it along a dual carrageway in sixth and if the gearbox whines, run away quickly.

Known issues with a bearing in the gearbox and if you look on Ebay theres a lot of them advertised as having a "New, reconditioned gearbox" at about 90K miles.
90 thousand miles out of a gearbox? Shockingly bad. Avoid or at the very least Google that to get a better view and decide for yourself.