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w00dsmoke

w00dsmoke

Native
Jan 4, 2007
1,683
15
Southern edge of the Great Wood and Waters of Cale
I am looking to buy a secondhand vehicle (recycled and all that) in the next few months or so and have narrowed my choice down a bit but would like some informed advice from those who know better than me!

All in deisel, not fussy re turbo or multispace versions:


The FC use both of these and have fitted metal plates to their front bumpers and have reinforced their suspension I think or even raised them up?

Citroen Berlingo
Peugot Partner
Suzuki Jeep (last choice)
Anymore?





 
Plenty of low mileage(approx 45000) ex gas board kango's about, but they are vans. Just got my wife a fiat doblo(she's an interior decorator) the car version, loads of space in that, but its about as wide as my toyota van.
 
If you can leave it for a month or so the secondhand car market will have dropped even further and you could get them even cheaper, theres good deals about now but I can't see many builders doing much in the way of van buying for a while.
 
berlingos have a pretty good reputation and are very cheap.

the berlingo and partner are identical.

renault kangoo and nissan kubistar are identical.

there is a 4x4 berlingo and kangoo i believe, but mainly (possibly exclusively?) for the french home market.

i don't rate the doblo much (but then i don't like fiats period)

transit connect is a good van, and the vw caddy is also good but cost more than the french ones

if you ever want to put roof bars on them, some are a LOT better than others - ask me (its my job to design them)

Dom.
 
The old firm i worked for bought 5 new berlingo's a couple of years back and they all died within 60,000 miles. Im not saying dont go for one just make sure it has been serviced well.

cheers
cub
 
Thanks for the info folks, keep it coming...

I'm curious about the Berlingo's dieing at 60,000 miles or less?
Any idea how?
I've heard about modern diesels being particulalry unreliable and have heard about mega problems with them when they first came out, mainly to do with the elctronics and the turbo i believe.

I do fancy the 4 x 4 renault but renaults used to have a hell of a bad rep,
and I do fancy the Berlingo Vans/multispace...(does anyone know if they arte the same size in length or is the multispace version much longer? )

Whatever I get I'd like to raise the clearance up a bit by putting psacers in but someone told me you can't do that with citroen berlingos?

I know it's a lot ot ask, but when you go and have a look at any in showrooms to sus them out the sales folk almost never know!

WS

WS
 
oh, and they're fairly rare but if you want to put decent roofbars on a vauxhall combo, DON'T get the crew version (rear seats etc) - you have to take the headlining out to fit them and that's a right pig.

just in case.... :eek:

Dom.
 
I dont know their exact problems but was probably a combination of non stop flat out driving and poor servicing. It probably was no fault of the vehicle specifically. It just might be something to watch out for if buying second hand as most tradesman i have met dont care much about there vehicles lol.

cheers
cub
 
woodsmoke, i work in a bmw and merc garage and i,m a german car man through and through, but my wife had a kangoo for work an it was a great wee van, if you get a motor that shares the same chassis as a van, like the kango or similar then it should be easier to get second hand parts as there will be a few of the vans in breakers and non manufacturer parts will be easier/cheaper to source

One thing i would say with any second hand car, they all have defects no matter what, check up to see what are known faults before you buy to make sure you get one with the faults fixed rather than buying one that has the problems

cub is right never buy a trade car unless its something like a florest or cake delivery the type of business that has an business image to uphold, you usually find those ones are repaired no expense spared

I was talking to an insuranace engineer last week he was telling me that cars are falling so much in value his company have informed him to deduct 34% off the most recent list price to get his market value for te car. I think things will only get worse in Jan as demograhic says might be worth holding off until then, there are some seriously good deals to be had. My frien just bout an e46 320d reduced from £17995 to £13995 private sale and still managed to get £500 off that again to replace the two rear bald tyres.
 
Have you considered a Daihatsu Fourtrak ?

Cheap as chips in Wales, cheap spares and loads going about.

Swappable 2/4wd but not that big inside.

Richard
 
Perhaps join the Yahoo Berlingo Group and other van forums to get the knowledge that comes from long term owner driving, faults, tips and mods!

I was going for a Berlingo as everyone I ever spoke with whom owned/drove them, loved 'em!

Space considerations mean that I now want a Ford Transit Connect LWB.
 
I use a Mitsubishi Delica for my courses. Apparently an L200 chasis with a shogun engine (or so I was told by the geezer who sold it to me). It's basically a 4x4 van with the option of having seats in the back. The rear rank of seats come out pretty easy and then the middle rank (two seats) can swivel round 360 and slide back and forth. If you turn them round to face the rear door and slide them right back up against the drivers and front passengers seats you get maximum space in the back and still have 3 usable passengers seats. There's a useful bit of space left in the gap behind the front seats to store bits and bobs. I have all my spare clothing for ill prepared students, a couple of blankets, sleeping bag, breakdown kit and a box of reference books tucked away there.

Also, the swivelling seats can be laid down flat and butted up against the front seats, also laid down flat to make an amazingly comfortable bed.

Price wise - they're a lot cheaper than you would think. Probably even cheaper now.

I've had Landrover defenders and a Daihatsu Fourtrak in the past but I'm loving my Delica at the moment. Being pretty heavy it copes remarkabley well in the mud once in four wheel drive and I've used it to tow lesser vehicles out of the poo more than a few times recently, even other 4x4's. The only downsides are that it could do with a bit more clearance (I fell into big hole in the dark the other weekend and bent the running boards), parts might prove to be a bit of a pain and it's a bit thirsty although the comfort inside and large carrying capacity easily makes up for that. And you get a little wave from other Delica drivers when you see them!

Happy Christmas by the way
 
I have been running a 100k mile plus berlingo van for over a year now and other than servicing has cost me nothing and been 100% reliable . no turbo or fancy electrics on mine though . :)
 
The Delica does look the part but don't I remember reading about some stability problems at motorway speeds somewhere ?

Not the Moose test mind.

Richard
 
I find that it's a comfortable vehicle for travelling long distances on the motorway etc but then I've only ever owned knackered vans, land rovers and very old fiestas so it probably seems like the height of luxury in comparison. I can imagine if you're used to driving a very low and stable vehicle it might feel a bit wobbly due to the suspension and quite high sides.

Is that what you were referring to or is there some sort of Delica at high speeds horror story I haven't heard yet?

Happy New Year, nearly..
 
Barney said:
every berlingo near me is a taxi.:lmao:
Click to expand...

That tells you all you need to know. I'm an ex cabi our cars must be cheep to buy, cheep to run cheep to fix and very very reliable. For a car to become popular as a taxi you need a couple of brave early adopters then the rest watch for a long time before taking the leap.

When I was a cabbie 2 years ago everyone had skoda's one cabbie went against the grain and got a berlingo. all the lads laughed at him. Two years later many of them drive berlingo's.

Never tried one myself though!!!
 
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