Tilers Van Options and Recommendations

[trevortine]

Wivers, i was in this position years ago and went done the road of buying a brand new transit. More affordable than you think even though i bought the exec model. i think it gives a better impression to punters turning up in something decent rather than a clapped out van or car. After all its your buisness and you want to keep that professional apperance. Good thing too is you can carry plenty gear so youre never stuck! Im sure there will be many opinions on this subject but thats my view mate. Finance is always a pain in the arse but if you are making good money its well in the budget🙂

 

[wivers]

Thanks lads. Think i'm gonna have to sit down and go through the outgoings. Van is still sitting in the car park gathering dust! 🙁

 

[GazTech]

Never had a van,twenty years trading always bought big second hand estate cars,clean and tidy though.Volvos and fords my preferance,not only good for work but good when bringing up a family.

 

[Paul Sh]

I agree with trev on the apperance side of things, having said that, i think you need to look at the reliabilty side of things, vans are basically bashed about from the day they are bought especially if your employees are driving them, the state of the vans at my current work place are testimant to that, i personally think you should go with a newer van 3yr old maxx they are normally only traded in because a lot of companies get rid after 3yrs,
Sorry but buying older clapped out vans you are just buying someone elses problems, Go to a dealer, as in my opinon the days of buying cars/vans out of your local paper are long gone, reason being, years ago you might have knocked a £100 off a car you were buying because it needed a new exhaust, you would then go and buy one fitted for £50, not now, an exhaust runs well into the hundereds of pounds for most cars, Nowadays you need some form of protection, you will get some from a dealer and none from a private seller, BTW I've just bought a Ford Transit Conect 1.8 Turbo TDI 33000 miles it had a few dents in the side pannels and needed a new belt tensioner, fixed for free from ford, It rocks.:wink_smile:

 

[DevonR]

Buying a second hand van doesn't necesarily mean buying a clapped out old knacka!
Theres plenty of decent vans second hand if you look hard enough.
If you can afford new then obviously go new, if not is it absolutely essential to your business that you must have the latest van? I'd of thought the quality of your work and recommends would take care of that.

 

[DevonR]

 

[tjsmiler]

I agree with all of ya.... DevonR makes good sense about not going over budget as you don't know where you will be in a year and it might be safer to edge on the side of caution. But me personally i would try to get as new as poss and i would also go for a transit type van (for all the reasons Trev makes) at mo i have a combo and i dont like it one bit!!!! it's to bloody small and everytime i want to get something out i bang my head when trying to climb about in the back lol.

But thats just my opinion mate, if your gonner be getting plenty of plasterboard and stuff then get the big one but if your just gonner stick to the tiling side of things then a smaller van will do fine.

Or just to make it even more complicated for you you could get one of them superb transit connects that Paul has got, there middle of the road mate.

 

[wivers]

Well, i managed to find the fault on my van. There's a bad conection on the live going to the starter motor, and it keeps earthing and draining the battery. Getting it sorted at the weekend, but still feel as though i should invest in a newer more relieable motor as i don't want to keep worrying if todays the day the van breaks down again. Those new Ford Connects look the nuts though, how much they to buy new ??

 

[Paul Sh]

Sorry dont know how much they are new, but to be honest i would never ever by a brand new van/car as the minute you put the key in the ignition you lose a boat load of cash. Theres some cracking deals on one to three year old vans if you look around.
Another option which to be honest i know nothing about is leasing one, i'm sure you can lease them for the same cost as one you would buy, pretty certain someone on this forum does that, its something like a lease to buy (i think).
If you do go for a transit connect be aware there are two types of engine there is the 1.8 TDi 75ps and the 1.8 TDCi 110ps i bought the TDi but i think the TDCi is the more desireable. One more point get the one with the side loading door.

 

[tony TLC]

what ever van you buy you will fill it with crap anyway buy somthing that starts every morning and gets you to work i want a newer van but can only go to 6 ft hight to get it in garage any tips? not connect not a fan of ford Fix Or Repair Daily have had 4 fords constant probs any suggestions? must be max 6 ft high