Tilers Vans... Does anyone feel qualified to comment? I dont know much about vans...

[Deleted member 1779]

I dont know much about vans - but now because 365-Drills does a lot of exhibitions up and down the country I was thinking of getting rid of our smart car and its trailer and buying a van..

I had my eye on this ex-police vehicle but lost out in the auction:

03 PEUGEOT EXPERT HDI TURBO DIESEL VAN
(above is the link to the auction page)

I missed out on this ebay auction (I Bid £2200 - it went for £2450)
It had done 76K miles which seemed low to me.
Owned by the police as a traffic enforcement van

Question: My local garage is selling general vans all at about £3995 plus vat so should I keep watching ebay and bidding on vans at about the £2500 mark?

If I had won that one above its a saving of over £1500 quid. And its hardley likely that with the police being the owners that anything was wrong with it.

Reason I am asking questions is that Force Auctions have another identical one for sale at £2500 PLUS VAT whereas the e-bay auction was £2450 NO VAT

Are there any known problems with Peugot Experts?

I was going to stick with a yellow van because its our company colours

Yellow and Black are our colours.... Was going to get rid of this Smart and get a yellow van.

 

[david campbell]

Re: Tilers Vans... Does anyone feel qualified to comment? I dont know much about vans

i do know ex-police cars and vans tend to be in great shape mechanically,they have parts serviced and changed at certain milage rather than if needed,for example they change would a fan belt at 15000 miles even if it is guarenteed to last 30k

 

[brian c]

Re: Tilers Vans... Does anyone feel qualified to comment? I dont know much about vans

defo get a van with side doors,i like vw Transporter.

 

[Deleted member 1779]

Re: Tilers Vans... Does anyone feel qualified to comment? I dont know much about vans

Yes this one has doors on both sides

Just got an insurance quote from Tescos for £210 third party f&f (£290 full comp)

 

[Colour Republic]

Re: Tilers Vans... Does anyone feel qualified to comment? I dont know much about vans

Do they all come with the side glass panels? bit of a pain as it doesn't leave much room to sign write unless you went for a full body wrap to cover it

 

[CDS]

Re: Tilers Vans... Does anyone feel qualified to comment? I dont know much about vans

The peugeot experts are great little vans - I've been using one for 2 years now. Big enough to carry all the required kit but not so big that they're a nightmare to park. My only advise would be to get the turbo - mines only a standard 1.9l - it hates hills and shouts at me if I take it on the motorway!!

 

[Gazzer]

Re: Tilers Vans... Does anyone feel qualified to comment? I dont know much about vans

Police vehicles will have a good service history but they wont be using genuine parts. Not sure if that makes much difference but worth knowing.

 

[mikethetile]

Re: Tilers Vans... Does anyone feel qualified to comment? I dont know much about vans

excellant vans

the only problems we had with ours was it was too small and it regularily blew headlamp bulbs

we have a o5 pug 206 that eats lightbulbs as well

pricewise is about right

i found that theres little difference between a £1500 van and a £2000 van


then they jump in qualityfrom £2500 upwards

for around £3000 your getting a lot more van for your money

so for something tidy that will last a few years your in the right ball park

you can trade it in in 2 yrs and get most of your money back

 

[Deleted member 1779]

Re: Tilers Vans... Does anyone feel qualified to comment? I dont know much about vans

Cheers guys.

My only advise would be to get the turbo -

This one is descriped as "The Rare Peugeot Expert 2L 110bhp" So for an ex-police van looking for speeders its got a hefty engine....


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[frostfree]

Re: Tilers Vans... Does anyone feel qualified to comment? I dont know much about vans

The electrical systems on many police vehicles are heavily modified to run cameras, computers, worklights, radios etc. This would certainly be the case on this Peugeot. This can cause problems down the line if the police wiring is not removed correctly, can lead to all sorts of strange electrical gremlins.
Ignore age and mileage and buy on overall condition some police vans are in excellent condition, some are thrashed within an inch of their lives!

 

[White Room]

Re: Tilers Vans... Does anyone feel qualified to comment? I dont know much about vans

Was working for a policeman and we was talking about their vehicles as I said about I was thinking of buying one at the time.

He advised me otherwise and said well serviced and good mileage but we do hammer them:yikes:

 

[Aston]

Re: Tilers Vans... Does anyone feel qualified to comment? I dont know much about vans

i have a mercedes vito. great van upto now!!

you can pick a decent 04 up for around £3k and the engines go on for ever.

also, they do them in yellow and they look great when all signed up!

 

[UniqueTiling]

Re: Tilers Vans... Does anyone feel qualified to comment? I dont know much about vans

365..

are u talking about the Van garage at the bottom of hertford road, hoddesdon?
i went there for my van, wernt impressed to be honest! would not budge at all on prices! u might have better luck tho

British gas have let go all the 55 plate ford tansit connects, they are around 4000-5000 k but really low milage, and ply lined and shelved! ther'r are loads about in a lot of garages! usually in blue!

hope this helps

 

[doug boardley]

Re: Tilers Vans... Does anyone feel qualified to comment? I dont know much about vans

one thing you can always be sure of..... whatever van you get, you'll wish you'd got a bigger one lol

 

[faithhealer]

Re: Tilers Vans... Does anyone feel qualified to comment? I dont know much about vans

Keep your eye out for ex AA vans, they come in yellow and you get the flashy lights as well!!
My mate has one, a transporter, even got a wash basin in the back!

 

[Deleted member 1779]

Re: Tilers Vans... Does anyone feel qualified to comment? I dont know much about vans

are u talking about the Van garage at the bottom of hertford road, hoddesdon?

Yes! - I live in Hoddesdon and it seems they have either gone more upmarket with vans on the £3995 + VAT route or their prices have risen. They used to have £2500 vans but it seems they dont anymore.

They have Mostly white ones. I know I am being a bit picky about the colour needing to be yellow (a full body wrap is £1k) But I think I will probably just get on with it and get that ex-police one at £2878.50 with the new 17.5% VAT

Keep your eye out for ex AA vans

Yes I've seen the Ex-AA vans but the downside is they do seem to all come with starship miles on them (150,000 plus) and they seem to want big bucks. Talking £4995 for one

 

[ACS]

Re: Tilers Vans... Does anyone feel qualified to comment? I dont know much about vans

I have an ex Police Volvo which I purchased last year, at the time I had a 400 mile round trip to work so wanted a cheapish estate with LPG. Excellent car, very quick but having had one I wouldnt recommend buying an ex police car. Although they comed with a full service printout it isnt main dealer, genuine parts are fitted but they all have been thrashed, mine required a new gearbox at 120,000 miles which for a volvo is a little early.

The vans maybe ok but I would still be cautious, having seen postie vans, bt etc bash up and down kerbs I would look to avoid those as well.
Some on here would of course have been lucky with their vans but buying private would probably be the best way to go.

Ive heared a rumour that a lot of cheaper vans have been bought (or otherwise) and have left these shores for Poland etc, hence the lack of cheap transport at the mo.

Andy.

 

[Peter]

Re: Tilers Vans... Does anyone feel qualified to comment? I dont know much about vans

Just a word of warning - Peugeot HDI engines give a lot of bother - better off sticking to a 1.9 straight diesel if you're going down that route. Also would generally stay clear of Peugeot/Renault/Citroen vans - it'll usually have plenty of niggles to infuriate you as time goes on.

 

[Dan]

Re: Tilers Vans... Does anyone feel qualified to comment? I dont know much about vans

I had a Citreon Saxo some time ago (and SCitreon and Pergeot work on projects together I believe) and I had to replace the whole engine at a cost of £3,000 as Citreon stopped making a part for them that would have cost £28 + vat. Even though they were still in production. Citreon UK wanted me to pay £3.5k and give them my engine! I ended up getting one from a breakers and selling mine on eBay for £1k without the part (and listed as such may I add!).

Would never buy a french vehicle again! Had use of a Citreon Berlingo once and killed the engine due to them using oil as part of the fuelling process and some silly issue with some pump or hose or something caused the oil not to pass to the engine properly or something (the info the garage owner gave me went straight over my head) and in the end we had to have a new engine in that too though not at my cost. Needless to say I didn't get given a van again to use though it wasn't actually all my fault. I perhaps just should have turned the radio down and then I would have heard the clunking before it was too late.

I think they're made really cheap french vehicles though hats off to them at least they're mass produced and aren't going bump like all our car makers.

My 2p.

Mercedes, VW, or Ford I'd go for I think if I were to get a van. You'll find they'll last a lifetime with or without high mileage providing they've been serviced well (with our without genuine parts).

I think when it comes to buying a van I'd consider the condition and how often it's being serviced more so than whether it's main dealer service or from the police, AA, RAC, BT, Royal Mail. And I'd buy a van with high mileage and a good reputation service-wise over one that's low mileage and looks dirty all round and a bit thrashed.

Unlike when I buy cars which is more to do with what car it is etc. That's something that's cost me a fortune to work out! And due to owning quite a few turbo'd cars that would have definitely been thrashed but hopefully serviced regularly and fixed as soon as they're broke and not driven when poorly.