First van

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ds1990

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Hi fellow plasterers! Been plastering for about 5 years now and have now decided to start up myself in the next couple months. What kind of vans are you guys using? What's the best kind of van for domestic/commercial work?
 
Had Nissan vivaro fir years little trouble and a Renault traffic. No probs. You could spend £15,000 on a van and have constant trouble and costly repairs , you could spend £1500 on a van and not have a problem for 5 years. Luck of the draw when it comes to vans
 
I have a ford connect , my last big horay before having kids , nice van not many problems just minor ones , but allways wish id of bought the bigger transit , i think you need to rack out one side of a van and you struggle to do that with a smaller van , plus a full bulkhead is important.
 
If you can afford a new van tbh look at a transit, if you got a limited budget steer clear an older transit as the pumps will be on the way out and the bodywork will be rotten.
As oli says the vivaro or the traffic/primastars are a pretty safe bet.
 
I had an escort for my first van then bought a partner in 02 still got it had some probs with it last year cost quite a bit to put right only got 84 thou on it aswell , im thinking of getting me a pick up like a navara or isuzu at the min not decided yet
 
Started with my astra estate then a citron relay for 3 month before the big ends went and had 2 trannies since
 
Arti said:
Started with my astra estate then a citron relay for 3 month before the big ends went and had 2 trannies since
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Have you got the new one Arti?? They look a bit smaller to me?? :RpS_unsure: Am contemplating leasing a van next year due to the miles am piling on my poor land rover??
 
Or are these your two trannies @Arti?? :rolleyes)
First van
 
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jeanclaudevangyproc said:
I had an escort for my first van then bought a partner in 02 still got it had some probs with it last year cost quite a bit to put right only got 84 thou on it aswell , im thinking of getting me a pick up like a navara or isuzu at the min not decided yet
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Isuzu better than navara (lots of problems with those ask @cassie!!) Toyota hilux the best of them but more expensive!! Seen some too lease deals on the Isuzu tho and look good aswell :RpS_thumbup:
 
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Marshy said:
Isuzu better than navara (lots of problems with those ask @cassie!!) Toyota hilux the best of them but more expensive!! Seen some too lease deals on the Isuzu tho and look good aswell :RpS_thumbup:
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I heard of a few things with the navara and i do like the isuzu but 3 litre might be a bit juicy? Any idea what the rangers are like marshy? What landy you got ?
 
Marshy said:
Have you got the new one Arti?? They look a bit smaller to me?? :RpS_unsure: Am contemplating leasing a van next year due to the miles am piling on my poor land rover??
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Mines a 54 plate only had 40k on it when I bought it 2 year back off an old boy antiques dealer. Me marra has got a new one and it does seem smaller like
 
jeanclaudevangyproc said:
I heard of a few things with the navara and i do like the isuzu but 3 litre might be a bit juicy? Any idea what the rangers are like marshy? What landy you got ?
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I've got a 110 300tdi hardtop put lots of pics of it on here. I love it but my work taking me further afield so don't want to pile the miles on it so gonna keep it but lease a van for work!? The new ranger looks good and ford are reliable so should be OK? I've not heard any bad reports but plenty about navaras and mitsubishi pick ups being a costly problem. I love my landy and may put a canvas back on it? Brill in summer lol??
 
My first van was a Bedford CF with a three speed gearbox.

Anyway, there are three approaches to running a van.

1) Bangernomics. Buy something very cheap, and only fix it as and when. I bought a SWB low roof Iveco for £1,500, ran it for two years and spent about £1,500 on repairs, MOTs etc.
2) Spend a lot and hope for the best.
3) Lease or buy new and spend nothing beyond the monthly payments.

I always went with 1) doing the repairs myself to keep the costs down and it worked OK until you factor in time spent grovelling about under a van that could have been spent either earning or resting.

Tomorrow I pick up my first foray into 3). Having looked at the figures it's going to cost me about the same per year to buy a new Vivaro as it would to run an old van. Plus it'll be a lot nicer to run round in a van with air con and blue tooth. It does give me one problem though, what am I going to do with the cassettes out of the Transit?
 
Marshy said:
I've got a 110 300tdi hardtop put lots of pics of it on here. I love it but my work taking me further afield so don't want to pile the miles on it so gonna keep it but lease a van for work!? The new ranger looks good and ford are reliable so should be OK? I've not heard any bad reports but plenty about navaras and mitsubishi pick ups being a costly problem. I love my landy and may put a canvas back on it? Brill in summer lol??
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i worked with a mate couple of years ago and we had bad snow round here he had a b reg defender 90 my van was stuck in street for two weeks so we went in his it was great just driving round people who were stuck !ive not made a definate decision yet gonna keep looking for a bit but defo swaying towards a crew cab pick up 4wd ive heard the navaras up to an o6 plate are ok or the tenka model after that they are problematic with filters blocking up n stuff but im not that well up on motors
 
jeanclaudevangyproc said:
i worked with a mate couple of years ago and we had bad snow round here he had a b reg defender 90 my van was stuck in street for two weeks so we went in his it was great just driving round people who were stuck !ive not made a definate decision yet gonna keep looking for a bit but defo swaying towards a crew cab pick up 4wd ive heard the navaras up to an o6 plate are ok or the tenka model after that they are problematic with filters blocking up n stuff but im not that well up on motors
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@Marshy will wanna shag you, he loves a good snow/defender story ;)
 
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I think once you've had something transit size it is hard to have anything else. I try not to pick materials up but it is hand having the ability to chuck a few 8x4s on and carry a stupid amount of tools you think you need!
Had a work van provided for a while but when I make the switch to being on my own I'll just see what's about and keep a few grand aside seems to be horror stories for them all now! I know a few people who've had expensive clutch/dmf issues on the trannies.
 
Yeah buying new or leasing isn't an option right now, I have a budget of about £2500 so it will be an older van I'm looking for! Transit size would be ideal as it will fit water barrels, wheel barrows etc for roughcasting jobs but ive been advised plenty not to get an older transit
 
jeanclaudevangyproc said:
I heard of a few things with the navara and i do like the isuzu but 3 litre might be a bit juicy? Any idea what the rangers are like marshy? What landy you got ?
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the ranger and the mazda b 2500 which is the same vehicle, a tough workhorse. with a top speed of 70mph. i would avoid a turbo charged one ,could be expensive to repair.
we had a general motors outback, in uk as an isuzu cheap pickup but chassis will rot .
 
jeanclaudevangyproc;791289s a crew cab pick up 4wd ive heard the navaras up to an o6 plate are ok or the tenka model after that they are problematic with filters blocking up n stuff but im not that well up on motors[/QUOTE said:
we use a diesel cleaner additive every 1,000 miles to keep our vehicles filters clear. diesel has all sorts of additives in the fuel including varnish which will block the filters and injectors up if you do not use a cleaner.
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@Wezly trying to decide between a merc Vito and new transit?? Your a merc man what's your take on the Vito?? They seem to rot pretty quick the mercs?? And electrics seem to be an issue?? :RpS_unsure:
 
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