Looking for a van for business

AntiHeroUK · 6 Dec 2012 at 21:47

Hi all, I've yet to post in the motors section, but I've enjoyed browsing through the "Show us your motors" thread.

I'm looking for a small van to use as transport and advertising for my computer/mobile/tablet repair company. I don't need anything fancy, but something reliable and economical would be good.

Does anyone have any experience with the Citroen Nemo? It seems to be quite an efficient vehicle.

Any suggestions would be great.

iaind · 6 Dec 2012 at 22:07

Why does it need to be a van? Surely you're not lugging much kit around. A decent estate would be a much nicer place to spend your time. You can still livery it up if you think it will help

Spamalot · 6 Dec 2012 at 22:32

The best advice I can give you is buy a van, cheap but clean, get it stockered up and park it on the main route in to town in the mornings. Cheap advertising at its best.

Edit: thumbs down was a mistake.

Windle · 6 Dec 2012 at 23:32

The Nemo is tiny, like literally tiny. We have a few at work and they ain't comfy to drive and you could barely fit a midget in the back.

Get an Astra van, plenty of spare side space for livery and decent boot space plus fairly nippy. Also fairly easy to come across second hand.

Blue160 · 7 Dec 2012 at 09:06

A friend of mine who runs a musical instrument repair business has similar needs. He drives a fully liveried Alfa 156 estate though

Not sensible, but much more fun than an Astra van

Tesla · 7 Dec 2012 at 09:23

If you're going to buy a Van at least get something decent size. I don't see the point of an Astra Van or Little Nemo thing. I've hired a new Citroen Berlingo/Pug Partner a few times and thought they've improved massively over the previous generation.

I had a previous generation Fiat Doblo and couldn't fault it at all. If I were to buy a van again I'd go bigger though and 3 seats. VW Transporter would be top of my list.

iaind · 7 Dec 2012 at 09:28

Tesla said:
If you're going to buy a Van at least get something decent size. I don't see the point of an Astra Van or Little Nemo thing. I've hired a new Citroen Berlingo/Pug Partner a few times and thought they've improved massively over the previous generation.

I had a previous generation Fiat Doblo and couldn't fault it at all. If I were to buy a van again I'd go bigger though and 3 seats. VW Transporter would be top of my list.

This was my point though, laptop and tablet repair wont necessitate a van

Duke · 7 Dec 2012 at 09:48

I used a Fiesta 1.4 tdci van for a while when doing the same business, then sold it after realising I didn't really need it. It was cheap to run though.

iaind · 7 Dec 2012 at 10:15

I'm still struggling why any sort of van is needed in this sort of business. You need a toolkit, probably the size of a briefcase and room to carry boxes etc. Any hatch could handle that quite easily.

We're talking laptops and tablets here, portable devices. I hauled 2 NetApp DS4243 shelves the other day in thier boxes, along with tools and boxes of cables etc. Those are disk shelves for enterprise storage systems for those who dont know. They get delivered on a pallet and take 2 guys to lift. I did that in a Mazda 6 hatch, no hassle.

I can see the fact that it's more of a "blank canvas" for advertising, but if someone turned up from a laptop repair business in a VW transporter I'd laugh at them. A smart, clean, small estate with subtle livery is the order of business here. It's going to be the most practical, most comfortable and give the best image for this sort of business.