Small van (vw caddy style) instead of a car?

413x said:
Revisiting this as its now become urgent! :D

Top of list is currently a citroen belingo
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The fiat doblo and laughable combo are the same vehicles. Id look at best spec/price between them all. I had a combo as a bike/sleep van for a while. Was fine.
 
Had to drive two 300 mile trips in 2 vans recently, one a Transit Custom and the other a Vauxhall Vivaro. Much preffered the Vivaro, thought it was brilliant.
 
413x said:
Far too expensive. I want this to be as cheap as possible. The big van conversion I'm getting later is going to be the big spend. I'll edit the the OP with a budget.
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I though you were gonna get one that fits all use case - if not just get the cheapest nasty piece of crap van you can get your hands on.
 
Journey said:
I though you were gonna get one that fits all use case - if not just get the cheapest nasty piece of crap van you can get your hands on.
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Going to get a small one for a run around. But that I can also fit stuff in, go into town etc. And then a big expensive one for a conversion for longer trips.
 
radderfire said:
If you want cheap as possible, a Citroen Berlingo or Peugeot Partner would be a good shout. They should be relatively cheap and practical.

See also:

www.whatcar.com

Best small vans 2025 – tried and tested

They may be small on the outside, but the vans on this list still offer generous load space and a hefty payload allowance
www.whatcar.com www.whatcar.com
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Think this is the best for now.

It may only be temporary. I'm not sure how life will go once get a big high top van


By that I mean will I even need a smaller van? I'm not sure. I can certainly see the appeal. If I'm going for a day trip to beach probably don't want to haul a big thirsty converted van. But I still want to take my kayak etc. Or my MTB to the hills.

At least if its dirt cheap I can't really lose Much
 
413x said:
The big van conversion I'm getting later is going to be the big spend.
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On this note - we had a pair of Citroen Relays last week at work and personally I hated them - though they are a bit Tardis like in the back that is about where anything good ends - I don't know what the reviewers are smoking. The seat height comparative to the steering wheel is completely off and everything feels in an odd position or has an odd range of adjustment - the doorhandles are at an awkward height for the seat height, the handbrake in the way of getting in and out, my knees were nearly touching the steering wheel but the only adjustment possible then blocked out my view of the speedo... the steering especially at low speeds was heavy and felt like you were steering with a load in front of you (I guess it balances out if you have a lot of weight in the back but unladen or light load it was really odd) and though the engine had some power it didn't kick in low down where you'd want it and made you work for it the rest of the time. Absolutely could not recommend over most other vans I've experience of.
 
I've been a lcv mechanic for the past 20 years. My recommendations are :

Small car derived van go for a Berlingo or partner with the 1.6 DV6 engine, it'll need to be a slightly older one to have this but it's a much better engine than the newer 1.5 DV5. The only issue is they'll be a euro 5 rather than euro 6.

Medium sized van then it has to be a Transit Custom. Loads of specs to choose from but I'd be going with the 2.0 ecoblue and try to find one with less than 60k miles and get the belt done.

For a larger van I'd probably still go with a Transit Leader, same engine as the custom, options of FWD or RWD and again plenty of spec options for length and height.

If you can find an ex fleet vehicle they'll mostly be well maintained and sometimes they'll be kitted out with some useful bits, inverters, roof racks etc.

Good luck in your searches.
 
kieranvee said:
I've been a lcv mechanic for the past 20 years. My recommendations are :

Small car derived van go for a Berlingo or partner with the 1.6 DV6 engine, it'll need to be a slightly older one to have this but it's a much better engine than the newer 1.5 DV5. The only issue is they'll be a euro 5 rather than euro 6.

Medium sized van then it has to be a Transit Custom. Loads of specs to choose from but I'd be going with the 2.0 ecoblue and try to find one with less than 60k miles and get the belt done.

For a larger van I'd probably still go with a Transit Leader, same engine as the custom, options of FWD or RWD and again plenty of spec options for length and height.

If you can find an ex fleet vehicle they'll mostly be well maintained and sometimes they'll be kitted out with some useful bits, inverters, roof racks etc.

Good luck in your searches.
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Thanks. The car I was looking at would be a 1.6 e hdi.
Is that the dv6 you mention above?

Thanks for the input. Much appreciated

Edit.
For the big van another suggestion I've seen a lot is a merc sprinter. Any views on that?
 
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413x said:
For the big van another suggestion I've seen a lot is a merc sprinter. Any views on that?
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They are our work horses at work - if you take care of them largely they will just keep going though we have had some NOX sensor and adBlue issues which is a pain but I think that partly comes down to how much they are driven by people who don't care because they aren't their van so mistreat them.
 
Rroff said:
On this note - we had a pair of Citroen Relays last week at work and personally I hated them - though they are a bit Tardis like in the back that is about where anything good ends - I don't know what the reviewers are smoking. The seat height comparative to the steering wheel is completely off and everything feels in an odd position or has an odd range of adjustment - the doorhandles are at an awkward height for the seat height, the handbrake in the way of getting in and out, my knees were nearly touching the steering wheel but the only adjustment possible then blocked out my view of the speedo... the steering especially at low speeds was heavy and felt like you were steering with a load in front of you (I guess it balances out if you have a lot of weight in the back but unladen or light load it was really odd) and though the engine had some power it didn't kick in low down where you'd want it and made you work for it the rest of the time. Absolutely could not recommend over most other vans I've experience of.
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I drove one recently as well (73 plate i think) ~1000 miles. I Agree with everything you said, but my biggest annoyance was you can't push the seat back far enough as the bulkhead is so far forward. This isn't normally even remotely a problem in any vehicle for me since I have shorter legs but weirdly Citroen managed to make it a problem. It's definitely a Van Van . Quite liked the high view with the deep windscreen though, and actual real buttons and dials unlike the new Customs which is another story.
 
We bought 10 Peugeot bippers brand new a few years back for £7500 each. The thinking was if they lasted 3 years thats £2500 a year per van, Bargain!!

Nope. Less than a year later they were kicking up £1000+ repair bills ( mileage out of warranty within about 8 months use)
 
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