I need a van!

Cyanide

Cyanide

Cyanide

Soldato
Joined
5 Mar 2006
Posts
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Location
Nottingham
Well I don't but my mum does :D

She's looking at something fairly small, around the size of a Transit Connect. It's got to be roomy but have more than 2 seats if that's possible.

The budget's tricky - either up to £3.5k for a decent one to replace her car or up to £700 for a cheapo one to run alongside the car.

Current favourites are the Berlingo and the Suzuki Carry (which I don't fancy as there's lots of roundabouts near us :eek: )

Any suggestions?
 
For that money why not just get a Volvo estate?

£700 buys a minter of a 240 or 740 - they're not *that* big. Insurance would be a lot less than a commercial too.

What is it for?

*n
 
Yeah get a one fo the Volvo's that Penski said. Then if you take the rear seats out surely you will have a lot of space there, plus the car will be comfy to drive.
 
Tesla said:
Small vans are quite pointless.
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In your opinion maybe. They're useful to some people though and I'm in agreement with my mum that she does need one.

Big Volvo's not a bad idea, might look into it but I'm not sure it'll have the height/access to the back that's needed.
 
Cyanide said:
In your opinion maybe. They're useful to some people though and I'm in agreement with my mum that she does need one.
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Why does she need one?

I though I needed one, infact I have a Vaux. Combo at the moment. But it's really quite bad. Infact it's ****. The back load space is taller but not by much.

I bought a Mondeo estate. I will try and find out the boot space of the van and estate. There isn't a lot in it though.
 
Tesla said:
Why does she need one?

I though I needed one, infact I have a Vaux. Combo at the moment. But it's really quite bad. Infact it's ****.

I bought a Mondeo estate. I will try and find out the boot space of the van and estate. There isn't a lot in it though.
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It's not the amount of space but how the space is used and accessed.

She's running her own business and it involves driving all around the country for shows etc. She needs the van to carry stock around which needs to be easy to load and unload. We had an estate not too long ago, it was just too akward.

I've just been told that an old Volvo would eat too much fuel for her liking. Was worth a try though.
 
The fuel economy of my van is quite shocking.

In the Mondeo a full tank is about £50, that will get me 300-350miles of town driving.

The van has a smaller tank but because diesel costs more a full tank is about £45 and it seems to get the same range as the estate, 300-350miles.

I was expecting sort of 60MPG, 600-700miles per fuel tank. But no, It's just plain rubbish.

How is the space used and accessed? Why is the estate idea impractical?
 
We have a Citroen Berlingo 1.9D (citroen engine) at work, does about 70mph top end and REALLY struggles to get there, acceleration is painfully slow and its almost always empty load wise. It also gets very poor mpg.
Overall....its rubbish
 
got a 1.8d escort van at work, i love driving it. Vans make anyone into an instant **** behind the wheel!

Is very slow though and i am sure if i had to drive it more than the mile there and back once a month or so it would get tiresome very quickly
 
Cyanide said:
It's not the amount of space but how the space is used and accessed.

She's running her own business and it involves driving all around the country for shows etc. She needs the van to carry stock around which needs to be easy to load and unload. We had an estate not too long ago, it was just too akward.

I've just been told that an old Volvo would eat too much fuel for her liking. Was worth a try though.
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I don't get how a small van is easier to access than a estate car. With the van you've only got one door to put things in and out of. With an estate car (with the back seats flat) you've got 3 doors to access the load space. They're much easier to drive as you've better visability and the insurance is noticeably less. The only benefit I can think of is that the load space is slightly taller in a van.

Fuel ecconomy isn't that bad in a big old Volvo. I've had 35mpg out of my 940 turbo on a decent run sitting at around 75mph. It's around 25mpg normally so a diesel one should be able to do mid 40's on a run.
 
William said:
Ah unfortunate, you can't stick it on the road?
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Not really, got the neighbours car and my van on the road outside and there's no room for anything else without blocking off the road.
 
**** the neighbours :)


got a vauxhall midi here and apart from the recent headgasket failure its a braw van fair sized good power (2.4 tdi) and cheap as chips to get one as well :) (i paid 230 for mine mot'd till mar 07
 
moss said:
We have a Citroen Berlingo 1.9D (citroen engine) at work, does about 70mph top end and REALLY struggles to get there, acceleration is painfully slow and its almost always empty load wise. It also gets very poor mpg.
Overall....its rubbish
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I had one of these for a fortnight on holiday in Spain last month - I didn't think they had made them with this engine for a long time but in Europe they still do. You're right - it was absolutely gutless and would lose speed up the slightest incline in 5th gear.

However, we used to have a Berlingo HDi at work and that was fine - would sit at 90mph on the motorway all day without a problem.

The Berlingo's (Multispace) are a good compromise if you need a van and a car. The seats drop into the footwells to leave a flat load area of similar size to the van, with the seats up it has more space for 3 adults in the back than a Focus class car, with a decent luggage space behind. They are actually pretty narrow so are easy to park and the sliding doors make it easy to load with people or cargo.
 
moss said:
We have a Citroen Berlingo 1.9D (citroen engine) at work, does about 70mph top end and REALLY struggles to get there, acceleration is painfully slow and its almost always empty load wise. It also gets very poor mpg.
Overall....its rubbish
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I'd say you drove a bad example then, we have quite a few Berlingo/Partner vans in at work and my boss has bought and sold a few as well. The last one we picked up from Liverpool (1.9D, not HDi) had me chasing him back at an indicated 110/115 at points in my Laguna...good ones go well.
:)
 
jon.bda said:
I'd say you drove a bad example then, we have quite a few Berlingo/Partner vans in at work and my boss has bought and sold a few as well. The last one we picked up from Liverpool (1.9D, not HDi) had me chasing him back at an indicated 110/115 at points in my Laguna...good ones go well.
:)
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We must have a bad batch then, theres 4 in the company, all are rubbish.
 
moss said:
We must have a bad batch then, theres 4 in the company, all are rubbish.
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Never seen one yet that would struggle to get to 70 mate, and they all give pretty good MPG. What are you lot doing to them!.
:D
 
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