Best Used Van

I currently have a Ford connect van. I now need an extra seat up front. I love my Connect, this is my second one. The so called third seat on the new connects / peugeots partners etc are not what you would call full fitting.
My budget is £11K tops inc.vat (I'm not vat reg'd)
I'm looking at the vans below -these are generic examples

Ford Transit >2013 50k
Vw Transporter 2006-11 70k+
Vaux Vivaro/ Ren' traffic varies wildly, lots of ex BT and lease on the market.

Having read all the reviews it would seem all have their issues and opinions are devided. My natural leaning was towards the Transit having had good experience with the connect-

What would you buy with a budget up to £11k

I only need short wheel base, low roof. I don't carry much wieght being a Decorator and cover about 10k miles per year

T5.

done.

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Build thread for my T5, panel van to multi van/day van.

viewtopic.php?f=8&t=187612&hilit=van+build

I love my t5, its only the lowely 1.9 but its fine in a motorway, slows on really long drags uphill but mostly its never an issue.

I bought it with just under 100,000 on the clock, I average about 10,000 a year aswel, in that time I have had the turbo go after a year, then last summer the clutch died, other than that its been fine, some would main about those dying but i see it as no different to any vehicle of that age. Its currently on about 145,000 in just under years.

Regarding the other brands, I didn't like the merc drive wise and the models I could afford had more rust issues than the t5. The ford apparently is quite good but long term they don't seem to hold their price and also tend to feel very worn to drive, vague steering and gearbox etc.

Think about what you will want to do with the van in say 5 years time.
Then look at Transit prices 5 years older than you can afford now and Transporter prices too. That might give you a clue as to which is going to be better value over the course. Both will need maintenance and you could be lucky or unlucky with either.

A £10K transporter will still be worth around £7K in 4 years time. Their resale values are epic. Transits are decent though - You're throwing your money away on a merc/vaux. They may be good, but they'll be worth nothing in a few years time.

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A low miles Sprinter with a few years under a careful owner would be a grand choice. It is a Merc after all!

I love them, though I am driving mainly an old Transit at the moment.

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Thanks for all the replies, your good advice is most welcome.

I love jonnyboy's T5, brilliant job and very cool.

I had pretty much ruled out the Vivaro but included it here in case anyone had anything good to say about them...so that's out then.

I don't want a Vito and a Sprinter is just too big for my needs.

So I'm down to the Transit or Transporter.

I'm looking at a Transit this afternoon just because it's close to home. 36K miles 2013 £9500 plus vat, from a trusted source too. It'll have a years ford warranty and will be up to date service wise.

The hurdle I can't get over with the T5 is with my budget I can only afford something that's old and covered 80K at least.
80-100k is when I normally change vans.
There's also the fact the transit is bigger like for like.

I do like the VW though :?

look at the resale values - t5s just don't depreciate. The 2.5 engine (that we have) is sublime.

That said, if depreciation isn't a big issue, the transits are good vans.

Try to drive both, The T5 is a much nicer place to be IMO.

Vitos rust to hell - we forgot about them very quickly.

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I find the transporters a bit wee, but it depends on how big your two front passengers are, and how little space you can get away with.

Sprinters are available in SWB, and the later ones handle beautifully and all have great residuals.

Your budget would not fetch you a low miler unless it was a lot older though.

Transits are so common there is always a bargain to be had.

No brainer.