van / pickup advice needed.

[jax13]

for my new business, i need a new mode of transport.

logical options at this point are either a 5 seater crew van (transit, traffic, vivaro or primastar being favourable options) or a pickup (rodeo, l200, navara, ranger)

my needs for work are as follows, large load space (enough for 10 of the plastic veg crates from the supermarket, 3 folding tables, 2 pop-up gazebos & a 5x2x3 foot cool box & the ability to tow 1 tonne trailer with ease) however as I only want to run 1 vehicle, I also need it to fit my personal requirements (relatively economical to run, 5 seats, tidy condition, cheap-ish insurance)

I was looking originally at a large-ish estate (accord 2.2 diesel / current shape mondeo / late e39 5 series being the favorite options) however i am currently using a car & it copes but its not ideal due to the weight I am carrying & towing at the same time.

so for the next arguement - pickup vs van.

van will be better on fuel, more versatile load space, better cabin room, easier to work out of due to the height in the back at the cost of looking like a pikey, bad visibility (model dependent), lower towing capacity & being 2wd won't be the best if I am working on a field (which will happen fairly often)

pickup will give me better towing capacity, a more car-like vehicle for the family side of things & the off road ability would be very handy for getting on and off muddy / slippery fields when I cater at marquee type events or festivals / fairs. downsides are higher running costs, less versatile load space slightly less room for back seat passengers, fitting into car park spaces.

when i look at purchasing costs, £4k gets me a straight-ish pickup with 120k+ on the clock around a 52 plate but the same cash can get a 56 plate van with 40 - 60k on the clock which would obviously be a lot better for running repair & servicing costs.


realistically, I am only 'working' 10 - 15 days this year & aiming at 25 days next year (unless i get a lucky break) so I don't want to be stuck with a vehicle that is ideal for work but not so great for day-to-day living.


as impartial advisers, what would other people suggest? have I overlooked anything as an alternative option? what are your experiences of specific vehicles?

thanks folks.

 

[legrandefromage]

If image is no issue, I can thoroughly recommend a Fiat Doblo - make sure its the 'JTD' version as the others are either tiny underpowered petrols or the not even funny anymore 1.3 diesel.

The rear seats can be removed by 2 Allen key bolts to turn it into a van. It has slidey side doors and either up and over rear or double opening. We can get our 4x4m gazebo in quite happily.

Our was a 52 plate bought in Jan 2009 for £1600 cheeky ebay bid. It already had 113,000 miles on it and with the minimum of servicing its suffered nearly every weekend stuffed to the gills with our stall. It needed a drive shaft when we bought it but only just changed it last week after 50,000 miles.

The only 'breakdown' has been a flat battery or the EGR valve. The AA had a ready made bit of metal to blank off the EGR.

If I were to buy another one, it would be the 'ELX' model as this adds rear headrests and a proper centre seatbelt rather than the lap belt found in lower models.

They have front airbags, good visibility and simple servicing - cambelt change was around £180.

Even when fully loaded, we can get at least 52mpg. On long trips, the mpg can be as high as 62.

They are ugly, noisy and the interior trim plastics are rubbish but they are pretty well equipped and you sit at the same height as a Range Rover. We do a lot of markets in fields and so far (!) we have not managed to get stuck yet. We also have a towbar to pull our box trailer and have had no issues yet.

Fugly:

Sadly never released:

 

[highlandsflyer]

I would humbly suggest a van. You can tow a decent trailer even with a small van, and you could put some aggressive tread tyres on for the mud.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/LEZ-compl...6?pt=UK_Commercial_Trucks&hash=item4ab69c983e

Bargain!

But given you would like a crew cab and pickup with 4x4 maybe something more like this?

 

[lewis1641]

the pikeys round here drive more pick ups (and mercs, porsche's, ferrari's etc) than vans

i had a pick up for a while, admittedly not the kind you are looking at and the biggest issue was security. you couldnt pop into a service station for a wee if you were on your own as all your gear is exposed.

transit van FTW. They have their issues but they are cheaper to sort than the competition.

 

[firedfromthecircus]

My honest opinion is you are asking too much from one vehicle. Especially when you consider the number of days you are working the compromises the rest of the time are too much to bear.

Keep the car (or a car) with the 5 seats and the good economy and buy a cheap van or pick-up for the work stuff.

Granted you will have to pay 2 lots of VED, 2 MOTs etc but if you have a car that does 50mpg it won't take many miles before you have saved the extra cost of not running a pick-up doing 25mpg.

 

[Grannygrinder]

.

Don't get a Navara.
We had a 2.5 tdi at work. Under warranty it had a gearbox and an engine :shock:
Then at 4 years old the electrics cried enough to the point where the main dealer couldn't fix it.
They are also hopeless on fuel, motorway cruising returned about 18mpg :?
The boss now has a Toyota hilux invincible, which is better but not that great.

 

[mass199]

Get yourself a good Land Rover Discovery 300Tdi.

 

[jax13]

Get yourself a good Land Rover Discovery 300Tdi.

had 2 in the past & would have another without any hesitation IF there was better space in the back. if the rear seats folded flat rather than just tipping forward (offering about an extra 10" of uesable space) I would have one in a flash. to put it in perspective, I could fit more in my old S plate civic estate than in a discovery.

VW vans I am trying to steer clear of because of the cost of them (& parts) equivalent vans seem to fetch a lot less.

re: pickups - I know people with navaras, rodeos's & rangers & they are all spot on. navaras are hit & miss, d22 engines are prone to exploding (cam shaft i think is a flawed design) but there is a company who rectify it & make them run sweet as a nut for about £600, the current shape have a shallow sump and are prone to seizing in cold weather. A friend has just bought an isuzu rodeo which will happily drag a double axle trailer with mini digger, full compliment of buckets & a lot more kit in the back & make no more issue of it than his tuned 300tdi defender whih is why they appeal to me.

fiat vans appeal - If 5 seats wasn't an issue I would buy a scudo (or peugeot expert / citreon dispatch) as they are the right size inside & run fairly well. depending on insurance costs I would be tempted to run one of these and grab a smaller hatchback (probably an old civic again as i really liked the way it drove) but for the standing costs of owning / maintaining 2 vehicles I would rather have 1 and compromise.

edit: having just looked at a couple of quotes i won't be able to afford to run 2 vehicles so i need a compromise!

 

[mass199]

Discovery 2 Td5? Has more load space than a Disco 1.

 

[jonnyboy666]

i had a similar decision although without the work issue. i would say van, mainly because of security of what you're carrying, with a van it's all inside unless you get a crew cab pick up with the rear box bit over the bed.

also having used a crew cab pick up before i noticed that there was bugger all space in the back for whoever sits there so potentially not comfortable on long trips for passengers.

also my van seems pretty reasonable on fuel being a 1.9 tdi, not the fastest thing out there but not so slow that i ever get frustrated with it. i have never
towed anything with it though.

the insurance for me was only 350 fully comp which i think is pretty good aswel

i have also heard horror stories of navara's aswel but i have always liked hi-lux's, don't know about the L200 though.

LGF knows his stuff though so it might be worth taking that on board.