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Re: buying a van
funkyboogy wrote:whats the best way to buy a new van…
Visit a garage or similar type premises that sell them 😆
Sorry, I couldn’t resist that 😳
Dave.
Re: buying a van
I purchased my van with a personal loan, But keep a milage log and claim 40p per mile up to 10,000 and then 25p. Doing it this way saved me a grand of my tax bill this year. 😀
Goose
Re: buying a van
sorry for late reply…
looking for medium size van…kangoo…would pref volkswagon caddy..
been looking at some web sites..prices per month look reasonable, but vat to be added,
looking for some advice as to what to expect if i lease etc..
dont realy want to go vat reg ,but it might have to be an option any way…
cheers allyRe: buying a van
Generally…
1) if the van is less than £14,000 buy it
2) if the van is more than £14,000 lease it.
3) if you’re not vat registered, or unlikely to be in the next year, Hp it.If you HP it, all interest is deductable, you own it, if you buy correctly and wisely it’ll last you well. The capital is deductable against tax at 25{e5d1b7155a01ef1f3b9c9968eaba33524ee81600d00d4be2b4d93ac2e58cec2d} per year based on purchase price.
After 4 years it’ll owe you nothing, buy one with that in mind.
finally, transit connects have a good record, are proving reliable to me as I run 2 of them (the 230 has the TDCI engine where other varients did not), try to get one with air con if you can.
hope that helps
Kevin
Re: buying a van
Ive just p/x one of of vauxhall combo’s.Hasn’t been the best van.Two engine rebuilds under warranty.So with 100K coming up on the clock thought it was time to get rid of it.
This time weve opted to finance lease.No real deposit.Over a four year term which you can get out of early without much fuss.4 year roadside recovery and they pay the road tax.After the 4years you pay £1200 if you want to keep it or you can p/x and start again.
The full cost of finance can be claimed back.
Have decided on a citreon belingo because it comes with 100k or 3yr warr.Because we cover alot of miles we always go over the 60k warr given on most vans inside 2yrs.
2.0hdi with air con,abs,electric mirrows/windows/cd player/remote c/l and tom tom thrown in.I know we look after our guys.
This was all standard on the enterprise edition all bar the air con.
£48p/w plus vat.
Seemed like a blinding deal if you take in to account depreciation,once you hit 100k you vans worth nothing..PINKY
Re: buying a van
cheers guys…
pinky was that a deal from a local dealer..of of the http://www..?
cheers allyRe: buying a van
IT was a local dealer.Went to see him at the begining of the year after looking on the net.Took along the net prices and he matched them no problem.I was prepared to pay abit more for the local service to be tbh but he much everthing and more.
At the time what he offered as a pt/x wasn’t enough but he said come back anytime and he could always do a deal.I did and true to his word he did.I didn’t even have to lure him with fact we would need another van in a few months.
He was the only dealer who ever mentioned lease finance.No mileage restrictions which is what put me off b4.
PinkyRe: buying a van
Be VERY careful if you have a contract van from Citroen through Citroen Contract Motoring – expect to get royally shafted for ‘damage’ at the end of the term. In a nutshell, don’t damage/ mark /scratch or dent your van in any way inside or out during the three years (a virtual impossibility) and don’t mark the upholstery or you will be charged. And don’t believe for a moment you can negotiate with them or dispute their decision.
I contract hired a Citroen Dispatch 1.9 van from my local Citroen dealer back in 2002 and was told by the contract manager, “Don’t worry too much about little scuffs, dents or scrapes; we realise it is a commercial vehicle and so we expect some damage on it when it is returned at the end of the contract. Don’t even worry about cleaning it or removing the signwriting – just return it to us at the end of the contract and collect your new van”. What a complete pack of lies.
So it would look it’s best when I returned the van, I thoroughly cleaned and polished it inside and out; removed the signwriting and t’cut the paint back to match; had the rear door dent professionally repaired and resprayed (cost me a total of £200); and had the upholstery cleaned. Total one and a half day’s work.
On expiry day I returned the van and just as I was leaving in my new vehicle, I stopped and showed the contract manager around the old van and he was suitably impressed how damage free it was and thanked me for maintaining it in such excellent condition. So we shook hands and I left.
Seven weeks later Citroen sent me a bill for £633 for damages to the old van with 7 days to pay in full. One charge was for damage to the very door I had had repaired and fitted 3 days before return!!! I went straight down to the dealers and demanded he contact Citroen Contract there and then to find out why. I even showed him the receipt for the door repair. Well, it turned out that the van had been left out in the dealer’s yard because Citroen didn’t come and inspect it for 3 weeks – and then left it there a further week before it was finally collected. The dealer stressed to Citroen none of the damage stated was present when inspected by him – but they insisted that only their engineer’s report ( 3 weeks later) was relevant. My door repair invoice was deemed irrelevant to the case. I was told that even though I had returned the van to the dealers and the contract had expired, I was still held responsible for any damage incurred until Citroen chose to collect it because I was the vehicle’s last recorded keeper – not the dealer.
Over the next 9 months I repeatedly asked for evidence of this damage. Citroen refused (yes, point blank refused) to provide me with any evidence, photographs, the vehicle itself or repair bills of any damage – they just threatened me with court, CCj’s and spiralling interest charges and penalty charges totalling over £1200 if I did not pay in full. I wrote letter after letter and all were answered with a standard reply threatening court action.
The van was returned on May 18th 2005 and the matter was eventually resolved in late February this year – I had to agree to pay half of the £633 I was supposed to owe SOLELY because it worked out cheaper than a solicitor and days spent in court and not working. 😥 To this day I have never been presented with one shred of evidence to support their claims.
The moral of the story is :- Don’t contract hire a van. I can honestly say that had I known what I now know I would NEVER have taken another contract on. When this contract expires and the van is returned, I will be armed to the teeth with a video camera and a tape recorder and I will capture everything that is uttered by their inspector – I refuse to be treated like a common criminal again. 😈 😈
BTW, while I was fighting this stupidity, I found out that another local company had returned their vans and recieved huge damage bills as well. They had ply-lined their vans and they were billed by Citroen for the screw holes left behind after removal of the ply!!! 😯 I checked that story out and it is sadly true.
I hate driving this van – I’m frightened to park it anywhere and terrified to mark it in any way – that is NOT how it was sold to me. I long for the day when I can return it; and believe me, it will not be a day too soon. 👿Steve.
Re: buying a van
i dare you to return your new van with tyres bolted on all around the it ,like they do with the boats….
but seriously thanks for the advice…i think i will get a loan , and look for a decent second hand van….
any ideas on decent second hands vans…
cheers allyRe: buying a van
Contract hire was not for me as you have mileage restrictions.Lease finance is subsituted by citreon but the van is ultimately yours.If its a heap of junk at the end of the term its your loss but with this deal you pay £1400 and its your van.Lets face it its got to be in a pretty poor condition not to be worth that.Also when your vans sign written it does look to good if its a heap!
Pinky
Re: buying a van
I bought red ex royal mail combo last year no probs so far, Except every time I go past a post box it stops 😆
GooseRe: buying a van
Steve,
I think you will find that as you contracted the vehicle from the local dealer and returned it to same dealer at the contactually stipulated time then you were no loner legally liable for the vehicle beyond that date.
I’d’ve told them “see you in court”!Re: buying a van
That is what I had been led to believe – but the fact is that ALL Citroen vans contracted through the dealers are managed by Citroen Contract Motoring – the dealer is virtually powerless to influence anything beyond the sale.
Three weeks before the end of the contract, Citroen phoned me 3 times ‘to arrange collection of the vehicle within the next few days’. I told them firstly, my contract hadn’t ended and they could only collect my vehicle from me on the contract expiry date. They seemed perfectly happy with the ‘return to dealer’ instructions I was following. They did not question me or inform me to the contrary. Secondly, I called the dealer who said,” Oh, don’t worry about that, they do that for large companies with multiple vehicles so they can facilitate all collections in one go; ignore them and return the vehicle to us as originally arranged”. This, as it turns out is completely untrue as Citroen turn up to inspect your vehicle as and when it suits them – according to them you are responsible for keeping the vehicle at your premises after the contract has expired, fully insured and safe until they choose to collect it. (even for the 3 weeks that it took them to get to the dealer). 😯 To add to that, neither Citroen nor the dealer contacted me to inform me of the engineer’s inspection, so I could agree/ disagree with his findings; in my absence it was noted that ‘I chose not to attend’. So I said “OK then, take me to court”.
I contacted a solicitor through the FSB helpline who, at first had a ‘Yes, no problem, bang to rights’ type response; but support withered to a ‘Well, if they produce photos in court it would be difficult’….etc, etc. Citroen refused to supply me any evidence saying that I wasn’t entitled to any evidence as their engineer’s report was full and final and would be the only document needed in court.
The only option I was left with was to pay the half figure they finally offered me – it was the cheapest option. My concern was, if they were doing this to me, and I’m fighting it; how many large companies with say 150+ vans, have bursars just signing cheques without question? Nice little earner, eh?
Just had to put it down to experience and hopefully help others not make the same mistake I made – that mistake being to trust people to tell you the truth and stand by you when things go wrong through their incompetency.Steve.
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