[RPCCS]

Dont bother wth that one Lee, its 12 years old, and has been far and done many miles. You could be just buying someone else’s trash. As SD says, go for the Berlingo/Partner or Dispatch Expert. I had a 51 plate Berlingo,1.9 XUD engine, bullet proof as long they get a service every year.  I had a Dispatch after the Berlingo, and it had the same engine in. It was a bit underpowered in the Dispatch with it being a bigger van and non turbo engine.  If you go for one of those, get the 2.0 hdi  turbo engine, which will give you a bit more power.  The Berlingo/Partner later models came in  a 1:6 hdi engine,without a turbo, but  they were  not as reliable as the old 1.9 XUD.

What you need to be wary of with the 'old' Dispatch, Scudo and Expert (pre 2006) is under body corrosion. The original Berlingo did have lower body galvanisation to about 6" above the lower door line, so the underneath body wise should be OK.  This didn't include suspension subframe etc.

Mine was 2004, with colour coded grille, so pre facelift, no rust on it when I p/x d it last year. This is why Im looking to go back to a Dispatch,newer shape one from 07 to 17, as the bodies anthem are much better than the Transit Im currently running.

[lee_dewing]

Thanks for all your advice guys.

Thanks Spruce for advice and link.

Gonna try and see this one in-between Xmas and new year.

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201712081926872?advertising-location=at_vans&search-target=usedvans&supplied-price-from=3000&supplied-price-to=5000&advertising-location=at_vans&postcode=en93na&model=DOBLO&sort=atcustomsup&page=1&radius=30&make=FIAT&version=b

[RPCCS]

Looks good but there's almost a grand to add on to that price in vat.

[lee_dewing]

That's right RPWC

I hate the way they do that +vat lark.

Just display the finished price.
Now it's 20% it's easy to work out, take off last digit and double the figure,😖

Maybe I can haggle £500 off and a free roof rack!

Imagine kipper season for sales in January but will see😖

[dazmond]

if you ve got 5k to spend on a van why would you spend 2k on a van with such high mileage lee?

vans are a lottery mate.i had an old connect.cost me 2.7k and it was 9 years old at the time with 91,000 on the clock.oil pump went and seized my engine.id not had the van for 2 years! .

before that i had an old kangoo.cost me £1400 and had it for 4 years and it had 106,000 miles on the clock when i bought it.not much trouble apart from torsion suspension bar snapping within a week after going over a speed bump!(this is before i put a 350l tank in the back!)

good luck with whatever you decide to do lee.

[RPCCS]

if you ve got 5k to spend on a van why would you spend 2k on a van with such high mileage lee?

vans are a lottery mate.i had an old connect.cost me 2.7k and it was 9 years old at the time with 91,000 on the clock.oil pump went and seized my engine.id not had the van for 2 years! .

before that i had an old kangoo.cost me £1400 and had it for 4 years and it had 106,000 miles on the clock when i bought it.not much trouble apart from torsion suspension bar snapping within a week after going over a speed bump!(this is before i put a 350l tank in the back!)

good luck with whatever you decide to do lee.

My first van was a Kangoo 1.2 petrol with   ansolute night,mare, only bought it as I was desperate.

[Stoots]

Dont bother wth that one Lee, its 12 years old, and has been far and done many miles. You could be just buying someone else’s trash. As SD says, go for the Berlingo/Partner or Dispatch Expert. I had a 51 plate Berlingo,1.9 XUD engine, bullet proof as long they get a service every year.  I had a Dispatch after the Berlingo, and it had the same engine in. It was a bit underpowered in the Dispatch with it being a bigger van and non turbo engine.  If you go for one of those, get the 2.0 hdi  turbo engine, which will give you a bit more power.  The Berlingo/Partner later models came in  a 1:6 hdi engine,without a turbo, but  they were  not as reliable as the old 1.9 XUD.

What you need to be wary of with the 'old' Dispatch, Scudo and Expert (pre 2006) is under body corrosion. The original Berlingo did have lower body galvanisation to about 6" above the lower door line, so the underneath body wise should be OK.  This didn't include suspension subframe etc.

Mine was 2004, with colour coded grille, so pre facelift, no rust on it when I p/x d it last year. This is why Im looking to go back to a Dispatch,newer shape one from 07 to 17, as the bodies anthem are much better than the Transit Im currently running.

I hate to say it as I know spruce is a bit of an expert on these things but it was my belied even the older ones were galvanised.

They was absolutely no rot on my 53 plate a couple of years ago, it had 300k in and was solid, most fords etc would have been rust buckets but this was a solid.

I'll have to double  check as thought they were galvanised before 07 as well

[Stoots]

Yes they were

http://www.fiatprofessionalpress.co.uk/press/article/revised-scudo-van-range-in-uk

Thought so

[Spruce]

PSA were very hit and miss with galvanising and even the technical dept didn't know which vehicles were treated and which weren't. (I phoned the tech dept in Coventry to ask the question regarding a 2010 Relay and they couldn't tell me even with a reg number. Their eventual reply was that later Relays have better protection against rust than older models did - very non committal.)
There was no continuity with PSA. Each factory seemed to do it own thing. VW  have done a better job of intergrating Skoda into the VW fold.  PSA with its rebadging policy don't have the same control especially with the factories in Slovakia (C3)  and the Czech Republic (Toyota in Kolin.)

Our Citroen Xsara's are galvanised and there is just a couple of rust stains at the panel joins along the back valance underneath the bumper behind the spare wheel. The Xsara Picasso has exactly the same floor pan as the std Xsara and is also galvanised dipped. But somehow there is an issue with the galvanisation reaching inside of the sills of the Picasso behind the front wheels. Most older ones have had the sill welded because of rust - an MOT failure.

My 04 plate Citroen Relay is rotting along the sills because the Italian Fiat/PSA factory's rust protection was a joke at best. They played the same game as Ford. All they expect from a commercial vehicle is 5 years, where private buyers expect a longer body life.
Its only since 2006 that the 'new' generation of Relays/Boxers/Ducatos are galvanised dipped. They also never publicize this as it would mean they admit that the rust protection they did on previous models wasn't good enough with the potential for warranty claims. 

If it was up to the manufacturers, none of them would protect against rust. Its just the EU has stipulated that manufacturers have got to improve the standard of protection, so they are forced to.

So if you are buying something older, then you have to get it inspected by an expect before you sign on the dotted line.

.

[Spruce]

Yes they were

http://www.fiatprofessionalpress.co.uk/press/article/revised-scudo-van-range-in-uk

Thought so

 

This is the facelift model so that's great. The previous model (prefacelift) definitely wasn't galvanised. Strangely though as there aren't many of them left.

.

[Spruce]

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2006-Citroen-Dispatch-2-0-hdi-FSH-EX-UTILITY-80K-MILES-as-Peugeot-Partner/322926041748?hash=item4b2fe45a94:g:r0UAAOSwLJ9aKCZK

not cheap at £2995 + VAT.

Would need to check out the last MOT's advisories.

 Offside Front Lower Suspension arm has slight play in a pin/bush (2.4.G.2)
  Play in inner rack joints

[JandS]

My 2.0 litre Expert is 04 plate and galvanised......bodywork is solid.

[lee_dewing]

Hi Daz, I haven't got £5000 + would be bank loan.

Yep cheap van a lottery as I have no knowledge of mechanics, a dangerous game to play.

Some good personal loans available.

Thanks everyone for the advice, thanks Spruce for you wealth of knowledge 👍

Haven't checked my euro lottery ticket yet 😁