[James Styles]

Am looking to purchase a 2nd hand van in January.
Looking to spend between £500-£1000.
I seen a Citroen Berlingo for £600 on gumtree, 10 months mot, says it runs fine, seems a good deal.
What advice would you give to buying a second hand van?
Just looking a getting a small van that will be an ok runner while still building my round.

[Stoots]

Am looking to purchase a 2nd hand van in January.
Looking to spend between £500-£1000.
I seen a Citroen Berlingo for £600 on gumtree, 10 months mot, says it runs fine, seems a good deal.
What advice would you give to buying a second hand van?
Just looking a getting a small van that will be an ok runner while still building my round.

At that price its pure luck.

Just check the usual

I recently bought an old transit connect for a grand. When it goes pop i will buy another.

[Smudger]

I think its a gamble at that price, however you can still get a reasonable van esp.  smaller ones - try to get a Dispatch as they are nice size for 1 man with a 400 ltr tank

just try to get as low mileage as poss and not ex builder van ( painter/decorator van is a good bet ) - a lot of these have also been "private" and used as a casual work horse

Darran

[EandM]

Run the plate and have a look at the MOT history.

It tells you a great deal about what sort of life it's had and whether or not it's been looked after.

Then go and look and listen.

[NBwcs]

Pot luck really, but i wouldn't buy one that's been used for window cleaning, not after seeing the amount of abuse we give them. Id rather have a builders van 

[KS Cleaning]

Am looking to purchase a 2nd hand van in January.
Looking to spend between £500-£1000.
I seen a Citroen Berlingo for £600 on gumtree, 10 months mot, says it runs fine, seems a good deal.
What advice would you give to buying a second hand van?
Just looking a getting a small van that will be an ok runner while still building my round.

At that sort of money for every decent van ( and there won’t be many ) there will be 5 lemons. It will be largely down to luck whether you are buying a money pit or not.

[James Styles]

Thanks for the advice guys, what if I stretched to £2,000 you think I could get an ok van for that price?
I’ve seen some for 2nd hand on finance, is Vanarama any good for deals? The vans are more reliable from there right, like they welcome AA RAC inspections

[CleanClear]

Am looking to purchase a 2nd hand van in January.
Looking to spend between £500-£1000.
I seen a Citroen Berlingo for £600 on gumtree, 10 months mot, says it runs fine, seems a good deal.
What advice would you give to buying a second hand van?
Just looking a getting a small van that will be an ok runner while still building my round.

If i was looking at something like that i would budget another couple hundred quid so that when i got it i'd pop it in garage for oil/filter change and cambelt/alternator belt if there was no concrete history on it.

[Richard Groves]

Am looking to purchase a 2nd hand van in January.
Looking to spend between £500-£1000.
I seen a Citroen Berlingo for £600 on gumtree, 10 months mot, says it runs fine, seems a good deal.
What advice would you give to buying a second hand van?
Just looking a getting a small van that will be an ok runner while still building my round.

If i was looking at something like that i would budget another couple hundred quid so that when i got it i'd pop it in garage for oil/filter change and cambelt/alternator belt if there was no concrete history on it.

That's good advice right there 👍
My vans have always been about 10 years old with 90 k mileage. Granted they're not really worth much once I've finished with them but stop start and carrying water takes its toll on them. I usually get 5 years or so from them. You can check on DVLA now for previous MOT's and advisories. If there's signs of several fails or constant advisories it would suggest to me it's not been looked after. If there's limited service history and no record of a cambelt change you should factor that in as well. I bought a 60 plate Berlingo back in February and it had its MOT last week with no issues. Was north of your price range by about 1K though. It takes a bit of research, luck and gut instinct.

[Richard Groves]

Sorry CleanClear just realised you mentioned cam belt.

[EandM]

Thanks for the advice guys, what if I stretched to £2,000 you think I could get an ok van for that price?
I’ve seen some for 2nd hand on finance, is Vanarama any good for deals? The vans are more reliable from there right, like they welcome AA RAC inspections

I bought my 02 Ford Ranger for £2500, nine years ago at 130,000 miles. Nothing's really gone wrong with it in the last 46,000 miles and I've been so pleased with it work wise that I've bought another on an 07 for the same price.

I do all my own maintenance, some of it preventative,  though which does save a lot.

[dd]

Am looking to purchase a 2nd hand van in January.
Looking to spend between £500-£1000.
I seen a Citroen Berlingo for £600 on gumtree, 10 months mot, says it runs fine, seems a good deal.
What advice would you give to buying a second hand van?
Just looking a getting a small van that will be an ok runner while still building my round.

If i was looking at something like that i would budget another couple hundred quid so that when i got it i'd pop it in garage for oil/filter change and cambelt/alternator belt if there was no concrete history on it.

You are not likely to get a new cambelt fitted for under £400 on its own.

[Stoots]

A 2 grand van wont necessarily be better than one at a grand. Or 3 or 4k for that matter...

All used vehicles present a risk, granted as age and mileage goes up the risk probably increases but its hard to quantify.

Just inspect it thoroughly and cross your fingers.

[NWH]

I think if you spend 500 on a van there’s no guarantee a 2000 grand one will be any better.

[robbo333]

If I was buying at that price, I would put the word round to all friends and relatives and see if they know anyone who is selling a van. Hopefully you may buy something more reliable if a friend of a friend has some idea of the history of the van, rather than from a complete stranger.

I bought an old Toyota Hiace and I'm happy with it.

[KS Cleaning]

I think if you spend 500 on a van there’s no guarantee a 2000 grand one will be any better.

😲😲

[CleanClear]

£30K Plus for this crew cab when new 18 months ago, now been sat in Peoples Ford for three weeks getting a new engine.(under warranty) . You don't always get what you pay for.

[NWH]

Yeah you do you brought a Ford 🤣🤣 they used to call them Dagenham dustbins lol.

[NWH]

They must be ok Guy Martin loves his Transit Sport mind you he does all the work on it himself.

[James Styles]

Thanks everyone some really helpful advice much appreciated 👍