It's a difficult decision.
I did look at some write ups about that van and they were good. I just don't some how feel it's what I want. I had a drive around and had a stop and look at that van and others. I hate to say it, but logic doesn't seem to apply to buying a commercial vehicle especially as I've never bought one before. I bought a hearse for work as a window cleaner but not a commercial vehicle as such.
I just like the look of the Ford Connect and the fact that it has won so many awards by various magazines and also that BT and NTL use them.
I didn't realise untill I had to choose for myself 'what van' just how difficult the choice is.
It's hard to decide with a view to the future when you don't know what that future will be.
I'm still not 100% sure about my choice.
The one I've got my eye on is £5 000 plus VAT. I'm paying cash so maybe I can knock them down.
I know what you mean about such a decision being difficult Ross. I was faced with it too in Autumn '05. I ended up buying something larger than I needed at the time so that I could grow into it. In fact, mainly because I work alone, I still have spare capacity. It will probably be a few more months before I am utilising my van fully.
However, a word on second hand vans. I ended up buying a Renault Trafic (the 2.9 tonne version) that was about 2 yrs and 8 months old with 37,000 miles on the clock. By the December/January (39,000 miles), there were noticeable problems with the gearbox. I had to get the gearbox changed at 39,000 miles. Luckily, there were still a few weeks of Renault's 3 year warranty to run so it only cost me inconvenience plus hiring a van for several days (I worked from trolley and containers in this period).
This is the main reason that I would like to buy brand new at the next vehicle change. Even if a vehicle is lowish mileage and not too old, you can still end up with problems. The loan on this vehicle won't be paid up until October 2010 (I took it over 5 years) by which time it will be nearly 8 years old with an estimated 95,000 on the clock. Hopefully there will still be some half reasonable resale value on it. I have heard stories about the gearboxes in some types of these vehicles (after the event as always) so I'm just hoping that the van will keep trundling away for the next 3 years and 9 months without major issues.
