2. New or used van buying advice
Want to Buy a New Van?
Many people looking for a van amongst the thousands of vans for sale are doing so for the first time. There are so many makes, models, lengths and engine variants available in the market today, the inexperienced buyer may need a few pointers, so we have put together a few guidelines to help you.
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Choosing the Right Van
Firstly let’s look at the costs involved with buying and, equally importantly, operating a light commercial vehicle. The purchase price is important, although the cost of the van can be spread over a period of time using a hire purchase-type agreement, although we cover van leasing and van finance in a later section in more detail.
Van Purchase Prices
It is easy enough to compare the absolute prices of new vehicles when there is no finance involved, but beware, some prices are advertised plus first registration fee, number plates and delivery to the dealer. Make sure that you are comparing like with like when looking at two offers from two different dealers. In your comparisons also confirm the specification of the vans – if you are comparing a lower trim level – an ‘E’ grade compared to an ‘SE’ grade then there will be a difference in price. There are also differing power outputs for what otherwise looks like an identical van – also remember that there are as many as four loading lengths and three roof heights for today’s modern panel vans.
Also if you find a van at the other side of the country be realistic about how much it will cost you to collect it – add in your time, train, taxi fares and the fuel and a more local van maybe more appealing after all.
Most importantly remember that new vans are almost always advertised exclusive of VAT. Not a problem if you are VAT registered, but it will add 20% to the price if you are a small business or a new one that has not yet registered for VAT.
Van Residual Prices
Remember that it is not just the purchase price of the van you are looking at, but consider what you would get for it after three years. Professional fleet managers spend hours considering vehicle residuals, so why shouldn’t you give it some thought too?
Go through the used van listings on www.vanlocator.co.uk to see what three-year old vans costs across the makes and model. As a rule of thumb, it tends to be the German manufacturers that enjoy the best residual values, the Mercedes-Benz Sprinter in the large van category, the Volkswagen Transporter in the medium category, and the Volkswagen Caddy in the small van category. That said, no fleet manager has ever been sacked for buying a Ford Transit or Ford Connect!
Van Operating Costs
The van manufacturers have only recently been made to publish their CO2 and therefore their MPG rating (they are two sides of the same coin). So information is sketchy regarding the economy of one van compared to another if you are looking into the used van market. Even for the new van market the figures should be taken with a pinch of salt, as real world operations for a van are likely to make the real fuel economy different to the published values.
Operating costs aren’t all about the fuel consumption, however. Look at the service intervals for the different types of vans – the longer the intervals then the cheaper it should be. If you have narrowed the choice of vans down to two makes, then call the local dealers to compare servicing and parts costs. Do you have a local dealer or will you be wasting time travelling miles to pick up parts and drop the van for servicing. What are the dealer’s opening hours? An increasing number of commercial vehicle dealers are working through the night to turn vans around. Usually these are linked to a truck dealership, such as Renault Trucks or Mercedes-Benz, but a number of the ‘car’ dealers have realised that van operators need their vans to be serviced when not in use. Not losing your van for a while day every few months may actually be worth hundreds of pounds to you?
Consider too the insurance costs. You might want to phone around a few insurance companies or research the relative costs online for the different van models. Insurance companies prefer safer vans so they don’t get stolen and vans that are cheaper to repair. Check out the Thatcham website to find out which vans are rated best for insurance purposes.
