Selling up but not abandoning you all.

Having to drive long distance on a regular basis means I do need a beefier van. Going boss eyed looking at vans of similar size... and not finding much lol..
I will still be lurking in the shadows, and who knows, in a couple of years time I may very well be a proud owner of another Hijet....... or at least with another motorcycle... when I can get mine working instead of in bits in 2 sheds!

Want to say a MASSIVE Thank You to Woody who even though has had health issues has still found time to help me & many of you out with parts & advice.
An equally big Thank You to Logi and his Admin-ing (is that a word?) Keep up the good work Sir..

To the rest of you, Play nice with each other on here. Yes I have seen a couple of posts in the last 2 months that have been out of character in manner & language for this forum. Now we have never been namby-pamby types here, most of us do say it how we see it & we certainly don't take any bull. REMEMBER---> Its about the vans, having fun, getting the advice you need, sharing experiences/tips etc with others.

Hows the fish shop project going?

Transit connects are pretty good, just don't buy one with more the 75k miles on the clock thats been passed about. £3k buys you a very good 2007ish transit connect with low miles, or a crap high milage hammered VW caddy, a decent late model low milage caddy is typically twice the price of the transit.

Don't touch the Renault/Vauxhall product or the Peugeot/Citroen/Fiat product. They turn up every week at work with problems, and speaking to their owners they are always having to spend money on them.

The van market is the hardest market to buy in over the last 10 years. Back in the late 90's there were lots of pretty reliable vans on the market, but they have all rusted and worn out. So we're buying vans of the 00's which are complicated and disposable.

1996 to 2006 VW LT35 are good if wanting a full on big van, far less of a money pit than a merc sprinter. But again 140k mile ones are money pits, 60k mile ones are where its at.

Don't leave us

2,901 days running this Forum L.P. deserves a medal.

I am sure that I speak for so many of the long serving members of the Forum Matt, the second longest since L.P.'s conception of the Forum, Logi, Rich, PFM and many more, A HUGE THANK YOU. As Logi said " Don't leave us" completely. Keep in touch and let us know which vehicle you decide on. Bet you don't start another Forum though. All these bickering men are too much of a pain.

I'll be lurking
ooo erm next van... not sure yet, but I do know that £1000-1,500 is budget Im not expecting the best but I'll hunt down the best I can.
I was looking at Toyotal Hi-ace.. bus or panel van... bus is ideal but I canea-drive-automactic Sottie!

Hi-ace are/were almost indestructible, just pretty hard to find ones that haven't already done the moon and back and neglected, Toyota's are good but 200,000 miles is a long hard life

I agree with you HJ i had a lite ace for 11 years,the motor never missed a beat,front brakes were the problem always (sticking calipers) I sorry to see it go sold it on ebay for almost what I paid for it (they wanted the engine for export)

HighlyJetted wrote:Hows the fish shop project going?

Transit connects are pretty good, just don't buy one with more the 75k miles on the clock thats been passed about. £3k buys you a very good 2007ish transit connect with low miles, or a crap high milage hammered VW caddy, a decent late model low milage caddy is typically twice the price of the transit.

Don't touch the Renault/Vauxhall product or the Peugeot/Citroen/Fiat product. They turn up every week at work with problems, and speaking to their owners they are always having to spend money on them.

The van market is the hardest market to buy in over the last 10 years. Back in the late 90's there were lots of pretty reliable vans on the market, but they have all rusted and worn out. So we're buying vans of the 00's which are complicated and disposable.

1996 to 2006 VW LT35 are good if wanting a full on big van, far less of a money pit than a merc sprinter. But again 140k mile ones are money pits, 60k mile ones are where its at.

My work van is a connect crew which I bought with 1000 miles on the clock 2008. It now has 107000 and apart from expected things (touch wood) never missed a beat and the 110bhp still pulls like a train. I have looked at changing but frankly as HJ says it's hard to find anything .
Steve

Fish shop? Your soldering skills will be a bit out of plaice then! Just skate by from time to time and check we're having a whale of a time!

I have several feathers in my cap:
Soldering/wiring
Specialist Aquatics in Predatory freshwater tropical fish (ones that will bite ya ruddy hand off!)
Glass cutter: basic as I still get a crap break that decides to go where i dont want it! + goes with the territory of aquatics.
Graphic design (been handy for the business & saved buckets)
Intermediate mechanic on Motorcycles & anything else with an engine.
Jam & chutney maker. My chilli jam is very sort after with the hottest chillis i can find in it.
Biker (motor kind)
Geek or all things Apple dating back to classic OS9! (see graphics)
Event organiser, I no longer do this. But to say that i certainly CAN organise a piss up in a brewery is defiantly in my skill set
Problem fixer: depends on the problem... some are legal, most aren't!

How long a distance are you travelling? I regularly commute 50 miles in mine? I regularly travel to Aberfeldy, around a 200 mile round trip.

home-LHR-home & sometimes i drop off fish to other shops in the area..
in one day 200-350 miles non stop. no messing about when you have live fish on board.

Well Smurfy sold today (deposit down), pending collection. next weekend I can start my serious search as cant do nowt with no cash.
I can tell you that its hard to find a similar -medium sized van... I was spoilt with the MPV. I am kinda picky as i HATE bonnets & small windscreens.. lol.. I still need the 5ft rear load space as always handy to fit motorcycles in to, anything i get will automatically have a tow hitch fitted if it doesnt already have one.
need a max height of 2.1M to get under bar for airport parking lol..

Picking up a 108CDI Vito van tomorrow.
86K on the clock, 2002 reg, no dents/dings, old boy drove it to collect veg once a week from london. as most merc vitos.. there has been rust which was been sorted (cut/new metal/sealed/resprayed), nice clean van and only £100 more than i sold smurfy for.
not much more on insurance which thankfully expires in Jully & tax i do monthly anyway.