Looking for a bit of advice if possible. The missus is opening a florists in the next few weeks and is looking for a small van. Ideally looking to spend about 2k. She fancies something like a Renault Kangoo, Citroen Berlingo or Peugeot partner combi etc. we've seen a Renault Kangoo 1.2 car/van with 80k on the clock and FSH for £1800 which is in pretty decent nick, any thoughts or suggestions what to look out for? I'm just not sure whether we'd be better off getting a diesel although for the same money we'd be looking at a 1.9 with maybe 120k on the clock.

morning i run a kangoo 1.5 dci ,its been very good for the last 3 years. it only wanted 1 track rod end last year at a cost of £12 so not much wrong there, and then there is sevice parts are cheap as chips lol . some have had a good life, and some are run in to the ground .1.5dci can be very good on fuel but you need to find, a low mile van but can be hard to find also i tow my imp with mine and its very good no problems all in all its a good little van

I've been running a Kangoo 1.9d for around 3 years now. Despite now being 12 years old and just under 100k miles it remains almost rust free except for a bit of stone chipping around one wheel arch.

Considering its age it's been reasonably reliable, the worst thing I had to change were the steering track rods as the inner joints at the ends of the rack had become a bit rattly. Had to disable a faulty EGR valve as the old one refused to part company with the manifold and the roof mounted aerial developed a leak at one point and soaked nearly all the carpets, an easy fix once you suss where the problem is.

Other than this it just been the usual things you expect from a car of this age, tyres, brakes battery and a couple of small electrical gremlins. Treated it to a cambelt kit a while back so I'm hoping to see a couple more years out of yet...

Cheers fellas, so sounds like they might not be bad little vans. I've got my eye on 2, they're both on an 03 or 53, one is £1800, 80k but FSH. The other is £2400 but only 32k miles. Not sure which would be the better buy, thinking maybe the cheaper one and pocket the £600 difference for poss future repairs.

I paid £2.2K for my 2007 Doblo 18 months ago. Wanted a van but went for the MPV as the tax is cheaper and the interior is nice and clean compared to the mess most vans are in. More features than a van too. Back seats come out complete on 4 bolts and there you have the same space as a van! yes I know it looks awful but I dont care. Same engine as the CDI Astra.

I ran a 1.9 diesel for 4 years. Very good on fuel, reliable if looked after. Some jobs can be tricky such as throttle cable replacement. Parts quite cheap. On the whole a good van. I replaced mine with a transit connect for more load space.
Condition is key. Look for a low mileage example idealy a courier van.

We had a 51 plate berlingo for about 8 months, it was only a 1.6 petrol, but it was a bloody beast when you loaded it up, it seriously seemed to prefer having an extra half tonne in the boot, saying that though, a 5mph knock with a fiesta wrote it off, was repairable but not economically.

Then we got a renault scenic, which was a mistake. I'd say if you go down the renault route, don't buy anything with a seemingly simple issue, we got one cheap with high revs on idle, which was pretty nebulous as far as problems go, everything from, ecu, injectors, alternator, battery, brake servo and inlet gaskets where suggested (by 3 separate garages, inc a renault specialist)