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Author: Subject: Van upgrade or not to van upgrade
tegwin

posted on 12/8/19 at 04:12 PM Reply With Quote
Van upgrade or not to van upgrade

Id like some good old locostbuilders logic here..

I have a 2006 transporter van which I have converted into a semi camper with heater/lights/battery/bed etc.

Had it three years and had some big bills in that time with stuff failing that really shouldn't have. Its still pretty solid but its starting to look a little tired as it approaches 190,000 miles and I am a little nervous that something else might go wrong.....

I recon its worth about £7000.


I am toying with the idea of selling it and buying a newer version of the same van. Trouble is, to get anything newer....circa 2014 I would be looking at around £20,000 plus a few grand for modifying it how I want inside. Thats quite a leap in upfront cost.

I can see myself having a van for the next 2-3 years, possibly longer depending if house/children don't get in the way...

I have two options...

1. Keep the old van and put aside a few grand to keep it running should anything fail on it... By doing this I will push it over 200K so re-sale price might reduce slightly and there is the risk that the upkeep cost will increase as corrosion/wear sets in.

2. Sell old van and buy a new one (probably partially funded by a loan). Hope that the newer van is more trouble free and the maintenance costs won't be so high. Downside to the newer van is that it will depreciate quicker than the old one will.


Its the practical aspect of a reliable van vs the cost of swapping to a newer one.... At least with the old one I know what's likely to fail next.... (although there will be some stuff that decides to randomly fail...there always is)

At the end of the day both will be practically identical in terms of driving and using them.... newer one would have the novelty of being newer and shiny....


As ever, a first world problem.... but curious to see what you learned gentlemen suggest

[Edited on 12/8/19 by tegwin]





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motorcycle_mayhem

posted on 12/8/19 at 07:02 PM Reply With Quote
....I reckon the 2006 van is worth what someone is prepared to pay for it.

I've 'graduated' from a 1996 Smiley MK5 transit to a 2001 MK6. Still mechanical injection, no filters or environmental things to maintain, so I'm staying with that for the moment - certainly until the MoT man condemns it absolutely, or the Government legislate against it's use with environmental 'taxes'.

So, no, I can't help you with any personal wisdom over a £20K replacement, simply because there's no way I could look at something over £2K. I'm not anywhere near as wealthy as yourself, enough said.

However, I would definitely keep hold of something that I knew was pretty much OK.....

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cliftyhanger

posted on 12/8/19 at 07:31 PM Reply With Quote
So the new van will depreciate over 6k over the next 3 years, and still require money to maintain it.

From a financial perspective you would be nuts to trade up.....

However, if you want a newer van, buy one....

[Edited on 12/8/19 by cliftyhanger]

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gremlin1234

posted on 12/8/19 at 08:13 PM Reply With Quote
if you are not likely to do much work in London then it may be worth looking at vans from there; as the recent, and forthcoming, changes to 'low emission zone' / 'ultra low emission zone' could well produce some bargains.
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tegwin

posted on 12/8/19 at 08:28 PM Reply With Quote
quote:
Originally posted by gremlin1234
if you are not likely to do much work in London then it may be worth looking at vans from there; as the recent, and forthcoming, changes to 'low emission zone' / 'ultra low emission zone' could well produce some bargains.


That’s an interesting point. As the war on diesel grows is it going to be harder to sell older diesels?! I guess there’s always a demand for this sort of thing and no petroleum alternative.





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SJ

posted on 12/8/19 at 09:22 PM Reply With Quote
Seems like a lot of money for a van!
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steve m

posted on 12/8/19 at 09:30 PM Reply With Quote
I am still trying to see how a 2006 VAN with 190,000 miles, wether its converted or not, is worth in your eyes £7000

As were I am, I doubt it would raise £2000

Maybe I am missing some vital information





Thats was probably spelt wrong, or had some grammer, that the "grammer police have to have a moan at




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tegwin

posted on 12/8/19 at 09:38 PM Reply With Quote
quote:
Originally posted by steve m
I am still trying to see how a 2006 VAN with 190,000 miles, wether its converted or not, is worth in your eyes £7000

As were I am, I doubt it would raise £2000

Maybe I am missing some vital information


It’s for a Vw badge on the front and it’s got an unusual spec. Just been offered 7600 for it.....





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907

posted on 13/8/19 at 08:36 AM Reply With Quote
I don't dispute any of the values mentioned in this thread. Vans seem to me to be the second most over priced thing you can spend money on.



Since being self employed I've always had a universal vehicle, an estate car (plus trailer if needed).

3.5 years ago I bought an '03 E class Merc estate ( E320 straight 6 ) for just over £3k with 117k miles on the clock.

From family weddings & funerals to collecting metal from the steel stockist, will tow 2.1t, and most of last year it was an ambulance.

Probably still worth £1k to £1.5k and goes like a train. Does a trip most weeks to a racing circuit to pursue my new hobby and at 6am there's

nothing nicer to drive there in, hot or cold.



Just my opinion

Paul G

[Edited on 13/8/19 by 907]






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iant88

posted on 13/8/19 at 12:57 PM Reply With Quote
If its the 1.9 engine I'd keep it as the 2.0's are a bit fragile (and expensive to repair).

Yes - the van is probably only worth 2k but the VW badge adds another 5k to it

(ps I've got a similarly converted 2005 T5 with about 150k miles)

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tegwin

posted on 13/8/19 at 01:06 PM Reply With Quote
quote:
Originally posted by iant88
If its the 1.9 engine I'd keep it as the 2.0's are a bit fragile (and expensive to repair).

Yes - the van is probably only worth 2k but the VW badge adds another 5k to it

(ps I've got a similarly converted 2005 T5 with about 150k miles)


It’s a rather obscure 2.5 t5 with 174hp. Definitely an interesting engine 😀

I was very tempted with the 180 bitdi 2litre but have been reading some horror stories

[Edited on 13/8/19 by tegwin]





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sdh2903

posted on 13/8/19 at 02:08 PM Reply With Quote
Think for 2 or 3 years use I'd stick with the devil you know. Even a couple of big ish bills will still be less than the depreciation of the new one. Theres Van's about with that engine in well north of 250k miles.

If you were keeping longer term (5yrs+) I'd say go for the new one.

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nick205

posted on 14/8/19 at 08:18 AM Reply With Quote
quote:
Originally posted by 907
I don't dispute any of the values mentioned in this thread. Vans seem to me to be the second most over priced thing you can spend money on.



Since being self employed I've always had a universal vehicle, an estate car (plus trailer if needed).

3.5 years ago I bought an '03 E class Merc estate ( E320 straight 6 ) for just over £3k with 117k miles on the clock.

From family weddings & funerals to collecting metal from the steel stockist, will tow 2.1t, and most of last year it was an ambulance.

Probably still worth £1k to £1.5k and goes like a train. Does a trip most weeks to a racing circuit to pursue my new hobby and at 6am there's

nothing nicer to drive there in, hot or cold.



Just my opinion

Paul G

[Edited on 13/8/19 by 907]




I'd like a VW van, but have to say I agree with your logic here that an estate car does pretty much everything you need. Granted they don't have kitchens, but you can (and I have) put the rear seats down and sleep in them quite comfortably. For me 2x VW Passat B6 estates (1 company car and 1 private, both 2.0 TDI PD) hauled ar5e pretty much everywhere I asked them to. We have 3 kids and have comfortably lugged everything about in them. The company car was main dealer serviced as part of the deal the private car was self serviced because I don't like spending money and can do it myself. Replacing rear brake pads with an electric parking brake annoyed me as I had to pay to have it done (some "reset" function apparently). Aside from that they did me extremely well. I didn't, but if you need to I believe they're good tow vehicles as well.

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iant88

posted on 14/8/19 at 08:54 AM Reply With Quote
It’s a rather obscure 2.5 t5 with 174hp. Definitely an interesting engine 😀

I was very tempted with the 180 bitdi 2litre but have been reading some horror stories

[Edited on 13/8/19 by tegwin]



If you've got the motor sorted I'd definitely keep it (the 2.5's are very good if looked after) - and I personally wouldn't touch a bi-turbo with a barge pole.

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