Here at Roadtransport.com we’ve decided to set ourselves a challenge – to see whether or not it’s possible to buy a decent, reliable van for under £2,000. The idea is to run it for a couple of months (hopefully without anything going wrong) and then sell it on for the same sort of money. Will it work out cheaper than renting one? The fact that this task coincides with me moving house is nothing more than a coincidence.
So, what do you buy, and where do you get it from?
While I’m a big fan of buying vehicles from auction, I think it’s risky when you only have a couple of grand to spend. I would have no qualms spending £5k or £6k (because you’re going to get a low-risk, three-year-old, low-miler), but for less than £2k you’re probably going to be buying somebody else’s problems.
I immediately ruled out buying from a dealer too – after all what are you going to get for £2,000? A five-year old LDV Pilot, or perhaps a 15-year-old Transit with an intergalactic mileage? Either way, you aren’t going to be getting a bargain.
Instead I opted for eBay – and spent a good few nights looking through the thousands of vans on offer. I reckon on-line auctions are a great way of picking up used vehicles – although you’ve got to spend a long time studying the adverts. You can generally tell a lot about the van simply from the way the person describes it (assuming they have plenty of positive feedback).
I decided to avoid anything that started off with the words “direct from the main dealer….” This is how auctioneers speak – and indicates that the seller is a dealer and has just bought it from auction.
What I was looking for was a two or three-owner van – perhaps one that spent the first three years of its life in a big fleet (where it would have been well maintained), and then sold on to an independent tradesman (who presumably would also take care of it because he relies on it for his living). This is the theory I applied to our Desperate Van Challenge – and it worked then. I wanted one with a lengthy, honest description, and a genuine reason for sale. I didn’t mind a few faults, just so long it was good mechanically. And most important of all, it had to have a long MOT.
As for the make and model – I really wasn’t too bothered. Just so long as it looked presentable, and I would be able to sell it on.
So having spent ages on the t’internet, I finally spotted an ideal candidate – a 2000 (W-reg) Renault Master. It had 89,000 miles on the clock, had been used by a plumber for the last two years, and was in basically sound condition. A quick look in Glass’s Guide revealed that it had a retail value of just over £2,200, so I entered a bid of £1,900. An hour later it was mine for the (hopefully) bargain price of £1,850.
I’m going to collect it later this week. I hope I’ve done the right thing. I’m beginning to get a bit nervous that the eBay description doesn’t include any shots of the interior. Oh well, if it’s anything like the exterior I’ll be OK.
