car v's van

Cal04

dh has a good distance to drive every day. he has a petrol car and needs to change to a diesel. we were looking at skoda ocavias, but for our budget, they are hard to come by. thinking of a citreon berlingo van, however I know nothing about vans. whats the doe, are tax and insurance much the same price, is it better on diesel than a diesel car? any advise appreciated.

A Berlingo is a rotten thing for doing lots of miles in, I'd only consider one if I was doing all urban driving really.

Atlantic Dawn

A van needs an annual DOE where cars less than 10 years old need an NCT every 2 years. If you intend to use the van for non commercial use then it should be taxed based on engine size. The rate of tax for a commercial van is €310 per year regardless of engine size once the total weight of the van is less than 3 tons. The Octavia pre 2008 will be taxed on engine size which at 1.9 will be €626 per year. A car with a similar engine to a van is likely to have better mpg.

If it was me unless I needed the load space of the van and was not planning on having more than one passenger in the van I would get a car instead. How much are you planning on spending, there's lots of people shelling out €10,000 in the hope of saving at best €500 a year in fuel and taxes which is insane economics.

Henry Ford III

A car based van might do the trick? The normal contenders.

Cal04

only have a budget of €2,500, or €3,000 if they take a trade in. as long as its diesel, the world is our oyster. mainly, its getting the best we can for that money that is cheap to run

Eric Cartman

Dont go near a citroen berlingo for any kind of distance driving, the worst few months of my life were doing that.

Also diesel is not necissarily the saviour of all, what sort of distance is he doing every day ? a more efficient petrol might be the way to go if its not high mileage

Mycroft H

Berlingos are fine once there the HDI versions. The 1.9 diesel is a bit slow and wimpy for day to day driving.

Cal04

hes doing around 50-60 miles a day, some days more

Eric Cartman

BX 19 wrote: »

Berlingos are fine once there the HDI versions. The 1.9 diesel is a bit slow and wimpy for day to day driving.

its not the engine, after 25-30 mins of continuous driving the seat gets to you, the road noise gets to you, for their budget one with aircon would not be possible, the rattles and sounds of panels baffling just drives you mad

Mycroft H

Eric Cartman wrote: »

its not the engine, after 25-30 mins of continuous driving the seat gets to you, the road noise gets to you, for their budget one with aircon would not be possible, the rattles and sounds of panels baffling just drives you mad

Its a van. I drove one for round two years where I worked. There a reliable workhorse, hence why there is loads to choose from in Ireland. Seats are grand and road noise is not much more then something like the caddy/connect. Aircon? Roll down the window!

Vans are not designed with comfort as a first priority.

Farmer Pudsey

At 60 miles round trip you are reaching the limit of comfort of a berlingo I have one of the 1.6 HDI I have got an expensive car lumber support seat so trhe drive is now ok took a few weeks to get used to it I have to use in our car as well they do about 50 mpg however the Kangoo amd kubistar are more economical as the top gear is lower reved and the same with the opel combo.
If new caddy is anything like the VW transit it will be much more road comfortable (the new type body). A doe cost about about 90 euro by the time you register it as opposed to 50 for a NCT if you buy a car you are looking at around 10 year old for that money so NCT every year.

If you can get one with a solid panal between back and front this will reduce road noise and keep rear empty of loose objects. You will have to scarfice years for a caddy as opposed to a kangoo or combo

You can tax it commercial in the line of your trade or profession.

ps if you can borrow one for a few weeks to try it out do

CJhaughey

Have you considered a diesel estate?
With the seats folded down they hold as much as many small vans but perhaps not quite as much height.
They will probably hold longer objects though.
More comfortable than leaf sprung swb vans.

dgt

You have to ask yourself do you need a van? Remember the test is annually and €87 a shot, €42 for a re test. Some vans can use road tyres but most require commercial tyres, which ain't cheap.

Insurance is calculated by cargo and payload as opposed to the vehicle.

Rattly vans? Rubbish. Most of the bigger vans are quiet and smooth. Even smaller vans are relatuvely quiet.

People have forgotten what 1980s cars were like...

Pottler

Berlingos are ok but I'd go for a expert/scudo - same engine, much the same fuel use but 3 seats which can be very useful. They also fly on the road and drive much more like a car than a bingo which is a tinny little thing. I've driven both as daily drivers and have/do cover big mileages and I prefer the bigger van(I don't know why but I like Citroens Dispatch better than the other two variants. The Traffic/Vivaro/Primastar are also very car-like, fast and economical. My current personal van is a Transit - don't get a Transit.:)

Farmer Pudsey

Pottler wrote: »

Berlingos are ok but I'd go for a expert/scudo - same engine, much the same fuel use but 3 seats which can be very useful. They also fly on the road and drive much more like a car than a bingo which is a tinny little thing. I've driven both as daily drivers and have/do cover big mileages and I prefer the bigger van(I don't know why but I like Citroens Dispatch better than the other two variants. The Traffic/Vivaro/Primastar are also very car-like, fast and economical. My current personal van is a Transit - don't get a Transit.:)

Expert/Scudo/Dispatch 40 mpg at best too big if just commuting as are Traffic/Vivaro/Primastar 35 mpg at best mind you Transit are a super van however they are also too big for OP I drove a 05 150Hp one they are a weapon and very comfortable never gave me any trouble when I had it sorry water pump went on it which was a common fault on them one of the first of this type of transit garages had not got a clue what was wrong as the water pump was in the OIL SUMP believe it or not

Pottler

Farmer Pudsey wrote: »

Expert/Scudo/Dispatch 40 mpg at best too big if just commuting as are Traffic/Vivaro/Primastar 35 mpg at best mind you Transit are a super van however they are also too big for OP I drove a 05 150Hp one they are a weapon and very comfortable never gave me any trouble when I had it sorry water pump went on it which was a common fault on them one of the first of this type of transit garages had not got a clue what was wrong as the water pump was in the OIL SUMP believe it or not

The expert type vans are built on a people carrier underpinning and are a nice drive as vans go-almost carlike. Transits are super-crap. I have 3, a 01, a 03 and a 05. Under geared, soft, poor metal, constant faults with locks, wheel bearings, injector pumps, wheel studs, noisy, etc etc. Why have them? 1.cheap, 2.Big 3.Available. Berlingos are also soft, very tinny and wearying to drive after a while. If you wanted somthing like this, buy a Ford Courier - cheaper, economical and nobody wants them but they are ok - I've had 2 from new, no real issues and did Dublin-Cork daily in them without issue apart from the noise. The Doblo's are also ok and tougher than people think, also cheap to buy and very economical. The Connects are too thirsty but largely unbreakable.

Victor Meldrew

I had 3 Astravans. 98, 99 & 00

Loved them. very tough, comfy enough and no-one messes with you on the road....

put a load of cardboard and carpet in the back and the noise is well dampened.

Berlingos are a rough gig, but very useful.

650Ginge

Lol no one messes with an astravan.