van or car??

[r&k]

should i get ride of my car and buy a van???(the wife has a car so it is not the only one in the household)

i have a large hatch back car and was wondering if turning up in a car looks professional or not??

if not what sort of van do you think i should get, ideally under £2000??

 

[Raja]

Van preferably i have a brand spanking new van paid £10,000 for it in december but wil b some time b 4 i break even and i have been tiling for 6 years just gone part time.

Try it with the car for a while til u get going then see how things are a few months down the line b 4 u commit.

£2000 is alot of money tied up in another vehicle unless u know u shall be inendated with work

 

[Gazzer]

The reason i have a car is because i need a vehicle for every day use and work. I would like a van but i cant afford both. I need at least 3 seats for my kids.
My vehicle is a Zafira and i have never heard anyone think its unprofessional.

An estate car would be a good alternative, i used an Astra estate before the Zafira. With the Estate you have an option of small signs on back side windows.

I think you would get more "car" than "van" for your £2000

 

[tysfoot]

i got myself a ford escort van that runs on LPG (47p a litre). van only cost me £975 and its i good condition. gonna sign it up soon

 

[r&k]

why have you gone part time??

 

[r&k]

wife has a car so no probs in getting rid of mine as far as the kids, just wanted to know what was more practical as couldnt the car get very dirty very quick??

 

[Gazzer]

Yes mate the car does get dirty and your situation is different to mine. If i were in your place i would be looking at vans but i wouldnt discount an estate car...they are pretty much the same thing.

 

[grahamster]

Hi.. i have jst gone thru exactly the same scenario.had an audi estate car,but was getting sick of taking tools in and out all the time,also getting messy,so started looking at the van option...also needed three seats.

i bought a fiat scudo,3 seats,sliding door each side,two back doors,less than £800 for an R reg,still in good nick.this is exactly the same van as citreon dispatch and a peugeot expert,jst different badges,i also think it looks more professional.

happy hunting............cheers graham

 

[rhyd4]

i just bought an astra van for £650, got fed up of emptying all my tools out of the car, plus IMO it does look better when you turn up in a van and not just tiling for pocket money, im a postman normaly and tile afternoons and weekends

 

[jimbob21]

hi mate im a postman aswell in cambridgeshire and dinking about doing the same as you. you been to college or just pickes it up if been on aweeks course but dont fink im confident enough yet. u not get knackered

 

[reaper72]

Watch what kind of van you buy-believe me I KNOW when it comes to dodgy second hand vans,mine has been knackered for weeks-buying a brand new one....if you can get some mechanical friend to give it the once over

 

[enduro]

I use a mitsubishi l200 double cab, works very well. Just about to get a new one but cant choose between, mitsubishi animal, Nissan navara outlaw or a toyota hilux vigo...I want the vigo but at £30,000 i cant persuade the wife i really need it.

 

[reaper72]

Are these 4x4 pick up u mention m8?

 

[mz30]

I have a jeep for tax reason's ,it carrie's what i need and double's as a family car plus the insurance is cheaper than a van.Had lot's of van's over the year's would not go back to one again.

 

[strongboes]

How do you get all your tools into a car be it estate or mpv??? I have looked at the l200 style vehicles as I have a boat and would be really useful to tow it but even with them I wouldn't be able to get tools in!

How do you guys manage when you have to carry 20 boxes of tiles and 10 bags of addy or whatever? Trims and levels? Large wet cutter? How do you do it???

 

[mz30]

I suppose it's horse's for course's ,myself i very rarely carry tile's but if i have to a can get 20m2 on plus adhesive and tool's,most of the time my tile's are delivered straight to site ,on the tools side of thing's i carry three cutter's a ts-40 a sigma 500 and a ts-60 at all time's along with 2 wet cutter's one a 110v and the other a 240v plus lead's, light's and a transformer along with 2 gorrilla bucket's of tool's .
If i am doing slate,marble,granite e.t.c i have a bigger wet cutter that slide's onto the back seat easily.

I suppose if you are transporting material's on a regular basis a van is the way to go ,but most midi sized van's will only take as much as i carry anyway.

 

[CraigTurner]

Hi I Used To Use My Audi A4 Estate . But It Got Covered In Crap All Over Especially When Driving Home From Jobs . Just Sold It And Got A Astravan I Think It Looks More Proffesional . And A Good Way Of Advertising Your Self When Your Driving About Or Even Parked Up At The Supermarket

 

[IvegotsTILE]

Have Fiat estate thats signwritten and looks great,need at least 4 seats so a van is not practical.If I had both then I'd also have to tax and insure both.
I don't see the point in getting a small van like a kangoo cause that couldn't fit my straight edges and trims in,but my estate can

 

[bigdaz]

when i started plastering I used my escourt hatch but got sick of humping bags of plaster out the back so bought a mondeo estate and it was much better. its amazing the amount of gear you need for plastering what with ladders, buckets, tools and bags of plaster. I put one of those boot covers down inside it and even 2 years later you'd never be able to tell what i'd been using it for.
theres definately a lot less stuff to carry with tiling and theres always the option of a tow-bar and trailer

 

[alex1963]

i couldnt think of anything worse than working out of the back of a car ,vans are good but too single purpose if you have to take the kids to school, i use a navara 4x4 dual cab the back is just big enough for my big tile cutter and it will pull 100m2 of tiles on my tandem trailer(slowly!!)

 

[grumpygrouter]

I use a BMW estate 3 series. 10 years old now and if you go to Home base an spend about £6 you can get a tarpaulin that you can cover the back with. Keeps most of the mess reasonably well contained. If you can fund you van purchase through the sale of the car then do so as you will probably get more in you van than your car and you don't have to take as many precautions regariding mess. Also better for advertising.

Grumpy

 

[r&k]

how much you selling your current mitsubishi for??

 

[chris.tiling]

I have been using my Zafira since starting in September. I have put an off cut of damp proof membrane in the back to protect the car. I needed to have the additional seats as all four of us in my family are quite tall, so when I do get a van I will need the second row of seats. Looking at swb Merc Vito but cant find one for the price I want yet. Will probably wait until I have at least one years experience before changing from car to van

 

[DHTiling]

i have a van and a car...van for work tho......wife would shoot me if i went any where near the car with tools....:lol:

 

[rossy]

ive got a van and car couldnt get tools in my audi convertable....

 

[CLAYS TILES]

i got myself a ford escort van that runs on LPG (47p a litre). van only cost me £975 and its i good condition. gonna sign it up soon

becareful gary,these lpg cars/vans have some problems with electrics & it can get expensive to correct it! not all of them but i've heard they can play up!
glad your saving money thou, i have to pay £1.08p for diesel!:mad2:

 

[hillhead]

im on my second van,had a berlingo but found it too small for me so bought a brand new renault traffic,great yoke,got here all signwriten and all,a joy to drive.wife drives the touran

 

[monty]

Renault kangoo

 

[Daz]

I've got a Transit Connect - great van and will keep for a few years. Need something bigger though, and will look Merc's in future.

 

[Dave Carr]

Little peugeot partner diesel, runs on fumes and vegetable oil if need be 🙂 You can get a decent one for under £1500 on ebay, just make sure you take it for a test drive first. Parts are relatively cheap.

 

[rockyroo]

i have a Transit Connect, used to work out of my car but got sick an tired of having to take everything in and out almost every night, also found that having to cover everything still didn't stop the dust from getting everywhere!