Preferably a 3 seater and long enough to hold standard sized house doors in the rear.
Cheap on the insurance would really help too,

It seems french vans seem to be popular at this price range,
From experience french car parts ain’t cheap, can I assume this is still the case with vans?

Partner/Berlingo – parts are interchangeable, loads of pattern ones, cheap, loads about.

“From experience french car parts ain’t cheap, can I assume this is still the case with vans?”

newp – berlingo/partner parts are cheaper than chips.

be careful – although it wears a french badge it may not actually be french…..

my dad bought a dispatch – its a citroen….but its actually a fiat. Everything is branded fiat in the guts of it.

Kangoo?

Transit Connect?

All of those mentioned above apart from the expert despatch are only 2 seaters. At that budget I’d be looking at those or a transit – especially if you can find one with the older tddi engine as they are easier to fix and generally more reliable.

long enough to hold standard sized house doors

Are those suggesting Belingo/Kangoo/Partners sure they meet the brief? Not sure myself, but I have my doubts.

strange you pick up on the doors – as mines takes house doors no sweat.

i was thinking more the 3 seat issue would be the stumbling point for not fitting the brief.

fair enough, I’m like a man in orthopaedic shoes.

Only mentioned the Kangoo cos’ I can get my windsurf boards in there (2mtrs in length) fair point I have to flatten the passenger seat, but hey..

Toyota Hiace won’t let you down like euro vans very often do

I’d be tempted to look at a Renault Traffic/Vauxhall Vivaro/Nissan Primastar. You can get them for that sort of money and they have a fair bit of internal space, probably more than my T5.

Given that you won’t have to pay the scene tax, you may be able to find one in your budget.

if the white transit stereotypically turns you into a builder or a pikey…..

the hiace undoubtably turns you into a corner shop owner – between that and the ford galaxy i reckon all our corner shops are stocked via these means.

Dispatch is three seat, I have an older style 07 one. Great van and big in the back. 1.9d basic but reliable engine, which is perfect for tootling about and I have never felt it is under powered, it’s taken big loads and yes it’s slow but never dangerously so

I love mine and will be sorry when I need to sell it next year.

my dad bought a dispatch – its a citroen….but its actually a fiat. Everything is branded fiat in the guts of it.

Are you talking about the engine? The JTD is a rebadged PSA engine.

@tacopowell
I’ve an old-type 2.0 HDI Citroen Dispatch (3seater) which cost a bit more than your budget but mine came plylined, full-bulk and the 110 HDI brings up the value a bit. However, the 1.9 XUD will go on forever (albeit slowly) and vans with those cost less. Rust doesn’t seem to be an issue on these vans too.

As for parts, brakes couldn’t be much cheaper, I got a £75 quote for back-box replacement (incl labour), service items from ECP cost next to nothing. Not sure what cambelt job costs but i think a bit more than usual as it’s a bit of an arse, at least on the HDI.

Insurance, 3yrs NCD, 25k/year cost me ~£400. Not bad I thought.

no im talking about most of the van.

and the spares you buy for it – even out of the citroen garage. its a 2013 owned since new.

been a dog – had a clutch in the first 6 months due to failed mains seal

rear axles colapsing now

interiors soft as hell – dash falling to bits and rattly.

on the contrary both my french motors with the DW8s are holding up well.

Lucky it’s not possible to buy a 2013 Dispatch on a £2000 budget then.

aye probably….. i was just pointing out all french vans are not always french to quell his fears about french vehicles before it was segwayed off topic.

Have to reignite this thread!

What about non three seater vans that can fit doors? A car derived van with a load length of around 2000mm?

I’m keen on Vivaro/Trafic but happy to go smaller providing I can fit doors!

Any other suggestions?

scudo / expert / dispatch

The load space in my kangoo is only 160cm in length, but could probably fit a door diagonally.
I still love it though, and it fits bikes (wheels on) lengthways.

Get an older Transit. Very reliable cheap to run but stay away from rusty ones.

for 2m length the swb dispatch (and its siblings) will give you the smallest, cheapest to buy van and still enough size for something that big. Berlingo and similar are 1.6m long in the back, Astra van is 1.7m but has less height. Nothing car-derived is going to give you 2m on any angle – from recent experience you can squeeze 1.8m in corner to corner in the back of a berlingo, but nothing more if you have a bulkhead

The Fiat Scudo looks like it should be in a Wes Anderson film,
Has good reviews,

Are parts interchangeable between the Scudo, Expert and Dispatch???

Has anyone used the Scudo?