Looking for something that will do as a runabout for fetching building supplies over the next year while I rebuild half my house. Initially thought a flat-bed, but then have had musings on some kind of twin cab transporter thing that could double up as family car/caravan duty/bike carrier. Would that work, or are they too much of a compromise given the building materials bit is the top priority?

Budget £5-6k. Any recommendations?

transporter/ vivaro size van will fit a 4×8 sheet in. crewcab wont.

Do you have a gravel pit near by? Will you be buying lots of aggregate from said pit? If no to either these answers get a van with a roof rack. More secure and protects good and tools from weather and theifs.

I have always got 1m3 bags of sand delivered as I usually am ordering enough such that there is no delivery charge. This is as a diyer. Buy regularly and most murchents will not charge for delivery if are flexible and not too far away.

Last of the Toyota Hiace D4D vans 2009-12 for that budget, will be totally reliable and you’ll get most of money back when time to sell

Speak to approach…

get something with barn doors if you are looking to get palletised materials in the back

transporter/ vivaro size van will fit a 4×8 sheet in. crewcab wont.

Good point. Looks like that kind of thing then. What’s best then out of Vivaro/Transit/T5/Ducato/Vito/that Hiace thing/etc.?

Hiace for reliability probably, but not very fashionable if such a thing bothers you.
Full size transit is just over 2m height, which is just a touch too tall for many multistory car parks and height restrictors, good choice if that doesn’t bother you.
Transit Custom, not sure they are down to that price yet.
Pugeot/Citroen Expert/Dispatch are cheap, but have their reliability problems, (I have one)
T5, probably out of your price range unless it’s a wreck.
T4 old.
Vivaro is good, think early ones had some gearbox and injector corrosion problems. Might be worth a bit of research to see what age that was cured.

Ducato will be wider and maybe a higher weight limit but Ive not had one personally.

T5 does well on resale value but 5-6k will get a shed

My next van will probably be a old shape hi ace , or swb master / ducato / and what ever the Nissan Vauxhall ones are.
Just saving before going hunting

I’ve got a LWB Vito Dualiner and it will fit 8×4 sheets vertically inside with the single rear seat removed and the passenger seat slid forward a bit – I bought that length specifically because it could. The ‘extra long’ would fit 8×4’s easily.

Speak to Pedro is what I meant…