Hi all im not familiar with van vehicle territory.. Does this van exist?
Small (like a caddy or peugeot partner)
Cheap to run (diesel, tax, insurance, tyres, spare parts)
3 seater front
Air conditioned
Will fit 3 bikes at back without taking off any wheels
Will be using commuting to work, social, domestic ..and bike thingy. Cheers.
I had a 2011 Citroen Dispatch which was smaller than the likes of Transits, Transporters and Vivaro's etc; but it still had 3 front seats.
The middle seat wasn't very big though and not really designed for any great distance.
If you wanted 3 full size front seats, I reckon you'd need to go Transit / Vivaro size.
The nice thing about the Dispatch was that it was just like driving and parking a C4 Grand Picasso.
You can buy a new shape Berlingo with 3 front seats, but after owning the larger Dispatch with a 3rd seat; I can only imagine how small the Berlingo seat is.
My Dispatch had the 1.6 hdi 90ps engine and it was good on fuel [u]for a van.[/u]
Just buy a mk7 transit and have done with it 🙂 half the price of a transporter, easily as good, cheap to run and maintain, and bags of storage at the back.
Buy an 85bhp and get it chipped by a professional to 140bhp and it'll go like stink 🙂
I've had mine for two years and its amazing, never failed an not and done loads of miles now.
After having a Partner, Berlingo, Connect and mates having Dispatch, Scudo, Expert, Transporter and Vitos I wouldn't buy anything else.
Obviously just my opinion, but I've driven a lot of vans and a lot of miles. There's no substitute for space, comfort and performance.
Tax and Insurance really are going to be the same whatever van you buy. Tax is set at £210 for any van, except some made before 2007 that are eco4, the right colour, and are called Jeremy.
Go look around at a garage with all makes of van and get in the back, the expert and dispatch really aren't that much bigger in the back than the berlingo and partner. Test drive a few too, and have a look at the parkers reviews.
Everyone will say their van is the best, and those that review online will say theirs is the worst, so ignore all those and get what looks right to you.
The HDI engine in the Citroens, Peugeots is brilliant and frugal, as is the tdci in the fords.