I have been looking into buying a transporter but lets face it they arent cheap. However i stumbled upon a Crafter which had been dolled up and not really to my personal taste but it does as least make it look less builder like and more of the smart transporter ilk.

However price wise, crafters in SWB flavour can be had for £5k on an 07 plate and sub 50K

And this one is the dolled up one for more to give you an idea (over 100K 58 plate £8K plus VAT)

A similar sub 50K transporter of similar age will set you back a bare min of 8K, realistically £8K plus VAT so around £10K

I actually think the crafter looks damn good and offers that little bit more space that the transporter lacks while not being excessively big, mpg is around 30 so not much worse than a transporters realistic top mpg of 35 and other than it being a bit bigger so car parks could be an issue am i missing something glaringly obvious?

transit? vivaro? traffic?

depends what its being used for

as much as it pains me to admit it the transporter makes a good every day car for a van – they were also one of the early adopters of making a van a nice place to be – but most companies have caught up now.

i wouldnt pay the scene tax for that benifit though. id go get a vito or dispatch and spend the difference taking it fun places.

useful comparison

Very similar width, 0.4m longer, 0.3m higher

Not seeing much difference

im totally with you – crafter is what id buy.

main drawing point to the transporter for alot of folk is that they can ramraid halfords and get a bodykit and bling bling alloys for it quite easily i guess – judging by the amount of horribly garishly modified ones i see at events.

Height and that extra 400mm length is the main drawback, T5’s fit under a 2.2M barrier and fit in a normal parking place, the crafter wont.

If its for a camper conversion only to be used for trips then I would go Crafter, if you intend to convert and use as your primary vehicle then T5 all the way.

the drawback of a crafter is the height when going places.

No hope of a multi storey car park visit.

Length of a swb crafter is nigh on identical to a LWB T5 transporter so no major issue there.

I’ve got a swb t5. It’s my first van and I’ve got no intention of changing it until it’s in a total state of disrepair. Nice to drive, cheap to run, reasonable economy looks pretty good for a van too IMHO.

Mines got garish bumpers, spoiler, alloys and lowered.. But I don’t care I love it 🙂

braver man than me taking a 6 ft 5 vehicle into a multi story.

all the ones round here are 6ft3 – i know because my 4×4 is lifted to exactly that height for that reason – roof bars scrape the entry sign at that height even.

some forestry carparks would be out of bounds in the big van i think … most ive seen are 2.2m tall

thats quite tasteful and reserved kristoff comapred to some ive seen . one spotted in alp dhuez on british plates looked like someone had booked a fast and furious supra in for a kit , spray and alloys – then turned up in a van.

realistically £8K plus VAT so around £10K

What’s the deal with VAT on vans. Info online is clear as mud. Is it a straight 20% on top of the price (assuming it says plus vat). I’m talking about for Joe Bloggs on the street who’s buying a van privately.

Kristoff your tax is out of date!

Just thought id check a transporter against the crafter for tax and both seem to be £220 so no probs there.

I tend to avoid multistoreys and trail centres so still no real issues, think i might have sold it to myself.

Bling van for half of what a transporter costs!

Seemingly the same width as my accord so should fid down the drive to rear garden in the new house too

depends on the vans previous owner & wether vats been paid on it previous or not.

buying one thats been privately owned/non vat registered company = no vat

buying one thats been owned by a vat registered business – vat

what i found when i was looking that regardless of situation dealers liked to charge vat as you or I knew no different to the vans previous life – you would ask the is the screen price with or without vat (as it invariably never states this in small dealers) and its always without hesitation – “+ vat mate its commercial vehicle innit”

Oh VAT is poayable as its been claimed back. Private buyers are charged VAT on cars too but its not claimed back through a business so not charged on sale.

Auction cars from lease companies now have VAT added as its been claimed back on relinquising the asset similarly so buying a car at auction is now not cost effective for you and I.

If there is no VAT then they either bought it privately or havent claimed it back so lost out to the government

(I believe)

I found the same thing, and ended up with a mvb low roof lt35.
It’ll just fit in a supermarket parking space, buy multi storey car parks are a big no no.
The main pain is it has a different mot class.

Bland – it is indeed, SORN for now whilst I have some work done to it.

Uselesshippy, is it classed as a commercial MOT? If so what do you find is the main difference? Just have to take it to a council place and pay £125?

Sorry Kristoff, useful tool for tax this is

No problem. Not like I’m driving it around, it’s currently sat in a local garage/workshop having some interior bits done.

Class of MOT will depend on the van you end up.

Think it’s something to do with payload or all up weight between classes. My T5 is a standard class 4 MOT same as any other car.

Crafters are RWD, based on Merc Sprinter IIRC and both have a reputation of going nowhere (except backwards into hedges) when lightly loaded in snow or icy conditions. Having driven both I prefer the T5 , although to be fair the Crafter was a lwb and felt enormous.

“both have a reputation of going nowhere (except backwards into hedges”

and if you look at van tires youll see why. designed for many miles on motorway.

as per usual with these threads – winter or even all season tires will turn your useless hedge seaking missile into something safe to drive.

trail_rat, you are entirely right- I have seen large SUV’s do the same on wide summer tyres when driving inappropriately fast in poor conditions. The OP asked for anything he had missed- I thought he may need to consider exactly what you suggested.

The not is the next class up, 7 or 9 I think. Its only a few quid more, it’s just a lot of garages won’t not it.
And yes it is shit/amazing in the snow. If you don’t have a pallet of brick on the rear axle, there’s not much grip.
Ummm, doughnuts.

http://www.outsidevan.com

Big van porn………I will have one next year!!!! 8)