I’m not very enamored with my current car (2007 focus), it’s got a couple of minor niggles that I can’t solve, and it’s generally a bit dull. So, I’m looking to get rid, but haven’t much of a clue what to replace it with, have looked at sportier models, fiesta st of a similar age etc, and fancy something a bit less sensible than the focus.

A van is also in the running, at the moment I’m liking the astra van sportive as they have a decent trim/spec level and are more car like. Bike carrying capability, moving kit around for my other hobby (rallying) and on the in laws farm would be very handy.

But, what are the less obvious downsides of running a van as your only vehicle?

For info, I’m late twenties, no kids, do 15-20k miles a year, mostly for work (45ppm), mrs has a decent car, so we can go out in that.

£4.5k budget.

Thoughts?

None!
The only negative I could think of for your. Would be the insurance. Can’t carry over your no claims bonus from a car onto commercial policy

You may not be able to move your NCB over to a van, (but as that’s really an estate car with no windows this may not be a problem)

You may end up doing loads of people favours, picking stuff up, shifting things, taking crap to the tip they don’t want to put in their nice cars. Free beer is the upside of this. Again, an Astra might not attract that sort of request.

Nothing else I can think of. There’s really not much point in having 2 ordinary cars in a family when you’ve only got 2 drivers.

If work is not a trade (say you are an Accountant or something) then as I understand it business use insurance can be hard to get.

Also speed limits are lower for some vans on some roads.

My van is my only non bicycle vehicle. Disadvantages could be miles per gallon (I do very few miles so it doesn’t tend to be the biggest issue in the world).

Height restrictions – multi storey and inner city car parks quite often seem to have 1.9m height restrictions. Couldn’t find anywhere at all to park in Aberdeen.

Wariness of some tight car parks. I got stuck sat in the van in Chamonix waiting for either one of the cars next to me or one opposite to leave as I couldn’t get it forward and turn in the space.

Inability to pull my weight in transport pooling to go places with friends when I only have one passenger seat.

Not where I am now, but in my previous house where I lived in a row of terraces with limited parking, the reluctance to park it outside a neighbour’s house because then their window view is just a solid white side. It really is different to having a car outside your house, a bit more claustrophobic if you’ve got a pavement fronting house (no significant garden).

Tip runs – not here but my previous area local tips restricted height quite considerably and some tips will see you as commercial rather than residential.

If you think a 2007 Focus is a bit dull than an Astravan will be really dull. Having said that I do quite like the look of them.

The Fiesta St that you are thinking of is most likely the 2.0l mk6 and they are a bit on the small size and quite a squeeze to get bikes in. They also ant especially fast with only 150bhp.

I used to love my 07 Focus, it was slow at 115bhp but it did everything well apart from accelerate. What are your niggles?

Can’t carry over your no claims bonus from a car onto commercial policy

You can. I did with more than. They matched my 12 years no claims

Oh, you’ve got a van… could you move X, Y, Z too…. 😉

If you plan on going into Wales much, bear in mind the toll fees are double for a van (depending on which size of van, of course).

Which is just one of the reasons why I bought a people carrier instead. Be assured, this will not address your “more interesting” requirement, though!

I had no problem using first my camper van NCB on my van, then when I got rid of the car used the car NCB instead as it was bigger. Getting SDP and commuting use on van insurance is easy, but business use/travel might be tricky/expensive unless the van is related to your trade, I have no experience of this.

The only other drawback I can see is tip runs. Either being pestered by everyone you know, or restrictions on taking vans (even small ones) to the tip. You need a permit at our tip if you have a van (but they turn a blind eye to commercial tipping if you take it in a shitty old estate or people carrier with the seat removed).

Other than that in your situation I can’t see much drawback to a small van. As long as you missus will drive it, and let you borrow the car if/when you need more seats.

In a long ago previous life I was in similar situation. Had a ’89 1.3 Astravan, loved it, loads of trips/adventures, sleeping (and more 😉 ) in the back, shame it was stolen. The missus nice car at the time was a 1.1 Mk3 Fiesta.

You’re basically buying a small estate car with less doors & no windows. You may as well buy a normal car?

Downsides? Well if its car based van, it will still drive like car at least, albeit a loud, rattling one.

Most of the other stuff seems to be have been covered already.

Having had a number of vans, give me an older, nice spec big estate car any day of the week.

Same thing with tolls on the M6 and the Dartford Bridge. Unless I need to take the van, or have the time to risk getting stuck in traffic, I’ll take a car over both.

My issue with vans is refinement- they are noisier, less comfortable and just generally not very nice places to be.

Got Aviva personal car policy on my van no problem. Insured for business use too, just like my car.

My van is lowered a little, so under 1.9m. Second row of seats + windows means no trouble at the tip or on the M4 toll bridge.

Downsides – not really suitable for going to business meetings etc, noisy on the motorway, no air con or ABS on mine.

But an Astra? thats not really a van, might as well go for an estate or MPV. Go big.

My issue with vans is refinement- they are noisier, less comfortable and just generally not very nice places to be.

which is why we went for MPVs. I’ve got an Alhambra which with all the seats out is bigger in the back than many vans, but it has the cabin refinement of a car, and loads of permutations of how many seats I want/need to use and where I put them to make best use of space. Took people and bikes to Verbier so easily and comfortably I’ll never fly to the mainland Europe to ride again.

Munqe Chick recently went for a Berlingo when she needed a new car for similar reasons, half her old cycling club mates either have or had them for bike duties. She’s had the rear windows professionally tinted so we/can get changed in the back, my Alhambra has pretty dark vanity glass as standard.

I’ve had a look into buying vans recently and one disadvantage is that its hard to find any second hand vans that have got cruise control.

^ astra van has most of the van downsides, less of the upsides. if you’re getting a van, get a proper one.
i don’t know where all these insurance problems i keep hearing about come from. direct line, business use ( definitely unrelated ), sd&p, NCB, no bother and cheap.

Track days won’t be much fun

I’m not very enamored with my current car (2007 focus), it’s got a couple of minor niggles that I can’t solve, and it’s generally a bit dull. So, I’m looking to get rid, but haven’t much of a clue what to replace it with, have looked at sportier models, fiesta st of a similar age etc, and fancy something a bit less sensible than the focus.

Quick estate, such as a Mondeo ST 155? Room for a small town in the back and will ‘make progress’ at a reasonable rate. Diesel also more economical for those longer runs, if not as fun as petrol.

^ astra van has most of the van downsides, less of the upsides. if you’re getting a van, get a proper one.
i don’t know where all these insurance problems i keep hearing about come from. direct line, business use ( definitely unrelated ), sd&p, NCB, no bother and cheap.

This.

If you’re going van, get one that will take a bike standing up with room to make a brew in the back.

I much prefer driving my van to anything else.

Downsides:
Fuel consumption (I only manage low 40’s)
Insurance
Ferries (often a battle explaining it’s not a commercial vehicle)
High roof vs low barriers
Parking

Some/most of these can be mitigated by van choice. I opted for a LWB Trafic so take a hit on most of them. I did manage to transfer my NCB though (despite many folk seemingly having issues with this). My only regret about van ownership is that I didn’t do it sooner.

No problems at the “tip” either. Mind you, where I live probably has the highest percentage of “lifestyle vans” in the UK so they are just seen as normal.

Can’t see the point of an Astra estate with no windows. Cheaper and easier just to tint out a car.

People carrier with tint and no seats or van based people carrier (less refined) are the best biking vehicles. Car comforts, easy bike storage, normal insurance and tolls.

I’ve had a van as a daily driver for about 14 years, office based so it’s bike only and Mrs has a nice car too. Downsides for me:

Mostly running costs (insurance can be higher, not great MPG, VED is higher than a low emission car).

Lower speed limits

Limited number of seats (can’t do a 4 person road trip unless a 2nd row of seats)

Tip – I can’t take mine as we have a car in the household, the council say we should buy a trailer for the car! Madness.

Upsides are far greater as a rider and also when doing up an old house.

never had most of these issues when i had a van (insurance/ ferries etc)

The biggest problem is all those people with tiny city cars who go on about there great mpg will ask you to take things to the tip/ collect white goods etc etc.

Bigger surface area to clean. Bit slower acceleration.

Thats it for me.

i have a t4, but with a second row and windows in the back. its a van really, so van speed limits apply. having the second row means non automatic tolls at bridges etc are charged the same as a car. you can get on the chunnel as an mpv, and i have never had anyone say anything at the two local council tips i use. i astra sized van is a waste of time imo, you may as well get an estate car because at least you can carry people around too. once you have had a transit sized van you will wonder how you ever managed before.

I drive a 63 Astra Van as my work vehicle and a LWB Citroen Relay camper conversion as my other personal vehicle.
As said above, the Astra van is just a nosier, colder estate car. It is also a nightmare if you want to turn right whilst crossing a dual carriageway for example as you are totally blind along the left. The Astra has no more carrying capacity than an estate with the seats down. No side doors can be a pain also.
Advantages over an estate are that its lighter as it has no seats or rear doors so is a bit quicker than the standard estate and will give you better MPG.
My big van is easier to drive in some respects but not so in others, it can be a pig to manouver in a car park though a camera on the back helps. I get about 35mpg in the big van but more like 65mpg in the Astra.

Our other car for the family is a Mazda 5 which is much more like a proper “Mini” van, sliding doors and everything! Drives as well the Astra too though not as efficient.

HTH

I carried my NCB over no problem, but I would suggest a bigger van, mine’s an old Vito, if you are going to. Mine has windows and seats, but the back is panelled.
I’ve rarely been asked to move people, but it’s great to help sometimes.

MPG may be an issue, I don’t do a lot of miles nowadays, and if you have no windows in the back at all you will get charged commercial rates on toll bridges & roads, i.e. Severn bridge. Mine is registered as LGV, so my speed limits are slightly reduced, which I only found out after the speeding ticket on a dual carriageway 🙁

Otherwise it’s all good, I won’t be going back to a car anytime soon.

If you plan on going into Wales much, bear in mind the toll fees are double for a van (depending on which size of van, of course).

Unless like my combo van it has rear seats AND a rear window.

Ferries can charge more for commercial looking vans as well, though after an email exchange with norfolk line they let mine through like a car because it’s hardly any bigger (smaller than some in fact).

Visibility when changing lanes on motorways and some junctions, but my van hasn’t got rear windows.

Definitely wouldn’t go back to a car, it’s so much easier, strap the bike in and go, perfect.

Try a people carier it does both jobs keep the no claims bonio and some like the delica are 4×4 and cool great for all sorts of sporting activity 😈

I have a mké 3.0 ducato 6 speed box drives better than a car does 30+ to the gallon and can earn a bob on the side sleep in it party in it love it, parking is a bitch and french toll roads bloody expensve.

Vans are brilliant. A few possible downsides of mine (LWB Vivaro): only seats 3 and that’s a struggle, it’s a bit noisy and very occasionally a problem to fit in car parks etc. I have fitted a rear view camera for reversing, before that it was basically impossible to reverse safely unless a passenger got out to check. If you are used to posh cars maybe it will feel a bit less refined but compared to my old nissan micra it’s a dream to drive 🙂

+ 1 for a Astra not being the most practical of vans.

My Mum had one and I could barely get get the MTB in with the wheels on.

My mates got the sportive limited edition Astra van and it’s basically an estate car without windows.

im in the same boat as you last summer ditch my focus (which is huge huge huge mistake by the way) for a van, a proper small bike van though (new berlingo).. for bike duty i can’t really complain, 3 bikes can fit all wheels on, insurance is no issue even if they did not carry my 10yrs NCB but they do consider , VED is quite dear though… it’s how it drives drove me mad.. slow, uninspiring metal box, boring as the most boring you ever knew..i know..i know its a van… but i thought before i could compromise, but I just couldn’t… and now to my everlasting shame I have to use my kid Yaris to go to work, i just felt suicidal driving the van!!!.. i’m eyeing an AMG in a dealer near me now,just need to make sure I can fit a removable towbar and if they could throw them in to sweeten the deal….. Berlingo van (2014)gonna be in for sale section soon with only 7k mileage

..but i don’t understand why get an astra van? ..no half measure dude

Biggest downside?

All your friends will develop Van Envy.

If you don’t like to follow stuff on A roads, a van may not be for you.
After various combinations of van, sensible car, runaround and sporty car we have settled on bangernomics estate (happy to abuse it, next owner is the scrapyard, but better drive than a van) and something interesting/fun.

T5 kombi FTW.

Lowered, so fits in car parks,, the kids won’t go in the merc estate anymore.

Noisier, higher insurance, same Ved, people jump out in front of you in 60 zones because “it’s a van”, people on motorways Hate being overtaken by vans etc.

200bhp+ in ours – love it

Downsides, you’ll make new friends who have heavy furniture and live on the third floor or higher 😀

Well, on reflection, I’m thinking a van possibly isn’t for me…..

I wouldn’t want a big van, certainly no bigger than a caddy, and I think the drawbacks might just outweigh the positives, and as said, could mean a van is worse than an estate. On the upside, I have no neighbours, have plenty of private parking and most people I know have a van or pick up/4×4, I live almost in Wales (on the right side of the bridge), and local tip accepts vans with a permit, a dozen times a year.

So, what estate car for a 27 yr old not wanting to look like a grandad/weirdo.

The only question for me would be

Do you need more than 2 seats in your vehicle.

If not, buy a caddy. Chip it to 140bhp, comfy, fast, drives like a golf, bikes fit in, you can get changed in it when its raining, its cheap to insure (£200ish for me), 55mpg.

Cars are a waste of space if you don’t have kids.