As per my thread the other week about small cars for my commute, I'm now thinking about a small van for my commute. Yes, I'll board and sound deaden the back so motorway noise will be less of an issue so don't go there but I figure that having a small van would potentially be much more useful than a small car (when we have a Mondeo-sized car for family duties, leaving the van for biking etc). 50mpg+ and dirt cheap on insurance. Been looking at the usual suspects – Transit Connect and the older shape Caddy (might just be able to stretch to a new shape Caddy if I found one that fell below the £3k mark). Anything else I should be looking at?

The older shape Caddy looks ok as its slightly more car-like but I'm not sure whether this will translate into less space in the back. I do remember sitting in the back of my mates ex-work one surrounded by 3 bikes and a load of electricians junk and it was a little cramped!
Transit Connect looks decent – no shortage of low mileage cheap examples. Don't really want a white one though and they all seem to be white!
Had a quick look at some Vauxhall Combis too and they look nice.

Then theres the Berlingo/Kangoo etc vans – anyone know much about them?

Cheers
Dave

well, whether or not it would suit you, i don't know, but i just bought a peugeot expert. up to 07 the expert/fiat scudo/citroen dispatch are a little bit bigger than a connect, but not as big as a transit/transporter. 'bout the same size as the current caddy.
just long enough to sleep in. three seats up front. swallows bikes very easily. has sliding doors both sides.
i've removed the ply lining, filled in behind with sheeps wool insulation, and replaced, and it's made a massive difference to sound levels. the doors now close with a 'clunk' rather than a 'clang' too!
first 'camp' at 24/12 in a couple of weeks.
really pleased with it so far.
ugly ba5tard, mind. 😀

I like caddy's but dont get a new one if it under 3K and the older ones arn't very fuel efficient, especially the Tdi's.

For the money I would say a Combo. Or, as said above the expert/scudo is a great size van. can be found cheap too as they are 'neither here nor there' for most people.

old style caddy holds my patriot and my mates kona coiler fully built up, two packs, waterproofs, 4 lids, spares, lubes, brake cleaner, shock pumps, pumps and bike tool box with room to spare
Sdi, 58mpg.

what mods have you done to get a 1.9SDI caddy to do 58mpg ? more like 48mpg …. thus i ended up with a 1.8 partner

I have a Kangoo and it has been great, up until 120,000 miles, when all of a sudden it started falling to bits.

Was very economical and brilliant for trips around Europe with bikes, camping etc, bring 10 million cigarettes back from Spain, but the insurance is more than a car and you need 3 days notice signed in triplicate in blood to pass anything faster than a 1 legged blind sheep.

Ford Transit Connect is worth a look too.

Berlingo/Partner is a good bet but very basic and tinny.

Berlingo's are rubbish IME (we have a few at work)

My Kangoo has been great, just over 100K on it an no real problems.

The Ford is worth a look in too if you can get a deal.

New Caddy's are nice, old ones aren't.

All vans in this size range are pretty good.

Connect, Caddy (current shape), Scudo / Dispatch / Expert and some Doblo vans are all reduced speed limits (60mph dual and 50mph A road).

Of the above, the Scudo / Disp / Exp gives the most room for your money but still fits in regular car park spaces and has 3 front seats unlike any of the others. Any of the turbos are a nice drive (some of the non turbos are under-geared and noisy). We had a Scudo 1.9 TD as our only family "car" for 9 years / 133,000 miles. Now got a new shape Dispatch Combi which is just ace.

Only thing wrong with Berlingo / Partner / early Scudo etc is clutch cable can be sticky and snaps about every 50,000 miles (but cheap and easy to replace so I just carried a spare). Later Scudos etc (HDi / JTD) were hydraulic clutch.

If wanting something smaller I'd probably go for a Combo with 1.3 TD engine (and a crew van if you can find one).

What you need is one of these.

Hopefully not a too much of a thread hijack – how does it work with insurance, road tax & VAT with vans? Also are there different speed limits and restrictions on tyres etc for this class of van?

ta,

thebunk

tax for my expert was 200 quid/year. insurance was 250 quid ( a decent bit of NCD and quiet area – for reference my seat leon 1.9tdi before was about 280 quid IIRC ).
direct line assume that the vehicle is to be used for your business and for personal use, so no additions or exclusions required for me. i visit customers occasionally, so would have to add class a business use to my car policies, but didn't have to do anything for this one at all. the only difference for anyone else would be that you never actually use it for business use, and DL couldn't give a monkey's.
yes – speed limits are lower for non-car derived vans. basically, if there wasn't a car of the same shape first, it'll be an LGV. 60 max on NSL dual carriageways separated by a central reservation ( for cars 70 ), 50mph max for NSL single carriageway A roads. other speeds as posted, motorways 70.

If you get a van with a full bulkhead it will be much quieter than one without…also much more secure as they have to break into the back rather than just smash a window and climb through. Downside is the bulkhead will further restrict the length of the van for bike duties.

Speed limit wise, the Transit Connect is subject to the lower limits as it is not car derived. The Vauxhall combo is car derived and I think it is 1995kg max laden weight so just squeezes into car speed limits, any van (car derived or otherwise) over 2000kg max laden weight is 50 on singles, 60 on duals and 70 on mways. I'm pretty sure the Scudo/Despatch/Expert are van derived and over 2000kg.

Insurance can be a little harder as you have to convince the companies that you are not using it in the course of a trade/business, but you can go through specialist brokers such as Adrian Flux and Insurance Choice. Road tax is fixed at something like £185-190 and does not relate to engine size or emissions. Tyres simply have to have to be rated 'C' for commercial which isn't an issue.

A van for commuting but easy to get a bike into, I'd be looking at something like a Vivaro. A lot of guys at work had back pain issues with the Connect so get a good long test drive if this ends up near the top of the list. Also be aware there are two versions, the swb low roof, and lwb medium roof which would probably be the better choice as they are quite short.

Hmm, interesting – been thinking about this same question.

1) When people talk about the "new Caddy", does that mean after 2005?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volkswagen_Caddy

2) I hadn't even bothered thinking about the Vauxhall Combo because – well, it's a Vauxhall. Was I being snobbish and misguided? How's the build quality after 4-5 years?

3) Finally, has anyone got any experience of having seats fitted and windows cut into the rear of the commercial versions of the Caddy, Kangoo etc? For some reason the commercial versions are wildly, wildly cheaper than the passenger versions esp at auction, and I'm wondering whether it's worth buying and then converting to my taste.

I know that in the 08 Caddy, for example, you can cut away the false floor over the backseat floorwell so you can have a second row of seats at "normal height".

From what a mates said, fitting windows and seats (and then declaring it to your insurance company) causes insurance premiums to shoot up. Not sure if this is true or not.

Either way… seems we're going to stick with our current Mondeo/Polo 'fleet' until I move jobs and then go for a Passat/Octavia and a T4 camper 🙂

I_Ache – Member
What you need is one of these.

Me want. Any details 🙂

No mods to mine, get between 195 and 205 miles from £20 (apprx 17.5 litre so just under 4 gallon) of diesel so do the maths..
FSH from VAG main dealer and 60000 on the clock might explain it in some part. Looks an old knacker on the outside but the mechanicals are A1.
Im sure i'd eek a little more out of it once i lose the daft wide alloys and put standard steels back on

Mate has just bought a Mazda E2200 van. Could be a cheaper option. Will easily take a couple of bikes and loads of kit.

I have a 'new shape' 05 Caddy and am officially in love with it. Haven't looked at seats option – that'll be the Caddy 'Life' which are more expensive 🙄 TDI all the way though, good fuel economy if you drive sensible but goes great on the mway too if you really are in a hurry. No solid bulk head but road noise not an issue – v good stereo 😀 Two bikes fully built in the back plus all the clobber you need. But, not as cheap as Berlingos etc -you pays your money … And obviously if you are saving up for a T4 … 😉