Hi there,

Just moved to Neuchâtel from the UK with my wife (her job brought us here) and I will be starting up as a self employed Joiner/Carpenter. First thing I'm going to do is buy myself a van.

Does anyone have experience of buying a van here? I'm wondering if there is vehicle dealers specialising in vans? I'm looking to get finance on it rather than pay for one out right.

Any information at all would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks, Mike.

Welcome to the forum.

I bought a 2nd hand VW T4 van at a small dealers in Biel, not a van specialist but I found him on Auto Scout, just do a search for the type of van you would like and you will find the dealers. I think the site also advertises finance companies too but we got a good deal through our bank.

Thanks for the speedy reply.

Looking at the vans right now and am amazed at how clean they are. Nothing like back in the UK where most van drivers just don't care for their vehicles.

The price of vans reflects their condition - they are expensive compared to the UK - but tend to be in far better condition.

Depending on the size you need - you'll find the Post sells its fleet fairly regularly. Loads of Kangoo's and Scudos at the moment on Autoscout.

When you search look under lieferwagen, minibus - and pretty much all the other categories - because vans pop up everywhere!!

Found an Opel Vivaro on Autoscout. Going to take a trip out to Lausanne and have a look at it this week.

Does anyone have any experience of owning a Vivaro, is there anything I should be looking out for if I take it for a test drive.

Also, it's a 2003 Vivaro and the MFK was done in 03.2011. I'm right in thinking that I wont need to get another MFK until 03.2013?

get the mercedes vito, used to have that(Viano). those things are huge and indestructible

I think the Vito has a smaller capacity than the Vivaro (not checked that with figures) and for one in good condition/age I think it's a bit out of my finances at the moment. They are nice vans though, drove one of Ikea's Vito vans and it was good.

The Viano looks good too, but I need to keep the wheel base size to a minimum as I'll be parking it on the street, so need to fit into as small a space as possible. There is a Vito on at the moment with 590000km on the clock, so I'd say they must be fairly indestructible.

Will put the Vito on my list for searching though, cheers.

Back when I bought my new van (2003) the Vito's had a very bad name, especially w.r.t. the suspension.

I have also heard that about the vito.

Guess I'll just need to plump for what I think is a good van and hope for the best. As long as I can get one with a newish MFK I'll hopefully be okay (famous last words). I know I've had very little success in buying second hand cars in the UK.

any opinions on smaller vans, like the fiat doblo?

A friend at my old work was warned away from Fiat vans due to bad reliability. But can't remember exactly why. But then he was advised to get a Ford Transit Connect which he then went on to have a persistent electrical problem that killed the engine on a weekly basis. The Ford garage told him it was a common fault.

I need a van that can fit 4'x8' sheets of plywood or plasterboard.

No matter what van you are thinking of buying, you will find some people with bad stories (same goes with cars). I had a Merc Vito in London quite a few years ago and it was a pile of cr@p.

I bought an 8 year old VW T4 (1.9 petrol) 22 months ago with 90,000 km's on the clock. After those 22 months it is close to 200,000 and it's been a joy to drive with no major problems. I like them because they don't look like the typical white van man builders van. You may need a LWB one to take 8x4 sheets but I can check in the morning if you like.

It would be great if you could see if an 8x4 sheet would fit in. I've heard nothing but good things about the T4, maybe worth forking out a bit extra for one and could always just fit a roof rack I guess.

Just measured my T4 and it will take 2.2m length straight along the van (no problem with 4ft height) which means the sheets would have to go in diagonally. A long wheelbase one would be fine though.

Thanks for the measurement Grumpy. Think I've whittled it down to two Vivaro's, both very similar except one comes with 1 year guarantee, but costs 2000CHF more. Last couple of questions about owning a van.

Where I am the only parking I have access to is blue zone parking bays with my permit. Is there any issues with parking a van in the blue zone for prolonged periods of time? I would hope not, but it wouldn't be the first time I've come across a strange rule.

Anyone know a website I can compare van insurance?

Thanks guys, not working means I can't just go and buy first and think later like I normally would. So need to be a bit more prepared.

There is a builder that has multiple vans in the blue zone near me in 8048 Zh. It's a pain but obviously no problem

My van was a 2003 VW T4 with the LWB, sold it 2 yrs ago. Excellent car, never went wrong. If I remember correctly it's 40 cm longer than the SWB, in the folder the cargo bit is 2.90 meter long (versus 2.50 m for the SWB)

Generally you can usually buy two parking permits for the blue zone parking where you live. For working you would need to buy a daily permit from the relevant town police office.

www.comparis.ch is a good consumer website for all insurances.

Comparis is a great site, but unfortunately doesn't show you insurance for vans, just cars.

Can anyone tell me if this is LWB or SWB? Tried searching, but getting nowhere.

http://www.autoscout24.ch/AS24Web/De...6&page=3&row=8

What do you guys think, either the one above or

http://www.autoscout24.ch/AS24Web/De...7&page=1&row=4

or

http://www.autoscout24.ch/AS24Web/De...7&page=1&row=9

I'm totally undecided as to what to go for. A Vivaro would be more sensible if I want to offer myself as a man with a van (if I don't get much work as a non-French speaking carpenter) due to the larger load space. But the van will also be used as our car for the forseable future so a T4 would be my preference for just driving around in. And I think that the T4 gets a better write up than the Vivaro.

This is a SWB one. In the 2nd picture you can see there is no space between the rear wheel and the middle panel. This is a LWB (note the space between the rear wheel and the middle panel in the 3rd picture). Also on the right side for the SWB the sliding door guide goes all the way to the back while in the LWB it comes about 40cm short)

http://www.autoscout24.ch/AS24Web/De...1&page=4&row=1

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