How To Choose The Right Van For Your Needs!

If you are self-employed, have your own business or just want a van for pleasure, choosing the right sprinter work van can be a daunting experience. With so many different options for you to choose from, it is beneficial for you to ask yourself a few pertinent questions before you start your search.

Many people think that getting the cheapest van they can find is also the better option, WRONG! Buying older cheap vans can lead to the van being a money pit, with MOT tests getting more stringent a cheap van at say £1000 can cost you £1000's more over a very short period of time.

 What will I use the van for?

Work or pleasure, tradesman or delivery driver everyone has a different specific need and not all vans are the same, someone who needs a van because they are a tradesman say a joiner/carpenter may only need a small van, however many joiners/ carpenters need to be able to fit a full size ineternal timber door in the rear, most small vans will not accomodate this, so they will need a small van with a long wheel base, such as the Vauxhall Combo Long Wheel Base L2H1 which has approximateley 7 foot on the rear floor , more than enogh for a door. Or the Renault Kangoo Maxi and the VW Caddy Maxi are ideal as they too have around 7 foot length in the back.

 Sometimes you may need to put 8" x 4" sheet product in the back of your van as a joiner/carpenter, then you will need a medium sized van such as the Vauxhall Vivaro LWB model which have plenty of room so that your sheet material doesn't get damaged. When you visit us at Vanstop Bolton we always ask what you are going to use the van for, if we can give you any advise that helps in your search, we are happy.

Where will I be driving the van?

Does your work take you to city centres or areas where access is limited, then you need a van that will be able to drive into these areas, the uprise in online shopping has created a whole new area of delivery for small parcels and withit companies determine last mile delivery and in so doing they need to understand what type of vans are best for the job. 

If your job or business relies on constatly being on the motorway ie: delivering all over the counry then LWB High Roof vans are best for this, such as the VW Crafter, Mercedes Sprinter or Vauxhall Movano L3H3 .

Just take a few moments and think where you will be driving in your van and it will save your frustration in the long run.

What is your budget and how will you finance the purchase of your new van?

Sit down and work out how much you envisage your van to cost you on a yearly basis from, fuel, insurance and maintenance. How will you pay for the van? Will you pay outright or do you need to finance it, if you wish to go down the finance route then understand that the majority of finance companies will not finance the VAT on commercial vehicles, so you will need to have this as your minimum deposit. Check out our finance calculator to get some idea of monthly payments. 

The more deposit you put down the lower your payments will be and the longer you take the finance over the lower the APR.