UKC

Hi

Starting to look seriously at buying a van this year to minimally convert with just insulation and bed platform kind of thing.

If you were to spend around £10k-ish on some kind of recent Ford Transit Custom with low miles, is it worth paying a little bit more to get really recent and a Euro 6 Blue engine?

Given all that is going on it is hard to work out how important that top-end emissions classification would be.  My use would be strictly pleasure , and highway miles around highlands UK and to/around Europe.  No commuting.  And very little cities if can avoid it.

Basically it seems you need to spend that much to get lowish miles, so you can use it over the next 10-ish years, so would it therefore be a bad investment to spend so much for something other than a Euro 6.

Cheers

Given the recent appetite to penalise Diesel drivers/owners I would think going for the latest euro6 engines would minimise the impact of any fuel price hike or tax increases as best you could.

Euro 6 is latest specs.  TBH Ford are usually a year or so behind the main players when it comes to releasing euro standards on vans.  I work for Mercedes and I wouldn't blink between euro 5 or 6.  My own van is euro 5 which I purchased because it was a bargain and perfect for what I wanted.  However I also managed to get away without smart alternator and ad blue.  Most euro 6 needs these technologies and if you are wanting to fit split charge it can make it a bit more awkward..

With regards to government.  Its coming that you will be taxed if you are driving dirty old vans.  But to give you an idea, my euro 5 is 2012.  I think they are only starting to punish euro 3 which I know Mercedes were early uptakers back in 2009 as those vans got cheap tax because they were so clean at the time.  Even then its not something that I would be too bothered about as I would just go around the cities who charge for them.  Different matter if you travel in one daily though.

Over next 10yrs its possible euro 6 will get you a benefit over euro 5 but I would say that is 90% of the vans on the road today effected so it would be a hell of a change.

Thanks guys.  Andrew: that's good info and what I wondered might possibly the case.  The main "driver" for me is a young van with as low as poss. miles, so that it'll last a good while over many trips (like my current 187,000 mile 12 year old diesel car).  But you would have to pay quite a bit more to get a <1-ish year old Transit with the Euro 6 classification.  Hence the potential dilemma...  But as you say, there will be a  lot of vehicles on the road without E 6 for a long time yet.  And the added Euro 6 technologies could be a right pain.

I like the custom and considered it myself.  Must admit when I was looking £10k was either quite a high mileage example or pretty crap condition.  That was plus VAT too so more like £12k.

£10-12k gets you a whole lot of van without chasing euro 6 so I wouldn't get particularly hung up on it. 

Sold vans for over 20yrs (I don't sell to friends or on internet - its never worth it).  My main advice would be take your time and if you can buy something you know its FULL History.  Not just what the salesman tells you.  I have seen clean vans which are absolute money pits and dirty vans which after a good clean turn out to be gems.  The one I have I sold new, knew the owner, knew what it had to the last windscreen wiper and I sold him an exact replacement because it had been such a good van. 2012 with 38k in clock.  I waited 2 yrs for it and offered him cash value of whatever my used department offered.

Thanks Andrew.  I appreciate your advice.  I gather also, that despite everything, it also takes a bit of luck!  But hopefully I won't have to start selling vans for a living to be able to get something reasonable  

All the best, Bruce.