New Or Used Van (Advice Please)

[Tstillman24]

Ok. So here is my predicament. I have $5000 available to spend on a van. I could buy a used one or put a down payment on a new one. Please help guide me towards a decision. Here are the Pro's and Con's I have listed for each category.

Brand New

Pros:

- 3 year warranty (If anything happens to the vehicle mechanically; with proper maintenance on my part, it's covered)

- Original Owner (I have peace of mind to know that the engine and components have not been used for heavy duty contractor work that has lead to abnormal wear and tear on the vehicle due to overuse)

- Clean Inside and Outside (Everything is factory new and there is no rust).

Cons:

- $550 car payment for 5 years (still cheaper than $1000 rent, but what if I don't like the vanlife :/ )

- $120 insurance every month (more than twice what I pay right now)

Used

Pros:

- No car payment

- Cheaper insurance compared to a 2018 vehicle 

Cons:

- For $5000 I'm not going to get much for my money

- If something goes wrong with the vehicle and an expensive repair is required, I am pouring money into an old vehicle and could find myself having to borrow money from friends or family if I used my $5000 budget.

- Older vehicles with a Medium and High roofs are not common between 2000-2005 (most likely the year range I will have to buy in with $5000).

So far these are the main things I thought about, but Id love  to hear feedback from people. Thanks.

 

[Gypsy Sky]

I'm trying to figure that out also. My thought is put $5000 on a $10,000 used van and finance the other $5000.

Sent from my SM-G550T1 using Tapatalk

 

[wmyers4u]

Never new unless you have money to burn. Loses to much value driving off the lot.

If you are looking at a commercial type van most are built to last. A couple years shouldn't be too hard on it.

Let someone else pay for the first few scratches.

Personally, I've recently purchased a fleet retired 2005 Chevy Express with 125k I'm going to build. I am mechanically inclined so that is a huge plus for me. I also don't like payments so I stick to cash only. I'm lucky that I haven't had to have a car payment in 20 years. It allows me to save much more for the future.

 

[tx2sturgis]

Do you or will you have a steady income for 5 years?

Will you be using this as full time, or part, time, main vehicle, second vehicle, or what?

Just general advice:

I would NOT get 'upside down' on a new vehicle purchase.

I would not arrange financing so that those large monthly payments last longer than the warranty.

Insurance and registration for cargo vans can be problematic, and that depends entirely on where you live and who your insurance carrier is.

You should also understand that a non-professional, making major modifications to a brand new van, can send the resale value into the crapper. If it is financed, the bank actually holds title, you are modifying THEIR van and they might not like it. 

A used van in good condition with reasonable mileage and service records, that you can pay about half down and finance the rest, might be the third option.

 

[rm.w/aview]

Seems you went to both ends with Brand New vs a $5K van when, as Gypsy Sky & TX mentioned, the middle ground could be more beneficial for you. I had two chances on two different used vans, both fleet rental E350 extended passenger vans (I prefer glass walls) that I didn't move quick enough on, good prices and some warranty left too.

 

[wagoneer]

Pick-up truck would be my choice

 

[tx2sturgis]

Pick-up truck would be my choice

That's what I ended up doing....long story, some day I will write a 4000 word essay on the entire process.

:dodgy:

 

[Headache]

That's what I ended up doing....long story, some day I will write a 4000 word essay on the entire process.

So that's how you are going to end up vanless!

T I'm notoriously cheap when it comes to buying vehicles.   I absolutely ABHOR making payments on something that is going to lose value, paying for depreciation, etc.  That said I'm about to sink almost a grand into repairs on this van and all of them normal for the age and mileage.   

For the amount of repairs since I've bought it divided by the months I've owned it and not including things like LOFs and other maintenance items it would be as if I had been making payments of about $125 a month.  Only I've paid no interest, lost no value and there is no lien on my van.  I own it.  I paid $1300 for it. 

In a couple of years I will replace it but in the meantime the amount of money I've saved in rent more than makes up for the repairs and occasional headaches. If I had $5k I'd be able to get a hell of a van!

 

[Tstillman24]

Headache:

I see where you are coming from and am thinking I might go your route. I am so very concerned that at any point though, with a used vehicle, something could go wrong with the transmission or engine. Almost as though someone selling a used vehicle has to be selling it because it has a hidden problem with the transmission or engine. I know this may be paranoid thinking on my part, but its hard for me not to think this way.

 

[Wanderer]

Well, you could look at shuttle bus....Or vans...I see a 1996 Astro cargo for $3K...148K miles....

New? Ouch, even I checked what a 2009 Chevy express would do to my insurance. Upsell of $136 every 6 months.... It's $235 every 6 months right now. I'd hate to see what a 2018 would do....

 

[AMGS3]

Tstillman
It is a good thing to carefully consider the motivations behind anyone selling a vehicle. There indeed are 'too good to be true' situations where mechanical problems have led the owner to want to sell a used vehicle and they don't disclose that to the purchaser.

The flip side of that is that sometimes there are reasons that cause people to want to get rid of a vehicle that just doesn't work for their life anymore. They might experience an increase in their income (new job, inheritance, etc) that allows them to replace their used vehicle with one that works better for them. Maybe they moved to a location where there's public transit. Maybe they inherited a working vehicle they have no use for.

This is one of the reasons why when I was looking for a new (to me) truck I asked around. I ended up buying from an acquaintance who was referred to me by someone else. I didn't know he was selling it before I asked. It did have 1 minor problem I was told about before buying (a $50 sensor), but has held up rather well for the last 5 years with regular maintenance.

I guess what I'm saying is that yes, there are people out there who are just out to make a buck and would sell you junk from a salvage yard shined up to look pretty, but there are also people out there who are just trying to sell their Dad's 10 yr old van to help pay for his in-home nursing care.

It's important to get anything you buy inspected by a mechanic you trust BEFORE you buy it. And I think it's important that you trust the back story on the vehicle you are going to buy. You should ask "Why are you selling it?" And the seller should be able to give you an answer that makes sense.

Also, it's a good idea to check with the state records office to see that the title of the vehicle you are buying is ' clean & clear' before you buy it. There are instances where people have bought used vehicles and didn't find out until they tried to register it that the car still had a lien on it from a bank. If that happens, the bank owns it, not the purchaser. Yes it's fraud. Yes it's illegal, but it's a whole lot easier to just check beforehand than try to get you money back after the fact.

Good Luck with your vehicle search.

Sent from my VS501 using Tapatalk

 

[JD GUMBEE]

With a 5K budget, something like this is your best friend.
This is not being sold because of issues or to avoid repair.
Bet it goes for less than 3K.
They do not lie about mileage on municipal/government auctions.
This would last you for more than 100,000 miles pretty for-sure.
It has just enough "ugly" that it will go cheap.
Unlike any other seller, they do not lie in these auctions.
If they know of a defect, they disclose it.
At your budget, a van like this, from a college/town/government will be your best value unless you know someone personally getting rid of their own vehicle and they gave you a great deal.
https://www.publicsurplus.com/sms/auction/view?auc=2052328
Here you go. ^^^Link goes to the auction van^^^

 

[Headache]

Headache:

I see where you are coming from and am thinking I might go your route. I am so very concerned that at any point though, with a used vehicle, something could go wrong with the transmission or engine. Almost as though someone selling a used vehicle has to be selling it because it has a hidden problem with the transmission or engine. I know this may be paranoid thinking on my part, but its hard for me not to think this way.

I completely understand.   The van I have now has Ford's worst transmission ever.  I'm too broke to save up an emergency fund at this time and I'm using my start battery for everything.   If there is something to NOT do out here I'm doing it.

Eventually I'm going to set up a secured credit card and start putting small amounts here and there until I have that $5k saved up.  Then I'm going to get another and do the same.  That will cover both an engine and tranny, or another van.

In the meantime I keep my fingers crossed and try to sleep at night until there are used Promasters I can afford.

 

[eDJ_]

My rig is a 1990 Ford E 350 with High Top and a 351 V8.   Down the road from me is a Ford (only) wrecking yard.  As I've gotten to know the owner he made the remark to me about the engines he sells most of.  In his words he can't keep V6 engines and has a waiting list for them,  and he can't hardly sell V8's. 

I've not owned a Ford V6 vehicle yet.   I've looked a t a bunch of older Mustang convertibles but most of them have V6's.  (I think I'd just as soon have the 4 cylinder from what I'm hearing)

Do any other Ford V6 owners have any issues with their motors ?

 

[Rabbit]

I can only offer a general opinion, not specific cases.

From time to time there's a large fleet turnover of commercial vans coming off-lease. For some unknown reason, locally these vans seem by far mostly to be Ram Promasters, always white. Typically they have 15-25k miles on them, and are resold for about 60-70% new price. Yes, you lose most of the warranty, and yes the inside of the cargo area tends to be scuffed up. But... The discount is pretty darned good compensation for that. I'd currently own one of these Promasters, if I had a place with enough overhead clearance to park it. 15-25k is _nothing_ compared to the 200-300k miles freight expediters are claiming to be getting out of them. The Auto Trader

https://www.autotrader.com/

is an excellent shopping tool for finding them (as well as almost any other vehicle), once you learn to apply the proper filters.

I'll add a second generalized shopping strategy here that's a personal favorite. Very often, a vehicle (like, apparently, the 6.0 Ford diesel) gets a bad reputation or doesn't sell well for an absolutely excellent reason. But sometimes a model or specific drivetrain is perceived as undesirable either for no good reason at all, or there was once a good reason that no longer applies to later model years due to improvements in design, or sometimes there's a perfectly good reason that simply doesn't apply to your specific ownership case or planned usage. I'll give two examples here. I recently looked at a new GMC van with a 2.8 Duramax diesel in it, which apparently isn't selling at all well because people assume a 4-cyl diesel will be a total dog in that large a vehicle. But a little research showed me that this van is rated to tow 7000 pounds, and that a mid-sized pickup with the same motor is reported by professional reviewers to accelerate quite well, even while towing a similar load. Plus, in world-wide service the 2.8 Duramax is apparently considered extremely durable. So, I drove it and had my socks knocked off by the motor. It was _amazingly_ good, performance-wise. Though the dealer offered me an excellent price on this vehicle he can't seem to get to anyone to even test-drive, I didn't buy it due to reasons that had nothing to do with the motor that everyone else seems to hold in such contempt. (I have arthritis, which is only getting worse, and there were physical issues.) But someone somewhere, I suspect, is going to get themselves one heck of a bargain by being little more open-minded and better-informed than the average buyer.

A second example is the truck I finally settled on and actually bought. GM currently offers several V-8's and a 4.3 V-6 in their pickup line. The V-6, which is the same size as an older engine also therefore referred to as a 4.3 but which is a totally new design, isn't selling at all. No one seems to want one, because a) the old 4.3 was quite slow even thought it was superbly reliable, and b) the EPA fuel economy numbers for the smallest V-8 are almost identical to the V-6's, while the V-8s are faster and more capable. But further research shows not only that the new 4.3 actually puts out more power than smaller V-8's did just a few years ago-- the engine-performance numbers happen to be within spitting distance of a 1995 K3500 350 I owned for 19 years-- but also that the EPA test has little connection with the real world. In the real world, the new 4.3 actually does significantly better than the V-8 in terms of MPG, as one would reasonably expect. (I'd guess that the reason why the test-loop numbers are so close is because the engineers know exactly how the test will be performed, and "game" their designs and engine-settings accordingly. But, that's just a guess.) I also noted there were tons of older model but new "standard" cab pickups gathering dust on dealer's lots, meaning they're not selling worth a darn anymore. There are probably excellent reasons why 4-doors are much more popular these days. But I personally don't have a family I need to haul around, and happily drove standard-cabs for decades. So I located a used low-mile Chevy 4x4 standard cab with a V-6 at a _very_ low price, due to simple lack of demand. I drove it, liked it, and paid a lot less than I would've for a similar four-door with a V-8. And I have every reason to believe it'll meet all my needs for a lot less money, unless for some reason I someday want to buy a fifth-wheel or something-- possible, but not likely.

So, if you can buy when the supply of something is over-inflated, prices will naturally be lower. And, if you can live with something that's not popular with others that's perfectly fine for you, that works too. Best of all, if you can find ways that most buyers aren't behaving entirely rationally, you can come out well ahead of the game.

Those are my favorite vehicle-buying-- or pretty much anything-buying--tricks. Good luck!

 

[tx2sturgis]

So that's how you are going to end up vanless!

Oh that!

It's been a good van, but as mentioned in above posts, it just no longer 'fits the bill'.

Yeah as soon as somebody buys it...it will be gone....As I type this I'm moochdocking at a WMT in Amarillo in my new truck camper.

 

[texas0322]

I'm just entering this lifestyle and I chose to go the new route. I had a ton of equity in the truck I traded in for it and came out of pocket about 10,000 on top of my trade. I worked several dealers (I was in auto sales in a former life lol) against each other who all had 2017 models left last month and combined with the rebates I drove off with a final price of $22,200 before registration (no tax in Texas since my trade value was greater than what I was purchasing). Sticker was $34,500 for the 2017 Chevy Express 2500 Cargo van that I bought. To me, this was a good enough deal that I was fine buying new. I had originally planned on buying used, but this was a huge amount off of sticker and it worked out for me.

I too didn't want to deal with unexpected repair expenses and wanted something I felt pretty certain would be reliable.

 

[Headache]

Oh that!

It's been a good van, but as mentioned in above posts, it just no longer 'fits the bill'.

Yeah as soon as somebody buys it...it will be gone....As I type this I'm moochdocking at a WMT in Amarillo in my new truck camper.

And where is that ad?