Penske Used Vans... and others

[sailingsfbay]

Hey Guy/Gals,

I live in N. Ca, but am currently in the Chicago area for another 30 days 
or so finishing up handling my moms estate affairs. Looking to buy a van
(Chevy Express or Savana 2500 Extended) for about a $10k budget to
drive back to CA. But may possibly consider going new to minimize the 
vehicle issues and build a sweet camper van. Only problem with going
new for me is that it would pretty much wipe out my small inheritance.
But, I could live with that and having a hopefully trouble free new van 
paid for.

Sorry if this has been covered. I did a search but just found a few people 
commenting that they were happy with their Penske purchase. During my
research, Penske seems to be the most reasonable of the big three used
van rental companies. Others being Enterprise and Uhaul.

PENSKE -
I was wondering about the buying process with Penske.

1) It appears they negotiate (unlike Enterprise)?
2) Do they remove the Penske decal before delivery? If not, how hard is
it to get it off?
3) If it's a big yellow van, what might one expect to pay for a decent paint job?
4) Do they give you the service records for that van?
5) I was originally thinking I'd have to get rid of the yellow paint job and decals,
but I was wondering if that could make for a good "Stealth Van". What do you guys think?

ENTERPRISE -
Am I missing something because I'm wondering who would buy a used van from Enterprise.
(Their car prices seem more reasonable). Example - On their website now (Aug 2016) at their
Lombard, IL office they have a 2016 Chevy Express 2500 Extended 3 dr. with 17k miles listed
for $26,713. A local Chevy dealer has the same 2016 van new (maybe even better options) with
8 miles for $29,805 with dealer and factory incentives currently. That's a $3,092 difference. That's
a lot of money to me and could make or break a deal, but in the big picture it seems Enterprise
is very overpriced. 

1) What do you guys think?
2) Is Enterprise truly non negotiate on price?
3) Has anyone bought a van from enterprise and are you happy?

UHAUL -
I couldn't seem to find much info on Uhaul used vans.
1) Has anyone dealt with them and bought a used van?

Thanks Very Much In Advance...

William

- end -

 

[NoLimit]

Why not get a Chevy express 3500 with the upgraded suspension? I have a 04 express 3500, bought for $3600, one owner from a company who did religious maintenance (They had a 10 year lease on the van!). When I bought it the van had 150k miles and it drives like new still. These vans can get 500k miles out of the engine and tranny if maintained well.

 

[sailingsfbay]

Why not get a Chevy express 3500 with the upgraded suspension? I have a 04 express 3500, bought for $3600, one owner from a company who did religious maintenance (They had a 10 year lease on the van!). When I bought it the van had 150k miles and it drives like new still. These vans can get 500k miles out of the engine and tranny if maintained well.

Yes, I agree. The more I read on the forum, the more I'm leaning towards a 3500. My only initial concerns
were that when you have a 1 ton you have no choice but to register it as a commercial vehicle, which I 
thought costs considerably more annually. Does anyone know about that? Thanks...

 

[TravelDerby]

Yes, I agree. The more I read on the forum, the more I'm leaning towards a 3500. My only initial concerns
were that when you have a 1 ton you have no choice but to register it as a commercial vehicle, which I 
thought costs considerably more annually. Does anyone know about that? Thanks...

 I'm sure it depends on your state, but insurance is another concern on the 3500 vans. Some insurance companies will only insure them with commercial policies as well.  I have a E-350 cargo van and that was the case with mine, luckily I needed the commercial policy anyway.

 
 Just a heads up, but I've seen some really good deals on 2015 Ford Transits lately (Former non extended Uhaul vans). There's a ton of them on Ebay and elsewhere for under 20k with hardly any miles and still under factory warranty for a couple more years.

 

[IGBT]

If $3k is a lot of money to you then consider the sales tax implications of buying a $26,000 or $29,000 van.

You are probably going to pay $2000 to $2500 in tax right off the bat.

Where if you found a used $10,000 van from a private seller with medium mileage, you would be paying $700 to $900 in tax.

So we are talking $29,000 + $2500 = $31,500 on the high end, and perhaps $10,700 for the used low end.

$20,800 difference there.

Insurance is going to be cheaper on the used van too (well, full coverage will be if you go that route).

 

[cortttt]

[font=Verdana, Arial, sans-serif]PENSKE -[/font]
[font=Verdana, Arial, sans-serif]I was wondering about the buying process with Penske.[/font]

[font=Verdana, Arial, sans-serif]1) It appears they negotiate (unlike Enterprise)?[/font]

[font=Verdana, Arial, sans-serif]Penske is fine with negotiating. [/font]

[font=Verdana, Arial, sans-serif]2) Do they remove the Penske decal before delivery? If not, how hard is[/font]
[font=Verdana, Arial, sans-serif]it to get it off?[/font]

[font=Verdana, Arial, sans-serif]They do remove the decals; one of them in the front I think they removed with a knife - not the best removal job on that one - but the rest were fine[/font]

[font=Verdana, Arial, sans-serif]3) If it's a big yellow van, what might one expect to pay for a decent paint job?[/font]

[font=Verdana, Arial, sans-serif]No idea - I like the yellow van though[/font]

[font=Verdana, Arial, sans-serif]4) Do they give you the service records for that van?[/font]

[font=Verdana, Arial, sans-serif]Did not give me the service records for the van. It seems to be in good shape  so far(1 ton 2010 extended with 65K)[/font]

[font=Verdana, Arial, sans-serif]5) I was originally thinking I'd have to get rid of the yellow paint job and decals,[/font]
[font=Verdana, Arial, sans-serif]but I was wondering if that could make for a good "Stealth Van". What do you guys think?[/font]

[font=Verdana, Arial, sans-serif]I got the 1 ton and it did require a commercial policy from GEICO although I'm not sure if was much more or not. [/font]

[font=Verdana, Arial, sans-serif]The van I got did not have a spare tire or hoist - add another $4 or 500 for that.  The van also, believe it or not, had an undersized tire - Penske paid for another tire. [/font]

[font=Verdana, Arial, sans-serif]If you buy Penkse be sure to go over the van with a fine toothed comb. You have 15 days to inform Penske of anything that is wrong with the vehicle (such as my tire). If you inform them in that period they'll take care of it; if you take longer than that they won't. [/font]

[font=Verdana, Arial, sans-serif]I actually picked out a van with the best price and lowest miles, paid for it sight unseen and flew up to Oregon from Las Vegas to pick it out. I was taking a chance but so far so good. I've put about 10K on it. [/font]

[font=Verdana, Arial, sans-serif]So far so good [/font]


[font=Verdana, Arial, sans-serif]In Arizona I could have picked up a one year old GMC Savana 2500 from Enterprise with about 10K miles for 20K..from a used car dealership.  That looked like a great deal but I didn't want to spend any more money. Apparently Enterprise was dumping a lot of van on the market at that time. Enterprises prices were much steeper. [/font]

 

[cortttt]

 I'm sure it depends on your state, but insurance is another concern on the 3500 vans. Some insurance companies will only insure them with commercial policies as well.  I have a E-350 cargo van and that was the case with mine, luckily I needed the commercial policy anyway.

 
 Just a heads up, but I've seen some really good deals on 2015 Ford Transits lately (Former non extended Uhaul vans). There's a ton of them on Ebay and elsewhere for under 20k with hardly any miles and still under factory warranty for a couple more years.

My concern with the Transits was clearance and if they could take the pounding on the dirt roads. Really nice van though and that sounds like an excellent deal.

 

[NoLimit]

Yes, I agree. The more I read on the forum, the more I'm leaning towards a 3500. My only initial concerns
were that when you have a 1 ton you have no choice but to register it as a commercial vehicle, which I 
thought costs considerably more annually. Does anyone know about that? Thanks...

It depends on where you live, where I live I did not have to register it as a commercial vehicle, however, they did make me sign a waiver stating I was not going to use it for commercial purposes.

FYI - Also, once you convert the van to a camper van, call your insurance and change it to a RV. State Farm required me to send pictures showing the modifications. My rate went from $600 a year ($300 every 76 mos) to $300 (Once a year!). So my conversion saves me $300 a year as long as I own it, also all of my stuff inside is covered as well! However, I have another vehicle that is a daily driver, otherwise, I would not get the discount if the van were my only vehicle.

 

[NoLimit]

For those of you who live in states that require a commercial registration and/or commercial police on a 1 ton van, find out if you are permitted to convert it to a RV and register it as a RV/Passenger vehicle. Also, with your insurance company, you should be able to insure the converted 1 ton cargo van to a RV and your rate will likely drop. I'm with State Farm and they changed my chevy express 3500 to a RV and my rate went from $600 a year to $300 a year!

It pays to do your research! Most likely, you might be able to skirt the commercial requirement crap in the states that require it, if you convert the van to a RV.
Check with your local DMV and insurance!

 

[Almost There]

It depends on where you live, where I live I did not have to register it as a commercial vehicle, however, they did make me sign a waiver stating I was not going to use it for commercial purposes.

FYI - Also, once you convert the van to a camper van, call your insurance and change it to a RV. State Farm required me to send pictures showing the modifications. My rate went from $600 a year ($300 every 76 mos) to $300 (Once a year!). So my conversion saves me $300 a year as long as I own it, also all of my stuff inside is covered as well! However, I have another vehicle that is a daily driver, otherwise, I would not get the discount if the van were my only vehicle.

For those of you who live in states that require a commercial registration and/or commercial police on a 1 ton van, find out if you are permitted to convert it to a RV and register it as a RV/Passenger vehicle. Also, with your insurance company, you should be able to insure the converted 1 ton cargo van to a RV and your rate will likely drop. I'm with State Farm and they changed my chevy express 3500 to a RV and my rate went from $600 a year to $300 a year!

It pays to do your research! Most likely, you might be able to skirt the commercial requirement crap in the states that require it, if you convert the van to a RV.
Check with your local DMV and insurance!

Be very careful when going to your insurance company and trying to have a DIY vehicle insured as an RV.

I asked my insurance company about it when I first bought the van and went through insurance hell afterwards!

Here's the thread on it.

https://vanlivingforum.com/Thread-Insurance-Hades

Whether it can or can't be done will depend entirely on the insurance industry in YOUR jurisdiction. I suggest you approach this subject with extreme caution.

I can probably get RV designation on my van but I will never be able to insure it in this jurisdiction as an RV and if I change the title designation I would be left with something I can't drive on the road. Hence I self insure my contents!

 

[NoLimit]

Be very careful when going to your insurance company and trying to have a DIY vehicle insured as an RV.

I asked my insurance company about it when I first bought the van and went through insurance hell afterwards!

Here's the thread on it.

https://vanlivingforum.com/Thread-Insurance-Hades

Whether it can or can't be done will depend entirely on the insurance industry in YOUR jurisdiction. I suggest you approach this subject with extreme caution.

I can probably get RV designation on my van but I will never be able to insure it in this jurisdiction as an RV and if I change the title designation I would be left with something I can't drive on the road. Hence I self insure my contents!

One problem is you went through a insurance broker, I recommend getting State Farm insurance if you have it there, that's who I'm with and I had zero issues. Like I said earlier it pays to do research, you definitely want to research before taking any actions to avoid any potential issues. Every insurer is different. I've been with several different insurance companies and all have sucked some way except State Farm. I will never go with another insurer even if it's cheaper, lesson learned.

 

[Wanderer]

Hey Guy/Gals,

I live in N. Ca, but am currently in the Chicago area for another 30 days 
or so finishing up handling my moms estate affairs. Looking to buy a van
(Chevy Express or Savana 2500 Extended) for about a $10k budget to
drive back to CA. But may possibly consider going new to minimize the 
vehicle issues and build a sweet camper van. Only problem with going
new for me is that it would pretty much wipe out my small inheritance.
But, I could live with that and having a hopefully trouble free new van 
paid for.

PENSKE -
I was wondering about the buying process with Penske.

ENTERPRISE -

- end -

I'd be very careful about rentals..They are the "Beat the shit out of them since we don't have to maintain them" rentals.

Not saying ALL are, but having dealt with rental car companies and buying a used one years ago, that's one thing to consider always...

 

[Steph]

Hey Guy/Gals,

I live in N. Ca, but am currently in the Chicago area for another 30 days 
or so finishing up handling my moms estate affairs. Looking to buy a van
(Chevy Express or Savana 2500 Extended) for about a $10k budget to
drive back to CA. 

Thanks Very Much In Advance...

William

- end -

William, if you live in CA you may be aware of the issues with bringing an out of state vehicle into CA.  If not do your research because it may not be cost effective.
Steph

 

[Every Road Leads Home]

Having driven literally 100's of different rental trucks when I worked in a cabinet shop, the owner would rent them twice a month to run loads to NYC I can say I'd never want to own a used one. Unless they were newer low mileage ones I thought they ran and rode like crap. I had break downs in about a half dozen of them from a broken radiator hose to busted transmissions. Anything non essential that broke seemed to never get fixed......ie anything not required to move it down the street wasn't fixed.

Now on the other end of the spectrum, My aunt and uncle have always bought used rental cars from enterprise......for the last 30 plus years. They each drive one and they're on their 6th one. They buy them a few years old and drive them about 12 more years and have had amazing success with all of them. I would think they would be risky purchases, the same as rental trucks, so maybe my opinion of both rental cars and trucks is unfounded. I just feel there are too many good one owner vehicles out there for sale, why buy something that's had 100's of different drivers? I don't feel the price they pay for their cars is any less than they could find another used car for.

 

[sailingsfbay]

William, if you live in CA you may be aware of the issues with bringing an out of state vehicle into CA.  If not do your research because it may not be cost effective.
Steph

Hey Steph - Yes, I had considered that. My plan was to make it a none issue by registering my
Van in South Dakota and changing my Drivers License to there also. I have to go past there almost 
anyway when I drive back to Cali. I know you can do the reg., DL and mailing address change by mail, 
but I think it will be a lot easier to do it in person. Thanks...