Thoughts on Ford Transit 150 that was once owned by U-Haul?

[vanman2300]

There's a used car dealer selling a 2015 Transit 150 and it was once a U-Haul vehicle. It has only 3500 miles on it and looks like it was treated well having no dents excepts for one or two small dings It's the V6 3.7L engine. 

Ay thoughts on buying an ex U-Haul vehicle keeping in mind it hardly got used? How about the payload capacity and other considerations of building it out such as cargo area and payload concerns?

It's going for 22k so to me it might be like buying nearly new for a lot less money....

I appreciate any comments thanks!

 

[DrJean]

I think that's a high price... unless it has all the bells and whistles on it (and it might have a speed limiter you don't want.) If it's in such great shape, why are they selling it at this point?  I'm leery of used vehicles... too many floods in this country and they dump the vehicles on innocent citizens imo.

Did you try a search for the vehicle you'd like that they might have somewhere else, to sell?  

What if I don’t see a certain size truck listed for sale when I do a search? Inventory levels vary by geographic area. Some areas will sell out of certain size trucks from time to time. However, with a fleet as large as ours, trucks come up for sale on a regular basis. Call us at 1-866-404-0355, so we can help you with your search!

A brand new base model 2017 is $31k.   Hunt or Build Your Transit

 

[vanman2300]

It's a dealership selling it. They got it at auction. The price is in line with KBB but I'm sure I'll be able to get that down further.

 

[highdesertranger]

the question is, why did U-Haul get rid of it with only 3500 miles on it? something is not right. highdesertranger

 

[muddy]

Would check the history of that vehicle; pretty sure U-Haul sells non-damaged vans directly so if they got it "at auction" I'd be worried that something happened to it

 

[BradKW]

It's probably 35,000 miles, they dump them at the 3yr/35k warranty line sometimes. $22k is too high regardless

 

[vanman2300]

Good point on getting rid of the van with only 3500 on it. I feel the same as High dessert stranger wondering what's wrong with this deal. The dealership has good ratings from quite a few reviewers. What about buying an ex U-Haul van? Has anyone heard good stories or horror stories? That concerns me too.

 

[Optimistic Paranoid]

When buying any ex-rental car or truck, I figure there are two things to keep in mind:

1:  You've got to figure that with, gazillions of vehicles over the years, their accountants have been able to fine tune the criteria - age, mileage, etc. - for when to sell them off to ideally keep them right up to the point they can expect problems to develop, thus maximizing the company's profit.

2:  Drive it like you rented it has got to be the closest thing to drive it like you stole it.

Anyway, that's my theory.

Now, if you're careful, and you check them thoroughly, you MIGHT find one that doesn't appear to be abused, that they're getting rid of cause the bean counters told them it was time to even though it's still in decent shape.  Maybe.

Conversely, maybe you can find a nice, rust free chassis and body with a blown engine or tranny, and you can get it cheap enough that having a rebuilt unit installed in it is worth it to you.

 

[DrJean]

ALL  and I mean ALL the U Haul vehicles I rented over my lifetime, even "newish" ones ran like junk and more than once left me on the side of the road and in a cheap motel.

 

[ZoNiE]

Since it was a 150 and not a 250 probably just didn't have the cargo capacity they needed and got rid of it before it got destroyed

 

[Queen]

Good point on getting rid of the van with only 3500 on it. I feel the same as High dessert stranger wondering what's wrong with this deal. The dealership has good ratings from quite a few reviewers. What about buying an ex U-Haul van? Has anyone heard good stories or horror stories? That concerns me too.

We looked at several of those and talked with two people who'd bought them.  They both said they had no issues other than needing a deep cleaning.  After doing lots of research we found a) Uhaul sells it's vans at auction now, b) usually around the 10,000 mile mark (So I'd be very curious about the lower mileage), and c) if you chat with the folks at your local uhaul, they can (if they're friendly) run the VIN thought their system and tell you all about the van.  We were buddies with the local uhaul guy in FL so he hooked us up... and found the one we were looking at had been in a wreck.

Hope that helps.

 

[Fluffhead]

If you have the Vin#, I can run it thru Carfax for you...

 

[ArtW]

I've never had a problem with a U Haul, though I did rent one that had no AC
In my area U Haul does not sell at auction, they sell from their stores, and the site has a 'report card' where they tell you about all the problem the vehicle has (hopefully)
like this: https://www.uhaul.com/Locations/Trucks-for-Sale-near-Houston-TX-77066/755039/
i would for sure run a vin check on any 'uHaul van' I saw a car lot selling with less than 10k miles, as you can see, some of the trucks they sell have over 100k miles on them and are 'not running'

 

[link30240]

I purchased a 2012 e250 in 2014 for my business. van had 4500 miles on it and has performed flawlessly. have about 45k on it now. U-haul is contracted to buy x- amount of vans from ford every year to get the super low rate they get. so they auction them off at regular intervals regardless of mileage.

 

[Queen]

And the Uhaul ones come with those excellent side barn doors, really sturdy side steps, and the three piece metal divider.

 

[ArtW]

Oh, duh, now i feel dumb
Van
Nor van based box truck
pardon my obvious need of coffee (or maybe a brisk slap)

 

[DrJean]

I don't trust carfax.  Twice I found data ON THEIR OWN REPORTS that contradicted what they were telling me "currently".  One was a change in the odometer and another was involvement in a flood...but carfax insisted the latest data was the correct data. HUH?

 

[Fluffhead]

I don't trust carfax.  Twice I found data ON THEIR OWN REPORTS that contradicted what they were telling me "currently".  One was a change in the odometer and another was involvement in a flood...but carfax insisted the latest data was the correct data. HUH?

Carfax is only as good as the info reported to them. That being said, I'd rather have a carfax report on a vehicle than none at all.

 

[highdesertranger]

just as long as you remember that CarFax is not the last word. some people spend a lot of energy keeping bad things off of CarFax. highdesertranger

 

[BC Guy]

A backyard bodyman that deals in cash is not going to report it to anyone.