Cheap and cheerful or just avoid?

[Angpozzuto]

I'm currently looking for a replacement for my swb transit and I've come across the ldv v80. They seem way cheaper than anything equivalent and reasonably well specced. has anyone had one? How bad could it be?

[normalbloke]

Cheap, yes, cheerful? probably not, but do report. back.

[Angpozzuto]

normalbloke said:

Cheap, yes, cheerful? probably not, but do report. back.

I was planning on visiting the dealer before Christmas anyway but I was hoping someone on here might have tried one

[powerstroke]

Have a test drive and see what you think,
If you’re happy and the figures look ok why not ,

My guess is it will be worthless after a few years
So lease or PCP with a guaranteed future value
Do not buy with hard earned !!

[Jag_NE]

powerstroke said:

Have a test drive and see what you think,
If you’re happy and the figures look ok why not ,

My guess is it will be worthless after a few years
So lease or PCP with a guaranteed future value
Do not buy with hard earned !!

Lease or pcp payments will reflect the horrendous residuals. You will be sucking up massive depreciation regardless of how you pay for it. I think they have a decent warranty so you can take a reasonably long term view on running one.

[Darkslider]

I think at ten years old for shed money they make a lot of sense, but the depreciation is far too horrendous to stomach new or nearly new for me!

[Coin-Slot]

About two years ago we had a rep trying to get us to lease one of these. It was something silly like £450 a month, a T6 was £310ish.

Also I’ve seen new Traffics for £13ish plus vat, not recently, but last year.

[Angpozzuto]

Coin-Slot said:

About two years ago we had a rep trying to get us to lease one of these. It was something silly like £450 a month, a T6 was £310ish.

Also I’ve seen new Traffics for £13ish plus vat, not recently, but last year.

Every other Van I've looked at is at least £16500 plus vat where the ldv is £16k Inc vat and the 5 year warranty is a big selling point

[Coin-Slot]

We definitely got two traffics last year for about £13k each, +vat and you could add extra warranty for few hundred quid.

I’m not with the company anymore or I’d find out where they came from.

Will LDV be around in 5 years is the other thing to think about?

[powerstroke]

Angpozzuto said:

Coin-Slot said:

About two years ago we had a rep trying to get us to lease one of these. It was something silly like £450 a month, a T6 was £310ish.

Also I’ve seen new Traffics for £13ish plus vat, not recently, but last year.

Every other Van I've looked at is at least £16500 plus vat where the ldv is £16k Inc vat and the 5 year warranty is a big selling point

Yes but how much will it be worth ,
Depreciation is a a big lump of the cost of ownership
Mind probably a good way of making people feel sorry for you and you won’t have it stolen unless there is something valuable in it !! So maybe there’s an upside...

[Darkslider]

Can you find an older Maxus with not many miles on it to save some £? They're essentially the same van, the V80 is built by Chinese firm SAIC who bought all the tooling so you're basically buying the same vehicle that was launched in 2004… this is why they get a bad rep as £13k for what is essentially a 16 year old van with a shiny grille doesn't start to look as cheap when you could get a low miles 1-2 year old model from any of the other manufacturers for similar money.

[normalbloke]

[quote=Darkslider]Can you find an older Maxus with not many miles on it to save some £? They're essentially the same van, the V80 is built by Chinese firm SAIC who bought all the tooling so you're basically buying the same vehicle that was launched in 2004… this is why they get a bad rep as £13k for what is essentially a 16 year old van with a shiny grille doesn't start to look as cheap when you could get a low miles 1-2 year old model from any of the other manufacturers for similar money.[/quotI guess if you budget it being worth zero at end of warranty of 5 years, it’s a cheap wagon for Euro 6.

[Angpozzuto]

Darkslider said:

Can you find an older Maxus with not many miles on it to save some £? They're essentially the same van, the V80 is built by Chinese firm SAIC who bought all the tooling so you're basically buying the same vehicle that was launched in 2004… this is why they get a bad rep as £13k for what is essentially a 16 year old van with a shiny grille doesn't start to look as cheap when you could get a low miles 1-2 year old model from any of the other manufacturers for similar money.

Tbh I actually really like my 12 plate transit but with the ulez starting next year and my van needing a few repairs I'm better off getting a newer van now. I just don't want to spend more than I need to, I'd rather blow my spare cash on fun stuff

[Darkslider]

Angpozzuto said:

Darkslider said:

Can you find an older Maxus with not many miles on it to save some £? They're essentially the same van, the V80 is built by Chinese firm SAIC who bought all the tooling so you're basically buying the same vehicle that was launched in 2004… this is why they get a bad rep as £13k for what is essentially a 16 year old van with a shiny grille doesn't start to look as cheap when you could get a low miles 1-2 year old model from any of the other manufacturers for similar money.

Tbh I actually really like my 12 plate transit but with the ulez starting next year and my van needing a few repairs I'm better off getting a newer van now. I just don't want to spend more than I need to, I'd rather blow my spare cash on fun stuff

Ah right, if you need a van for London that casts a different light on things and being in North Wales not something I have the faintest idea about. Just make sure you test drive one before you hand over your money, a mate of mine had a brand new (2008) Maxus as a courtesy car while his Mk5 Smiley transit was being repaired, he said it was so awful to drive he couldn't wait to get back in his ancient non turbo tranny which speaks volumes. While they might have improved engines and emissions since then I'm not sure how much comfort or general driveability has improved so you probably want to check that for yourself!

[bristolracer]

Do you need transit sized?
I downsized to a Peugeot Partner last time, good value van, better reliability than the VW it replaced, much better MPG

I would steer clear of the LDV,its cheap for a reason

[Angpozzuto]

bristolracer said:

Do you need transit sized?
I downsized to a Peugeot Partner last time, good value van, better reliability than the VW it replaced, much better MPG

I would steer clear of the LDV,its cheap for a reason

I had a look at the smaller vans but they seem just a bit too short as the longest boxes i need to load up are 2.1m plus the lower payload doesn't help

[Mercury00]

Aren't these based on the Sherpa?

[Teddy Lop]

Mercury00 said:

Aren't these based on the Sherpa?

no it was a kind of "new" design but not all that.

LDV being kept alive and sent here by the Chinese is probably more egregious than covid.

[Coin-Slot]

Mercury00 said:

Aren't these based on the Sherpa?

That was the LDV Convoy - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LDV_Convoy

[Register1]

bristolracer said:

Do you need transit sized?
I downsized to a Peugeot Partner last time, good value van, better reliability than the VW it replaced, much better MPG

I would steer clear of the LDV,its cheap for a reason

Peugeot Partner is surprisingly big inside.
Fold the passenger seat, and its massive.
Also has 3 seats in the front.
I get a new one from work every 3 years, and I always do around 43,000 miles before I hand it back for a new one.
Ultimately reliable.
General driving 50 mpg.
Motorway at say 65mph on cruise gives over 60 mpg.
Quite good value for money I would say.