Pickup truck help...

[metbandit1]

As van insurance is proving way too expensive for me going to work with my dad, we are looking at selling the car and buying a pickup. For personal and business use, in the hope insurance will be a bit cheaper.

Would you be able to spec us a pickup.

Budget £5000
Double cab (4 door preferably)
Reliable
Lowest insurance group possible for a pickup.
Acceptable mileage (where it wont break down all the time)
Close-ish to Leicester.

Something like the ford ranger or similar.

e.g. http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classifi...ge/2?logcod...

Your help would be much appreciated.

Just to mention quality also a factor as it will be personal as well as business so cant be a heap inside or out!

A quote has been received on the one posted above of £1600.

[redgriff500]

What is it you actually do as you can't get much in the back of a double cab pick up.

If you originally wanted a van why not get an estate and black out the windows ?

[Ozzie Osmond]

What's the cost of van insurance??

[metbandit1]

We sell and supply beer in kegs.

Van insurance is £5000.

But we have an old peugeot and really wanted a new car as well anyway.
Providing a 4x4 can fit a pallet in the back it'll be fine for 6 kegs.

Looking at this tomorrow

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2012...

[Condi]

Nothing wrong with the Ranger really. They're not the best off road, but then your not going offroad so it wont matter. Can be a bit heavy on fuel, same as most pickups.

[mgtony]

Not in budget, but the new Ranger is rather tasty.

[Willy Nilly]

metbandit1 said:

We sell and supply beer in kegs.

Van insurance is £5000.

But we have an old peugeot and really wanted a new car as well anyway.
Providing a 4x4 can fit a pallet in the back it'll be fine for 6 kegs.

Looking at this tomorrow

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2012...

I'd be surprised if the pallet would fit between the arches. We have pickups and vans at work for deliveries. You'll soon wish you still had a van.

[irish boy]

Hilux are the best of the pick ups in my opinion having had bad experience of the l200 and Nissan in work. Rangers good too just never looked the best but we're good value for money and reliable.

[redgriff500]

If you're looking to shift pallets I'd call on a few trucks and see which (if any) can take one.

A working truck has to work first and look the part second.

I lent my carpenter my old £500 P100 when his £10k Hi Lux broke down - he didn't want to give it back as it was:

Faster
Drove better
Far easier to un/load

VW crewcab pick up would easily carry a pallet but I suspect wouldn't be the look you require.

[metbandit1]

Willy Nilly said:

I'd be surprised if the pallet would fit between the arches. We have pickups and vans at work for deliveries. You'll soon wish you still had a van.

Well it doesnt actually have to fit a pallet, just 6 kegs really, when we go and see this one tomorrow we will be taking a keg with us to gauge size.

Would like to go for a hilux etc but a bit too costly for our budget.

We would keep the van if the insurance wasn't so high and we didn't need a new car. But we need something in the business to do small deliveries while the main LWB transit is out doing the main stuff.

The ford seems to be the best one for the money, looks and interior do have to come into it at a point because its going to be personal use as well as business. So needs to be a vaguely nice place to be.

Thanks for your replies.

[R0G]

Will a EURO pallet fit ?

[Willy Nilly]

R0G said:

Will a EURO pallet fit ?

They don;t fit in our Hilux or Ranger

[metbandit1]

How much do they not fit by?

[Toaster Pilot]

Bit more than £5000 because they've just been released here but those Great Wall pickup things claim to be the lowest insurance group pickups in the UK

[cptsideways]

Can you not just buy a caged trailer & something to tow it with? Keg's rattling around in a pick up wont be safe! Plus you have to lift them up high to get them in it. A trailer will be 18" off the floor.

[Vladimir]

cptsideways said:

Can you not just buy a caged trailer & something to tow it with? Keg's rattling around in a pick up wont be safe! Plus you have to lift them up high to get them in it. A trailer will be 18" off the floor.

Great idea. Then you don't have to compromise so much on the car. As long as you can get some kind of lockable one?

Otherwise I'd get something basic like a Transit Connect. Pickups may look cool but they have zero security, mean bu99er all luggage space and are usually pretty rough.

My current favourite is the Turok but well out of budget.

I'm very surprised pick up insurance is so much less than a van though!!

[Willy Nilly]

metbandit1 said:

How much do they not fit by?

Can't remember, but it might be nearly a foot.

We shift 2,000 odd 1 tonne pallets a year. These mainly go out on a 10 tonne, 4 wheeler, but we have a high top Sprinter and a dropside LDV + the 2 pickups.

The lorry is obviously the best, it was built to do the job. The Merc and the LDV both have fors and againsts. For the Merc, you can step into it off the kerb really easily and it can be locked (though it could be broken into easily). The dropside is easy to load with a forklift and can be unloaded from any side, but it is a bit of a jump to get in.

The 2 pickups are last resort. They are awkward to load and unload, pallets don't fit, the weight is in the wrong place and they are thirsty for the weight they can carry. I don't have to run them, but 4x4 tyres, plus mechanicals don't make for low running costs. There isn't much that pickups are very good at.

I'd be looking at a Transit Connect or similar.

[metbandit1]

cptsideways said:

Can you not just buy a caged trailer & something to tow it with? Keg's rattling around in a pick up wont be safe! Plus you have to lift them up high to get them in it. A trailer will be 18" off the floor.

Kegs don't really rattle around, at 70kg a pop they generally don't move. We have a forklift for getting kegs into the van so getting them on the pickup wont be an issue.

The only reason we are looking for a pickup is personal as well as business and they seem to be the best option.

This way the business buys us a new car + pays for insurance.

We need to get shot of our 130000 miles pug.

[Willy Nilly]

metbandit1 said:

We have a forklift for getting kegs into the van so getting them on the pickup wont be an issue.

You will have to fold the tail gate out of the way every time you load it with a forklift, unless you have very long pallet forks. It's far easier to load a van.

if you are going to use it for personal use, are there not tax and vat implications?

[metbandit1]

Willy Nilly said:

You will have to fold the tail gate out of the way every time you load it with a forklift, unless you have very long pallet forks. It's far easier to load a van.

if you are going to use it for personal use, are there not tax and vat implications?

The tail gate will be folded down, the pallet will be put level with the back, kegs will then be rolled on and stood up in the back of the truck, same as we do with the van.

Yes there are Vat+tax implications, which we will be paying etc.