Running a van for private purposes?

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Been toying with the idea of a van as a daily. The load space would be useful for hobby purposes (R/C aeroplanes), an Astravan or similar would be ideal as I don't need the extra height of more purpose built vans and it has a decent floor space. Also for running/parts costs it's essentially a car and I wouldn't worry about it in car parks - my car regularly sits at work from Monday morning to Friday afternoon.
So what is the downside, I presume they're a little unrefined but apart from that? Is insurance ridiculous or will it be quite reasonable as its not for business use/only two people etc.

Anyone done something similar, any comments appreciated.

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I've just done a quick quote on confused.com while awaiting replies for a van as a second vehicle - £200 or thereabouts. I'd still have my car for pleasure use, the van would just be a workhorse. I figure (man-maths possibly?) that the fuel savings from running a V8 as a daily would easily cover insurance/tax on a second vehicle.

The other issue is cost of the van itself, plenty around for as little as £1000 but are they on their last legs? I assume most small businesses don't trade up for vanity (geddit?) reasons, but rather that they'd fed?

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Ah, that question is covered

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Resale isn't a big issue, I'm looking for something I can run into the ground and throw away when the time comes. An ordinary estate would probably do, no need for blacked out windows - not planning to keep anything in it. Similarly I'd be after a van with clear rear glazing so would be easy to see that it's empty.

I guess this kind of answers a lot of my questions - no real advantage to a small van over a medium sized estate, at least not for this sort of use.

Cheers.