Fiat Doblo JTD

[waue1978]

There's usually a bit of everything. Last time I went I saw a load of Black Horse stuff go through - 4-5yr old Vauxhalls, Fords etc - hitting top money. Dealer part exchanges went through pretty cheap, but they were mostly dog rough. Did see some mobility stuff there & it did all look fairly tidy when I looked at them, but nothing was more than 4 years old which put it out of my budget already. When they started going through the halls I couldn't get near anything. If I'd got close enough to even attempt to bid on anything I would've been covered in papercuts from all the Glass's & CAP books that were flapping about everywhere. Traders in the South are like flies around sh*te & most are bloody con merchants.

Little story. Before I bought the Beemer, when I was looking at the 2.2 C5s, I spotted a 110 C5 which I thought warranted consideration as it was a 2004 with just over 70k for £1500. When I phoned up though, it was already sold. Even had a private plate on it. Then, a few days later, I spotted this:

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/ ... ?logcode=p

Obviously I realise everybody has to make money, but even based on the full price of £1500 being paid (& I seriously doubt it) that represents a profit of 80%!!!


Most of my best car purchases have been from genuine private sellers, & most of my dogs have been from traders (usually home traders). Never bought or sold at a normal car auction before, but in all honesty, I've never seen anything cheap enough to be worth the risk.

[lozz]

Ithink alot of dealers Might have links with We buy any car dot com,
and they just charge them a finders fee for a bargain,

[waue1978]

Ithink alot of dealers Might have links with We buy any car dot com,
and they just charge them a finders fee for a bargain,

In some cases perhaps, but I had actually rung the woman up. Didn't tell me how much she took, but she said that somebody came out the day after she advertised it.

[lozz]

Have you not looked at these waue?

see link, http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2005-RENAULT- ... 3a73a97b1c

Yeah iknow there Renault, but they seem to go abit cheaper than the doblo,
and theres not much differnce in looks,

[waue1978]

I have half-heartedly considered the Kangoo, but I just don't like the idea of owning a Renault to be honest. Seem to be lots of horror stories on the DCi engines everywhere & the inside of that Kangoo looks about as basic as that Doblo was. I think this is why the Berlingo/Partner is such a success. It manages to be basic enough to be reliable & cheap to run without having constant reminders everywhere that it's really just a van with windows.

I really do wish I had a driveway & an ounce of mechanical know how along with a healthy dose of adventurousness (Doggy really is my hero ) because it would be so nice to try to put together a 2.2HDi Berlingo/Partner. Seen a V6 conversion on Ebay a few weeks ago, but the whole reason I'm looking at them is to improve on 20mpg - not reduce it further!

[sirwiggum]

I'm in a similar position where the Honda gets 20mpg, we're moving further out from town and I'll need a diesel.

Wouldn't consider a van based car myself, possibly something like a Xsara D or a Skoda.

[lozz]

20mpg

get a diesel mate,

[gumby6371]

Sorry it took a while to respond, the multipla matched my 1.9td on MPG around town at 34 but on a run I can push 50 MPG at reasonable pace but the Multipla would struggle to hit 45 with a light foot.
Like you say the tall box on wheels is not the best for fuel efficiency at speed, a sleeker design would give 50+ MPG at motorway speed quite comfortably