# where do you find cheap low mileage swb high top vans ?



## yammy

Hi, I am new to this forum. I have always dreamt of owning a mh but are all way out of my price league, so i am thinking of buying a van (swb hightop) from about 57 plate onwards in the region of £7k. I will then convert. Does anyone know where to buy these vans or is it a matter of keeping an eye on ebay, i would rather buy from dealer, and can anyone recommend a conversion dealer in the South as I live in Bournemouth. Any info greatly appreciated, i work strange hours so i may be delayed in responding so thank you in advance, cheers Rob.


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## Pudsey_Bear

Auto Trader, or exchange and mart, the local paper, anywhere but a dealer unless you have too much money.

Private sale no VAT if possible, then you'll get more van for your money.


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## yammy

thank u Kev_n_Liz, all info greatly received, will check them out.


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## Addie

You say you would rather buy from a dealer, but the reality is what you are looking for is more likely to reside in the private market. Vans are most likely to be purchased by VAT registered companies who claim back the VAT on purchase and therefore the van will be liable for 20% extra VAT on sale. That's quite a saving should you find one private.

In addition an 'owner driver' vehicle, either a van which has been owned by a indvidual / non VAT registered company from new might perhaps be better looked after then a fleet vehicle. What I'm saying is don't rule out the potentinal benefits of buying privately.

Good sites are eBay (set a 'saved search' so you are e-mailed with new listings meeting your critera daily rathern the re-checking), Gumtree, Preloved, Van Trader or if you fancy a LHD from Germany Mobile.de

'SWB', 'MWB' etc can be quite ambigious in the Transit/Sprinter with various lenghts, heights etc. They are usually poorly advertised. When I've looked for a van I usually trawl all the non-white ones and disregard what people have titled them.


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## Pusser

Try Preloved website. If I were in your shoes I would be looking for a Toyota Granvia conversion which is a grey import base vehicle with a fitted conversion in UK. Newish converted ones are between 12 and 16k but I have seen from time to time at your budget. None converted Grannies are quite sort after by Asian taxi drivers.


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## lockpicker1969

you could also try local auctions


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## tony50

yammy said:


> Hi, I am new to this forum. I have always dreamt of owning a mh but are all way out of my price league, so i am thinking of buying a van (swb hightop) from about 57 plate onwards in the region of £7k. I will then convert. Does anyone know where to buy these vans or is it a matter of keeping an eye on ebay, i would rather buy from dealer, and can anyone recommend a conversion dealer in the South as I live in Bournemouth. Any info greatly appreciated, i work strange hours so i may be delayed in responding so thank you in advance, cheers Rob.


I'd do a little home work , get an idea what you want in it , get some measurements of the appliances , beds , shower room etc. you may find you want a long wheel base 
,perhaps find a cheap right off caravan , and use the contents , where ever you buy it from do a HPI check on it I did when I bought a vehicle at auction I took the tel. no. with me , paid for it by card over the mobile phone , I'd buy a Merc. myself but just be careful years ago I new someone with a van he turned the key back one notch and it cut the mileometer out he said !!and it was leased with fixed mileage charge plus extra charge over the agreed mileage .

Tony A.


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## Hezbez

Welcome to the forum.
You mentioned that you're looking for a SWB - have you considered a MWB or even LWB version? - Not that much bigger to drive, probably same costs to insure, but a fair bit more interior space for living in.
Just a thought.


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## martin1485

I'd look at specialist commercial vehicle auctions run by the likes of http://www.british-car-auctions.co.uk/

If you check out their website, there are lists of forthcoming sales and vehicles entered which may save a lot of time and miles looking around.


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## yammy

Addie said:


> You say you would rather buy from a dealer, but the reality is what you are looking for is more likely to reside in the private market. Vans are most likely to be purchased by VAT registered companies who claim back the VAT on purchase and therefore the van will be liable for 20% extra VAT on sale. That's quite a saving should you find one private.
> 
> In addition an 'owner driver' vehicle, either a van which has been owned by a indvidual / non VAT registered company from new might perhaps be better looked after then a fleet vehicle. What I'm saying is don't rule out the potentinal benefits of buying privately.
> 
> Good sites are eBay (set a 'saved search' so you are e-mailed with new listings meeting your critera daily rathern the re-checking), Gumtree, Preloved, Van Trader or if you fancy a LHD from Germany Mobile.de
> 
> 'SWB', 'MWB' etc can be quite ambigious in the Transit/Sprinter with various lenghts, heights etc. They are usually poorly advertised. When I've looked for a van I usually trawl all the non-white ones and disregard what people have titled them.


thank u very much for that, i am now widening my search to include private sellers and nice touch with the Ebay Saved Search, will save a lot of time, thanx again. Cheers Rob


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## yammy

Pusser said:


> Try Preloved website. If I were in your shoes I would be looking for a Toyota Granvia conversion which is a grey import base vehicle with a fitted conversion in UK. Newish converted ones are between 12 and 16k but I have seen from time to time at your budget. None converted Grannies are quite sort after by Asian taxi drivers.


will def look into that thanx, cheers Rob


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## yammy

Hezbez said:


> Welcome to the forum.
> You mentioned that you're looking for a SWB - have you considered a MWB or even LWB version? - Not that much bigger to drive, probably same costs to insure, but a fair bit more interior space for living in.
> Just a thought.


a nice thought too and i would prefer to have more room with a mwb or lwb but my drive only has about 15 feet of space before i start jutting out across the pavement so i am unfortunately limited to swb !!


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## Stanner

where do you find cheap low mileage swb high top vans ?

I think the answer is in the question, if it's "low mileage" it ain't gonna be "cheap".


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