Bargain Buy 19th August, 2013

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Get a real van

As most van drivers know, not all vans are created equal. Take the ever popular Mitsubishi L300. Its popularity stems, in large part, to the low price tag that appeals to accountants of large companies. These accountants usually find a way of justifying a BMW 5 Series for themselves but the workers doing the core business get a van that has changed little in the last 30 years. The options list includes a spare wheel and sun visors and you do get power steering and an ancient CD player. You don’t get airbags, ABS or AC. So it’s like driving a van from 1986 but it is cheap.

But if you are looking for a van that has power, space, comfort and safety that’s also nice to drive then this Volkswagen Crafter is what you want. The crafter is big, has a smooth, powerful five cylinder 2.5 diesel engine with six speed manual transmission and has the comfort and safety you’d expect in a modern van. My Brother in law owns a Crafter and I can say from experience that these vans are awesome.

So if a 2008 Mitsubishi L300 with 140,000km on the clock sells at auction for around $10k then surely this 2008 Crafter will be worth $30k, after all it’s at least three times the van. But no, the Crafter, which costs over $60k new, has an auction estimate $12,800 – $14,800.

If you spend a lot of time driving a van and space is important then stop fiddling about with average tin boxes and get yourself a proper van.

The auction is this Thursday at Turners Cars Tauranga.