Ex RM vans - steer clear, or worth a look?

close to dying , they aint the best vans in the world

Some? Far nearer All than some!

And yeah, RM ones are flogged to within an inch of death, but that means they are cheap. But LDVs are cheap in the first place though, that's why RM buy them. They're still reasonably well maintained, just that it's usually a case of count the straight panels, rather than count the dents.

And BT's not bought LDVs for a very long time.

you can pick up a brand new ldv or around £9000.00 the engines are decent , but they are so basic , they dont even have antilock brakes , only five speed , no electric windows , drivers seat adjustment limited no auto option no sat nav security on them is atrocous , they really need to up thier game

Its like going back 20 years ,

One owner - 500 drivers

But, to be fair, if I was in the market for a brand new van, I wouldnt want any of those options. It would be used as a general maintenance / builders van, so creature comforts come very low in the requirements. A radio is a bonus at this level. RM and fleet owners must have the same view, and know their vans will be sold off after 3 or 4 years, so a cheap purchase price must be one of their main requirements. Adding ABS brakes alone must add £150+ to the price, multiply that by the 1000 or so they have a year, and it soon adds up to rather a lot for non-essential extras. Alan.

wouldnt say abs is non essential , if it stops on prang in a fleet its paid for itself , driver comfort is also another priority , uncomfortable driver is an irritable driver more prone to accidents

not a major issue with the RM as thier drivers spend very little time behind the wheel per stop

I'd be tempted to go for a Dispatch / Scudo / Expert. There are loads around, they're galvanised, and the engines a pretty good. Just get a HDI or TD rather than the boggo 1.9D as it's slow as hell and uses more fuel. It's not even like they're especially dear.

Royal Mail know that the van will be worth nothing by the time they've finished with it, due to the state it's likely to be in.

Other fleet companies, know that there will still be a reasonable value left at the end of the vehicles fleet life, if not, that's what the penalty clauses are for.

The difference in depreciation between a RM LDV and a reasonable ex-fleet Transit for example, will probably be similar, but they can charge more for the transit. Another factor is large fleet companies pay no where near retail price for vans. Certain companies can buy vans, sell them after a year, and get their money back.

OTOH I rarely see a big firm running LDVs. Generally they're for the post office, forces and school minibuses, presumably because they're cheap to buy new. I assume Transits and the like must be lifetime cheaper as nobody who's got the cash to pick and choose a bit runs LDVs.

Anglian Windows still run 51 plated LDVs - the big ones, not the Sherpa sized one.

One of the big courier companies (Home Delivery Network, ISTR) run the big, new shape LDVs.

They're good vans, we've had a couple (and i think own one atm... cost=20 =A3250!) and they are simple to maintain and very cost effective to run.=20 And as we batter the crap out of them just as well :)

--=20 Alex Threlfall Cyberprog New Media

They're good vans, we've had a couple (and i think own one atm... cost £250!) and they are simple to maintain and very cost effective to run. And as we batter the crap out of them just as well :)

My brother had an ex-BT van for several years, it was immaculately maintained with genuine parts. The RM ones seem to be truly hammered to death though.

It used to come down to the fact the BT vans had one driver whereas RM vans were used by anybody. Dunno if that's still the case though.

John