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10 THINGS TO CONSIDER WHEN BUYING A VAN There are plenty of decisions to be made when buying a van, some more obvious than others. Before you purchase, it’s worth considering more than just engine capacity and price.
T
here are 10 things you should
a petrol engine, especially if you’re not car-
sensitivity to load distribution and better
think about when shopping
rying a lot of weight. This is before you take
unmade road capability.
around for a new van, from
into account the fact that petrol engines are
comfort to purchase price to
often cheaper to service as well, so be sure
One side door or two?
standard safety features. Here’s
to do the sums before you decide.
Most vans sold in Australia are specified
some handy information to use
with a single left-hand side door and, in
4WD or RWD?
many circumstances, this makes perfect
There are a number of advantages and
sense. But if you regularly operate in
Petrol or diesel?
disadvantages of both four-wheel drive and
areas where parking is scarce, two doors
The low-rev/high-torque power delivery of
rear-wheel drive, and a good salesperson
will provide a lot more parking flexibil-
diesel engines makes them better suited to
will be able to explain the difference and
ity, as you can stop close against a wall
most commercial vehicle applications. They
recommend a van with a powertrain that
or another vehicle and unload from the
can also use a lot less fuel compared with
best suits your business.
driver side. If you’re working in alleys or
as a starting point.
quiet backstreets, you’re not really at much
a petrol engine, helping offset their usually
18
higher initial purchase price. But if you keep
In general, 4WD usually offers slightly lower
increased risk by working offside. A glazed
your van for the typical 4–5 years and you
fuel consumption, lower load-in heights and
left-hand door makes reversing easier and
do less than around 15,000 km annually, the
more internal room, while RWD typically
definitely much safer. Dual doors also have
advantage starts to swing back in favour of
gives you better traction, more payload, less
a higher resale value.