New Work Van

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mkgrady

Senior Member
Location
Massachusetts
I going to be adding a second work van. I've had a Ford E250 since 2003 and it's still going strong but they are no longer made.

It is mostly to make my one employee more productive as he is about to get his license. We have always worked together where we both worked out of the one truck, or if the job took numerous days I would just meet him at the job. I would carry all the stock and tools. He would drive his own personal car to the job.

I have not decided what size van to get but I am considering the standard size, the very small size and also the ones with the high roof.

I'm mostly looking for what to stay away from in terms of reliability. I don't want to get something that has a bad history. I'm considering the fords, rams and Nissans in all the different sizes.

If I get the small version it will go to him and if I get mid or tall version I will drive that. In about 3-4 years I plan to just work part time with no employees at all. At that point I might just want the small van but I'm really undecided.

Our jobs are about 80-20 residential-commercial.
 

Coppersmith

Senior Member
Location
Tampa, FL, USA
Occupation
Electrical Contractor
After many months of debating the proper vehicle for resi service work, I have decided it is a Nissan NV2500 high roof. (The NV3500 would be even better.)

I have never said to myself "there is too much room in here" about any service vehicle. So bigger is better as long as it fits in a driveway.

Fords would be fine except they are more expense and the Nissan's have 5 year warranty.

Don't buy Nissan's outfitting. It's not very efficient. Get 3rd party or build your own.

The above is my humble opinion. Flame on!
 
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I do 50/50 commercial/residential and decided to try the Ram 1500 Pro Master. I'm very happy with it. Not only can I get all the tools, material, etc., I can walk around inside and I get 20 miles per gallon on the highway. Also, back up camera and proximity sensors. Plus, LED strip lights in the cargo area.

Sent from my XT1650 using Tapatalk
 

mkgrady

Senior Member
Location
Massachusetts
I do 50/50 commercial/residential and decided to try the Ram 1500 Pro Master. I'm very happy with it. Not only can I get all the tools, material, etc., I can walk around inside and I get 20 miles per gallon on the highway. Also, back up camera and proximity sensors. Plus, LED strip lights in the cargo area.

Sent from my XT1650 using Tapatalk

I tempted by the Ram 2500 Promaster with the high roof but putting ladders on top looks like a real chore. I think it is 18" taller. Is yours good in snow?
 
Front wheel drive, it's great in the snow. Storing ladders is tricky. But I've been chaining up on commercial jobs and just carrying a 6 and 8' inside. There's a rack that levers down into the side of the van, I just can't decide if the convenience is more important than being able to still go through the drive through. Lol

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Ponchik

Senior Member
Location
CA
Occupation
Electronologist
Local EC had a promaster RAM but had ALOT of problem with the brake system.

You can always buy a 2nd hand Uhaul box vans for about $10-$12K. They do their maintenance and vehicle up keep right on time.
 

JFletcher

Senior Member
Location
Williamsburg, VA
I'd avoid the newer (last 10 years or so) Sprinter models - I've read way too many complaints about high vehicle maintenance costs.

The small vans like Ford Transits have virtually zero room and are only good for estimates, job check-ups, surveys, and specific tasks, like generator maintenance. There is simply not enough room to stock with all of the standard items and tools you'd use on calls.

Can you lease one? If you only plan on going 3-4 years, that may be a viable option.
 

mkgrady

Senior Member
Location
Massachusetts
I'd avoid the newer (last 10 years or so) Sprinter models - I've read way too many complaints about high vehicle maintenance costs.

The small vans like Ford Transits have virtually zero room and are only good for estimates, job check-ups, surveys, and specific tasks, like generator maintenance. There is simply not enough room to stock with all of the standard items and tools you'd use on calls.

Can you lease one? If you only plan on going 3-4 years, that may be a viable option.

I checked on leasing. Almost same cost as buying. They said it is because they expect condition of van to be heavily worn after 39 months
 

goldstar

Senior Member
Location
New Jersey
Occupation
Electrical Contractor
I've had a Ford E250 since 2003 and it's still going strong but they are no longer made.
You're on a roll. Go out and buy a lottery ticket. My 2005 Ford E250 went through 5 transmissions (1 every 35K miles) then I kept blowing coil packs (one blew so bad they had to drill it out of the engine block and re-tap the hole). The first 3 transmissions were on Ford, the last two on me at around $2K+. After paying for the last trans I blew the head gasket. What a wonderful product !!!

Anyway, I started looking at other vans and the high ceiling ones are almost twice the price of the lower ones but if you have the work and your company can justify the expense I would go for it. It's much easier to work out of. One of the EC's in my contractor's association has one and the ladder rack cost about $2K. I will say that I have heard reports from other EC's who own these and they tell me that they're great for the first 10K miles and then they start developing problems. I don't know if that is actually true but I would do more research before buying one.

Good luck.
 

GerryB

Senior Member
I have a 2003 Chevy Express van with 175k on it. It's been good to me. I don't know if they still have this option but it has the pop up panels, two on the drivers side and one on the other side. You obviously can't stand up inside but it saves a lot of crawling around on your knees inside. And Chevy always put the metal bins in free (the two I bought) if you had a contractors lic.
 

Coppersmith

Senior Member
Location
Tampa, FL, USA
Occupation
Electrical Contractor
You can always buy a 2nd hand Uhaul box vans for about $10-$12K. They do their maintenance and vehicle up keep right on time.

Besides the Nissan NV2500, this is the only option I have been considering, but I'm afraid of what headaches I will be purchasing. I recently called my (trustworthy, been doing business with them for 25 years) local auto shop about giving one a once over ($), they said it was too big for their facility and I would have to take it to a dealer shop ($$$$). Haven't pulled the trigger yet.
 

Coppersmith

Senior Member
Location
Tampa, FL, USA
Occupation
Electrical Contractor
You're on a roll. Go out and buy a lottery ticket. My 2005 Ford E250 went through 5 transmissions (1 every 35K miles) Good luck.

I currently have a 2008 Ford E250 service van with a blown transmission sitting in my driveway. Best price to fix so far is $3,500. It's been sitting a couple of months now.

I transferred the contents over to a used F150 service truck with a heavy-duty topper I had just purchased a few days before. It's got full length doors that open on both sides of the topper. I added a bed slide and built out the topper so I can access all the material from the outside. It only holds about 3/4 of the material in the E250. After a few weeks I noticed the transmission was acting hinky and the tire always seemed soft. I though maybe I had overloaded the truck. I took it to a truck scale and found out I'm 500 lbs over the load limit. I turn the overdrive off now, but it's just a matter of time before a major repair.
 

Sierrasparky

Senior Member
Location
USA
Occupation
Electrician ,contractor
Why would you be getting a new van for a guy that is getting his license and will probably be competing with you?
 

JoeyD74

Senior Member
Location
Boston MA
Occupation
Electrical contractor
I see that brand and assume very expensive to by next maintain. What do you like about them?
The size is great, bigger than the small vans, I can reach the roof:D.
Ive driven one already in Burlington and as much as I want one I need a bigger van.
 

Cannonmn

Member
Location
Northern va
I've had a Nissan NV 3500 high roof for 5 years, no breakdowns or unavailability at all. If you are going to carry a lot and want it accessible I recommend this model. I tow trailers often so got the v8 but before I bought I rented a 6 and towed with it, it did fine. You won't realize how much the high roof improves things until you work out of one for a while. I'll buy another if this one wears out before I do. I'm a big guy and the Nissan is as roomy and comfortable as anything I tried, and it handles like a well-designed car. When I got mine they were giving away the both-sides cargo shelving package free, dunno whether they still do or not.
 
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