Low Cost Vans

The Toyota Proace medium-duty van has made headlines this week, as it has secured its first big fleet contract. In a recent press release, Toyota announced that Toyota Material Handling UK , which provides national sales and servicing for Toyota forklift trucks and warehouse equipment, had taken out an initial contract for 116 vans to be used by engineers for the company’s national servicing, installation and repair operations. Toyota’s new medium panel van replaced the Hiace van this spring and is essentially a rebadged version of the Citroen Dispatch and Peugeot Expert. Proace is available in two lengths and heights, giving load capacities of 5m 3 , 6m 3 or 7m 3 and can carry up to 1,200kg and tow up to two tonnes. It is also available with a range of Euro 5-compliant diesel engines, with the 89bhp 1.6-litre engine producing 180Nm of torque and is matched to a five-speed manual transmission. Two 2.0-litre diesel units are offered, with outputs of 126 and 161bhp and peak torque figu...

We'd like to wish a very Happy Birthday to Zoe, our lovely Sales Admin, who turned 21 years old today. Enjoy your birthday plans and Thank You for being such a fantastic member of the Low Cost Vans team!  

  We have some fabulous news to share with all of you. Just this week  Low Cost Vans was honoured with the “Best Small Fleet Van Leasing Award” win in the inaugural award category run by Business Car Manager , the expert web motoring magazine serving the SME sector with information on business vehicles. The awards were judged by a distinguished panel from the SME car and van finance field and presented to best of the best in each category. *The Small Fleet Leasing Awards, organised by Business Car Manager, have been supported by MAGMA Automotive, Network (a division of LeasePlan) and Volvo Car UK.   Rod Lloyd, managing director of Low Cost Vans, said: “ we are thrilled to have won this prestigious national award. It is recognition of our commitment to offering premium quality service to customers, our nationwide vehicle supply network, along with an unrivalled choice of vans with competitive contract hire and leasing quotations. With funding sources and lending from banks sti...

Finally some good news for van owners needing to take their vans into the garage, as according to Warranty Direct , garages are charging an average of £8.16 an hour less than last year to carry out service or repair work. The results of Warranty Direct’s annual Labour Rates Survey were recently published and showed the average hourly labour rate in 2013 was down 9.84% to £74.70 compared to last year (£ 82.86 in 2012) for both franchised and non-franchised workshops. Warranty Direct says competition from fast fits, aggressive manufacturer loyalty programmes and motorists willing to shop around for the best deals, are just some of the reasons for the falling prices. The survey included 67 counties and it was no surprise to see that London is still the most expensive place (per hourly rate) to get your van fixed. The least expensive place was Angus in Scotland. Duncan McClure Fisher, Managing Director at Warranty Direct, said: “From this year’s results, it appears, for the first time, th...

When defining or deciding if something is “cool”, it may be described as fashionable, sophisticated, popular, and never go out of style. Can an auto maker really be considered cool? I pondered this after reading the latest results of the annual CoolBrands® list. I was curious, in terms of the “coolest” van/vehicle maker, who would get your vote? Would it be Ford with the Transit Custom, Fiat for the Fiorino, or perhaps Renault with the Kangoo ZE? I know who my favourites are, but having just read about who came out on top amongst the full line auto brands on this year’s annual CoolBrands® list, I just may have to reconsider if what I am currently driving is "cool". In the latest press release from the manufacturer voted as one of the top coolest brands, Mercedes-Benz has expressed their delight in coming in five places above their debut on last year’s CoolBrands®  list. With the already popular Sprinter, Vito, and Citan van ranges plus a host of new car models offered this...

This week, figures published from the new BCA Used Car Market Report (September 2013) have shown that used car sales have returned to pre-recession levels. Professor Peter Cooke of the Centre for Automotive Management, University of Buckingham Business School, who authored the report, has said “ lower inflation, lower fuel costs, rising employment and a more stable economy helped restore car buyers' confidence somewhat in 2012 .” It also showed that dealers are coming out on top of the used car sales market, reaping 57.2% in terms of sales and representing 74.4% of the total market value. The stock shortage of used cars aged less than two years old has led way for vehicles aged from six years to well over nine years old to sell well over the last few years and with wider selections available on their forecourts, dealerships are dominating the market. The BCA’s press release detailing the results of the latest used car report also included some interesting figures related to the nu...

Do you spend hours maintaining and tinkering on your van in your home garage, is it a spot to do a bit of DIY, or is it simply your refuge from the noise and chaos of family life on weekends? According to the latest post from automotive retailer, Halfords , men kind in the UK are now in danger of losing these once sacred “man caves”. They have reported the findings from a Onepoll survey of 1278 homeowners during August 2013, that shows a third of men are now losing these favourite workshop spaces in what estate agents are calling ‘garage grabbing’. The survey shows that more and more homeowners have converted the garage into additional living spaces or are only using them as storage rooms and not the traditional placement of the family car or work van. Dave Poulter, Head of Trading at Halfords, said: “It’s a sad fact that less than a third of drivers are now able to store or work on their car in the garage ─ the vast majority of which (60%) have been commandeered for extra storage to ...