What with cars being banned from just about everywhere soon, I was interested to see that it is possible to buy, in America at least, a Piaggio Cargo robot for a mere $3250 (£2520). It even has a name: Gita. The robot apparently follows you around and carries up to 40lb (about 18kg) of your stuff. A fancy shopping trolley, then. Surely, a small commercial van or pick-up would be far more useful, but oh so problematic to buy used. So with two and a half grand to spend, what models could cause us trouble?
In the spirit of keeping it real, I stuck to more local commercials. At £1400, a Renault Kangoo diesel looked like good value. Built in 2007 and now with 70,000 miles, it came with a warming oven. So it could carry stuff and make me a cheese toastie, or get me into the catering business. It had quite a quirky oven door on the outside as well. Reversible, apparently.
For £50 more, there was a 2005 Ford Transit Connect. I’ve always liked the shape of those. This was a 1.8 TDCi one with a long-wheelbase and high-top body and just over 80,000 miles. Fresh MOT and no advisories, too. It seemed clean enough and had a long list of recent replacements, such as cambelt, wheel bearings, driveshaft, starter motor and injectors. Some extra chrome bling and a past life as a signwriter’s van may put some people off. Not me.
Then I found a 2009 Fiat Grande Punto 1.3 JTD Active panel van. It looked smart and had a reasonable 103,000 miles. It was an ex-utility company van and had a top speed limited to 70mph, which can be undone at a dealer. What I found interesting was a potential 60mpg, plus it had air-con and a good old-fashioned CD player. Price: £1995.
I’d better not tell you about the Jaguar XJ (XJ40 era) project pick-up I saw online at just £500. It needed more welding, so better get a proper one. I came across a Mitsubishi L200 from 2000 with 200,000 miles. Nice bit of numerical symmetry right there. It was priced at £650 and all it had was a little bit of rust. Believe that if you will. Better to pay £1100 for a 2002 Animal version.
Then there was a ratty 100,000-mile-plus Volkswagen Caddy pick-up from 1998 with a seat that looked like someone possibly mixed some cement on it. It seemed pricey at £1250 but did look ready for work, with an unburstable 1.9 diesel. Indeed, there was more than enough room on the bed for a Vespa 125.
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With cars being banned
With cars being banned everywhere soon.
Overreacting much James? Some cars will be banned from some cities sometimes. Apparently because people living in some areas are being badly affected by the vehicle choices of drivers who want to buy cheaply and pass the impacts of that onto others.
It's a simple equation. If you want to drive cheap polluting diesels then you are going to find you are restricted as to where you spread your carcinogenic particulates. You can of course switch to a clean diesel or a petrol. Just remember it must be the driver who bears the costs of their choices not the people who live with the effects of that choice.
It's 'Dirty Diesel Ruppert' again
Once again he is promoting buying old diesels made before Euro 6 etc. Clearly much better to get a secondhand bargain than worry about polluting the air - eh James?
SamVimes1972 wrote:
Do you hate low income individuals/families, who need transport for working unsocial hours, visiting relatives/friends who cannot come to them due to infirmity/age and SIMPLY CANNOT AFFORD, although they would VERY MUCH LIKE to obtain a newer vehicle?.
You are the PRIME EXAMPLE of a holier than thou climate terrorist, who hides behind a keyboard and takes others to task without knowing the detail. Fool.
Takeitslowly wrote:
Its usually those families who are most exposed to high levels of traffic pollution. Perhaps you would be better off calling for scrappage schemes, increases in the minimum wage, improved in work benefits etc. To get polluting cars off the road.
Polution
Or perhaps all cars beyond a certain age should just be scrapped? What what that do to the resale value of your car come trade-in time?