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A s your business needs a panel van then why not
Page 45
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first enhance its appearance and practicality, with a plywood interior. You'll save yourself money in the long term. KTS Trucks, the Faversham, Kentbased Renault dealership, usually has a handful of Master panel vans on its demonstration fleet and each one gets a ply-lining first.
The extra £300 is built into the customer price, says KTS's area sales manager Trevor Austin. He regards it as a sensible enhancement that protects the body and helps maintain a van's residual value.
In service, panel vans are treated roughly: heavy knobbly loads are thrown around inside causing extensive damage to the sides, floors, doors and mechanisms.
With panelling, some of the plywood interior could need renewing, but an unlined van would require very expensive panel beating, respraying and maybe signwriting too.
"Repair charges are astronomical and downtime equally painful," says Austin, "so you could be looking at repair bill of around three times the price of a new plywood lining."
Traditionally, KTS's Master van demonstrators have all been long-wheelbase models but, because of increasing interest in the shorter version, the fleet now includes SWB test vans.
"We can offer the smaller one at just under £11,000 apiece and that's with a 3year/60.000-mile warranty, an 18.000mile service interval, three-year AA Roadside Assist and many extras," says Austin, adding that "with a panelled interior, the package represents terrific value."
Van-liner view
Vantec has been producing body ining kits at its Tonbridge works for the pest 14 years and has completed over 20,000 vehicles in that time.
It has templates to suit just about every make and body size of pane van up to 7.5 tonnes, 'but it's always a bit of a race keeping up with new models," says owner and ex-Jaguar mechanic Steve Aldred. "There are eight sets for the newest Transit alone."
Kit sides are usually made with 6.0mm plywood and floors are 9.0mm thick but it also offers a 12mm or 18mm resin-coated non-slip flooring for an extra £50.
Aluminium kickstrips are added to doorjambs and all screws are zincplated.
Extra lights, insulation, bulkhead windows, shelving and drawers are all optional extras.
When a van maker changes the position of its lashing rings or spare wheel mounting, the fitter only finds out about it at the last minute and has to make a quick modification there and then.
But the most important aspect is knowing exactly where vital components are routed, and then making sure every panel securing screw is kept well away from them.
Drill a hole in the fuel tank, says Aldred, and you'll be expected to pay for a new one, but when a wiring loom or a door lock mechanism is damaged, the intermittent faults can be equally expensive.
Do it too often and you'll soon lose credibility with your customers. Working with a pre-cut ply panel kit, a single body lining job will take under 30 minutes, and Aldred and his assistant Martin Molloy have been known to convert up to 20 identical vans in a single morning.
"Unlike some bigger companies that may churn out 10,000 panel jobs a year, we specialise in doing small batches of many different types of van," says Aldred. "That way we can cope with any fluctuations in orders."
The firm steers clear of selling lining kits for self-fitting, simply because it has no control over the accuracy or quality of the finished job.
"We use good hand tools and materials," says Aldred. "We make sure that every panel is properly aligned and all joints neatly sealed afterwards and take a pride in the finished product."
It is an outlook that seems to pay off as most of Vantec's work comes by word of mouth, from local CV dealerships or van leasing companies around the Kent/ Sussex regions.
"We're quite happy to work either at their premises or ours in Tonbridge," says Aldred.