van hire

[mand]

does anyone know which would be cheaper to hire a self drive van from France or the UK.

If France would anyone know of a reasonably priced company near Argeles Sur Mer..
we would need the van for about a week

[Polly and Steve]

Hi Mand - Have just finished a mammoth research into self-drive van hire, man and van, part loads you name it for our final push south in early September and the best we've found is Europcar £369.60 for a 7 day hire Cambridge/Ceret/Cambridge, with our travel expenses on top of course; this is for a 3.3 ton long wheel base Peugeot Boxer. Would have preferred one-way hire but have only found companies doing UK to Spain (drop off Alicante, Malaga) so will bite the bullet and could offer some way one space back to the UK then???

[mand]

Hi polly & Steve.


Thank you so much for your reply
we are in the same position has you, this will be our final push south Bedford to Argeles we are planning on going October though possibly November at a stretch.

the price you got is good. looking at a forum on another site someone had bought a van for their move and sold it afterwards, not sure how that would fair because i would be worried about not getting the same price i paid for it also the extra of adding it to insurance etc because i wouldn't want to end up paying more than hiring.

shame we weren't going opposite directions at the same time.

hope it all goes well for you i'll keep you posted if i should find a better deal.

[collioure_bee]

mand, buying a van could lead to more expense, it did cross my mind when I moved down, but the fear of it breaking down etc made me change my mind on that.

I rented from a local company in Fareham and it was around the sam price as polly and steve. I did look into one way hire but it was more expensive because they had to pay someone to bring it back.

[mand]

Thanks for that Bee that is what is worrying us about buying a van. We might have to hire for more than one week though because even though we intend renting our bedford place out furnished, I am surprised by how much stuff we still want to take with us especially when i had a look in the attic yester, That was frightening..

[Sue]

Hi Mandy its good to see you have decided to make the move. Dont even contemplate bringing stuff thats in the attic. If it hasnt been used in England for months or years then you wont want it here!! Its surprising how much more "rubbish" you accumulate when you arrive. Good luck for the future and PM me if you would like to meet up once you are settled in as I am in Argeles too.

[mand]

Hi Mandy its good to see you have decided to make the move. Dont even contemplate bringing stuff thats in the attic. If it hasnt been used in England for months or years then you wont want it here!! Its surprising how much more "rubbish" you accumulate when you arrive. Good luck for the future and PM me if you would like to meet up once you are settled in as I am in Argeles too.

.
I wish someone could convince my other half not to take the attic contents...we don't even have a attic as such in Argeles to dump it in ..but he feels emotionally attached to everything, Im being pretty ruthless with my things....if it was up to me i would be happy to either sell it or give it to charity.

[collioure_bee]

I'm with your other half mand lol. I brought out all sorts of rubbish and it's all in boxes on top of the wardrobe. It took skillful loading of the van to get so much stuff in and then skillful loading of a Renault Scenic to get the rest in, too, you'd be surprised how much stuff you accumulate.
I read Tony Hawks Piano in Pyrenees book recently and he bought a van for the trip and it broke down just outside his house in London. An omen?
Like sue, I am local so if you and your other half want to meet up or need any help when you get here, just pm me.

[Roger O]

I wish someone could convince my other half not to take the attic contents...we don't even have a attic as such in Argeles to dump it in ..but he feels emotionally attached to everything, Im being pretty ruthless with my things....if it was up to me i would be happy to either sell it or give it to charity.

He should like it in Catalonia then, cos they love snails (which carry their whole houses around on their backs during their lifetime!)

[mand]

I'm with your other half mand lol. I brought out all sorts of rubbish and it's all in boxes on top of the wardrobe. It took skillful loading of the van to get so much stuff in and then skillful loading of a Renault Scenic to get the rest in, too, you'd be surprised how much stuff you accumulate.
I read Tony Hawks Piano in Pyrenees book recently and he bought a van for the trip and it broke down just outside his house in London. An omen?
Like sue, I am local so if you and your other half want to meet up or need any help when you get here, just pm me.

..


Thanks for that...but if he stuffed all the rubbish he's got on top of the wardrobe i don't think it would take the strain ofthe weight.
I'll let you all know when we have made the final jump

[TOM AND BARB]

Hi Mand,

Tried to send you a pm but not sure if you got it.Maybe your inbox is full ?

Take a look at this website

www.shiply.com.

There are hundreds of lorries/vans moving between UK and Spain / S.France.
Most return with empty or part loads which they fill with your stuff.

Its FREE to list anything on the site you need moving, including a full house move.
Carriers bid for the work and you select one and arrange the details of the move.You accept a bid--- ( a bit like ebay) and pay the carrier.The carrier pays Shiply a % of the fee they charged you.
Generally several will bid withina few days of your listing and you then choose the best one to suit you.You can contact them to ask questions etc.

I have used it several times within the UK and it works and can be a lot cheaper than any other method, especially for bigger items which would cost a lot by any other means.

Noticed that people are now using it for cross europe full house moves.

Would be interested to know how you get on.

Good luck.

T&B

[Marguerite & Steve]

Thanks for that Tom & Barb, we will have a look at this sight, as we will need stuff bringing to France.