Van Buying

hey guys, I'm hoping the mighty org can offer advice once again....

I'm after a SWB Tranist for my bike, been and looked at one today. But just want to know what I should be looking for, the problems you get with the vans ect.

This one seemed okay, Its done 135k miles tyres on it are all good recpirts and 3 previous MoT of the van, has 11 months Mot left. Its play lined to the rear, full deadlocks, and alarm. Thought it needs a new radio!

bad points are that there is rust on the bottom of the rear doors, the arches have started to rust. I think I can think all the rust problems myself. Its a 99S plate. The guy wants £950 for it, which is at teh top of end of my budget.

Any commets, or what I should be looking for on them? Thx.

[Biker Biggles]

Just a thought.Does the London emissions zone affect you?There are likely to be a lot of cheap vans coming on the market as people fall foul of that.

Lift the ply off the floor and have a look at the condition of the metal! Water can get trapped under there and they rust badly!

[dirtydog]

Originally Posted by bluethunder

hey guys, I'm hoping the mighty org can offer advice once again....

I'm after a SWB Tranist for my bike, been and looked at one today. But just want to know what I should be looking for, the problems you get with the vans ect.

This one seemed okay, Its done 135k miles tyres on it are all good recpirts and 3 previous MoT of the van, has 11 months Mot left. Its play lined to the rear, full deadlocks, and alarm. Thought it needs a new radio!

bad points are that there is rust on the bottom of the rear doors, the arches have started to rust. I think I can think all the rust problems myself. Its a 99S plate. The guy wants ?950 for it, which is at teh top of end of my budget.

Any commets, or what I should be looking for on them? Thx.

Theyre the normal rust areas on a transit. Another seemingly common problem with transits are transmition noises. Check the service history quite well to, especially when the cambelt was done last. I think on transits it's meant to be every 60k. And remeber most vans are ragged relentlesy day in day out.

Be careful where you buy from; with Vans you can be liable to pay VAT

Places on the van you'll need to check-

1-check the inner wheel arches-they rot quicker than the outer
2-the side door step is a magnet for water and rusts like hell-you need to check under all the plastic panels etc
3-if you can't get the lining lifted to check get underneath and poke every bit of floor with a screw driver-its amazing how much the transit floors rot
4-check for water leaks around the windscreen-my transit was really bad for this
5-any noises coming from the rear axle when warm or cold-if it whines walk away
6-try and get to start it from cold-lots of shady dudes will have the thing heated up so its starts first time
7-remember your gonna get what your paying for when you buy a van-they tend to hold money good and the better ones usually go for high money where as the cheaper have been hammered around building sites or couriered to hell.

husky

from my own horrible experience of van ownership, I'd say only buy something second hand and ropey looking if you really know what you're doing and/or have someone with you who does...