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Buying a half-decent van for £600 isn't as easy as I thought it would be.
Page 86
Page 87
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I was under the assumption that the classifieds would be bursting with potential vehicles but that wasn't the case. All my local rag offered in my price range was a Bedford Rascal and an early-1990s Iveco Daily. The Rascal was under our 2.2-tonne GVW limit, and the Daily didn't have an MoT the rules say that all the vans have to be road legal.
My next stop was eBay, which I've used to buy a number of cheap cars over the years.
Originally I thought something German would be the way to goI am to mechanics what Jade Goody is to diplomacy, so reliability is vital. But I couldn't find any roadworthy Mercs or VWs for under £800, so I set my sights a bit lower. Make that a lot lower„.
I toyed with buying something French, but all I had to choose from was a clapped-out Renault Master or a Citroen C25 -neither of which inspired me with confidence. In my experience you don't find the words old, French and reliable in the same sentence. For a similar reason I didn't even contemplate an elderly Fiat or Iveco.
Japanese vans were out of the question too, because I don't like them. I've never owned anything Japanese and don't intend to start now, I also wanted to avoid the ubiquitous Mk3 Ford Transit, simply because it's so boring. There are plenty of late 1980s and early '90s roadgoing examples to be picked up for about £600, but they aren't for me. Besides, I was confident that one of the other two would take this 'safe' route.
I'm a bit of a classic car/van/truck enthusiast, so thought this might be the way to gobut trying to find a roadworthy classic for under £600 that doesn't resemble a hedgehog with alopecia is close to impossible. I couldn't find any Mkl Transits, Bedford CFs or Morris Js with an MoT, and the only Bedford CA I found was an icecream van priced at over £5,000.
This left me with one choice -an LDV. I've always had a bit of a soft spot for the marque, and Leyland Daf, Freight Rover and British Leyland before it.
Incredibly, the choice wasn't huge, with most decent Convoys far exceeding my budget. The majority of Pilots were out of my price bracket too. But then I noticed a 1994 Leyland Daf 200-Series, the forerunner of the Pilot, and the bid was on £250 with three hours to go. This is the exact description given: "First owner was Royal Mail up to 1998 when I bought it with 46,386 miles and full service history. I have used it daily for my electrical business and only ever had repairs done as needed. I have receipts all filed in my business. The van is in tatty condition but is extremely reliable.
"There is rust, mainly wheel arches and rear doors. No bashes or noticeable dents, just dull paint and rusting. It cleans up nice and interior is in reasonable condition. I am a non smoker.
"This van is sold as seen with MoT till August, recent new tyres, front brakes, part exhaust, rear brake cables/handbrake, front wheel bearing.
"Any test drive welcome, must be before auction time ends. I am still using this van daily until my new van arrives."
had a good feeling about the description, and wasn't put off by the faded red paintwork or huge patches of rust. It was "extremely reliable" and that was enough. I placed a bid for £550, and three nail-biting hours later it was mine for the bargain price of £398.80.