Considering buying a beaten up old van - please advise

breadmonkey

Hi,

As the title says, I'm considering buying an old van of some description. It's probably a bit of a pipe dream but I'm really just looking for any advice people here may have to get me started.

I'm a 21 year old student and have had a full licence for just over one year. I'm on a paid work placement at the moment so I have a bit of cash but not a whole lot.

All I really want is something that I can sleep in!

Obviously I'd like something that won't cost me a fortune to maintain, doesn't eat diesel (I presume it will be a diesel engine but what do I know?) and won't cost me a fortune to get insured on. Realistically, I can't spend more than €2k on the van itself. Is this possible or will it definitely cost more? Is maintenance likely to be a big problem? My dad is fairly handy with cars so he'll be able to help me out and identify most problems and fix any basic ones. Roughly what am I looking at for insurance?

I don't know a whole lot about cars so if anyone can give me a few reliable models to search for and good places to start looking that would be great. Just to give an idea what I want, I saw an old VW Caravelle earlier and thought that would be pretty much perfect.

Thanks

smokey2

friend of mine has a 99 transit lwb semi high roof he bought with similar intention but lost interest after a few weeks he's thinkin bout sellin!!

ya be interested in gettin a look at that??

maidhc

There was a pretty cool Ford Sierra P100 camper van on ebay a while back for your sort of money. It looked like someone just reversed a sierra into a caravan, but cool at the same time.

skibum

Have you got quotes for insurance yet? I'm looking at getting a van for a new venture, but insurance is a bit of a headache and I'm in my early 40's
I'm looking at VW transporter vans at the moment, had one before and put up big mileage on it. Very comfortable, 1.9 drinks a bit, apparently the 2.4 tdi isn't as bad.

breadmonkey

smokey2 wrote:

friend of mine has a 99 transit lwb semi high roof he bought with similar intention but lost interest after a few weeks he's thinkin bout sellin!!

ya be interested in gettin a look at that??

Haha, might be alright but I'm in the unfortunate position of the seller knowing my budget! Nah seriously I'm off to Amsterdam for a few days on Thursday so I'll drop you a pm Tuesday week or around then. Thanks!

There was a pretty cool Ford Sierra P100 camper van on ebay a while back for your sort of money. It looked like someone just reversed a sierra into a caravan, but cool at the same time.

Honestly I don't care what this thing looks like! Is eBay a good place to look for cars? Hadn't thought of that I must admit. I had a quick look on autotrader and carzone and found some stuff but there's no way to tell if the yoke is a wreck from a pic or two.

'95 Ford Transit for €800. Has about a zillion miles on it but it is yellow:)
http://www.usedcars.ie/usedcars/index.cfm?fuseaction=car&carID=754359

'94 Renault Trafic (one f?) for €1750. 28,000 miles.
http://www.usedcars.ie/usedcars/index.cfm?fuseaction=car&carID=553538

breadmonkey

skibum wrote:

Have you got quotes for insurance yet?

No, I'm too terrified. Any idea what ballpark figure I can expect?

bazz26

Do a search on here regarding a guy called Cormie and the plite of his Transit van.

Cheap vans like cheap cars can end up being a false economy. They can end up costing as much in repairs and the did to buy in the first place.

But you never know you might find a good one.

breadmonkey

bazz26 wrote:

Do a search on here regarding a guy called Cormie and the plite of his Transit van.

Cheap vans like cheap cars can end up being a false economy. They can end up costing as much in repairs and the did to buy in the first place.

But you never know you might find a good one.

Yeah that's a pretty big concern alright. Are there certain makes/models with a good reputation for reliability? I'll see about this Cormie lad tomorrow.

bazz26

breadmonkey wrote:

'95 Ford Transit for €800. Has about a zillion miles on it but it is yellow:)
http://www.usedcars.ie/usedcars/index.cfm?fuseaction=car&carID=754359

'94 Renault Trafic (one f?) for €1750. 28,000 miles.
http://www.usedcars.ie/usedcars/index.cfm?fuseaction=car&carID=553538

I'd say that yellow Transit is an old ESB van.

Also 28k on a 13 year old Trafic is a bit hard to believe and €1750 is wishful thinking imo.

Here are some more:
http://www.usedcars.ie/usedcars/index.cfm?fuseaction=Car&carID=749198&message=You%20searched%20for%3A%20Mitsubishi%20L300%2C%20Van%2C%20Price%20Max%3A%20%E2%82%AC2%2C500%2E%20Your%20search%20returned%20one%20vehicle%2C%20which%20is%20shown%20below%2E&CFID=6540&CFTOKEN=18954038

http://www.usedcars.ie/usedcars/index.cfm?fuseaction=car&carID=753282

http://www.usedcars.ie/usedcars/index.cfm?fuseaction=car&carid=576945

bazz26

breadmonkey wrote:

Yeah that's a pretty big concern alright. Are there certain makes/models with a good reputation for reliability? I'll see about this Cormie lad tomorrow.

Toyota Hiace, Ford Transit and VW Transporter would probably be the most reliable but to be honest anything of this vintage could be potentially troublsome and knackered. The best thing to do is have a good mechanic check it top to bottom before buying.

Seth Brundle

Whatever you finally plan on buying - get it checked over by a qualified mechanic.

smokey2

breadmonkey wrote:

Haha, might be alright but I'm in the unfortunate position of the seller knowing my budget! Nah seriously I'm off to Amsterdam for a few days on Thursday so I'll drop you a pm Tuesday week or around then. Thanks!

that's no problem!!

this lad is a mechanic (as am i) is how i know him and whatever it might look like it aint goin to be a bad runner!!

I've not seen it yet myself though!!

Oh and I said it to him you'd bout a grand to spend!!