mistergrumpy
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| posted on 31/12/11 at 07:08 PM |
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VW Transporter Purchase
Been looking at a local VW Transporter to buy. It's a 2001, 2.5TDi (blue i) with 110,000 miles on asking price of £3000 + VAT. No service
history, 2 previous owners, 3 months or 3000 miles parts and labour warranty on engine and gearbox. It has faded red paint which should polish up okay
and has been some kind of trade van in the past.
I'm a bit woried about the lack of service history, although on the plus side is the warranty but here's what's on the HPI check:
Source of Mileage: DVLA
Date of Mileage: 08/12/2011
Mileage: 118000
Source of Mileage: RMI MIL'GE
Date of Mileage: 05/05/2006
Mileage: 067897
Source of Mileage: RMI MIL'GE
Date of Mileage: 25/04/2006
Mileage: 067152
Source of Mileage: RMI MIL'GE
Date of Mileage: 14/02/2006
Mileage: 064335
Source of Mileage: BVRLA
Date of Mileage: 08/12/2005
Mileage: 061452
Source of Mileage: RMI MIL'GE
Date of Mileage: 04/11/2005
Mileage: 060001
Source of Mileage: BVRLA
Date of Mileage: 18/09/2005
Mileage: 057727
Source of Mileage: RMI MIL'GE
Date of Mileage: 16/09/2005
Mileage: 057727
Source of Mileage: RMI MIL'GE
Date of Mileage: 11/07/2005
Mileage: 055054
Source of Mileage: RMI MIL'GE
Date of Mileage: 17/05/2005
Mileage: 050636
Now, it appears to have had a lot of visits to somewhere in its early life which I don't know is a good thing and then in 2006 there's no
more. It's shown last change of keeper 2006, will the trader count as one as those?
Is it a decent buy?
Any help or advice greatly appreciated
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Ben_Copeland
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| posted on 31/12/11 at 07:13 PM |
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No the trader shouldnt show up.
It would worry me a lot the big gap in the service history...
Ben
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mistergrumpy
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| posted on 31/12/11 at 07:33 PM |
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I'm guessing that the gap then is where the van changed hands and the second owner either sorted it himself or went to a garage that
didn't record it.
There is, however, a worn sticker on the slam panel saying that the cam belt was changed at ~ 70,000 miles.
The DVLA record is the MOT that the current trader has got too I think.
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hillbillyracer
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| posted on 31/12/11 at 07:59 PM |
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I bought mine with no service history at all with 138k on the clock, but it was ex AA so took it that it'd been kept right & then went
through it myself.
It's pretty common once with 2nd or 3rd owner & going to independant garages that service history on many cars isn't kept up & a
wonder as if the work is being done it's little work to fill the book in. I'd expect it will have seen some maintainance in that time but
it's just something you'll have to judge for yourself, the warrenty shows the trader thinks it's ok at least, can't expect
much on a 10 year old van.
If there's no evidence of a cambelt change since 70,000 then if it'd done 067152 in 2006 that belt will be about 5 years old now so &
at 110,000 has done 40,000 I'd get it done soon & a tensioner kit while you're on (it's the pullies that fail often on VWs
rather than the belts). But with 3 months warrenty on the motor & box you could run it most of that to make sure all is well before splashing more
cash, if it did happen to fail the warrenty should cover it. Mabye get the water pump done while you're in there too, they aint a lot of money
& it's all the work of a belt to do one.
As for value I'm no expert but it doesnt sound too bad, given a good polish, a set of nice wheels & the rear carpeted out would see it fetch
much more at a VW show.
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austin man
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| posted on 31/12/11 at 08:05 PM |
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bought mine in October 187k on it for 7K gulp. It is a T% 2004 plate and a 1.9 with windows 5 seats etc I trust yours is a T4 if it has warranty give
it some beans to iron out any problems request new belt and a service. The T4 /T5 forum is a good source of info
Life is like a bowl of fruit, funny how all the weird looking ones are left alone
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hillbillyracer
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| posted on 31/12/11 at 08:33 PM |
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I bought mine from the AA disposal auction in 2006, 51 reg with 138k, short MOT, no service history, in its working clothes & a large dent in the
silding door that made it hard to open. It cost me £4000 with the VAT on. Traders at the time were asking £6500-7000 for a similar van with out the
damage.
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Davegtst
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| posted on 31/12/11 at 08:36 PM |
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If you can help it I would advise against getting an ex aa van. They have spent most of their lives with the engine idling or towing. Don't
think they have been looked after either. They are maintained by bt fleet who do as little as possible to keep costs down and all the depots I have
dealt with shouldn't be trusted with a shopping trolley. How come you say the van has 110000 on the clock and the hpi says 118000? Does it
have to be a vw? There are alot of other good vans out there and the t4 is very dated now imo.
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mistergrumpy
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| posted on 31/12/11 at 10:12 PM |
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Sorry. Yes it has 118,000 my mistake. I'm settled on a VW now. I know it's a little dated but I quite like it plus the whole VW scene
thing Is much the same as the kit car one but a lot bigger.
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austin man
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| posted on 31/12/11 at 10:54 PM |
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Description
Loving it all 104 bhp of it before I had a 200bhp Golf Turbo
Life is like a bowl of fruit, funny how all the weird looking ones are left alone
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mistergrumpy
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| posted on 1/1/12 at 12:35 AM |
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Nice. I've got the Locost for speedy fun.
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austin man
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| posted on 1/1/12 at 12:51 AM |
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My sentiments too, I was getting concious that both my cars wger capable of losing me my licence. the Golf would do 140 the Kit maxed out at 131 all
on a track somewhere in Europe of course
Life is like a bowl of fruit, funny how all the weird looking ones are left alone
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hillbillyracer
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| posted on 1/1/12 at 10:01 AM |
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quote:
Originally posted by Davegtst
If you can help it I would advise against getting an ex aa van. They have spent most of their lives with the engine idling or towing. Don't
think they have been looked after either. They are maintained by bt fleet who do as little as possible to keep costs down and all the depots I have
dealt with shouldn't be trusted with a shopping trolley. How come you say the van has 110000 on the clock and the hpi says 118000? Does it
have to be a vw? There are alot of other good vans out there and the t4 is very dated now imo.
I'm thinking the one he's looking at aint an ex AA, they tend to be yellow rather than faded red  I wouldn't worry even if it
were, a buider's van could easily do as much or more towing & the type of driving it's done could vary massively, I asked an AA bloke
about them before I bought mine & he reckoned the lower mileage AA ones were not worth the extra they'd make at auction as they were mainly
city based & as such done a lot of stop start work.
I've heard a fair bit of good & bad about BT fleet, but mine's been great at 160,000 now & the only non service thing its had in
the 22,000 I've done is a wheel bearing.
To be fair they are dated & the age shows in the way they drive compared to a more modern van like a Traffic/Transit/Vito etc. But if you're
the one picking up the maintainace bills there's no dual-mass flywheel, common rail pump & injectors or particulate filter to worry
about.
I do reckon they're over priced compared to other vans, that's partly driven by the VW scene but they are a very well put together
machine, as a van just to do a job then yes there are probably better vans but to own, use & partly be a hobby it takes some beating.
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