Good starter vans. (1 Viewer)

[Snowbird]

As some of you know I am a lover of quality older motorhomes and spend a considerable amount of my time searching the net both here in the UK and Europe and America looking for these rarities.
So, if it will be of any help to potential first time buyers who are like me on a limited budget I will put on this thread from time to time what I consider a good buy for what is a good van at the right money.
Some of the vans you will see on this post you will never have heard of, but don't be put off by that as one of my main priorities when purchasing a MH for myself is parts availability. Body panels on motorhomes are obsolete when the vehicle is only a few years old, so this will not be taken into consideration, but mechanical parts are of course the main thing to worry about when thinking of an older MH. So any vehicle that appears on this thread will have to have good parts availability.
This is one of my favourites and one to start you off. Its an Orion, built on the Mercedes chassis and of monocoque construction. Link Removed

 

[duane0001]

I am sure I had a 1992 Talbot autotrail pullman
It was 2.5 turbo with power steering

Oh, I just found this on the inter web
"In 1991, the series 2 Express was launched with an enlarged grille. Production was discontinued in 1994, when Peugeot finally discarded the Talbot marque."

 

[cmcardle75]

I have a theory about older quality built motorhomes, and that is like quality cars such as Rolls Royce they were very expensive when new and only the very wealthy would be prepared to pay the price for them. They tend to be checkbook maintained and serviced correctly as money is not in the equation. This is why most Rolls Royce's built are still on the road. For the same reason the more expensive vans are still in good condition and have now lost whatever depreciation they are going to lose. Once a motorhome gets to a certain age it will level out price wise and will hold its price indefinitely if looked after. I have found that although they are generally slower and less fuel efficient than a modern van, they tend to have far less mechanical problems.

Tell that to my old Chevy 350. Apparently having 35 year old valve stem oil seals (or in reality no oil seals at all) can lead to the engine using 4 litres of oil in only 220 miles. Why they didn't install oil warning lights in those days, I can't fathom. On the plus side, you can still buy the whole engine new for under 2K.

 

[Snowbird]

Tell that to my old Chevy 350. Apparently having 35 year old valve stem oil seals (or in reality no oil seals at all) can lead to the engine using 4 litres of oil in only 220 miles. Why they didn't install oil warning lights in those days, I can't fathom. On the plus side, you can still buy the whole engine new for under 2K.

Answers the post perfectly. Now if that engine had been check book maintained, at the first sign of failing stem seals it would have gone into the main dealer and been rectified. They did not install oil warning lights because they fitted oil pressure gauges instead, which gave a much truer picture of what was happening internally than an add gravy light, albeit more expensive to fit. As stated in the post, people that buy Ferrari and Rolls Royce cars new don't take them to the guy on the street corner who does a few cars up to supplement his unemployment benefit to have them serviced. Some of these older quality built motorhomes were £100000 new over 20 years ago. Someone paying what amounted to the price of a large house in London at that time is not going to worry too much about garage labour charges.

 

[Snowbird]

Here is a real bargain. Dont worry about the mileage its not even run in yet. Loads of use left in this and its at half price..

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[canopus]

Good one here Dave :thumb:



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[Terry]

Good one here Dave :thumb:



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Spotted it myself and put it on my watchlist :thumb: be interesting to see how much it goes for
Terry

 

[Snowbird]

Good one here Dave :thumb:



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A good van that's not going to loose any money on resale. If it goes on a maiden bid of 9k its a bargain. I think the seller is a little optimistic with the MPG figures though. Its a very usable size and a rarity in the UK. The only fault I have with it is there's no garage to keep my junk in and I like my fixed bed as it makes life easier when I have had 1 more than is good for me.

 

[Terry]

This needs converting but with only 20,000 miles it would last a lifetime plus you can start with a blank canvas and do the layout you want -take out and sheet over the windows and put them (or new:thumb where you want them :thumb:
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Who was the funster looking at the ex army jobs at Bawtry,Doncaster a few weeks back ? this would be a good bargain and have the desired room
terry

 

[Peter & Elaine]

This needs converting but with only 20,000 miles it would last a lifetime plus you can start with a blank canvas and do the layout you want -take out and sheet over the windows and put them (or new:thumb where you want them :thumb:
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Who was the funster looking at the ex army jobs at Bawtry,Doncaster a few weeks back ? this would be a good bargain and have the desired room
terry

Forget changing it fantastic for loading up kids grand kids and dog

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[cbrookson]

Like this one:

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10800 Euros - not a coachbuilt but should carry a good load on a Mercedes 410D base.

Cheers

 

[chesterfield hooligan]

now I would like this, a lot of van when new ​

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[Snowbird]

now I would like this, a lot of van when new ​

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Looks like a Farmer & Day conversion. They were bespoke converters in there day and very good quality. Theres a lot of van for little money there.

 

[chesterfield hooligan]

as a by the by dose anyone know if there is any duty to pay if you bring a vehicle into the UK from EU as I thought we were in the EU someone has just told me as from January there is 20% vat to pay on s/h vehicles imported into the UK

 

[Snowbird]

as a by the by dose anyone know if there is any duty to pay if you bring a vehicle into the UK from EU as I thought we were in the EU someone has just told me as from January there is 20% vat to pay on s/h vehicles imported into the UK

If there is, its a new one on me. First have heard of that one.

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[chesterfield hooligan]

I was told this by a car transporter who collect and delivers cars to and from Spain saying that if they are imported into the UK vat is payable I will ask him to forward the email to me

 

[Snowbird]

I was told this by a car transporter who collect and delivers cars to and from Spain saying that if they are imported into the UK vat is payable I will ask him to forward the email to me

Having imported several motorhomes for personal use from Germany, France, Spain and Holland over the years I have never had to pay VAT or any form of import duty into the UK. If as you say it altered in January, I have no knowledge of it. I must add that I have only imported used motorhomes and have no knowledge of the import of new vehicles.

 

[chesterfield hooligan]

I was told this by a car transporter who collects and delivers cars to and from Spain who told me that secondhand vehicles imported vat has to be paid I will see if he can forward the information to me

 

[Snowbird]

Now this looks like a really well cared for quality built van that could finish up a bargain. Link Removed

 

[Snowbird]

You could hardly call this one a starter van, but I would love it, but alas its way out of my price range. Link Removed

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[Ralph-n-Bev]

Does the bald shirtless bloke lounging in the back come with it too

 

[chesterfield hooligan]

again a lot of van for the doller

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[Snowbird]

A good quality 2 berth van here thats a compact size. I have no idea what sort of money it will make but it should not lose to much over time.Link Removed

 

[chesterfield hooligan]

nice

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/MERCEDES-...mpers_Caravans_Motorhomes&hash=item27d14f56ed​

 

[DP+JAY]

Anybody live near this? Is it genuine?
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My son is after it but as usual it's the other end of the country.

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[Terry]

Anybody live near this? Is it genuine?
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My son is after it but as usual it's the other end of the country.

Looks genuine, but will prob end up close to 5k
Terry

 

[DP+JAY]

That's what I thought.

 

[Snowbird]

Now this is a quality built demountable complete with a reliable VW pick up truck. Purpose built for the job and in very good condition. This outfit was a very expensive thing when new and for the BIN price of £8000 its a gift. Have seen VW pickups make more money than that, so the camper is for nothing.Link Removed

 

[Snowbird]

Here is a real rarity. Complete with slideout and every extra. Bomb proof mechanics and a very substantial build.Link Removed

 

[chesterfield hooligan]

HI​

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[chesterfield hooligan]

got it wrong try this

copy and paste

on ebay

Item number: 251252848552

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