Ex police Sprinter..should I or shouldnt I?

[Mr Meenah]

what about these

Cheap enough but 440k miles...they are Manc based so thst could be city miles.

 

[Mr Meenah]

Might find that they buy direct, you know have to take everything the good and the bad

I would of thought being bought with taxpayers money that their vehicles have to go to auction ie. Highest bidder

 

[chaser]

belter here

 

[Mr Meenah]

belter here

There seems to be more ambulances out there than police vans.

 

[tacr2man]

Don't know your budget , but lot of the work done for somebody

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[chaser]

yeah i looked at them as well, surprising what you get with some of these vehicles, a lot of ambulances have 240v inverters built in , mine hasnt but my sons did.
a lot of folks have a downer on ambulances but the stuff you get for very little miney is fantastic must have cost 10s of thousands to build.

 

[SMB]

Police vans are looked after with regards to being serviced etc, I only recently found out that they are exempt from needing a MOT whilst being used as a police vehicle

 

[EuroTrotters]

I wouldnt

 

[gus-lopez]

Don't know your budget , but lot of the work done for somebody

stuff like that when available here would be around 40k € at that age. might be plus vat as well.

 

[CazPaul]

Don't know your budget , but lot of the work done for somebody

Well spotted that man, great bargain for someone especially with just 50,000 miles on it, Iveco 3 litre manual, perfect.

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[DL42846]

I drove a 316 Sprinter as a white delivery van here in France. I had covered 860.000 kilometers before selling it on to a friend. Its still going. During the time I owned it I had to change the rear wheel bearings, water pump, propshaft, starter motor, a hydraulic power steering pipe and a couple of sensors on the exhaust. It was thrashed daily working to tight delivery deadlines and well loaded. Brilliant vans. The bodywork was beginning to look a bit tatty, some rusty paint spots. I wouldn't worry about mileages on them.

 

[CazPaul]

I drove a 316 Sprinter as a white delivery van here in France. I had covered 860.000 kilometers before selling it on to a friend. Its still going. During the time I owned it I had to change the rear wheel bearings, water pump, propshaft, starter motor, a hydraulic power steering pipe and a couple of sensors on the exhaust. It was thrashed daily working to tight delivery deadlines and well loaded. Brilliant vans. The bodywork was beginning to look a bit tatty, some rusty paint spots. I wouldn't worry about mileages on them.

Wow, that's good even for a Sprinter, what year was the van?

 

[George Mc]

Do not be afraid to go for an ex-ambulance. They are usually well looked after and have some advantages over a standard panel van conversion. My ex-emergency ambulance was really cheap from a scrap yard and needed lots of work with a grinder and burner (not for the faint-hearted). If I were to do it again I would probably try and get an ex-passenger ambulance as you would have less destruction to do before the conversion starts. The plus point of an ex-ambulance for me was the equipment fitted as standard. All ambulances with have a passenger air-bag. When I was looking not many panel vans had them. A lot of ambulances will come with an Inverter and of course an Eberspacher diesel heater, between 2Kw and 4Kw. If you were lucky enough to get a second-hand panel van with passenger airbags then you do get the choice of where to put the windows. If you are sure that ambulances or any other van are for you, you will find many facebook groups who are happy to dispense advice.

 

[Mr Meenah]

That's a nice looking build. Not really recognizeable as an ambulance either.

 

[MisterB]

Great conversion. What was the total cost and time scale?

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[George Mc]

Cheers, you are very kind. I am quite pleased with the way it has turned out considering my DIY skills were poor. I leaned heavily on my friend until I acquired some of the said skills. Like all projects I know where the bodies are buried.

I started a spreadsheet to total my cost but got behind a bit. I would think I have spent in total between £8000 and £9000. That includes tools that I did not have (grinders, cordless drill, router and a shed load of spanners, socket sets and the world supply of screws). The trouble and strife was not having any secondhand gear so the monies spent include a new toilet and shower, Gas cooker, oven, sink, water and gas tanks (underslung). I sold my caravan to help the finances and ended up taking too long to complete. I did not give it my full attention until the last nine months of the nearly 3-year project. If better motivated and task driven I should have been able to do it in a year to 18 months. If I had better skills at the beginning then maybe 12 months. Cheers

PS costs also include a respray for the front and rear as the main ambulance GRP was good. Obviously, I had to cover the rear lights and blue lights and front ambulance sign with fibreglass which as a total beginner was a real bugger.

 

[George Mc]

Forgot to mention new Waeco CR 50 fridge also in costs.

 

[MisterB]

That looks like money well spent !

 

[BSR]

Forcevans is actually not that far from me. I'd like to find the auction where they go to buy.

Brightwells handle direct from MOD and Police as well as ambulance service.
Four Sprinters last week alone, most around £3k + vat.

Lots of ambulances, but starship mileage. Depends what you're after.

My van is ex-Police. Went to Brightwells for months before finding (and actually winning) the right one.

 

[Mr Meenah]

Brightwells handle direct from MOD and Police as well as ambulance service.
Four Sprinters last week alone, most around £3k + vat.

Lots of ambulances, but starship mileage. Depends what you're after.

My van is ex-Police. Went to Brightwells for months before finding (and actually winning) the right one.

I'll have to find where Brightwells are..are they an auction house?
Any regrets buying yours..was it as beat-up as a previous post has described?

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[BSR]

I'll have to find where Brightwells are..are they an auction house?
Any regrets buying yours..was it as beat-up as a previous post has described?

You have to go into it with your eyes open.

All the vehicles are there well before the auction, so go and check the ones you're interested in. At the end of the day it's an auction so it's up to you to be aware of what guarantees you do and don't have.

Most of the ambulances you see on eBay, the bloke down Devon, Merthyr etc, they all go via Brightwells. They have the current contract for all service disposal.
I missed out on a couple of occasions on ex-fire service vans. They're mint compared to everything else and obviously command a commensurate price.

Do the research and you won't be disappointed.

 

[BSR]

Like the fellow said earlier, don't be scared of the mileage on any ex-service vehicles. They've had a level of care and attention that other vehicles rarely experience.
I bid (unsuccessfully) on a couple of 200k miles Sprinters. The general condition is much more important than the mileage.
Think of it this way; we all know overweight 20 year old drinkers and athletic 40 year olds. Condition is everything, not mileage.
Crap example, but hopefully you can see what I'm getting at.

www.brightwells.com and look for 4x4 and vehicles auctions. Usual on a Tuesday, dedicated leisure vehicles once a month or so too.
There's a chap on YouTube videos the vehicles (as a hobby) each week which is a handy indicator too. Search for Brightwells on there and you'll find him.

Hope that helps.

 

[Mr Meenah]

Thanks buddy.

 

[BigStevie]

I've had a couple of old police vans some years ago, both were fine. Watch out for high mileage ambulances, I drive these for a job. Some are retired because they're leased and then just sold at auction by the leasing company, others are moved on because they're starting to fail mechanically.
Having said all this, there are some bargains out there. A pal found a Transit coach built ambulance with 70k genuine miles, although ex health authority, the low miles were due to it being a County 4wd! It was a bargain at £2k!
A lot of the more recent ambulances are autos. Biggest auction for these vehicles is at Merthyr Motor Auctions, they get some interesting vehicles through. Also check out L Jackson and co for ex nato vehicles, a neighbour recently bought an old but very low kms Merc civil defence ambulance.

Good luck, Stevie

 

[Mr Meenah]

Thanks Stevie

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[therealSB]

I've got a ex-police sprinter riot van. It's been a riot! 413cdi.
Avoid anything that has had blue lights 'built it' to the front these are a pain.
Ours has been faultless mechanically but rust is an issue on sprinters especially the older ones T1N pre 2006 shape.
The inside will probably be insulated with some thin insulation and the plastic armour panelling inside is brilliant stuff.
Worth a punt if cheap : but beware look over the panels lots have had knocks here and there. Sprinters are tough though and being RWD the turning circle is really good.

 

[DL42846]

Wow, that's good even for a Sprinter, what year was the van?

2011.

 

[Lenny HB]

Has it still got a grill on front window

Perfect for wilding.

 

[ambulancekidd]

yeah i looked at them as well, surprising what you get with some of these vehicles, a lot of ambulances have 240v inverters built in , mine hasnt but my sons did.
a lot of folks have a downer on ambulances but the stuff you get for very little miney is fantastic must have cost 10s of thousands to build.

They're hellishly expensive to build, I don't know current prices but my 2002 Sprinter 2.7 coachbuilt was £140k fully equipped.
They're serviced to within an inch of they're lives, for example if they need an engine a month before going out of service, they get it, we couldn't afford them to be off the road.
Any excellent buy & I've often admired yours chaser .