Viewed Syncro

Today I drove up to Darlington in North Yorksire to have a look at the Syncro that Glen was selling. I arrived a little earlier than I'd originally planned and with the help of Tom Tom got straight to his door. I knocked on the door but there was no reply and I could hear the sound of a hoover from the garage at the bottom of the garden. I peered through a gap in the fence and could see someone bent over hoovering at the side loading door of the T4 so I shouted over the fence. He immediately switched off the hoover and let me through the gate.

My first impression of the van was that it looked quite tidy on the outside and the colour was quite nice, the 16" Audi wheels also set the van off. I then looked inside and it was ditched, the back was full of huge tool racks. Glen however assured me that the van would clean up fine and he would be doing this. The visible faults I could spot were some small dents in the back door, the nearside sill was deformed slightly where some fool had jacked under it. The drivers side mirror was cracked, the windscreen was cracked (he would get this replaced) and the passenger seat base didn't match the base. Glen also showed me where he'd had some minor bits of paintwork done on the van which were a bit cheap and cheeful. I also spotted some holes in the roof that had been patched where mushroom vents had been and there was also rust around a CB aerial on the roof. The van had windowless barn doors, factory fitted fitted bulkhead and high security slam locks. I would have to remove the bulkhead to convert it into a camper and this looked quite difficult to remove so put me off slightly.

I started her up and the engine seemed quite responsive and reasonably quiet and smooth. We set off for a test drive and got through the gate and ran out of fuel, not a good start. After refueling we set off again and it seemed to drive fine, again the steering seemed heavier than on my 1.9 and didn't seem as precise and didn't self centre as well. I'm not sure if this is because it was a syncro or because of the tyres he'd fitted or because the suspension geometry is a bit out?

After we got back I had another look around the van and he showed me the service history. It had received a new clutch, MAF sensors, new battery and new belts in the last 10k. I said I would have a think about it and let him know by tomorrow. He said not to leave it to long as he'd had alot of interest already and he was going to put the van on ebay tomorrow.

On the drive home I was a bit fifty fifty about the van because of the problems I'd noticed unless he would do a deal on the price. However most of the problems were sortable, for instance the holes in the roof were not a problem as I would be fitting a sunroof and a solar vent. I will be replacing the front seats in the van which didn't match so that also didn't bother me.