Club 80-90 Forums

I was at Campernutz last week when I noticed a van I hadn't seen before. A twin slider Syncro. Apparently had an MOT about 2 weeks earlier. The lady that had bought it had just driven up to Scotland from London. It was a mess. The protection bars either side of the prop had a curve in them which was frankly scary. The sills on both sides of the van were rotten. The offside rear arch was full of filler and the near side had a new arch which was bonded on with sikaflex. The arch moved with a tug. It had holes everywhere under the van. The brakes were dodgy and the VC stuffed. Put simply it was a death trap. Ian wouldn't let the lady drive out of there in it. He dropped her in Edinburgh instead. The lady had paid far too much for it. Ian is helper her get her money back.

This is scary stuff and it astounds me that people buy these vans sight unseen. I know sometimes that things are hidden but this was obviously a shed.

Looks like the previous owner and his mate at the MOT station need talking to.

Anyone know of any other twin slider Syncros around?

I've got one and curious to see how many of them there are out there.

The famous 'stolen in tran5it syncro' is a twin slider. Its down at elvises mates (Darren) at the moment having some bodywork done.

Worth reporting the MOT test station to the VOSA:

If you think your car has passed incorrectly
Contact your local VOSA office as soon as possible - you can find the address from your MOT test station or by calling 0300 123 9000.

If your complaint is accepted, you’ll get an appointment within 5 working days to recheck your vehicle for free as long as:

no more than 3 months has passed since the MOT test if it’s a corrosion-related problem
no more than 28 days has passed for other defects
You’ll get an inspection report listing any vehicle defects and advisory items.

VOSA can’t help you take action against an MOT test centre even if it later decides to take its own action against the centre. You can take your own action against a test centre through Trading Standards, personal legal proceedings or reporting the centre to the police.

dcfb77 wrote:Anyone know of any other twin slider Syncros around?

I've got one and curious to see how many of them there are out there.

I have one.

it is a shed and on better inspection from a short distance,you can see its sagging in the middle!
on another note,i have a twin slider syncro here,anyone know the first registered uk syncro or earliest chassis number? i have a customers one in who claims his was the first one in the uk,but mine is one number registered before him and 12 numbers earlier on the chassis!

McGill is taking appropriate action. My point however is that it doesn't matter what the year model is people seem to get over excited and put on rose coloured glasses when buying vans. They don't do their homework before embarking on the resto journey. I made the same mistake with the first van I bought. It wasn't in bad shape really and was a fairly easy resto but at the time was beyond my ken. It was rough around the gills and not dangerous however. Just goes to show that an MOT still doesn't do what it is supposed to all of the time.

Simon and my canping neighbor at Coney had one. Twin 14" Blue. Nice thing

Hi,

May I introduce myself - Arlette, I am the purchaser and new to the forum. Thank you for your interest and your comments.

I found the RHD syncro on Ebay: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/300879990806? ... 1423.l2649" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I paid £1000 less than asked for here.

I had to break my journey just north of Edinburgh (Wivenhoe via London) dropped off my daughter so her holiday wasn't entirely ruined and turned back to Edinburgh where I showed it to Chris (Xris) as I was getting really nervous about driving it. I heard some strange clanging in the back before leaving London, and turned into a very tight street to a garage to see if they could look into if it was the exhaust. I then found out I could hard turn the bugger, cars parked on both sides, tight street, a three point turn that was so tricky to do, I sheered the (broken) LH mirror. Damn! I took a knock on the wheel hub while I was at it! (Later I discovered that this was due the drive shaft (welding was done to get it through the MOT; and the steering was down the viscose couplers needing replaced). Then before we got onto the M1, doing 25 mph, the vehicle then did a weird thing, it flicked off to the left hand side - like the tail of a tuna - and out of nowhere we jumped as it were and knocked the kerb. This now knocked the LH slider off its hinges and now needs readjusting. God knows how, but my 7 year old even though she annouced fear and danger agreed to go on, and bit by bit we progressed to Berwick upon Tweed. There were many shameful moments of the transmission dying on roundabouts, leaving the garages unable to get the gear shaft into first. In fact I gave up on first gear altogether and just started up in 2nd.

You may be wondering what on earth made me do it. A dream. I wanted a RHD syncro for Ardnamurchan on the west coast past Glencoe and before Fort-William. (And for any of you who haven't been there yes - it'll make sense to you when you get there - come!)

I knew the rust and the botched repairs on the bodywork were sinful, yet I was confident that I could do what was necessary to make this little Komet look a delight. I've seen what you guys are up to in the workshops and I'm impressed, delighted by the passion and the care. Anyway. What I didn't know what was underneath. Chris took me over to Ian who too it into his workshop. And he was furious when he saw what was there. With me for buying it. And marched me out into his yard and showed me what happens when a Syncro goes badly wrong. He couldn't understand how it was passed its MOT, and finding what he'd consider 16 advisories on it he was really surprised that there were none on the MOT certificate. He rang the previous owner and told him he'd sold me a death trap. By the way, Ian didn't tell me that, as he didn't want to scare me. Instead he said it wasn't safe to drive, it wasn't roadworthy, he was keeping it in the yard and that I was to get a refund or have it re-MOT'd and investigated. Now at just about before 2am he ran Chris and I back to Edinburgh. I have to say, I was in a kind of daze, a kind of shock.

I have found out from Trading Standards that the Fair Goods Act allows me to ask for repair, exchange or refund if goods do not match up description both in print and/or verbal. Both the mechanic and the seller seemed convinced and repeated every time I asked if it was suitable (I made it clear I was looking for something to keep not just run for a couple of years and sell on) confirmed repeatedly that it 'had plenty of life left in it' and stupid-honest here thought they knew what they were talking about. The seller was upset too. I admit I was surprised that he expressed no concern for our safety nor offered an apology for the experience we had and has outrightly refused to consider a refund.

What is my best recourse of action to resolve this, and for all parties?

Do you think there is anyone in the world who would want to buy this project? And if I could list it accurately, factually, honestly then I would feel okay with selling it.

I'd like to find it a home with someone who can take it on.

Its way over my head, way bigger than anything I thought I was taking on. I'm a beginner. I need a van that I can pretty much drive, as my first base.

What I'd really like to do is close the loop with the previous owner, and sort out what when wrong with the garage, as its not just my own safety at risk, its other people's too.

Chris has photos and will put them up for your comments which are all welcome and appreciated.

Thanks!!

That sounds like a terrible experience. Just goes to show, from the ebay pics, you'd think it was ok. Theres no pictures of any of the mechanics though.... Didn't somebody ask about the history of a van similar to this one recently?
Im sorry that youve been conned out of such a large sum of money and I hope you can get it refunded in full. I look forward to seeing the photo's.

Yep hope you get your money back to and that MOT station gets whats coming to them. Plenty of folk on here will give you a hand to find a good one if the experience hasn't put you off. All things being equal the fact it had a recent MOT should have been enough to give you confidence that the vehicle was safe. The previous owner knew what he was selling on and shouldn't have.

orcecaveman wrote:Didn't somebody ask about the history of a van similar to this one recently?

Ah it was Xriss, that explains it.

well the description is clearly missleading.
it quite clearly says:
Well maintained
in the description, and by the sounds of things, it clearly isnt.

i would get ebay involved most definately.

Very sorry for your predicament but your in good hands now

I hope the situation gets resolved and next time you find a van, post on here and I'm sure one of us will check it out for you before you part with a wedge of cash !!!

Good luck

(ebay say's the listing was removed due to wrong description) !!!!