really...how much for a syncro

[hooja]

after deciding to get back in a t25 (and getting burnt on a couple of near buys), and now struggling to find anything i fancy, I am rekindling the overwhelming desire to own a syncro camper. Always wanted one, never had one. So seriously whats the least im going to get a reasonably reliable (read: not gonna cost me ££££'s in the first few months) van for? Budget is what it is, as im building a house, once i've bought a van there will be nowt left in the coffers or i will be in trouble, dont think i can convince the other half that the house doesnt really need a kitchen or bathroom straight away.
Think i may be dreaming but know how well a syncro with a bed in will fit into our lives, or do i have to buy another landy?

[Aidan]

really, something to camp in that won't let you down ? £5k min I'd say, but hey Neil started with £500 van

[syncropaddy]

There is one on ebay at the moment so watch what happens to it. I would not recommend you buy it, just watch it so you will get a guide of the bottom end of the values. Like Aidan says, £5 is a good start but be prepared to spend that again on getting it sorted.

[hooja]

the one on ebay... you mean the 2wd conversion? looks and sounds like a money pit. Think you may have given me a wake up call, if i could scrape £5k together that would be it for a looong time, if im gonna have to keep spending on top of that to keep it going, im out
anyone want to buy a house?

[syncropaddy]

Depends on your standards. Mine is well sorted now and is a good one but it cost about £12500 to get it where it is now and that excludes my time spent.

[axeman]

really, something to camp in that won't let you down ? £5k min I'd say, but hey Neil started with £500 van

cheeky adian, but as with working on it and spending money on it, is always a pleasure and never a chore! and how can honestly say exactly how much they have spent, i cant,

neil

[Simon Baxter]

Thing is Niel, in reality you paid good money for that van, even if it needed rebuilding it was a fair price.
You will find that most of the syncros that pop up for sale that have yet to interrered into the fold will need a similar amount of work and be lots more money!
Net result is one f**kin' expensive van.
I'm sure some of the people selling these "Rare" syncros have been smoking crack.
As most people know I am on the look out for a syncro to do some developement work on but I refuse to pay peoples inflated prices for what is likely to be a full rebuild.
Any syncro owner that has visited me professionally will only be too aware of what goes wrong and what some people deem to be acceptable, we had one in just before I went to Germany that needed everything, if you were to type "syncro" into the brickwerks search, that van needed everything that would come back in the search results and more. Owner thought he had a bargain, but when you factor in about a grands worth of suspension and brake parts, and then to need an engine on top as well as welding the cheap syncro isn't a cheap syncro anymore.

For anyone seriously looking to buy a syncro I would say have at least £1500 aside for repairs to bring it up to anywhere near a decent state of mechanical repair and to do a lot of soul searching to decide if they really want a syncro or just another camper van which in the long term will probably suit your needs and pocket a lot more.

[syncropaddy]

What Simon said .......

In addition it is becoming more important to have a history that is recent - in other words a box full of receipts from reputable syncro repairers.

[axeman]

as with what andrew and simon said, i got a whole host of recites whith my van as i am the third ownwer, the national trust (scotney castle) bought it on 17/10/1990 . it was then sold to the previous owner on the 09/11/1999 (fvwsh) for £2000 how used it only for driving in to the forest to collect fire wood. when i asked him about the diff locks he did not even know what that are. he never bothered to read up on the 2 knobs below the radio. i have recites for every year for the MOT and a full sevice up untill late 2007 when he decided to park it on his drive and leav it there. a year later his wife wanted it gone and i bought it on 07/02/2009. still have not gottern to the botton of the assembled in japan thing, hopefully one day i will.

neil

[Simon Baxter]

Made as UK models and sold to Japan as CKD kits, then re-assembled in Japan but with much nicer interiors apparently (leather?)

[syncrosimon]

For anyone seriously looking to buy a syncro I would say have at least £1500 aside for repairs to bring it up to anywhere near a decent state of mechanical repair and to do a lot of soul searching to decide if they really want a syncro or just another camper van which in the long term will probably suit your needs and pocket a lot more.

Wise words indeed.

i am the third ownwer, the national trust (scotney castle) bought it on 17/10/1990 .

You are lucky the national trust did not spray it that very dark green, When I was working for the National Trust back in the early ninties there were two turdbo diesel Doka's in Cornwall, one at Lanhydrock where I worked, and one on the Penrose estate on the Lizard. They were maintained by a landrover garage in Roche, on the edge of the china clay area. I used to take one of them for service and the guys at the garage hated them. They thought them over complicated, and you couldn't fix them with a hammer like a landy. They were no doubt a whole lot more use than a 90 which you couldnt even put a strimmer in the back of. The good thing was that whenever something needed doing the Nation trust would just get it fixed. I dont remember anything major happening, just routine stuff, CV's and the like. Everyone loved the Doka's, except for them being very slow, as they would tow Ifor williams tipping trailers most of the time. No other vehicle would seat 6, and have lockable storage for chainsaws, and a bunch of other stuff on the bed. Even landrovers are getting too expensive for the NT, and the japs have the market now.

[silverbullet]

the national trust (scotney castle) bought it on 17/10/1990 .. still have not gottern to the botton of the assembled in japan thing, hopefully one day i will.

neil

I wonder if your doka was dead stock out in Japan and got re-imported to the UK. If the National Trust insisted on a rhd maybe their local VW dealers sourced it (or a change in legislation/emissions in Japan meant all rhd stock came here or went to Australia) and it found it's way back? DVLA would be able to tell you, but it might never have been registered in Japan so your V5 might not state "first used overseas"...

[axeman]

just says new at first registration 17/10/1990.
oh and is an MV so the cleanest engine you could get so i dont know about not being good eneough for japan at the time.

odd that baxter pointed out about the interia being speced up, at it was very plain and simple, just black seats and a black bench. outher than being a syncro a cant see any thing outher than the eng code GB code and paint code and the optional extras all thats in the hand book and the sticker under the dash is LL what ever that is,

whats a CKD kit?

neil

[lloydy]

CKD= complete knock down van shipped out in pieces reassembled in another country

[axeman]

so dose that mean that i have japanese build quality or german?

neil