Club 80-90 Forums

No....

In my experience, i spent £4000 to begin with, and i've probably spent at least a couple more since.

Unless you find one thats barely been driven, like some of the German fire trucks for instance (they seem to live in sheds most of thier life) then i would expect to be forking out for various mechanical items.

Having said that though, i still have no regrets whatsoever. The Syncro is just about as fun as a vehicle can be.

Go on, you'll love it

Yes it will, or it should do, but depending exactly what you want you may have to elect to do a bit of fitting or fettling yourself to get it how you want it.

A good Single or Double cab seems to start at around £3000 and a good Syncro Camper anything from £4500 to £10k I suppose, maybe more in some cases. Caravelles are in the middle of that price range I suppose, good ones, but the more special the more money, Tristar Double-cabs would be £1~ £2 more than their counterpart.
Don't get into the 16" Syncro discussion, justr look at what's on offer, if a 16" syncro catches your eye, then weigh up what the pros and cons might be.

Go drive a few, you'll know the good ones pretty quick, they don't drive like 15 or 20 year old vehicles.

Having said that though, I still have no regrets whatsoever. The Syncro is just about as fun as a vehicle can be.

Glad you persevered and got back on your own four wheels (and enjoyed driving the Syncro all that way)

Think you're right to point that out, £2000 is certainly a handy and not unrealistic figure to have earmarked for the first year's ownership, then hopefully, it will halve annually thereafter

From my own experience (so far), I would add ex German army to the fire truck category.

Generally well preserved (the Syncros anyway, because they were assigned to one professinal soldier(MP) and not some conscripts joyride) and in good mechanical nick with genuine mileage and genuine (and usually meticulous) service history.

Get one of them, dunk it in waxoyl and then transplant the camping innards from one less fortunate rustbucket.

Only "problem" with them is, they're all turbo diesels ...no petrols to be had

I firs saw T25 syncro at a petrol station in Tornton.
The owner which had long blond hair was very help full and gave me some good contacts.

That'll be Paul Brownfield then.

Are you Somerset or Devon based then Cookie?

DONT buy the forst one you see and pref not at Vanfest....

DO lots of research and look at several..

I think it would be a lot to ask to get a fully kitted and nice camper for that money, but I could be wrong..
go for one thats got good body and mechs or known faults that priced accordingly.. good body of mechanics as the mechanicals can be fixed a lot easier...

2k for the first year... yeah.. prob about righti, my doka was a fairly well cared for low milage (140k km) late model, but its needed a gearbox (Aidan) and front diff rebuild, it needs a set of CV joints and the brakes want an overhaul.. the body is pretty good, but as with any worked pickup the load bed needs replacing.. But in just over a year its been pounded up and down the motorways and been to several events.. and clocked over 35k km.....

keep a watch out on my website, www.syncrospares.co.uk theirs always a selection on their,i sold the van you saw in the gas station,cj.

Glad you persevered and got back on your own four wheels (and enjoyed driving the Syncro all that way)

Thanks, it was well worth it!!

On that note, we clocked up 5000miles in one month around europe, and the only fettling while we were away was some thicker oil due to the high temperatures, and a new battery (the previous one wasnt up to the job anyhow).

Since being home i found a leak in one of the injector pipes, but thats all fixed now.

Not bad going for a years worth of driving in 1 month....

i bought a syncro for towing in germany. i now have 5 at the moment . what great fun they are