*NOW BOOKED FOR 2024* Transitmania 15 @ Santa Pod 19th to 21st July 2024 *ALL DETAILS HERE*


Ebay Transit Connect - Cheap is never cheap.

New member? Post here to say Hi, tell us about yourself and your Transit!

Moderators: Luke, AlanN

Ebay Transit Connect - Cheap is never cheap.

Postby JayKay3000 » Sat May 20, 2017 5:40 pm

Hello.

This is my first post and it's a long one.

I was thinking of asking whether I should get some alloy wheels for my van, but decided that anyone reading this forum might be interested in my story of how I got ripped off buying what I thought was a good purchase and hopefully no one else will have similar bad luck. This will be a wall of text, but there is a lot of ground to cover! This is one for the history books.

It's Friday night, I've got four months left contract in my current job and my other car, a Renault Clio 1.0 that I had a roof rack on for mountain biking and cycling is closing in on 140k miles. I'm far too tall for it (6ft 7) and have saved enough money from this years job to replace it with another car, but what car. I need it to be able to carry a bicycle, anything decent I'll be too scared to scratch the roof with roof racks or take it the placed my clio would go and I can't afford two cars at the moment. The crunch is when I get an estimate for £700 to repair 'stuff'. It's general wear and tear and its all added. £200 is what the car is worth so with some slight disappointment I start the car hunt!

Hello Ebay my good friend. What's this? A Transit Connect van - 2005 - £2100? - A camper conversion, 100k miles, diesel, official registered as a camper on the v5. Too good to be true! 300 miles north? Let's go!

I meet the guy, he's been in the army. Two tours in Afghanistan and I instantly like the guy. Big respect. Thank you for your service. I feel like I've known this person for years and the van looks OK. It's everything I'm after and I get wrapped up in my own future adventures. The story is that the guy who owned it died from cancer and it's a sad story. It's being re-sold because the current owner has too many cars - He's owned it just a few months. I've checked the MOTs, nothing much wrong. An oil leak in the last 3 mots and it's not been disclosed on the AD - "It's nothing" I'm told. I'm looking at the sump, it's been hit and there is oil round it "So it's coming from the sump huh?" I ask - "Yeah, I've taken it to a local mechanic and that''s what they say - Here's the report I had done on it and a bunch of repair work" It's half history, but it has had £6k thrown at it. How bad could it be? I make up a number, £300 to get it sorted inside and tarted up a bit on the outside. £50 for the sump. I can afford that.

I've driven a transit connect a couple of times for a previous job and I've gone for one because I know I fit in them! I take it up the motorway, the engine does not smoke and unfortunately my clio was so bad that this feels like luxury. Light clutch, nice steering. Fish bowl type visibility and a little amount of power. The steering shakes a bit, but I put it down to wheel balancing and the gear jumps out of reverse. At the time I just assumed it was lack of synchro as some cars don't like going from first to reverse quickly - "Someone else is coming to view it" He tells me. So I shake on it and he only wants cash, no paypal - Whoops!

Driving it home I'm on a high, but 150 miles into my 280 mile trip to my parents to show off my new toy I notice a few issues. The turbo is making a weird noise. I guess a bearing or that something is on the way out. At roundabouts at full throttle there is an alarming amount of shaking from the steering wheel - not wheel balancing and the gearbox is fcked. Reverse jumps out on any slight incline. This is not the synchro and the more I use it the more it feels like moving a stick in a bag of coal. The brakes obviously need bleeding as it's like pressing your foot into a pillow and there is a bad smell of diesel from the internal heater (that's turned off). What did I just buy?!

Let the work begin:

I take it to a local garage near where I work after finally getting home after seeing my parents over the weekend, a ford garage. The news is dire.

I'm shown a load of sealant around the engine
informed of an alarming amount of overpressure in the engine
the gear linkage has the wiring loom wrapped around it
the oil leak is coming from the top of the engine.
the cooling fans are not working
the turbo is leaking oil
It's boiling its coolant (I never saw any overheating or dash lights, even the engine temp never went critical)
wheel bearing / part of the suspension
"the bodywork is ok though"

They replace the rocker cover gasket and confirm the head gasket is OK - £400 - £90 for the wheel bearing or arm (I forgot what it was)

A second garage tells me I should scrap it, but oh, can we have your side window?! "You'll only throw thousands of pounds at it" they say. £0 to do nothing.

I talk with friends and family and eventually decide to throw money at it even though I'm pretty broke - I'm looking at second hand engines and gearboxes. I'm furious with the seller, but the Internet tells me I've been shafted and I can't do nothing because I paid cash.

My current job I get told about a local guy who'll fix it for cheap.

He finds that:

The head is cracked (new head is sourced)
the drive shafts need replacing (the horrible shaking)
the cooling fans are certainly not working
and possibly something else I forgot.

£1200 - Six weeks & changes the gearbox oil, the block is OK and there is no internal damage.

I drive it now and the gearbox feels a lot nicer, reverse it still hold it in only, but I used it a bit for work and I give a couple of people lifts, everyone thinks it's an awesome idea and thing to own "It feels fine" they say.

It's still leaking oil...

I know a guy in Wales that I've used since a teenager, a local garage I've taken most of my cars to and I decide over xmas to hand him the keys, my clio has to be scrapped, but my parents lend me their car because I need something for job interviews as my contract has finally ended.

The news wasn't that good from the Welsh mechanic:

What he found:

Bent gear linkage and bolts missing
Bolts missing from the engine, an apparent poor re-build, terrible gaskets, the horrible sealant that was doing nothing.
Some parts missing from the engine causing the leak (he could not explain, something at the back? I dunno)
The turbo is on the way out, but he found it was partially sized so wasn't working properly anyway!
He had to pull the engine out twice to fix the oil leak and said it was one of the worst he's ever worked on.
Reverse now 'works'
Bald spare tire.
The disgusting old internal heater (in back) has been pulled out and a removable welded plate put there instead.

I've no idea how much this will cost me, but I'm guessing at least £2000

Total paid including the van and insurance £6090 - Some would argue that's not bad for a 'camper van', but the work is far from over. I do smile when I go over the severn bridge and they try and charge me normal van prices and I end up being that guy as sometimes I have to show them it's a camper van

I think I've driven it less than 800 miles since I got it in September 2016 and 85% of ownership it has been in someones mechanics workshop.

Whoops!

In the end, in a years time when I've clawed back the cash I put into it, tarted up the interior a bit and used it for what I wanted it will be worth it. It's only money right. It comes and goes.

It's just the principal and that I was a bit stupid and the seller clever at covering all the problems! It's not about the cash, it's about how horrible people can be when they sell cars. I was lucky I could just about afford the repairs. I don't make much money and had to sacrifice a lot to keep funding this project as none of it I could do myself and the in between jobs parts was especially stressful as I almost had to move!

It's now May 2017 - The van is still with the Welsh mechanic and my parents want their car back. I had to buy a car to get me to work that incidentally I'm taking back to the dealer Sunday because it too has undisclosed issues! FML. (I do have some warranty though)

As it turns out I've still got my parents car.

Thanks for reading. I hope you enjoyed the story. I've almost forgotten I own it and it's going to be a shock going back to wales next week to pick it up. At least I'll have 200 miles to home to see if anything else falls off it.

:lol:
You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.
JayKay3000
Transit Addict
Transit Addict
 
Posts: 52
Joined: Sat May 20, 2017 3:50 pm

Re: Ebay Transit Connect - Cheap is never cheap.

Postby loot » Mon May 22, 2017 12:55 pm

Welcome along :-)
As a mark of respect i read the whole thing :lol:

It's a sh***er and you've laid out more than you wanted, but as you rightly said, after you've owned it and used it a while, you'll be back on track financially, consider the savings of traveling over the Severn or sleeping in it rather than maybe b+b or whatever, food prep must save money too rather than eating out all of the time and so on.
It looks tidy in the back and although it looks basic you'd be surprised how much it can cost to turn them into campers.(kitting them out and labour etc)

As long as it is in tip top running condition now and you maintain it with new oil etc if you can clock up the miles with it then just put just down to experience.

As for the guy who sold it to you, we probably can't say whether or not he is genuine :-(
56 350 2.2 130ps mk7 with 2 side doors 8)
65 290 2.2 125ps custom with 2 side doors 8)
07 350 170ps
Ids v86 licence + v86.04 update + xprog here
Ids map here
User avatar
loot
Site Moderator
 
Posts: 33465
Joined: Sat May 05, 2012 6:06 pm
Location: North Wales

Re: Ebay Transit Connect - Cheap is never cheap.

Postby stevo » Mon May 22, 2017 2:19 pm

That's a nice looking van you have there, sorry to here about the issues you have had. The only real positive you can take from the experience is that at least when all the work is done hopefully you'll have a decent van that will be reliable.
Buying second hand vans on a tight budget can be a mine field, especially if you're not sure what to look for. My first van was an ex Leeds council van that I saw by chance on a garage in Telford while on the way to view another van. I was well happy with it until a few months into owning it discovered it was rotten everywhere underneath and would have cost a fortune to pass a proper mot. Other than that in the two and a half years I owned it it only ever cost me a coiled spring, pas pump and tyres. It ran like a dream so it was tough to let it go and take a chance on a different van. I found one about 20 miles from me and when I turned up it was a bungalow owned by gypsies. Not fazed, I took it for a test drive and it was a corker. Owned it nearly three years now and its cost me nothing but tyres, brake pads, a new brake pipe and a gator on the ball joint.
Moral of the story is always take someone with you who knows what to look for.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Formely ibanez2005

Your's is the new Ford Transit!

2003 100 T260 TDDi swb
User avatar
stevo
Transit Fanatic
Transit Fanatic
 
Posts: 4465
Joined: Mon May 08, 2006 12:45 am
Location: Dudley, West Midlands

Re: Ebay Transit Connect - Cheap is never cheap.

Postby transitandy » Mon May 22, 2017 6:04 pm

Hi and welcome in m8 :)
TRANSIT M8, SAY NO MORE YOUR IN...... FORD THROUGH TO THE BONE......
User avatar
transitandy
Transit Extremist
Transit Extremist
 
Posts: 17755
Joined: Fri Nov 30, 2007 1:10 am
Location: Essex...

Re: Ebay Transit Connect - Cheap is never cheap.

Postby Kristianskaffe » Tue May 23, 2017 7:17 am

Hi and welcome... I feel your pain, but nice van though.
I'm going through something similar :)

Sendt fra min EDI-AL10 med Tapatalk
http://www.kristianskaffe.dk
Follow me here and see what I´m fooling around with :D
https://www.instagram.com/kristianskaffe.dk/

2006 Transit undergoing makeover and refurb :D
Kristianskaffe
Transit Aficionado
Transit Aficionado
 
Posts: 337
Joined: Mon Jan 30, 2017 8:13 pm

Re: Ebay Transit Connect - Cheap is never cheap.

Postby Luke » Tue May 30, 2017 11:25 pm

hello and welcome to the forum :D
User avatar
Luke
Site Admin
 
Posts: 44058
Joined: Wed Mar 02, 2005 12:53 am
Location: Rotherham, Yorkshire!!

Re: Ebay Transit Connect - Cheap is never cheap.

Postby JayKay3000 » Thu Jun 08, 2017 10:56 pm

Hi folks.

Thanks for the replies!

Sorry for the really long post.

I'm taking it to a bodyshop on the weekend because I thought the rear bumper end cap would be easy to fit, but I gave up after half an hour so just hoping the rear end is not bent.

The old one was just glued in! I expect there is going to be an expensive reason why this was the case, but I'll update this topic if it's anything major.

Just waiting to get paid so I can put a new set of front tires on it, but safety comes first though.
JayKay3000
Transit Addict
Transit Addict
 
Posts: 52
Joined: Sat May 20, 2017 3:50 pm


Return to Welcome



Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users

This site contains affiliate links for which we may be compensated.