Knackered LDV Convoy, 1500 mile trip. Terrible idea?
Discussion
Right. So today, a very good/old mate who emigrated to Romania recently got in contact and asked me a favour.
Basically, he has loads of tools and personal effects left at his mum's place down in Kent, which he needs to get to his new place near Fagaras in Romania. As cars/vans are MUCH cheaper here in the UK than in Europe, he asked me if I would buy him a big van (budget around £2k), meet him and collect his stuff from Kent and then catch the ferry and drive the 1500 miles across to his home in Brasov County, Romania.
This would be the route. And yes, it would include the famous Transfagarasan Highway featured on Top Gear a few years back!
Now, I am always keen for a crazy/ill advised trip. Previous examples include Morocco in a very old Land Rover, and Land's End to John O'Groats on a 1949 Ferguson tractor. But I believe I might have just worked out a way to make this one the most ill advised yet!!
Behold!
(Apologies for the poor light in the pics, I was excited about getting started on it this evening!)
She's a 2002 LDV Convoy, 3.5 tonne GVW (dual rear wheels, oh yeah!) with the mighty and (relatively) modern 90PS Ford Duratorq engine that you got in the contemporary Transits.
Whilst Googling the running gear and prices of parts, I found these rather amusing paragraphs on Wikipedia;
"By the mid 2000s however, it was clear that the platform (which harked back to 1974, and relied on some parts from even earlier Austin Morris vans) had run its course, and was now terminally dated in comparison to the competition"
"Despite upgrades to the drivetrain (replacing the dated York 'banana' engines with the Duratorq units[26]), the van was described as 'hopelessly out of date', 'rubbish', 'old fashioned', 'ugly', a 'box on wheels', 'geriatric', a 'throwback to a bygone era',[7] and a 'remnant from the 1970s', and that the vehicles 'drove like demented ducks'."
Sounds peachy
The Convoy has been owned by my employer from new, as a site run around/dogsbody, and as such has done just over 26,000 miles from new. Yes, 26,000 miles! Un-MOT'd since 2015 and replaced by new-fangled leased Transits, the mighty Convoy has languished in our vehicle compound, gathering moss and lichen. Rather than let it sit and deteriorate further, my slightly bemused boss has decided I can have it - for free! (Must think I'm a proper weirdo/gypsy...)
So this evening, I put a fresh battery on it and turned the key. I should never have doubted the staunch, steadfast 1990s British engineering, as it sprang into a glorious clattery idle instantly! For what was a pretty outdated design 20 years ago, it even drives acceptably well. The brakes and steering seem good. The engine pulls surprisingly well and doesn't even smoke (much).
VIDEOS:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-HzT0AM7XzA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xAF_w4y9EXg
So my thoughts are as follows.
Get this onto the ramp tomorrow evening, and give it a really good once-over, and work out how much it's going to cost to get it tested. There's no rust to speak of, and it's done just 2,000 miles (admittedly, that's probably 2,000 separate journeys...) since the last MOT in 2014. Advisories for the last few years have just been shock bushes, and slight play in hub bearings/king pins,and it's sitting on six matching Avon tyres with excellent tread, although I expect they're at least four years old.
Now, £2,000 doesn't buy you as much 'big van' as you might expect. Typically it'd be something like this: https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...
The same engine, a bit newer, 100,000 to 250,000+ miles, and bodywork in a similarly FUBAR'd state. There's no guarantee that even one of these would make the trip either, really.
So my question to you all is this. I know most people would think I was mad for even considering this adventure, but am I completely mad?
What would you do? If you were going to do it, what would you be looking at checking/replacing on the LDV?
TL;DR: Mate in Romania asked me to buy a cheap van to cart his stuff over. Got free ancient LDV from work. Should I do it?
Basically, he has loads of tools and personal effects left at his mum's place down in Kent, which he needs to get to his new place near Fagaras in Romania. As cars/vans are MUCH cheaper here in the UK than in Europe, he asked me if I would buy him a big van (budget around £2k), meet him and collect his stuff from Kent and then catch the ferry and drive the 1500 miles across to his home in Brasov County, Romania.
This would be the route. And yes, it would include the famous Transfagarasan Highway featured on Top Gear a few years back!
Now, I am always keen for a crazy/ill advised trip. Previous examples include Morocco in a very old Land Rover, and Land's End to John O'Groats on a 1949 Ferguson tractor. But I believe I might have just worked out a way to make this one the most ill advised yet!!
Behold!
(Apologies for the poor light in the pics, I was excited about getting started on it this evening!)
She's a 2002 LDV Convoy, 3.5 tonne GVW (dual rear wheels, oh yeah!) with the mighty and (relatively) modern 90PS Ford Duratorq engine that you got in the contemporary Transits.
Whilst Googling the running gear and prices of parts, I found these rather amusing paragraphs on Wikipedia;
"By the mid 2000s however, it was clear that the platform (which harked back to 1974, and relied on some parts from even earlier Austin Morris vans) had run its course, and was now terminally dated in comparison to the competition"
"Despite upgrades to the drivetrain (replacing the dated York 'banana' engines with the Duratorq units[26]), the van was described as 'hopelessly out of date', 'rubbish', 'old fashioned', 'ugly', a 'box on wheels', 'geriatric', a 'throwback to a bygone era',[7] and a 'remnant from the 1970s', and that the vehicles 'drove like demented ducks'."
Sounds peachy
The Convoy has been owned by my employer from new, as a site run around/dogsbody, and as such has done just over 26,000 miles from new. Yes, 26,000 miles! Un-MOT'd since 2015 and replaced by new-fangled leased Transits, the mighty Convoy has languished in our vehicle compound, gathering moss and lichen. Rather than let it sit and deteriorate further, my slightly bemused boss has decided I can have it - for free! (Must think I'm a proper weirdo/gypsy...)
So this evening, I put a fresh battery on it and turned the key. I should never have doubted the staunch, steadfast 1990s British engineering, as it sprang into a glorious clattery idle instantly! For what was a pretty outdated design 20 years ago, it even drives acceptably well. The brakes and steering seem good. The engine pulls surprisingly well and doesn't even smoke (much).
VIDEOS:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-HzT0AM7XzA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xAF_w4y9EXg
So my thoughts are as follows.
Get this onto the ramp tomorrow evening, and give it a really good once-over, and work out how much it's going to cost to get it tested. There's no rust to speak of, and it's done just 2,000 miles (admittedly, that's probably 2,000 separate journeys...) since the last MOT in 2014. Advisories for the last few years have just been shock bushes, and slight play in hub bearings/king pins,and it's sitting on six matching Avon tyres with excellent tread, although I expect they're at least four years old.
Now, £2,000 doesn't buy you as much 'big van' as you might expect. Typically it'd be something like this: https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...
The same engine, a bit newer, 100,000 to 250,000+ miles, and bodywork in a similarly FUBAR'd state. There's no guarantee that even one of these would make the trip either, really.
So my question to you all is this. I know most people would think I was mad for even considering this adventure, but am I completely mad?
What would you do? If you were going to do it, what would you be looking at checking/replacing on the LDV?
TL;DR: Mate in Romania asked me to buy a cheap van to cart his stuff over. Got free ancient LDV from work. Should I do it?
Edited by LandyManSam on Tuesday 10th October 22:38
rottie102 said:
What's exactly mad about it?? Serious question. Why is it such a challenge to drive a relatively modern, very low mileage van for 1500miles?
Ah, one more thing : Transfagarasan is I believe already closed for winter... sorry
Relatively modern compared with typical Romanian transport perhaps, but this is essentially a 1970s van with a Transit engine slotted in. You can't really get much more basic. And the pictures I think make it look a lot better than it is.. it's a proper shed - I'll almost certainly get pulled over in it straight away. Just sitting in it makes you want to go and chuck an old futon into a forestry commission car park. The mileage is a bit of a red herring to be honest. 26,000 miles is low yes, but it will never have been on a longer journey than to the MOT station, had probably been hammered from cold its whole life, and probably has spent thousands upon thousands of hours idling with my colleagues sat behind the wheel eating bacon sarnies and reading the Sun. Ah, one more thing : Transfagarasan is I believe already closed for winter... sorry
Also, Transfagarasan is open until the 31st of this month. Depending on how quickly I can get everything sorted, we may just catch it. https://www.martin-adventures.com/blog/2017/4/27/w...
Edited by LandyManSam on Tuesday 10th October 22:37
You'll be fine - far worse vehicles are running around eastern Europe and indeed Morocco as you well know. If you're leaving the van with him, what better than a LHD vehicle and if it was free you have a £2k insurance policy. Once you get it there, it'll be cheap to fix whatever survived the journey.
Mike from Vandog Traveller has lived in his for a couple of years and is a good source of info:
http://vandogtraveller.com/ford-duratorq-ldv-convo...
Having driven up the Transfargen pass myself (the road down the other side is terrible, Top Gear didn't show you that bit), I'm not sure that it would be an enjoyable experience in an LDV!
Mike from Vandog Traveller has lived in his for a couple of years and is a good source of info:
http://vandogtraveller.com/ford-duratorq-ldv-convo...
Having driven up the Transfargen pass myself (the road down the other side is terrible, Top Gear didn't show you that bit), I'm not sure that it would be an enjoyable experience in an LDV!
A journey like that is really nothing for your van. Steady cruising on the motorway is about as easy as it gets.
This lot coped over much greater distances in much tougher conditions on the way to Morocco and back via the back roads and they were mostly built by eccentrics in sheds from parts far older than your van:
I've seen far worse heading down that way from the UK without problem.
This lot coped over much greater distances in much tougher conditions on the way to Morocco and back via the back roads and they were mostly built by eccentrics in sheds from parts far older than your van:
I've seen far worse heading down that way from the UK without problem.
LandyManSam said:
Rather than let it sit and deteriorate further, my slightly bemused boss has decided I can have it - for free! (Must think I'm a proper weirdo/gypsy...)
You paid too much for it. 
Banfield said:
Sell it & try buy a late model smiley face Transit, Sprinter or VW LT.
No way would i want to drive 15 miles in an LDV, let alone 1500! May have been looked after, but they are horrendous to drive.
This. I'd rather walk. No way would i want to drive 15 miles in an LDV, let alone 1500! May have been looked after, but they are horrendous to drive.
Of the many vans I have hired and driven over the years LDV stands head and shoulders as being the absolute worst. Horrifically uncomfortable, terrible handling (even when new) and gutless engines. A Mercedes with 250k on the clock was better to drive and less tired feeling than a month old LDV!
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