The advert appeared in the Thames Valley Autotrader and it was the pictures that initially caught my eye. Even on full zoom, the van looked very tidy indeed and had many attributes that made it attractive. The alloys, the chrome, the high end awning…the interior, less so; but it appeared that much of the hard work had been done and with some discussion we decided to call the number.

The owner seemed very pleasant and informed us that it was under offer and that the buyers were supposed to have proffered a deposit but had failed to materialise. We discussed the van and he was oozing enthusiasm on his project and how much he had spent etc. Seems that he had not had time to use it as much as he would have liked and decided to cut his losses.We resolved to travel to the outskirts of Bath to view her and gave her a very good look over.

She was indeed in incredible condition – no rust, a couple of tiny car-park dents, but overall superb. Tyres were new, the engine sounded sweet and the work that had been done was to a very high standard.A good blast around town and we were sold. 111000 miles and some change – must be due a gearbox overhaul, clutch, breaks etc. Oh no, the nice fellow assured us. It has recently had a full overhaul and all in great shape – paperwork from a local garage was supplied to back-up his claim and the deal was done. Funds transferred, insurance verified and paperwork completed, I left for home while Alli made her way in her own car.

I stopped off for diesel and had another good look around – all good, so off I headed for the M4.After around 20 miles I began to smile to myself – a sort of self satisfied smug grin. I’ve made a good purchase here! Then…no sooner was I turning up the complimentary 10cc CD [not sure if he meant to leave it in the player] I noticed the revs creeping up – I changed from 6th to fifth and then back – 6th was no more! A kind of ex-6th gear…it had shuffled off this mortal coil….etc etc. you know the rest.Exiting the motorway was fun…gears were like cold treacle – all lumpy and clunky. Wrestled it home listening to the sound of cogs and clutch flapping about beneath me. The grin had also gone. I was a tad disgruntled and had to drop the news to Alli without totally losing my sh*t…

Once I had calmed down, mostly due to the level headed pragmatic and occasionally annoying way that Alli manages to breath fresh hope into the darkest of situations, we took to a full inspection of the van and made a list of what we considered to be ‘wins’.The van looked great – the body work was near perfect, the chassis looked flawless and all the insulation, acoustic felt, carpeting – even the seats [when revealed from under the nasty covers] were unmarked. We agreed that if we could afford to get the necessary mechanical work done, she was a keeper!