I looked at a Toyota Hi Ace Sunliner today at Morley Ford. Has absolutely everything in it. Would just have to throw my clothes in and go.

I will lose a bit of money in the trade in but would save myself about 2 - 3,000 that I still need and don 't have to set this van of mine up how I want it.

Has kitchen, cooking facilities with sink. 2 fridges. poptop plus outside awning. two single beds with table set up all there in between. Has power connection with all the power cords needed to stay in a c/p plus gas for the stove, all connected. A little Tv sitting on the shelf.
Front is in excellent condition, seats look like new as does the foot area, so clean and tidy plus cb radio.

The seats which convert to the beds have seat belts for extra people.

I've got till Monday to make up my mind.
Its what I wanted originally and couldn't find. Will take a lot of the stress away and could be on the road in minutes instead of months. It older than my van of course 1981 but has what van doesn't have, plus room to stand up so easy or sit around a table inside which can never do in my van.

Think I'm going for it.

It looks like HeadnHome's van in his Avatar. Also a lot cooler inside as more room to move about. Whereas my one now feels claustriphobic. None of the windows open.

If you can afford to, I'd go for it Marj.  Is it Diesel or Petrol ?  Manual or Auto ?  Does it have Solar ? 

Don't know what your equivalent of the RACQ is, but I'd get them to do a thorough check first.

Have to admit the other one does look a bit cramped.

Good Luck,
Cheers,
Sheba.

Good onya Marj
Make sure that you screw them down a bit as there all rogues at MF.
Have it looked at by RACV ?? but they are also MF but hopefully they will do the right thing.
I have found that Travis is a sincere salesman
I just went to have a look at it but were closed. Looks to be in reasonable condition from what I could see.
Ken

good luck with that, Im leaving my ideas till after our cruises, post pics when you get it .. milo

lGood luck Marj, I'm sure you will come to a good decision, it sounds like it may be more like you wanted in the first place. Best of luck cheers

Sounds pretty good to me HW, mine is a 1990 but goes great, just went to Cairns this morning up and down the Gillies range, if you have been up this way you'd know what that drive is like, huge hill with alot of turns but the old girl cruised up and down no problems!! mine only has the one fridge -3 way, gas cooker, I have the long seats at back down all the time with bed made ready to go to sleep whenever, usually sit outside anyway. I do have a fully enclosed awning/annexe but to be honest probably won't use it much as at the moment I can only get away for weekends etc as I am not near retirement age and need to keep saving!! My brother in Kununurra saw this one for me, I'd looked at a few up here but they were pretty rough saw photos of this one and price was good so said yep grab it for me, its a clean, reliable and cheap unit(cosmetically a few scratches and bumps but for its age pretty good) brother a bit worried saying she's an old girl but I knew he done alot of checks for me and no way would let me buy it if it was really dodgy.. I did do a total service on it and new tyres etc before I done my 3000 km trip from Kununurra to Cairns on my own. by the way I'm a she not a he :)

Sheba, its petrol, manual and column shift. Will check out the RACV but as Ken Thomas said it is in the Morley Ford. Thanks for that ken, the salesman was Steve. We took it for a drive together, he was very thorough, showing me how to work everything like the pop top, making sure I had enough strength for it. No problems there even with one arm that was broken in two places just over a year ago. He went right over it looking for and finding everything I asked him to find. To make sure it was all there. If I have to pay extra to get the RACV check surely they will be more thorough than just the workshop check. They will have to do a full roadworthy etc anyway, so will check that out. Thanks Milo and Valnrob. I know now I made a mistake with the van I've got, so better to do something about it before doing anymore work on it. HeadnHome. This one is a 1981 but started 1st turn, never missed a beat. One fridge is in the kitchen cupboard set up and the other sits on the floor with a lift up lid. The previous owner must have bought it as an extra. The kitchen is at the back on this one so beds are used with the table all the time. Looks a great place to sit with feet up and a cuppa in hand. Easy to throw the doona down at night to sleep if bed not made up permanently, but can make it up as needed. I have been up as far as Bundaberg but hope to go further this winter.

Really ! I am so sorry for that misconception. I only thought male as I thought Honi was maori for John. Just got my dictionary out. Hone is maori for John and Honi is maori for honey. Sorry Headnhome, hope we meet up for a chat sometime.

Whatever decision you make hope it will be the right one - good luck...  Why do you only have until Monday?  As someone said, they are all sharks so try to screw something else out of them....   good luck

-- Edited by petengail on Saturday 19th of February 2011 05:11:11 PM

Best wishes with it HW, sounds just the thing, hope it all works out and you can get a good trade. Your son-in-law wont have anything to do now?

Sounding good so far Marj.  I'm starting to save for an upgrade to Auto. gas struts for the Pop-top for when I can't lift it anymore.   They cost somewhere in the vicinity of 3-4 thousand I think.

I've got the address and info. somewhere.  Will give you a better idea of price when I find it.   [ I know you don't need it yet, but it never hurts to have the Info. for when you do need it.] 

Can't wait to see Pics of this one.

Cheers,
Sheba.
 

-- Edited by Sheba on Saturday 19th of February 2011 05:36:56 PM

Well done Marj. I like this idea better than the combo. The size of the motor worried me.  I know you said you're used to that size, but you'd have a lot more weight in it when travelling. Is the HiAce a 1.6 or 2lt? Having too smaller motor in a weighty vehicle makes the engine work harder, particularly on the mountains.

And how many KM on the Odometer? Not that you can always believe that. They're easily wound back apparently. There's lots of things that can go wrong with an old vehicle. Until I got my Lucy I always had old cars. Definitely get the RACV check.

Sorry. On re-reading this sounds very negative, and you may already know all this, but I'm only thinking of your best interests.

Cheers!

Steve may be alright but he is very tight with his valuations and change overs.
try for a better deal
Ken

Thanks for that Ken, will take that into account when I go back in. Beth, 193,000 on the clock but most that age have over 300,000 Gerty, the s. in . l will be rapt. I haven't been able to catch up with them today to tell them what I'm planning. petengail, I have plenty of time but the last time I hesitated I missed out on a good one. Sheba, I do like the look of it even though it is a bit old. The brown stripe down the side needs replacing, so thats where the purple stripe can go. Got to have a bit of purple somewhere. Will need to get some new stickers.. Still have the spare GreyNomads one.

Lot's of good advice here Marj.... All I can add is to endorse the view that if the vehicle is ok it will will save a huge amount of hassle. Setting up your own rig from scratch as you had been planning to do can be a daunting task even for someone with handyman (handyperson?) skills. As Petengail implies the "decision by Monday" may be just a ploy to "close the deal" before you've had enough time to think it through.

Jim, the by Monday was from my point of view so I wouldn't misss out on it. Steve didn't say that but I did say to him I would be back on Monday.. He did say the older gentleman (he had to be careful as he said I could be the same age) (from Moama) traded in two vehicles. The van and a car, both in excellent condition with all records kept and up to date. Even the tools for the tyres were wrapped in a piece of towel and then in a piece of sacking, carefully wrapped.

Have the RAC give it a complete "medical". iT WILL COST YOU A QUID, BUT COULD SAVE YOU THOUSANDS. Regards. PIPES

I hope it all goes well for you Marj. I am still looking for my van I know there is one out there for me it is just a matter of timing. Good luck monday. Norma.

Brsdt wishes with it sounds like a real bargain but as everyone has said get the RACV to check it we have always done this with any vechile we have bought and it has always proved a god send.Helena.

Ok! Have spioken to my s.in.l. He said we will need to get an independant mechanic to look at it so will need to take it to our own mechanic as RACV are in Morley Ford so they would do no different to any other inspection. They won't do different because I'm paying for it. It could all work in their favour, who would know. So I will go in on Monday morning and arrange for a drive to take it over to our own mechanic. Have to sort that out. One thing I forgot before Steve said because it is a NSW registered it would have had 12 month warrantys/roadworthies. Forgot which they are called. In NZ we had 6 month Warrant of Fitness. So is that right, it would have had regular checks, not like in Vic where only given a roadworthy at the time of change of ownership.

I'm not a lawyer so I'm right out of my depth here but.... (you knew that was coming didn't you!) It's my understanding that a roadworthy (known as a "pink slip" in NSW) only establishes that the vehicle passed inspection when it was carried out and has no status re warranty.   A pink slip is required every 12 months in NSW prior to renewing registration (there are exceptions that are not relevant here)

Regarding warranty on 2nd hand vehicles (out of manufacturers warranty) I think the laws applicable in the state where it's purchased, not where it's registered would apply.

Please check these out rather than just taking my word for it in case I've got the "bull by the tail" on this.

Mate, what year model and K's is your current vehicle?

Firefly, my current vehicle is a 2007 Holden combo with 100300 on the clock.

Jim. My only thoughts were with it being a NSW registered it would have been checked a lot more than here in Vic where we don't do it. Won't have any bearing on the sale as it stands current. But then I'm no mechanic either, Touche!!

Thats a big age difference between the vehicles mate. Go in with a lot of caution won't you. I know you will, but having worked in the car industry, they are there for the sale and the sale only, not to do you any favours at all.

I'm not trying to dampen your moment but listen to that gut, it will tell you where to go.

Having been married to two mechanics in my time, I'm probably a little more aware than some. Particularly when I've always had old cars.

I say, as long as the body is in good nick, get your own mechanic to go through it, knock him way down on the price, and spend some $$$ getting it in top condition before heading off. Nothing worse than breaking down in the middle of nowhere because it's not up to scratch before you even leave. Been there, done that!



-- Edited by Beth54 on Saturday 19th of February 2011 09:42:03 PM

HW.. I agree with Firefly. Be careful mate. Cheers Dellie

You must be getting tired of us all telling you to get it thoroughly checked out by some-one reputable, so I won't mention it again.  As long as you do that, I'll be happy.

Hope to see you both up here in a couple of months,

Cheers,
Sheba.

-- Edited by Sheba on Saturday 19th of February 2011 11:31:44 PM