Sigh. I'm back.
Six months ago, my old Berlingo was written off. Because the country was in strict lockdown, I reckoned that it would be difficult to replace it, so, for the last 6 months, my wife and I have been sharing a car - which has not been ideal.
Anyway, I decided that I really quite wanted another Berlingo like my last one - a Mk II Berlingo with a modutop roof (i.e. in the "Desire" spec) and an HDi engine. (Obviously an equivalent Peugeot Partner would also meet my criteria.)
Over the years I have been advised more than when buying a second hand vehicle I should get one from the south of England - not only are there a lot more cars down there, but they have a lot less rust that cars up here in the highlands.
Well, when restrictions finally started being lifted, and travel became possible, I started looking. I discovered there were a lot more cars on ebay than on Autotrader - though I have been keeping an eye on both.
Anyway, I've seen one I am fairly interested in. www.ebay.co.uk/itm/234048703024 if you want to know. I've been in touch with the owner - and he seems to be an intelligent decent person. Had the vehicle 10 years, selling because of ULEZ. He tells me "Regarding rust, there isn't any, and no welding has ever been carried out or needs to be carried out on the car."
But it is in London. (Earl's Court, to be precise), And that is 600 miles away. Which raises questions. And hence I need the wisdom of the good people here. In fact, you may raise questions I have not thought of yet.
I think my most basic question is "Should one commit to buying a car before actually seeing and test driving it?" The idea of travelling 600 miles for a test drive seems pretty crazy. I get the impression that people actually do buy vehicles at a distance without having seen them.
Obviously I have looked at the MOT record, and it looks pretty good.
So my question is really "where do I go from here?" If I do go ahead with it, I guess I'll fly down from Inverness to Gatwick, get to Earls Court, pick up the car, and head north. I do have a sister who lives in Hertfordshire, but she is not filled with delight by the prospect of going around London.
All thoughts gratefully received.
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