I've finally done a deal and sold my damaged Rover 100 as seen in the classified section for £200. The guy who bought it will be using it for spares for some sort of mini clubman kitcar thing he's building.
One snag, I'm in Shrewsbury he's in Huddersfeild (about 115 miles) and I need to get the car to him. Although the car drives fine and is taxed and mot'd it is missing both headlights and front bumper hence making it unroadworthy. I hired a Transit locally 6 months ago to move house for a very reasonable £40 for the day. The transit seamed huge inside, I got all my worldly belongings in one go. If the Metro did actually fit inside then this has got to be the cheapest way to move it (he's not worried about bodywork getting damaged as he's only interested in the oily bits).
Before someone suggests using a trailer I don't have a towbar, nor does anyone I know willing to lend me a car with one.
Had a look at ford and what van? website but can only get load bay length and volume.
The car is approx 153cm wide, 140cm high, and 346 long. Any idea if it would fit much appreciated.
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Just geussing, but if the transit is one with the high roof and doors, then it should go in on its side if you take the wheels off.
Otherwise, I don't think it will.
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I read often, only post occasionally
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I would think the Transit's wheel arches would get in the way, assuming the Metro fits through the doors. You'd need some strong ramps and a safe method of securing the Metro inside.
Best to hire a small one-car transporter, quite possibly also Ford Transit - it will probably cost more than £40, though.
cheers, SS
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Someone I knew hired a transit-based Luton for the same job as you, only a different car, I helped lift it in!
Well, all I remember was it was like a normal van with a larger body on the back!
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I assume he's paying for transport as well, otherwise it hardly seems worth it.
Ideally you want to hire a fladbed. If you can get one with ramps then all the better. In addition have you investigated the cost of paying someone else to deliver it? it may not be that much more than the hire of the van and the diesel for it.
If you cannot get a flat bed with ramps, your local garage may be willing to lift it onto the flatbed and another one at the other end may be willing to lift it off. Practicality of course depends on where the garages are compared to where you and the buyer each live.
To tow the car on a trailer you will need a meduim sized car with a decent engine in there, at least a Vectra or similar, assuming the trailer is braked of course. If the trailer is braked, then usually the towing weight should be roughly equal to or less than that of the towing vehicle.
If none of the above are practical, then you may struggle with the Transit. The limiting factor is the door width. The door width on my Nissan Primastar (similar size) is not quite 5 ft. If you went for a Luton van, you may be in luck. However I would take a tape measure to the back of it before you part with your money. In addition I would be tempted to line the floor with 1/2" ply to hide any telltale signs of tyre marks and to protect the floor.
Hoever, phone a few car transporting firms up first and get some prices. You may be able to fit it onto someone's return journey.
Also, what is the cost of making the car safe to drive for that journey? A couple of temporary headlights from any vehicle seculy fixed on and plenty of duct tape over the sharp edges? Then there's your return train fare.
H
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Simple answer would be to strip to bone. If buyer isnt interested in shell..take it that way. Just get council to take shell away..Cannot see it fitting in a transit/possibly 7.5 tonner..trying to shape the car to fit a transit may well be a good laugh:-)
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Steve
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An interesting situation may arise should the Transit stop suddenly and the Mtro didn't. May also exceed its weight limits and lead to nother interesting situation and a fine.
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I need to get the car to him. Although the car drives fine and is taxed and mot'd it is missing both headlights and front bumper hence making it unroadworthy.
Someone will prove me wrong shortly, but I thought headlights aren't a legal requirement, nor a missing bumper. Providing the indicators are working at the front[1], and it has a numberplate displayed then it *should* be ok to drive it there. (providing of course it's not night time, or an overcast dull day)
[1]And if the indicators aren't working - then there's always hand signals.
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many thanks to all for your reply's.
He does'nt need the car till thursday 28th so I've got a week to come up with a plan. He's paying me £50 for delivery making £250 all in. I was going to drive the car originaly and that would have covered my diesel there and train fare back plus a bit for my time. But common sense prevailed and I realised that if I got pulled over and fined then I would be at a big loss for the deal.
Maybe someone know's the legal stuff better than me but with regards to having no headlights (the indicators work fine though) if the headlight broke on that journey you are allowed to finish that trip but not to start another one untill it is fixed. The fact that the bumper is missing but there is a brand new number plate cable tied to the front would prove that it had'nt happened on that journey.
Weight should be ok if securely strapped down. Car weighs 890kg IIRC from the handbook. Most large vans should carry 1 tonne easy. The hire firm have a box van but it has a tail lift and I don't think that could cope with the weight, also it looks shorter than a LWB transit.
I'll be able to call round today to book the rental hopefully, tape measure permitting. Will let you know how I get on. thanks again, Rich.
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Are you really that desperate for money that you are prepared to
1. struggle to get a Metro into a Transit (how do you lift it, how do you get it in etc. etc. etc.)
2. prepared to risk knackering the Transit & paying the #500 excess that you're bound to have on hiring the Transit
3. have a huge, unsecured load in the back of a van
4. go to all that effort. It'll take you a whole day - you could earn almost #100 behind the bar in the local pub in that period.
It's not ebay, you're not required to deliver in order to make the deal happen!
I'd talk to a car transport firm, if I were you. Either that, or hire a flatbed truck - or a Transit with a towbar & a car trailer to go with it.
The risks of your plan costing you more than you get out of the whole project seem to be just too much to cope with.
& it reminds me of the old joke - how do you get 4 metros in a transit? 2 in the front & 2 in the back.
[where's that coat?]
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>>It's not ebay, you're not required to deliver in order to make the deal happen!
I meant, avoid negative feedback.
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Some van measurements:
tinyurl.com/5vhgd (Ford's own specifications)
www.e-sixt.co.uk/main?/common/all/docs/rental/flee...n
www.car-rental-hire.co.uk/car_hire_b1.htm
The length and weight(?) of the Metro appear to be the main problems, unless you get a really large, powerful and long van.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
What\'s for you won\'t pass you by
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Wouldn't it be easiest to just have the Metro crushed into a cube of mangled metal, like they do in the movies?
Then it would definitely fit into the Transit.
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Weight should be ok if securely strapped down. Car weighs 890kg IIRC from the handbook. Most large vans should carry 1 tonne easy.
Beware.
1000kg - 890kg = 110kg. Add your own weight and the weight of fuel and other bits and pieces, and you will be overweight, or very close to.
You really do not want to drive 115 miles in a Transit (or any van come to that) with its maximum payload on board.
The other day I tried to get a 480kg load on board a Berlingo 600. In theory it should have been okay, but when loaded, the wheels were right up inside the arches, and everyone who looked at it said it was overweight. I wouldn't have been happy driving it 100 yards, let alone the half way around the M25 to where it needed to go.
The maximum payload of a van is only a theoretical figure, not a weight that you can usefully carry in practice. I'd get it on a car transporter if I were you. If Metros were meant to be carted about in Transits, everyone would be doing it.
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Tow it.
Do it legally with the appropriate tow bars and light boards. Not on a trailer, on its own wheels.
But tow it. Easy, simple, cheap, quickish, safe and legal.
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If you're worried about the weight and length, get a long wheelbase Merc Sprinter. I regularly carry over 1000kg in mine. Just strap the car down in the back.
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Thanks again for all your advice.
Like I said earlier towing was'nt really an option since I'd have needed to hire a vehicle with a towbar anyway, plus trailer.
Good point by Mapmaker about loising the deposit for damage to the van. Also it woun'dt fit in through the doors and between the wheelarch intrusions on the transit, so would have needed a flatbed that was £80 a day.
I think in the end I will make the car legal, just have to get a couple of scrapyard headlights (which I would be able to keep and put on ebay after) and take it up there in the dark. With headlights on hopefully an oncoming cop-car would'nt see the rest of the front end.
Just need to find a mate willing to follow me up to huddersfeild and give me a lift home...
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I once made a headlight out of a peice of bubble wrap and some foil - this was on a Morris Ital about 13 years ago! It was only to go to the breakers yards, but looked quite realistic if you looked through the wrong end of some binoculars!
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Just need to find a mate willing to follow me up to huddersfeild and give me a lift home...
270 mile round trip? Hope you're offering more than undying gratitude and a choice of pie filling......
Whilst I'd love to say my car has a tow bar I regret it doesn't. Sorry :o(
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230 mile round trip, about 4-5 hours. Would'nt fancy spending half of that on the end of a towing bar.
I've got a mate lined up willing to follow me up in my other car, favour in exchange for a favour.
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230 mile round trip, about 4-5 hours. Would'nt fancy spending half of that on the end of a towing bar.
cue horrible vision of man bouncing around behind the ballhitch of a Transit as it proceeds along the motorawy ...
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Like I said earlier towing was'nt really an option since I'd have needed to hire a vehicle with a towbar anyway, plus trailer.
Hasn't the Metro and your car got towing eyes then? Thought all cars had them as standard.
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Good point. A towing bar would do the trick. Mind you, I have no towing electrics or trailer board with my number plate on it.
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>>Like I said earlier towing was'nt really an option since I'd have needed to hire a vehicle with a towbar anyway
What do you need the tow bar for ? Its a car not a trailer.
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For the record I used to own a 3500kg van,that took a legal payload of 2000kg
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>>What do you need the tow bar for ? Its a car not a trailer.
Isn't it the law now that all vehicles must be towed by a solid tow-bar, not a tow-rope? The tow-bar needs to fit to a proper attachment on the towing vehicle, which would mean that the towing vehicle would need to be have a towbar and tow-hitch. Note confusing terminology here!
Towbar = frame fitted to rear of towing vehicle to which tow-hitch is attached.
Tow-bar (with hyphen) = steel pole connecting towing vehicle to vehicle being towed.
Cheers, SS
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We once transported a Mini Scamp kit car whole in a transit luton, similar size so worth talikng a tape measure to your local van rental place. You'll need ramps or borrow some scaffold boards though.
PB.
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We once transported a Mini Scamp kit car whole in a transit luton, similar size so worth talikng a tape measure to your local van rental place. You'll need ramps or borrow some scaffold boards though. PB.
Scaffold boards on their own would not be strong enough. You're supposed to support them every two metres max and then they will only take the weight of a couple of men, not a car.
H
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Problem solved. I grabbed a quick beer with Rich this evening and he patched up the lights and drove it to the purchaser last night.
No Dosh - Backroom Moderator
mailto:moderators@honestjohn.co.uk
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ND pressume he paid for beer/s. also paid for petrol.probably better than scrapping. would think a waste off time at the end off the day..Unless all paid for by buyer???
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Steve
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I was indeed NoDoshed last night - "I never speed in built-up areas but do so pretty much everywhere else"
Basically the bloke paid £200 quid for a car that I thought was only worth £100, and I got an extra £50 delivery for and all round trip of under 5 hours. To some of you that may not have been worth the hassle, but I was happy to do it (in the dark!). He's paying a firm to fit the engine into a mini clubman and wanted an engine that ran on proper fuel.
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"I never speed in built-up areas but do so pretty much everywhere else"
I just spat my coffee everywhere. I can only assume that either he was drinking when he said it or you were drinking when you heard it.
And before you start spluttering, No Dosh, I did follow you around Warwick town centre the other day - remember ?
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>> "I never speed in built-up areas but do so pretty much everywhere else" I just spat my coffee everywhere. I can only assume that either he was drinking when he said it or you were drinking when you heard it. And before you start spluttering, No Dosh, I did follow you around Warwick town centre the other day - remember ?
It doesn't count when it's raining :o)
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