Blakey's Van: Buying the Van

Bilbos is not far from where I live so I tend to keep a half eye on their web page. About this time a Black Kombi came up which looked perfect - until I spotted it was an automatic gearbox. I've never liked the idea of driving an automatic so I just dismissed it. Then one night, searching the web looking for Black Kombis I thought of it and so I posted on the Brick-Yard about the tiptronic gear box and what people thought about it. I did some research on the net and found to my surprise everyone had nothing but good things to say about it. So I had another look on the web site and the van was still there. It looked great and just what I was after. I phoned Bilbos to see if it was still available and it was so I went for a test drive.

The van looked amazing and the test drive went great. I was seriously interested so I was cheeky and asked the salesman if I could take it home for the evening. A quick form signing, hand over some assurances (plus my car) and I was off home! That gave me the chance to drive it for a good few hours and really get used to it. I was able to take it to Andy's house for him to have a look over and comment on. I was able to take it home, show it to Lou and also to prove I could get bikes and surfboards straight in the back. Lou and I went for a spin as the sun was setting and agreed it was a shame we weren't off camping for the weekend! I was sold. So I went back to Bilbos the next morning and paid a deposit for the van. Did some haggling and managed to convince them to reupholster the two front seats in leather, and fit swivel bases to them both. They're also sticking a safe under the passenger side seat.