I went to “see” the van advertised on autotrader (£42k). The vans advertised don’t actually exist. It’s a van lease company that buy up loads of vans direct from Ford for leasing and then spec them to customer’s requirements. They sell a few as well as leasing. Basically there was a huge yard full of mainly Transit panel vans of various spec waiting for a customer to lease or buy one. They add body kits, interiors etc to meet requirements. Which was good as I could more or less have what I wanted, although their “Inferno” spec in a mid ranged “limited spec” 130bhp van was just about spot on for me. Loads of good tech, comfort and driver aids in the “limited spec” van - more than most cars, simple body kit & wheel upgrade, side windows, tip/tumble second row seating, bulkhead removed and van lined and insulated. Pre-reg in December with remainder of Ford warranty. £32,245 plus vat was where we got to on an L2H1 converted to my spec (well mostly). They did have a couple of customer vans in and the did look good. Bike will easily fit in a an L2 with the centre seat out and the other two tumbled out the way.
But, the base vehicle is and remains a panel van, so one side door and not much in the way of comforts for second row seating - very upright, no heating or opening windows. Plus as the company is primarily a lease company the van has to stay on their books for a year - the V5 stays in their name until then even though I would be the legal owner. A bit unsettling that, along with the huge amount of money. Ho hum. What to do????