Wallew,
Ok, if you buy a truck from a dealer that is VAT registered, then you have to pay VAT at 17.5% on top of the asking price. As this is a private sale the truck is sold at this price.
As regards the truck in question, I spoke with the guy yesterday on the phone for an hour, and there are some issues that have made me change my mind.
The truck is for sale at a price of £6,500 AS IS at the moment. I have found out that there are too many problems and bits missing to justify the £6,500 asking price. He has spent 3 years on the restoration and he thinks that it is worth £8,000, but knows he wont get that, so is selling for £6,500.
The issues are as follows:
The winch is not connected to the PTO and is missing the winch chain and hook, the heater hose under the hood is missing, the air horn doesn't work, the original headlight is missing so he is fitting a Lucas aftermarket item and altering the wiring so this works, the bonnet handle is missing, the lifting shackles on the front bumper are missing, the bonnet has been repaired by a panel beater as it had a dent in it (this might explain the big gap in between the bonnet and side cover) the rear load cover has a 14 inch rip in it, the air compressor is constantly pumping air and blows out from the air reservoirs at 120psi, the brakes are spongy and the lights don't work. The only mechanical work he has done to it is a new air pack, new radiator and new tyres.
I explained that for this money the truck needs to be 100%, but he said the price is for the truck AS IS, and if I wanted the problems sorted it would cost more money. He said the lights don't work and he is having problems getting them sorted out. I also said that I would be driving it home. His reply was that he made it very clear that he wouldn't warrant the truck (which is fair enough) and that if it broke down 10 miles down the road he wouldn't want anything to do with it. He suggested I transport it home (200 miles) and take it out for 10 miles at a time till I was satisfied that it was ok???????
This made me very cautious. If I sold my Defender I would vouch for its reliability on a 200 mile trip. It's done 50,000 miles since I bought it and not missed a beat. Yes, problems do happen, but he seemed very keen to make clear he didn't want to know if it broke down.
So my search continues.