Hijet Stood for one year

Hi, I have recently purchased a pretty low mileage 1999 hijet MPV 1.3 efi for the bargain price of £350!

But it has been stood on the owners drive for a year.

I'm trying to find out when it last had an oil change and how often she has started it but can anyone advise me on things I should do before driving it
- ie will it be ok to just warm it up on tickover for 10 minutes and then drive the 150 mile journey home

- or should I give her an oil change and oil filter change and maybe put some desludge chemical in the coolant

- or should i take it to the nearest garage for a full service

thank you
Stephen

I'd just make sure it had plenty of oil and water in it and driver her home.

She'll be alright.

People drive worse everyday.

I'd be wary if it's not mot or taxed, apart from the obvious issues, most if not all recovery services won't relay you home if it's not road legal.

even if you are on your way to your prebooked mot?

Then again, yer mot's 150 miles away.....

When i bought mine it had a petrol leak(bad) i just stuck the car tax disc in the window and phoned the AA (i was only going 15 miles)

I'd run it till the fan comes on, if it doesn't explode by then it'll be fine

Sadly can't get tax until the MOT is passed.

Do you really think they would not tow me? Because that is my no1 (& only) back up plan!

1 days insurance plus breakdown cover is £30 and if I'm on my way to my MOT I'm not breaking any laws.

Stephen

Where abouts are you it maybe worth getting a tow me and my mate towed ours back about 80miles just so I could work with all my tools.

If you've got a car with a towbar I'd hire an A-frame, my mate brought a MR2 up from London with one, for all the weight in a Hijet you'd hardly notice it was there.

Well, I'm near York and the Hijet is near Stafford. Bit of a trek but then it was a good price.

I guess in an emergency I could ring someone to tow me but I'm sure whoever I ask will not be overly pleased, I should try and avoid this I think.

On the bright side though the person I'm buying it off says that her husband regularly takes it for a little drive round the farm.

I'm planning on doing an oil change as well before I drive it as this is not to hard to do (i hope). Any recommendations on where to buy some decent oil and a new filter?

Stephen

A frames, Towing Bars and spectacle lifts are for recovery use only, e.g. to remove vehicle to a safe place. Although I see AA guys going much further.

Any vehicle with any of its tyres touching a public highway or byway needs to be MOT'd Taxed and Insured -e.g a car on a dolly lift!

On the other hand - if you already have a road legal hijet just take your reg plates, tax disk and documents with you. -and your chasis plate and a pop rivet gun. Otherwise get someone to chuck it on the back of a car transporter etc. Or go to your local trailer hire place and rent a trailer for £60 for the day - if you have your B+E on your licence (ok if you passed your test before January 1997).

I've been done before with the combination of no tax, no mot and no insurance -> on the way to a pre-booked MOT about 500 yards from home. I got 9 points and £650 fine. That was in May 2006, my insurance has been a killer ever since and in next may I'll once again be able to say to the insurance companies "no claims or convictions in the past 5 years" - "No Sir!!!"

As far as I know it is ok to drive a car with no tax and mot to its prebooked mot appointment, its then ok to drive it to its place of repair if it does not pass.

Now if you have no insurance then thats a different story ....

Matt is 100% right

easy sollution, book it in with Paul turner the local MOT man, walk up the road to the post office, tax it and cross your fingers it will get home without over heating

whats this then

Do you mean that once i've booked my mot I can buy road tax?

Here we are straight off the direct gov website:

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Motoring/OwningAVehicle/HowToTaxYourVehicle/DG_069671

Driving an untaxed vehicle to an MOT test

You can drive your vehicle to and from a pre-arranged test at an MOT test station as long as you have adequate insurance cover in place for the use of that vehicle.

This is also for vehicles being driven to and from a pre-arranged test at a Vehicle Inspection Check (VIC) test station, an approved weight testing station and reduced pollution test.
http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Motoring/OwningAVehicle/HowToTaxYourVehicle/DG_069671

sorry book it in for a mot on the day you want to collect the van from Wheaton Aston, pay for the van and drive it a mile to the mot station, when it passes Paul will give you a mot pass cert, take it with your insurance and some dosh to the postoffice which is a couple of hundred yards away, and drive the van home

clear apart from where is wheaton aston, who is paul and how do I know it will pass the mot?

I think what you have planned is sort of OK-ish, hmmm better still lets say a big fat grey area. I would have done it many years ago. Not in this day and age with all the reg scanning camera's and performance related paid police.

There are no laws covering the maximum distance to a pre-booked MOT. I've checked before. (I will not be held liable if this is incorrect)

Many MOT garages will not put your registration number in the book though, only your name and car manufacturer. I guess they don't want the hassle, unless you have a "friend".

You must fully accept if you were to break down some where un-top like a motorway then one of those VOSA or Highway Patrol cars will probably have it lifted.

And if you had an accident, or a wheel fell off etc, most insurance companies only cover, as they put it, "Vehicles in Licensed Road Worthy Condition" taken from my recent new policy here. Try and prove that without an MOT after you were in a incident.

This sounds like a load of scaremongering doom doom doom, but for all the risk of head aches, just put it on a trailer.

Or better still D1noh's offer/idea sounds way too good to refuse!!! Sounds like it just will, don't worry about it.

I beleive the van is from Wheaton aston, (might be wrong) Paul Turner ownes turners garage which are a mot station, you said it was a bargain so I presumed it was mot fit,

if its not the Aston van give me a location,

The van is in - Little Onn, Stafford, ST20 0AU

Yes it certainly seems a good buy, no problems in the past, low mileage lightly used, no rust etc

But you never know I guess until you take it to the mot and being my first car I'm pretty cautious

Stephen

I was right then........ Google little onn then wheaton aston, just down the road from each other

http://www.wheatonaston.org.uk/local.businesses.htm

send the bloke whos selling it half the money and ask him if he will take it for a mot

Thats really good and probably exactly what i should do only ....

I forgot for a minute but its got a broken headlight and I was planning on taking it to my local garage where it would fail on the headlight then I could drive it home fix the headlight within 10 days and take it back for a retest.

I thought I would be ok to drive it so long as I had my mot booked, I may have to think about this a little more.

Stephen

I could lend it a head light for an MOT test, I live about 40 minutes from there.

That would be cool but it could get a bit complex. I was just going to travel down by train and catch the bus to this place. Not sure how I would get it from you really, though it is very nice of you to offer.

Stephen

If HJ is only 40 mins away who does he know that can trailer as he wanted a none running pickup within 100 miles if it's HJ I'm sure he wants to sell his services Quote "work sucks balls and he'll do anything for cash".

I guess trailering is an option though i am of course not made of money. If I could get it trailered to my house that would save me loads of hassle.

by the way - i very much appreciate the advice I have got on here, this is the first car i've ever bought and that is at the age of 33 years old!

stephen

Try this, Scott @ Nationwide transport will collect and deliver your hijet from that postcode near stafford to york for £139 on a car transporter van jobbie. His number is 0-7-7-6-8-2-1-3-6-3-0

Did the van make it home???

I was wondering that too the other day, or if its still sat there uncollected - I might have it for myself if you don't want it

we will have to see if Steve is a member of the club or not, good for breaking, it has a tow bar too, think I know some one who wants one of them

I was actually thinking that I'm so bored of my civic, I really miss driving my hijet. I had so much fun keeping it out of hedges backwards.

Plus it just made me smile, how can you be grumpy in a hijet?!