Talbot Avalon 2lt petrol

[phantom]

Just seen one of these in good nick and as a first timer thought I would ask the experts what they thought. Does any one have one of these? Any one not recommend it? Really need advice on this as we have a budget of about 10,000 and this is 7500. 1992 with 77000 miles. Live in Northern ireland so our availability is very small.

 

Thanks

[trev]

Hi, wouldn't regard myself as an expert but, have owned a 1993 Ducato Based Avalon 2l Petrol for the last 12 months and have been very pleased with it. Paid about the same as the one you have seen (private sale) with 55k on clock. Is ideal for me the wife and 2 kids (lucky enough to find one with 3 point belts fitted to rear seats) and do not miss the coachbuilt that we previously had. I did see a few poor examples ( rusty wheel archs and windscreen pillars etc) but if as you say condtion is good I would highly recommend them.

[billbaillie]

I can't speak about the Avalon, but we recently bought a 1989 Talbot Camelot in good nick. Had no mechinical or habitation problems at all, so consider ourselves lucky and it is a smashing little van.

Based on talking to other owners and my son who is a mechanic I would suggest that things to check for are:

1. Rust around wheel arches, door pillars, rear window frames.

2. Leaks from windscreen seal (water would come down from under dash onto floor in cab area) If possible, Play a hose on the screen for a few minutes and check the cab floor.

3. Worn gear lever bushes (gear stick becomes very sloppy and you knock your knuckles on the dash when changing to 1st, 3rd or reverse).

Test drive and try a run at 60+ MPH to check for judder on steering wheel, caused possibly by worn CV joints or wheel bearings.

 

Obviously you need to check that everything else is in working order, but the above may be less obvious on a standard inspection.

 

Hope this is of some use.

Cheers

[phantom]

Thanks so much for your comments.

How well do you rate the 2 lt petrol engine - does it pull the weight of the van?

Can the roof bed take adults or is it purely for kids? and how do you make the lower seats into a double - seen one with a pull up hatch and some that use the table so a bit confused.

 

Getting quite excited by the possibilities of travel.

 

Thanks again and look forward to joining you all.

 

Phantom

 

[billbaillie]

Don't know about the Avalon, but on mine (Camelot) the double bed is made up by a combination of a pull up hatch and a table top.

The roof beds on mine can take adults, although I removed mine as we don't have kids and only me and the boss use the 'van.

 

I gather from your reply that you have kids using the 'van. Not many Talbot conversions of that era had seat belts (or lap belts) fitted to the rear seats. Please check that the one you are looking at has belts for the rear passengers. If not, think again.

[davenewellhome]

Hi Phantom, I run a 1989/90 Talbot 2 litre petrol pulling a highwayman coachbuilt body and its fine. I wouldn't say an abundance of power but certainly sufficient. We cruise at 60 MPH and get 23 MPG average but the engine is more than capable of exceeding the motorway limit.

 

Nearly forgot to say the gearchange can be a bit poor but it is fixable.

 

D.

[breakaleg]

used to own a 2ltr petrol engined harmony, always had to let the engine warm up before pulling away, but apart from that it was a cracking van.

pete

[billbaillie]

Pete, mine is the same. Need to warm up before pulling away. I thought it was only me who suffered from this one. Still a cracking van though.

[phantom]

Thanks to all for the advice.

 

Any other suggestions? Father-in-law worried about fuel economy.

 

Any other recommendations for vans under £10,000?

[davenewellhome]

Unless you're planning on doing 10,000 miles a year I wouldn't fret over fuel economy. On a panel van like the Avalon I'd expect to get mid to high twenties per gallon as long as you drive it sensibly. Coachbuilts will always be worse because they have a much greater frontal area and therefore much greater wind resistance. I'd say you'll be hard pushed to find anything significantly better on fuel that retains driveability in your price bracket.

 

D.