Gates of Bedlam Too

It's not recommended as a way of keeping cool, but we went out and looked at second hand vans. And S bought one. Wait - there is method in our madness... or is that madness in our method?

There have been times when a second vehicle would have been useful. There are times when we want to haul around more stuff than can fit even in or versatile little car. In addition, we're probably going to be moving twice in the next 12 months and going to Festival. Festival usually involves hiring a truck or van.

Overall, there are not a lot of vehicles out there that met our requirements, let alone our preferences - especially as the price range was limited to below $8,000.

The first one that seemed pretty ok failed badly when it came to a test drive as the gear shift didn't really want to move laterally. We were assured they'd fix that, but I can't say we felt particularly confident about it.

After much more looking we were seriously thinking that we might have to wait a bit longer and save up a bit more. We found a few that were seriously cheap, but really also looked as if they might not even make it home. Then we found a place that actually had 3 vans in our price range and we test drove two of them. Despite being very long, the Mercedes MB140P won out because of its all round windows to aid visibility (definitely one of our preferences) and slightly smoother ride. It's a long wheel base so there's lots of room and even a back seat (foldable) and roof racks. Now we just have to work out where to store it as it won't be used all that often.