The journey and purchase of the T3 Syncro
5 de noviembre de 2016
It’s been almost a month since I went to see the Volkswagen T3 Syncro.
Today, 5 November, I’m finally going to collect it.
The plan
The plan is as follows: I’ll buy one-way train tickets to Tarragona, where the owner will be waiting for us with the van. Once there, I’ll pay him, we’ll sign the papers, and then we’ll hit the road for home. It’s a two-and-a-half-hour journey, and we’re taking a toolbox with everything we need in case anything unexpected comes up on the return journey. It’s not a long distance (about 260 km), but I don’t know exactly what condition the Syncro is in, so it’s better to be prepared in case we break down.
Off we go
I leave home, we catch the underground, and first things first: lunch. We have lunch opposite the station; our train to Tarragona leaves at 10.53 and it’s 10.20. In the end, we have to rush a bit as the train is at the far end of the platform. We pick up the pace and get on the train. All set.
Buying the T3 Syncro
We arrive in Tarragona with hardly any delay. The owner of the Syncro is waiting for us very close to the station. As he has to get back home, we get into the Syncro and drive it over to him. I tell him to drive it himself so he can say goodbye to it.
On arrival, we sort out the paperwork, I pay him the agreed amount, we have a bit of a chat and get ready to set off on the return journey.
Heading home
It’s 1.50 pm and we set off. The first thing we have to do is fill up with petrol as the tank is almost on reserve. Our initial impressions are good; the van handles well, brakes properly, doesn’t overheat and runs perfectly. The first few kilometres on the A-road at a speed of 80–90 km/h. The road isn’t very busy and we’re making good progress. The kilometres tick by and we join the motorway, though our speed remains steady apart from a few stretches where we reach 100 km/h. Back on the A-road, kilometre after kilometre. This is different; it’s not like driving a car: a large steering wheel, a high seating position, hardly any front end, you feel the wind much more… different.
The first steep gradients appear and you really feel them. The van climbs but struggles to maintain those 80–90 km/h. The engine is the 2.1 DJ petrol unit with 112 cv, which they say, although it’s a bit of a gas guzzler, has no trouble with mountain passes. It has a fourth gear that runs out of power, and if you shift down to third, the revs shoot up. We stay in fourth, trying not to floor the accelerator. Even so, the temperature gauge – which until now had stayed in the middle – starts to rise until it’s almost at the top. It worries me a bit, but it doesn’t get any worse, and once we’re past the climbs, the needle drops back to the middle. I’ll check the system as soon as I can to try and stop this happening again.
It’s starting to get dark, so we stop and check that all the lights are working. We realise that the rear bulb holder is loose and isn’t shining properly. We tighten it and carry on; it’s not far to home now. In the end, we’ve covered nearly 300 kilometres without having to take a single screwdriver out of the toolbox. First trip completed – it’s performed brilliantly.
Next up is to change its name and sort out the insurance. We’ll keep going.
A video posted by Syncronizados (@syncronizados) on 5 Nov 2016 at 8:16 PDT