Hi All,
My unit is in the process of purchasing a Squadron Owned Vehicle, specifically a 15 seat Ford Transit.
Anyone with SOVs at the moment got any tips or tactics?
Is there a standard set of paperwork I should be using to help manage the vehicle? There isn’t a great deal in the ACPs outside of Permit 19 etc etc.
Any thoughts, tips or tactics appreciated 
We use a presentation folder in the vehicle which contains copies of all the important paperwork (MOT, insurance, breaksdown etc), a list of authorised drivers, a set of standing orders for the minibus (adapted from an ACC member in the past IIRC), a pre-use checklist and a log sheet for logging journeys.
Obviously you need a Permit 19 from HQAC as well.
PM me your email. I have a raft of stuff you can use including driver authorisation, log books, safety checks, Risk Assessments, general orders, emergency actions etc etc.
Many thanks for those responses - Op Nimrod, have PM’d
Get MOD discout!!! If you buy directly from Ford they do this…
Last time I looked into it, the discount wasn’t that good, and it’s on a spanking new bus, so you’ve gotta have a lot of cash saved up! Not sure if that’s any different now though.
Ah, it was because we got a new bus. But worth asking. Any discount is better then no discount.
How much discount did you get off? IIRC a new transit is around £40k aren’t they?
New 15 seater Ford, top spec, loads of extras, with 26% HQAC/MoD discount, was £26,000
Best get a couple ordered for our place. :S
PMs replied to
I have been quoted £24k all in from the local Ford commercial place which is actually better than the MOD discount. They have some good deals at the moment.
I don’t think we are going to buy a new one - for our purposes it would be total overkill and the devaluation is horrendous. We are waiting on the outcome of a couple of grants this and next week and then, depending on the outcome, will look to get a bus purchased by the end of Feb at the latest.
We have looked at a couple of 54 plate vehicles - one ex-MOD complete with the white cage in the back with 65k on the clock and they were coming out at about £7k ish which is much more realistic.
Be careful with the MAM of LWB transits - they can put it into the weight that only D1 drivers can drive it.
Very true!
I’m going to sell mine soon as only one staff memeber can drive it. It was bought when everybody automatically had D1.
[quote=“the fixer” post=3146]I’m going to sell mine soon as only one staff memeber can drive it. It was bought when everybody automatically had D1.[/quote]before 1997?
If you are going after a 2nd hand bus then you should look at an ex ACF bus via RFCA. They may not be in the best of condition but they are cheap. Normally about 4 to 5 years old, micanically sound,low milage and fair condition. A few years ago my old sqn got one a Citron Boxer 17 seat with tow hitch £2900. Lot of cosmetic bumps and scrapes and inside a bit tatty but it is still going.
Be carfeul with some of the SWB ones as well - IIRC some of the 15 seat transits have a MAM over 3500kg too, before Ford started to make them under 3500kg to meet the section 19 requirement.
Sorry, it was the early 2000s, not long after the change in the law. So all the staff had D1. Fast forward 10 years and 1 out of 10 has it.
[quote=“the fixer” post=3154]Sorry, it was the early 2000s, not long after the change in the law. So all the staff had D1. Fast forward 10 years and 1 out of 10 has it.[/quote]Still, it seems to have lasted quite well.
Good Morning,
I’m going minibus shopping at the weekend. What type of minibus (If you have one) do your Sqns use?
I’m looking to spend between 10-15k including what we get for the current bus. As a novice in buying/selling vehicles what advice would you give me and the Civ Com? We’ve already checked the “Glass’s Guide” to get an idea of our current bus’s value. Crucially it needs to be legal to be driven on a permit 19.