Transporting a van from Townsville to Brisbane

[Kingy]

Hi all,
We are looking very closely at a van in Townsville
Issue is that driving from Brisbane and return is a good 4 days plus about $800 in fuel.
It would appear that no one hires vehicles if you want to tow a van and....
To put the van on the back of a truck ranges between $1000 and $1700
So at the end of the day we are up for at least 1500 including airfares for a pre purchase inspection before we buy the van.
We could wait for another van to come up in Brissie however we think "this is the one"
Any suggestions, ideas or experiences would be appreciated.

 

[DRW]

I know the feeling, we found a van we liked in Townsville, I flew up with a pocket full of cash and made them an offer as I knew it was what we wanted, they accepted my offer and the deal was done there and then. I did find really cheap flights up and back on a saturday as well. So I searched for a van transpoter and came up with blanks, so we decided to drive up and grab it. We left the sunny coast on a friday night and made it to Gin Gin then townsville saturday afternoon, hooked it up and left right on sunset, found a place to pull over for the night at Home Hill, it was over 40 degrees and the wife was ready to leave me (thinking, thinking) no power nothing just the side of the road and we were both tired and really cranky (apparently). As it turned out a tropical storm came through with heavy rain and a cooling breeze, in fact the rain continued for a while, a long while and we ended up stuck north of Gympie for 3 days waiting for the floods to ease and the hiway to re-open. So it all went really well (not) but yes I would do it again, but, in winter or this weekend if I was you. What I have found is Townsville is a long way to go and vans seem to be sor sale for a while, making it easier to make an offer, the sellers said they were negotiable but would not go under a certian price, when I pulled the cash out they went under lol.cheers.

 

[rags]

Similar problem when I was looking for a 12fter, knew which specific model I want, found one in Vic about 1000km away, spoke with the owner , he described it as in good condition, agreed on price over phone subject to me viewing and requested him to consider it sold and understanding if not any good I wont be buying van, drove down with part cash and sufficient funds in 2 bank accounts , inspection was ok so then transferred funds over and drove away. Only hiccup was a minor one, my towing plug did not match van so off to super cheap before we could hitch up.

 

[Brad & Donna]

Hi all,
We are looking very closely at a van in Townsville
Issue is that driving from Brisbane and return is a good 4 days plus about $800 in fuel.
It would appear that no one hires vehicles if you want to tow a van and....
To put the van on the back of a truck ranges between $1000 and $1700
So at the end of the day we are up for at least 1500 including airfares for a pre purchase inspection before we buy the van.
We could wait for another van to come up in Brissie however we think "this is the one"
Any suggestions, ideas or experiences would be appreciated.

Hello @Kingy ,
Not sure if this would work but I live in townsville and have just sold my cruiser to a couple in hervey bay and I am going to deliver it on 7 th July when I come down for state of origin. I could tow this van down to there for you for cost of fuel ? Just means you would have to wait 6 weeks.

Let me know

Cheers

 

[Kingy]

thanks everyone, appreciate your offer Brad and Donna,
We bought the van, Starcraft Outback 19ft, site unseen. The owner was kind enough to tow the van down to Rocky for us (we covered fuel costs) and we drove up and picked up from there, combining two overnight stays with my parents in Bundy. Van is perfect and we are very happy. Will be investing in a set of Clearview Mirrors and all I need to do this rainy weekend is install the Satellite box and we are good to go. Van was handed over in immaculate condition and everything else is already installed including dual batteries, roof top solar and upgrade TV.
First real trial will be Neurum Creek Bush Retreat next weekend (fingers crossed).