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Vehicles to Gaza: Your Questions Answered

What kind of vehicles should I buy?

We encourage you to buy ambulances, refrigerated vans, minibuses, and (to a lesser extent) 4x4 ambulances.

How much do these vehicles tend to cost?

A small van that's good enough can be had, privately, for £1500, or much less if the owner is willing to make a "donation" of a discount. The market rate for a newer (and more likely to be good) van is £3000-£4000. Ambulances cost approximately £4700 when buying from auctions.

A refrigerated van should be obtainable for £3000-£4000, but could cost as much as £10,000-£15,000.

If you are unsure about the suitability of the vehicle you intend to buy, please contact the Viva Palestina Vehicles Check team – they will be able to assess the suitability of the vehicles from its mileage and will know if the vehicles can be fixed en route and in Gaza. For example, vans that are less than 3-5 years old may be full of electronics that we are unable to repair them if they breakdown on the road, (and certainly not in Gaza).

You MUST thoroughly service your vehicles to avoid any breakdowns – we will need evidence that this has been done (e.g. receipts) before your vehicle is allowed to join the convoy.

We strongly recommend that you change the timing belt in your vehicle. Please note that the timing belt should be changed every 50,000 or so in ALL vehicles – it is a very common cause of breakdown when it is not done. If you have bought a second hand vehicle and you do not have a receipt that the timing belt has been changed recently, please ensure the belt is changed during the servicing of your vehicle.

Where can I buy a vehicle from?

We recommend contacting local dealers, going to auctions or finding local firms that do disposals. The Auto Trader website and Exchange & Mart magazines are also useful for finding local private sales. For ambulances, contact health authorities and ask about disposals direct - they're more inclined to offer a discount than the auctions their ambulances otherwise go to.

What make should the vehicles be?

We encourage you to buy either Mercedes Sprinter/Volkswagen LT or Ford Transit vans. These tend to be more reliable than the common Renault/Vauxhall/Nissan and Peugeot/Citroen/Fiat offerings. Mercedes and VW share some parts so sticking to those will also mean we have a bigger pool of spares and knowledge.

What can be the maximum mileage on the vehicles?

The maximum mileage for petrol engines is 100,000 and 150,000 for diesel engines. These are ball-park figures and we appreciate that it may be difficult to achieve on small budgets and relatively new vehicles, so please check with the vehicles team if the mileage on a potential vehicle proves to be a barrier.

What kind of Insurance cover will the vehicle need?

Please ensure that your vehicle has cover for any major breakdowns in Europe. You will also be responsible for checking that the Road tax on the vehicle has not expired and know the date of the last MOT check.

IMPORTANT: The vehicle must be registered in your name at the DVLA (or equivalent) and you must have documentation proving this.

Will there need to be any special adjustments made to the vehicle?

Your vehicle will need to be installed with a CB. We suggest that you get a starter kit of a "rig" (the CB), an aerial (which comes with cable) and a magnetic mount if your vehicle has a metal roof. If it doesn't have metal roof, you will need more advice and a special mounting for the wing mirror or roof rack, and you may possibly need to buy a £20 "artificial ground plane" to sort out bad installations. You will need to spend £10 on an SWR meter to set it all up – which will come with instructions.

We recommend contacting the two dealers below – they currently have the full systems from under £80 in stock.

Recommended dealers:
Communications Eleven: www.4x4cb.com
and Knight's Electrocom: www.kcb.co.uk/shop2

Useful note: We discourage you from buying the short (two-feet long) aerials from the shop Maplin as they have proven to be ineffectual.

How do I contact the VP Vehicles check team?

Please contact:

Amer: vehicles@vivapalestina.org

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