Guest Joe90 Posted August 18, 2015 Share Posted August 18, 2015 pelmetman - 2015-08-18 5:51 PM Joe90 - 2015-08-18 4:12 PM pelmetman - 2015-08-18 9:57 AM Joe90 - 2015-08-17 10:39 PM So presumably you'd advocate someone getting their first car to look at ones 25 years old ? The only reason you've got a 25 year old van is because it was left to you, and in the intervening years couldn't afford anything better or newer, which is actually OK, Considering the litany of problems you've had with your much newer campers over the years ;-) ........ I reckon staying with old Horace has been a wise move B-) ............. Well if spending 40K to keep something inside worth 5K was a wise move that's a new one on me, ;-) Spending 40k on the garage earned me another 40k,,,,,,,,,,If I'd spent 40k on a new camper it would have lost 5k by the time I'd got it home :D ......... I've never suggested buying new, just not buying or retaining old knackers that need major work like full resprays to cover the rust, and a ruddy great shed to keep it from rusting through in the next few weeks. ;-) Still I admire the fact that you retired at 46, :-D to spend almost every day from early morning to night on internet forums, I had to wait until I retired at 63 to do pretty much the same, all those years I wasted eh ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hallii Posted August 18, 2015 Share Posted August 18, 2015 josolo23 - 2015-08-17 2:11 PM Hi, we are looking to buy for the very first time. We have camped (tent and caravan) previously, but would like to take the first step on the motorhome owner ladder. We do not wish to spend a large amount at the moment, and are happy to take a chance on something older than 10 years. Having looked on several websites there seems to be a large variant in the selling price, but without obvious reason. For example, some motorhomes around the year 2000 to 2003 are priced privately for approx. £5000 and yet other similar ones of the same age are approx. £15,000. Understandably there will always be differences, but we don't understand why there is such a large difference. Can anyone advise please? Back on topic! Yes, you can buy a good cheap and older M/H. I have done it a couple of times with old VWs. In both cases after my tender ministrations and a few pence they both served me well. They both sold for a good profit some years later. I would say that if you buy an old van you will need to get your hands dirty or have a deep pocket. I suppose it depends on your skills with a spanner, a bit of carpentry, some bodywork and spraying skills. If you are not DIY confident then without a doubt the best route is to pay a lot more for something that will, hopefully be reliable. You have to go and look at a lot of M/Hs before you find the right one, don't be in a rush, and never have your cheque book with you when you go to view, go home and think about it first. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tracker Posted August 18, 2015 Share Posted August 18, 2015 There are plenty of good old vans about so it's just a case of finding a well preserved and well loved oldie and if you find one being sold by maybe an elderly owner giving up due to age or illness that might be a decent buy. RUST is the number one unseen enemy with WATER ingress being number two unseen enemy so as long you get those aspects checked by an expert everything else is more readily fixable. Running any van is not for the faint hearted and neither is it cheap but at least with an oldie bought privately you won't be paying umpteen thousands a year in depreciation or/and dealer profit so you have a headstart on potential repair costs - but it can pay to keep a couple of grand in reserve just in case! Personally I would look for a well loved early Autosleeper VW Clubman, Talbot or BoxerTalisman or Executive, or Transit Legend as whilst their one piece GRP body is not immune to water leaks they are more resilliant than most. Beware the Talbot were real rust buckets, and the Transits a little better with the Boxer and VW being better - but by no means immune! You could buy yourself a damp test meter - like this or similar which whilst not perfect does give a pretty good indication of the presence of damp in the interior of a van. http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/?ie=UTF8&keywords=damp+detector&tag=googhydr-21&index=aps&hvadid=32176396209&hvpos=1t2&hvexid=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=15775458691838072937&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=b&hvdev=c&ref=pd_sl_5rd69c1abt_b The obvious things like soft furnishings, carpets, cutains etc are easy to replace and as long as you ensure that the heating, hot water, fridge and all electrics work OK and the furniture is sound and not too tatty the risk of anything failing is what we all have to live with anyway! Tyres may not be worn but may be perished so check for cracks and try to find the date they were made which is generally a four figure code for week and year - so the 1st week of 2015 would be 0115. Treat as suspect any tyres over 6 years old and as definitley beyoinf their use by date at ten years old regardless of tread depth. Batteries are also likely to be iffy so allow for the possibility of new ones at an early date. - and if you don't need to replace them it's a bonus! Parts are getting hard to come by for Talbots (and even earlier Bedford CF based monocoques) but are plentiful both new and used for Boxer and Transits - and expensive for VWs. Ignore all the bitching and back biting on here as there is also plenty of good sound advice and experience to draw from! Tell us what you find for sale and ask for feedback before you look at or buy if possible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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