Fiat motorhome

[tonk]

Hi I'm thinking about buying a fiat motorhome on a 03 plate thing is it's got super low mileage 23k ISH UK stickers but only listed as a jdt diesel? Not what cc ? What's too look out for? Bad buy rot box dunno 

[Derek Uzzell]

Welcome to the Out&AboutLive forums.

There can be a significant delay between when a motorhome was built and when it was first sold retail and UK-registered. For example, my 1st motorhome was built in late-1996, but was first registered over a year later and carried a 1998 UK 'plate'.

This link is to a Wikipedia entry for the Fiat Ducato.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiat_Ducato

and (assuming that the motorhome you are interested in was built in 2002/2003) it should fall into the 2002-2006 'facelift' period during which three different JTD (Jet Turbo Diesel) motors could have been fitted - a 2.0litre (1997cc), a 2.3litre (2286cc) or a 2.8litre (2800cc and in 2 power-output variants).

There's a general motorhome-buying guide here that might be useful

https://www.lifesure.co.uk/articles/buying-a-motorhome-a-guide-for-beginners

this Practical Motorhome guide relates to Fiat Ducato-based motorhomes

https://www.practicalmotorhome.com/advice/fiat-ducato-and-peugeot-boxer-buyers-guide

and this article advises on buying older motorhomes (RVs)

https://motorhomehobos.com/van-life/buying-an-old-motorhome/

Some makes/models of motohome on sale in 2003 will have gained a good reputation for build-quality and longevity, while others will be the opposite. Consequently, for targeted advice from forum-members on what to look out for/beware of, you'll need to provide details of the make and exact model of the motorhome that's being offered for sale (and the price being asked would be worth knowing, as there are fraudsters about).

Also, if you know the vehicle's UK registration-number, a MOT check can be very revealing.

https://www.gov.uk/check-mot-history

[Globebuster1]

As Derek says - the MOT history check will normally reveal plenty about the vehicle concerned - and will also enlighten you as to the engine size. It's always my go to start point for any potential purchase.

Super low mileage [if genuine] is a negative in my book.

Checking tyre age, and cambelt changes from the mechanical aspect, and water ingress [particularly if coach built] on the habitation side of things should be a priority.

[Derek Uzzell]

A MOT history check using the link I provided above will not directly reveal a vehicle's engine size.

However, the "Check if a vehicle is taxed" service 

https://www.gov.uk/check-vehicle-tax

will show the motor's cylinder capacity and - from the webpage that includes that datum - it's then possible to select "Check the MOT history of a vehicle" from the DVSA Services listing in the webpage's lower-right corner.

[Keithl]

Hi Tonk,

The https://www.gov.uk/get-vehicle-information-from-dvla website will get you a lot more info on any prospective vehicle.

Keith.

[John52]

I wouldn't quibble about tyre age and cambelt changes on a 21 year old motorhome - thats easily fixable

As has been pointed out the MOT history check won't reveal engine size but I wouldn't worry about that either.

All that could detract you from what really matters - damp.

To give you an idea of whats involved, I copy and paste a quote from Dave Newell, who reskinned a motorhome which would have been around the same age when he did it.  He posted this about 10 years ago, so the prices he quotes will be far more now;

QUOTE FROM DAVE NEWELL

Being an elderly Elddis its stick built, that is to say the frame is 1" square softwood with polystyrene infill for insulation, a thin plywood skin on interior with decorative coating and a thin aluminium skin outer with thin paint finish.

Rebuilding a motorhome of this type with such extensive damp is a huge task; I know I was that soldier! I re-skinned a 1990 Autohomes Highwayman a few years back and had to reframe a quarter of the entire structure.

There are three main areas that water gets in and whichever is the one (or more) in your case will need dealing with or you'll just end up with a damp motorhome again.

The first point of water ingress is poorly fitted window seals.

Second is roof to wall joints.

Third is the worst, when water has got into the structure the wooden frame will eventually rot. Wet rot in soft woods as used for motorhome framing releases chemicals that will eat through aluminium skin in short order and will appear as tiny dots on the outer skin in line with the framework sections (often referred to as aluminium cancer).

One and two are easily dealt with but three is a bugger as it means the rotten timber will need removing and the skin replacing. Replacing the frame timbers is difficult if the damage is extensive as once you start to remove the interior or exterior skin and rotten timber the strength of the body just evaporates. I did mine one stick at a time after removing the entire outer aluminium skin (not an easy job in itself) and replaced all rotten timberwork with 1" square aluminium box section screwed together with stainless self-tappers. For the roof I fabricated a TIG welded framework of 1" alloy box section, which was placed on top and screwed to the sidewall frames.

Re-skinning was the most challenging part and took four of us three days to do the two sidewalls, rear wall and roof. Trust me when I say handling a 5 metre by 2 metre sheet of 0.8mm alloy without kinking it is not fun and spreading twenty odd tubes of sikaflex over the surface by hand is no easy job either!

Sorry if this sounds negative but I write from personal experience of a similar project. Cost wise I spent over £3K at trade prices and took nine months to do it!

[John52]

I've been to the Auction centre in Pickering where they film the 'yesterday' TV channel series 'Bangers & Cash'.  Most of the old cars look incredibly good.  But, from what I saw, if they displayed them upside down so you could see underneath they wouldn't sell many!

So I think of old coachbuilt motorhomes in the same way - except its much harder to find the good ones because you can't look inside the structure like you can underneath a car.

[Derek Uzzell]

This 2015 forum thread related to 1997/1998 Fiat Ducato-based Auto-Roller motorhome that had been recently purchased and was about to be worked on to rebuild the roof that had been badly damaged by water ingress.

https://forums.outandaboutlive.co.uk/topic/35195-water-ingress-spongy-ceiling/

As should be evident from the photos on the thread's two pages, severe water damage (not just in the roof area) can be very time-consuming to address successfully, and even minor damp problems can be very expensive to repair unless the work is carried out on a DIY basis.

[Keithl]

2 hours ago, John52 said:

As has been pointed out the MOT history check won't reveal engine size but I wouldn't worry about that either.

Yes, but the Gov.uk website https://www.gov.uk/get-vehicle-information-from-dvla will give you the engine size, eg my AT is...

[BruceM]

On 10/04/2024 at 06:07, tonk said:

Hi I'm thinking about buying a fiat motorhome on a 03 plate thing is it's got super low mileage 23k ISH UK stickers but only listed as a jdt diesel? Not what cc ? What's too look out for? Bad buy rot box dunno 

We own a 2003 van, purchased about six years ago. It’s turned out to be superb with few issues. In our case we intentionally focussed on German built A class vans only due to their perceived superior build quality, Dethleffs in our case. These vans seem to have a much higher clearance than a modern van (I can crawl under its whole length) which is great for diy’ers and may help preserve the chassis by keeping it further away from wet road surfaces and allowing more air circulation.

 

As has been mentioned the base vehicle (fiat) will be common to most vans. If it’s a 2003 vehicle it probably has a 2.8 jtd engine but you need to be certain. I have the impression that the 2.8 jtd is regarded as a reliable workhorse if well maintained.

 

In your situation, if any van you inspect has clean mots and has a regular reasonable mileage (ours at 89,000 miles has an approx average of 4,000 miles pa) and evidence of regular servicing, fluid levels are good, starts first time, doesn’t smoke, drives well and an inspection underneath with a torch indicates the chassis is ok then I’d suggest the next major focus will be the condition of the habitation area. You’ll probably get a feel for how well the van has been treated by the state of the habitation area. If it sports a lot of diy modifications I’d be cautious. If all the equipment works (heating, fridge, cooker), the taps all work (view it with water on board and boiler heated up) and all the cushions/bed equipment are there then that's a positive sign. Unless the van has been particularly well maintained expect to spend a bit on the habitation area to bring it up to spec. For instance habitation batteries may require replacing, solar if there is any may be usefully upgraded, and probably every habitation bolt and screw will need to be tightened after the van has been bumped around for 21 years. Re damp, a damp meter is useful. Personally, I preferred to use by nose and touch to detect soft or damp conditions – not very scientific but works for me.

 

I’d always buy from a private seller. A lot can be gleaned from a current owner regarding their use of the vehicle, their reason for selling and generally whether there are any issues (features?). It’s also generally cheaper to purchase this way. However I guess whether to purchase through a dealer or a personal seller depends to some extent on how adverse you are to risk.

[Derek Uzzell]

As a rule of thumb the larger/heavier a 2003-built Fiat Ducato-based motorhome is the more likely it will have the 2800cc motor, and the smaller/lighter it is the more likely it will have one of the smaller-capacity motors.

As an example, check YV03UXL (including its MOT history).