Traddles Posted October 12, 2007 Share Posted October 12, 2007 I am seriously thinking of buying a second hand Bessacar 725e. Does anyone know of any particular problems with this motorhome? I have come across two vehicles with low mileage at a reasonable price and just wonder whether there is anything drastically "wrong" with them??!! (?) The reasons given for changing them by the dealers seem a bit thin. One of them had been given the re-seal treatment in all kinds of joins (and non seam places) so I thought I would ask via this forum. Any feedback about this vehicle would be appreciated. ;-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michele Posted October 12, 2007 Share Posted October 12, 2007 I love my Bessacarr and wouldn't swop it for the world. I did once I swopped it for a Hobby sadly we lost money or should I say stupidly we bought in the Oct and I got rid in the Jan . We went straight back to a bessacarr . It's not for everyone and the only problems that we have ever had have been minor teething problems when it was picked up brand new and mainly more to do with the dealers checks than anything . If it feels right go for it we are not sorry . Good Lucky and happy camping . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest JudgeMental Posted October 12, 2007 Share Posted October 12, 2007 Michele! you are forgetting your manners :-D welcome to the forum Traddles *-) I would be suspiciuos of any van with obvious signs of resealing and would walk away. if sealing had been done professionally should you be able to tell?. if really set on one of these Swift group vans have an independent survey and damp test carried out - if dealer not keen on this another reason to look elsewhere. it is low season and a good time to buy, dealer's should be on their knees trying to get your money lol I prefer the build quality of German vans. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mel B Posted October 12, 2007 Share Posted October 12, 2007 Hi and welcome. From what you've said I gleam that you are not that happy about the deals, if so, then don't go for them especially if you are always going to be wondering 'what's wrong with it?'. I too would be very suspicious of any van of that age that has had such an apparently large amount of re-sealing done. We had an Elddis that was 10 years old when we parted with it, it was absolutely water-tight apart form one small section at the rear offside corner joint which was only a very minor thing. We didn't even know about it when we came to trade it in and the dealer wasn't bothered either as it was so minor, so to find that a youngish van has had all this work seems a bit suspect to me. First and foremost use your nose, check inside the van, get your head as far into the cupboards, drawers, units etc as you can and have a good old sniff, there should be no damp smell at all, not even a little bit. Make sure you remove cushions, flaps, etc, don't be afraid to have a good poke around, so long as you don't damage anything in the process the dealer shouldn't mind, if he/she does, then I'd be very wary of what they are hiding. If there is any questionable smell that could indicate that there is damp in the framework of the van - run away immediately!!!!!! If you can't get into some spaces, then take some photos with a digital camera of the areas concerned and then have a good look at them, if there is staining, funny marks etc, again, this could indicate damp. I'm not a fan of Swift vans, we've had probems with water leaks in the past, and, I seem to recall, Michele has too. The quality of vans, certainly in the period rougly of 2000-2003 seems to have been not toally up to scratch, that's not to say that they were all rubbish, but you really do have to make sure you haven't got a lemon. If you are new to this game, I'd certainly try to get someone who knows about motorhomes to go along with you and have a good look for you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michele Posted October 12, 2007 Share Posted October 12, 2007 Mel you are correct BUT my water leak was more to do with the fact that the dealers did not seal the roof after inserting a great big hole in the roof for the Sat Dish :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mel B Posted October 12, 2007 Share Posted October 12, 2007 Thought you'd had problems with a leaky Heki? Or was that on the Hobby?? 8-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikemoss Posted October 13, 2007 Share Posted October 13, 2007 I guess there are good 'uns and bad 'uns of all makes, but our 1998 Bessacarr has been absolutely superb so far with no hint of damp and everything still ship shape and Bristol fashion inside and out. Hope that's not tempting providence! Some very, very good advice in this thread though about checking thoroughly for any signs of damp. Resealing might mean there's been a problem but it is now solved. Or then again, it might not. I think that if you choose very carefully you should end up with a great motorhome. I have to confess we just ploughed in because we loved the layout, but we seem to have been lucky! Hope you are too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flicka Posted October 13, 2007 Share Posted October 13, 2007 mikemoss - 2007-10-13 10:01 AM I guess there are good 'uns and bad 'uns of all makes, but our 1998 Bessacarr has been absolutely superb so far with no hint of damp and everything still ship shape and Bristol fashion inside and out. Hope that's not tempting providence! Some very, very good advice in this thread though about checking thoroughly for any signs of damp. Resealing might mean there's been a problem but it is now solved. Or then again, it might not. I think that if you choose very carefully you should end up with a great motorhome. I have to confess we just ploughed in because we loved the layout, but we seem to have been lucky! Hope you are too. Our Bessacarr E410 from new still has excess sealant on the joints and looks likely I will still be removing some for a while yet. Side skirts, sills, M/H door, Gas Bottle locker door, etc, all have an excess of the stuff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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