Any thoughts?

Discussion in 'Buying a VW Camper' started by Marzydj, Apr 22, 2016.

  1. Marzydj

    Marzydj Supporter

    Hi all, a friend of mine is looking at buying a bus and has seen one in Bath. Does anyone know it or would be prepared to comment?

    She sent me some pics and has been down to look at it. She said it drove well and wrote 'He also has the original cooker and rock n roll bed in the garage to put back in if I want to. The advert was quite limited and posted on vwcampercrazy.com which is why I asked him to send me the photos. The asking price for ‘Daisy’ is £6750. He’s had it for 10 years and the garage that looked after it was a classic mini garage. He’s put 2000ish miles on the clock in that time by driving to Croyde several times a summer, and never had a break down apparently! He seemed genuine but I’ll admit I don’t know what I’m looking at engine wise or which bits are prone to need welding.... He had some repair work done to the area left of the engine, where water is prone to leak in via the vent and cause rusting. The garage man recommended keeping something (large sponge thing) in there to absorb the moisture which should then evaporate when the engine is running. Is that what you meant by the engine bay work?'

    Feel a bit uneasy by what he said and the pics. As I bought a bit of a donkey and don't want her to make the same mistake!!
    (I have told her to join here too!)
    Thanks guys
     
  2. Marzydj

    Marzydj Supporter

    Here are some pics...
     

    Attached Files:

  3. The pictures are very small mate but .... from what I can see it is going to probably need a new font panel and associated work soon, also lower rear corner and battery tray, Cant see the underneath photo very well but does not look good, maybe someone like @davidoft could advise !
     
  4. All I would offer is that it looks quite rusty - proceed with caution....
     
    3901mick likes this.
  5. Unless you have a bag load of cash or are in the trade, I would walk away from that one. My Father in Law has just bought a late bay for similar money, in a similar condition, but he is in the trade and knows welding and bodywork.
     
  6. Looks pretty bad plus whats under the belly pans ?
     
  7. belly pans .= avoid .... always buy the best you can aford and a decent baywindow are around double that ..... looks to be fairly complete but would need some major body work ...
     
  8. matty

    matty Supporter

    I depends on what they want

    If they want a van to jump in and not worry about and have no interest in working on it then it needs a restoration and about £15k spent on it

    If they want a project then I recon it's about £2k over priced but would need to have a poke underneath

    If you look around a good solid but not great one is around £12k and a great one is £15k to £20k, this will give you some idea of what you will get for £6k
     
    Zed, mgbman and Marzydj like this.
  9. Marzydj

    Marzydj Supporter

    Thanks guys, you're saying what I was thinking! She really wants a bus that is reliable and will go, I think it's goog to be more problems than it's worth.
    Appreciate your thoughts, thank you!
     
  10. In my opinion, if you don't know these vans well, then don't buy one. They are very expensive and if you don't have the time or skills to do the resto work yourself, you would have to pay someone to do it which means very big money especially any welding work.

    I agree with what's been said above, walk away from this one.

    For that money you could get a decent mazda bongo or a t4.
     
    Moons, Lord Congi and 14platoon like this.
  11. I agree with the above. If it's the look of a VW that she likes then it's better off paying for a decent one. A cheaper option would be to buy a non camper such as the mini bus versions, then slowly convert it while using it to transport normal camping gear. If it's a get in and go camper lifestyle more than the vehicle she is interested in, then there are cheaper different makes to look at.
    I would always buy the best that I can otherwise you could eventually spend more than one in decent condition already.
     
    mgbman likes this.
  12. Zed

    Zed Gradually getting grumpier

    I spent more than 300 hours just welding mine which was in similar condition. I knew it needed a fair bit of work, but it took twice as long as my worst guess.
     
  13. Razzyh

    Razzyh Supporter

    I think @oscar has one for sale but a bit above that price point I think.
     
  14. Zed

    Zed Gradually getting grumpier

    IMO as a general rule the only MOT of any interest is a really bad fail. My bus that needed 300 hours welding had one of about 6 pages of corrosion, but no mechanical fails. It was mot'd up to that point. :thinking: . Up to that point it had been looked after and MOT'd by the garage where it had been "renovated" then bought. One year this garage "stopped doing MOT's" so they took it evidently for it's first real MOT for 5 years. They had no idea.
     
    Moons likes this.
  15. Baysearcher

    Baysearcher [secret moderator]

    If by "reliable and will go" they mean a bus that won't need big money throwing at it in the next few years, they need to seriously up their budget.
     
    Zed and Moons like this.
  16. Moons

    Moons Supporter

    Spot on!
     
  17. Marzydj

    Marzydj Supporter

    I did pass on some thoughts but I was too late and they have gone ahead, although have knocked him down on the price. Haven't had chance to go and look at it yet, as long as it's not as bad as mine was she'll be ok. Thanks for your thoughts guys, even though they weren't heeded I appreciated them - and shows that I've learnt a thing or two being on here as well!


    Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
     
  18. Good Luck to her :thumbsup:

    Recommend to her that she joins this forum. Plenty of sound advice on here from a great community of people.
     
    Marzydj likes this.
  19. Marzydj

    Marzydj Supporter

    Did also say to her to join here and that you are a helpful and supportive lot!


    Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
     
  20. That's not a lot of money, so I wouldn't expect much apart from a fair bit of corrosion.
     

Share This Page