Hi funsters! Long time lurker, first time poster here. We're very close to purchasing our first motorhome - it's a van conversion on a 2001 Fiat Ducato MWB chassis. It's a private sale, so no warranty.
We're largely happy with the conversion, but have some concern about a rust problem in the front wheel arches that required some welding work to pass its MOT (valid up to Feb 2017).
I've seen receipts for about £1.5k of work from a bona-fide garage to enable it to pass its MOT, but they're not itemised very well, so hard to tell exactly what's happened. According to the seller, it was taken back to bare metal, then replacements bits were welded on. The end result is a bit like the last photo in this link - the inside of the arches are covered in a thick black paint. There's also a curved metal plate bolted on top of the paint in the back of one wheel arch, which looks like a sacrificial/protective barrier of some kind.
We're quite worried that there will be lots more secret rust buried in the depths of the vehicle that we're not aware of - we have basically no mechanical experience. It has to be said that the rest of the base vehicle looks in reasonable condition though. All the buyers guides we've read say 'check for rust in the wheel arches', but not what to do when it's already had work done to fix it.
Sadly the van is on the other side of the country from us, but the seller has agreed to drop the van off at a garage of our choice, so we can get an independent opinion on the work that's been done. We'll have to try and do this by telephone, since we can't travel back during the week, and I'm also a bit worried that they won't be able to see that much because of the new paint.
Does that sound like a sensible way to go, or are we just flogging a dead horse? I guess it would also be helpful to know if it's expected in a 2001 van. Our 1996 car is still doing fine with nothing like these rust problems, so our instinct is that this is 'not normal'.
So, what's the verdict funsters? Would you run a mile if you were in our shoes?
We're largely happy with the conversion, but have some concern about a rust problem in the front wheel arches that required some welding work to pass its MOT (valid up to Feb 2017).
I've seen receipts for about £1.5k of work from a bona-fide garage to enable it to pass its MOT, but they're not itemised very well, so hard to tell exactly what's happened. According to the seller, it was taken back to bare metal, then replacements bits were welded on. The end result is a bit like the last photo in this link - the inside of the arches are covered in a thick black paint. There's also a curved metal plate bolted on top of the paint in the back of one wheel arch, which looks like a sacrificial/protective barrier of some kind.
We're quite worried that there will be lots more secret rust buried in the depths of the vehicle that we're not aware of - we have basically no mechanical experience. It has to be said that the rest of the base vehicle looks in reasonable condition though. All the buyers guides we've read say 'check for rust in the wheel arches', but not what to do when it's already had work done to fix it.
Sadly the van is on the other side of the country from us, but the seller has agreed to drop the van off at a garage of our choice, so we can get an independent opinion on the work that's been done. We'll have to try and do this by telephone, since we can't travel back during the week, and I'm also a bit worried that they won't be able to see that much because of the new paint.
Does that sound like a sensible way to go, or are we just flogging a dead horse? I guess it would also be helpful to know if it's expected in a 2001 van. Our 1996 car is still doing fine with nothing like these rust problems, so our instinct is that this is 'not normal'.
So, what's the verdict funsters? Would you run a mile if you were in our shoes?
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