Burnster for sale

[Sidders]

What’s your thoughts/opinions on this one Funsters?
We were ideally after bunks for the kids, but guess they could sleep on any of the doubles.
The chap is a businessman and put all servicing through the business meaning there’s unfortunately no service paperwork. Having spoke to him though, I have no reason to doubt this. Also he was told by the original owner (who had it from new) that the timing belt had just been done - that was 3 years ago, but again no paperwork.
Has anyone had this model/can comment?
Many thanks

 

[HandyAndy]

MOT history certainly looks promising but I would NEVER take a sellers word on ANYTHING, without paper proof. If you think it’s the right one for you but don’t know your way around motor vehicles, get it professionally inspected and go from there.
I would certainly do the cam belt as a matter of course on anything unknown like that. Absolute no brainer and you also get the tensioners and water pump done while you are in there. Peace of mind if nothing else and a boat load cheaper than repairing the engine after it let’s go

 

[lorger]

Why wouldn’t he have paper work as he’d need it for his accountant, he could get in contact with who ever serviced it as all records are kept on computers these days.

Trust no one when money is involved

 

[Sidders]

MOT history certainly looks promising but I would NEVER take a sellers word on ANYTHING, without paper proof. If you think it’s the right one for you but don’t know your way around motor vehicles, get it professionally inspected and go from there.
I would certainly do the cam belt as a matter of course on anything unknown like that. Absolute no brainer and you also get the tensioners and water pump done while you are in there. Peace of mind if nothing else and a boat load cheaper than repairing the engine after it let’s go

Agreed HandyAndy, i’d be getting the timing belt done regardless??
Might need to try locate a specialist down that neck of the woods to save me a possible journey, though to be fair the chap has sent me pics n vids of quite a lot (inc underneath)....but you can never be sure, I’ve seen a couple now in the flesh that looked promising in the ad but turn out to be a different story?. I’m really fussy, having said that, the seller seems to be too

 

[Sidders]

Why wouldn’t he have paper work as he’d need it for his accountant, he could get in contact with who ever serviced it as all records are kept on computers these days.

Trust no one when money is involved

lorger fair point, I’ll ask him.
Thanks muchly??

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[Boringfrog]

Sidders you do know it's LHD?

 

[stevewagner]

For me it would have to be an absolute bargain to buy without history. History is everything when buying a used motorhome not only from the buyers point of view but also when you come to sell it on or maybe part exchange at a dealer. It's a buyers market a the moment with literally thousands to choose from. When we buy a motorhome and we've had a few, first thing I check is the history and the kit manuals as not only do they come in handy when you need them it is also a reflection of the previous owners usually.

 

[rb62]

Wrong thread

 

[rb62]

.

 

[mitzimad]

Don't part with any money till you have all the checks done and the van in the flesh

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[138go]

You have to keep your books for 6 years so I would have thought the receipts would be available. Problem is if you buy it with no paperwork when you sell it you will have the same problem and someone will be on here asking the same question. Make him an offer with the paperwork and make an offer without the paperwork and budget for having the timing belts etc done straight away.

 

[Sidders]

Sidders you do know it's LHD?

Boringfrog - yep, wasn’t too phased by that

 

[Sidders]

For me it would have to be an absolute bargain to buy without history. History is everything when buying a used motorhome not only from the buyers point of view but also when you come to sell it on or maybe part exchange at a dealer. It's a buyers market a the moment with literally thousands to choose from. When we buy a motorhome and we've had a few, first thing I check is the history and the kit manuals as not only do they come in handy when you need them it is also a reflection of the previous owners usually.

stevewagner - fair point, I’ve never bought anything without history but must say Motorhomes are quite interesting in this respect, I’ve spoke to a couple of vendors over the past few months that had no history, didn’t really seem that bothered, weren’t even aware of timing belt and had tyres on that were 10 years old and upwards. I couldn’t quite believe it?

 

[Sidders]

You have to keep your books for 6 years so I would have thought the receipts would be available. Problem is if you buy it with no paperwork when you sell it you will have the same problem and someone will be on here asking the same question. Make him an offer with the paperwork and make an offer without the paperwork and budget for having the timing belts etc done straight away.

QFour - thanks. What would you think is reasonable with/without paperwork in this case?

 

[tonyidle]

For me it would have to be an absolute bargain to buy without history. History is everything when buying a used motorhome not only from the buyers point of view but also when you come to sell it on or maybe part exchange at a dealer. It's a buyers market a the moment with literally thousands to choose from. When we buy a motorhome and we've had a few, first thing I check is the history and the kit manuals as not only do they come in handy when you need them it is also a reflection of the previous owners usually.

I've never considered history when I've bought and have never been asked for it when selling to dealer or private. Kit manuals are invariably available as downloads if missing. Time spent going over both vehicle and habitation is most important IMO. Proof (or otherwise) of timing belt renewal is only important when haggling.

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[Allanm]

If the mot history looks good, ( I haven’t looked at it) then that usually shows the van has been looked after.
Timing belt with water pump is going to cost you around £350-£450, so factor that in.
Buying without history is something I would never do, until we bought our previous (20 year old) van, which also had an impeccable mot history and a sticker under the bonnet that said the cam belt had been changed 14000 miles previously. We still had the cambelt changed after a year.
We kept it two years, covered 20k miles and had no issues with it.

We did spend a lot of time checking it over to make sure everything worked ( it did) and it drove brilliantly.

I think you can get a sense of how it has been looked after when you view it. We did, and it’s good to talk to the owner, you can tell a lot by how he talks about the van when you view it.A full service history would have been nice though.

We have been very impressed with our Burstner, that Elegance looks very nice from the pictures.

 

[138go]

So £28,995.00 buys you a right hand drive one which will have a warranty and paperwork. So offer £19,500 as is without the paperwork and £23,000 with the paperwork. Make him realise how important the paperwork is. You have to start negotiations somewhere.

 

[Minxy]

We were ideally after bunks for the kids, but guess they could sleep on any of the doubles.

Stick to your guns on the layout you want ... the Burstner has a drop down cab bed and the other is made from the dining area ... when the kids are in bed and you want to sit up it won't be practical ... better to have you at one end and the kids at the other! It also means that the kids will have their own little areas to escape to when they want to and keep them out from under your feet.

 

[Sidders]

If the mot history looks good, ( I haven’t looked at it) then that usually shows the van has been looked after.
Timing belt with water pump is going to cost you around £350-£450, so factor that in.
Buying without history is something I would never do, until we bought our previous (20 year old) van, which also had an impeccable mot history and a sticker under the bonnet that said the cam belt had been changed 14000 miles previously. We still had the cambelt changed after a year.
We kept it two years, covered 20k miles and had no issues with it.

We did spend a lot of time checking it over to make sure everything worked ( it did) and it drove brilliantly.

I think you can get a sense of how it has been looked after when you view it. We did, and it’s good to talk to the owner, you can tell a lot by how he talks about the van when you view it.A full service history would have been nice though.

We have been very impressed with our Burstner, that Elegance looks very nice from the pictures.

Allanm - fair point??

 

[Sidders]

So £28,995.00 buys you a right hand drive one which will have a warranty and paperwork. So offer £19,500 as is without the paperwork and £23,000 with the paperwork. Make him realise how important the paperwork is. You have to start negotiations somewhere.

QFour - thanks for this??

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[Sidders]

Stick to your guns on the layout you want ... the Burstner has a drop down cab bed and the other is made from the dining area ... when the kids are in bed and you want to sit up it won't be practical ... better to have you at one end and the kids at the other! It also means that the kids will have their own little areas to escape to when they want to and keep them out from under your feet.

Minxy Girl - Hello again, and sound advice there as always, thank you???
Would you have bunks or an end lounge?

 

[Minxy]

Minxy Girl - Hello again, and sound advice there as always, thank you???
Would you have bunks or an end lounge?

An end Lounge would still mean you'd have to make the bed up and also tends to make MH longer so payload becomes even more critical especially rear axle loading. With bunks the kids would have their own personal space which as they get older will likely be more beneficial than them having to sit in areas with others ... also if they like to play computer games etc it means you can kick them off to their 'cave' so you don't have to listen to it all!

I haven't got kids but do have nephew & nieces so have experienced the 'sulky kid' syndrome therefore being able to get 'shot' of them occasionally to another area would be beneficial I suspect! If I did have a couple of kids having bunks would certainly be high on my list of must haves in a MH.

 

[Sidders]

An end Lounge would still mean you'd have to make the bed up and also tends to make MH longer so payload becomes even more critical especially rear axle loading. With bunks the kids would have their own personal space which as they get older will likely be more beneficial than them having to sit in areas with others ... also if they like to play computer games etc it means you can kick them off to their 'cave' so you don't have to listen to it all!

I haven't got kids but do have nephew & nieces so have experienced the 'sulky kid' syndrome therefore being able to get 'shot' of them occasionally to another area would be beneficial I suspect! If I did have a couple of kids having bunks would certainly be high on my list of must haves in a MH.

Thanks muchly, will stick with the original bunk plan

 

[gus-lopez]

I’ve spoke to a couple of vendors over the past few months that had no history, didn’t really seem that bothered, weren’t even aware of timing belt and had tyres on that were 10 years old and upwards. I couldn’t quite believ

Yes,regardless of vehicle type ,there are many who shouldn't be allowed to own vehicles if they don't know what needs to be done when.

 

[Anthea M]

I don’t think we would buy a MH without a service history , as the previous owners should have kept records each year if they cared for the van.

Also the possibility it may have been stolen and therefore has no history may be a possibility? ( just thinking allowed. )