One Step Closer to Buying!

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Just confirmed with the Independent Engineer that he is still on schedule to carry out the Pre Purchase Inspection of the Burstner tomorrow afternoon so fingers, eyes and legs crossed for a clean bill of health! Might have to search out a Tena Pad to contain my excitement [or a close by product thereof] ... :rolleyes: 😂

'Ain't no stopping us now, we're on the move' [i.e. the brakes are faulty ... :eek:]

Steve & Elaine
 
I had a Bürstner myself in days gone by, it was an excellent bit of kit so I doubt you have much need to worry. Fingers crossed for you all the same
 
Thanks Mikey, Ruby & delta. Logic says it should be a good 'un, but we don't want to start counting chickens just yet!

Steve & Elaine

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Indy Engineer's Inspection completed. No damp or damage, but about 1/2 dozen minor defects that need to be tidied up [reading light over bed not working, tank level indicators for fresh & waste water need terminals cleaned up, new leisure battery needed, cracked fridge vent, and new fridge control panel needed]. Payload figures should be available by tomorrow for the empty van, with just the adjustment for whatever diesel is in the tank, to give us a true usable payload.

Another step closer!

Steve & Elaine
 
Good luck Steve and Elaine, and just in time for the big break out. I hope the heatings up to par !!

Mike & Sue.
 
Are you going for it?

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How old is it? Those defects sound like business as usual...
 
cmcardle75 said:
How old is it? Those defects sound like business as usual...
Click to expand...
It's 5 years old, registered 1 Mar 2016. My only concern is the time it may take to get the Fridge Control Panel replacement. This will be our first m/home, so we have no experience, but the defects do seem fairly minor/cosmetic. If there is a delay in getting the Fridge Control Panel, we won't have a working fridge.

Payload is also a key issue; having the m/home weighed 'as is' with no water and whatever diesel is in the tank will give us a good base figure from which to work.

Steve & Elaine
 
marchie said:
It's 5 years old, registered 1 Mar 2016. My only concern is the time it may take to get the Fridge Control Panel replacement. This will be our first m/home, so we have no experience, but the defects do seem fairly minor/cosmetic. If there is a delay in getting the Fridge Control Panel, we won't have a working fridge.

Payload is also a key issue; having the m/home weighed 'as is' with no water and whatever diesel is in the tank will give us a good base figure from which to work.

Steve & Elaine
Click to expand...

You talk about fridge control panel
I have the dometic RMDT 8505 tower fridge freezer. The control panel has just packed in (Discovered yesterday) cost new to replace £249. Easy to fit but due to my control panel being claimed through insurance warranty company it was put through a local MH repair company, so its not a great issue if it is the control panel. Two weeks lead time for delivery from Dometic
 
PJGWiltshire said:
Are you going for it?
Click to expand...
We hope so! We do at least know what needs to be sorted out; if we walk away, we would be back to square one without any guarantee that we could get a better model. Depends upon the time needed to get the Control Panel so that we have a working fridge. We had the same problem with the Folding Caravan and it took a fair amount of time and expense to get it resolved.

Steve & Elaine

PS I [Steve] lived in Worthing & worked in County Hall, Chichester before moving to Scotland. Spent lots of time queued at the A27 roundabout and along the wee bypass!

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PJGWiltshire said:
You talk about fridge control panel
I have the dometic RMDT 8505 tower fridge freezer. The control panel has just packed in (Discovered yesterday) cost new to replace £249. Easy to fit but due to my control panel being claimed through insurance warranty company it was put through a local MH repair company, so its not a great issue if it is the control panel. Two weeks lead time for delivery from Dometic
Click to expand...
Thanks, PJGW, that's reassuring! I don't have details of the fridge, but hope that at 5 years old, it will still be in production. As well as the other items from the Engineer's Report, there a timing belt & water pump change due, engine service + solar panel to be fitted and MOT to b =e undertaken, so a 2 weeks wait for the Control Panel shouldn't hold up delivery.

Steve & Elaine
 
marchie said:
Thanks, PJGW, that's reassuring! I don't have details of the fridge, but hope that at 5 years old, it will still be in production. As well as the other items from the Engineer's Report, there a timing belt & water pump change due, engine service + solar panel to be fitted and MOT to b =e undertaken, so a 2 weeks wait for the Control Panel shouldn't hold up delivery.

Steve & Elaine
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Most probable ours is a 2016 model that is no longer available. From my understanding manufacturers are required to produce spares for a set number of years, its a lot longer than 5 years.

Prior to going through MH repair company I contacted https://www.leisurespares.co.uk who stated that they could get the part direct from Dometic.
 
marchie. Steve & Elaine, I hope you are able to progress with the deal, using the engineer's report to assist your negotiations. The points already picked up, must give you both confidence in the thoroughness of their report. (y)

Good luck,

Jock. :)
 
marchie said:
Indy Engineer's Inspection completed. No damp or damage, but about 1/2 dozen minor defects that need to be tidied up [reading light over bed not working, tank level indicators for fresh & waste water need terminals cleaned up, new leisure battery needed, cracked fridge vent, and new fridge control panel needed]. Payload figures should be available by tomorrow for the empty van, with just the adjustment for whatever diesel is in the tank, to give us a true usable payload.

Another step closer!

Steve & Elaine
Click to expand...
If your engineer is picking up things like the level indicator probes needing a clean, then A - he's doing a bloody thorough inspection and B - He's really picking up every little thing! A good combo! Maybe see what size the leisure battery is (and also its weight) as if you need a replacement you should try to account for that in the final weight of the van, especially if you are thinking about fitting a larger battery.

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JockandRita said:
marchie. Steve & Elaine, I hope you are able to progress with the deal, using the engineer's report to assist your negotiations. The points already picked up, must give you both confidence in the thoroughness of their report. (y)

Good luck,

Jock. :)
Click to expand...
Thanks, Jock.
I was impressed by the thoroughness of the Inspection. Bearing in mind it's all been done at arm's length by phone and email, the whole exercise has been very positive. The Dealer did say this morning that they would just wait for the Inspection Report and then put right whatever was shown as needing replaced/repaired. So, now just need to wait for the work to take place, after we have received the payload data. Difficulties in that area will be much more serious and might kill the purchase. A robust calculation suggests we could be within about 25kg of the maximum, so careful measurements needed!

Steve & Elaine
 
RubyOptics said:
If your engineer is picking up things like the level indicator probes needing a clean, then A - he's doing a bloody thorough inspection and B - He's really picking up every little thing! A good combo! Maybe see what size the leisure battery is (and also its weight) as if you need a replacement you should try to account for that in the final weight of the van, especially if you are thinking about fitting a larger battery.
Click to expand...
Thanks, Ruby. More food for thought! I was described by a former [Senior Social Worker] work colleague 'in her professional opinion' as a 'complete anal retentive', so I do tend to fret over items that more relaxed, and experienced m/home owners wouldn't be remotely concerned about!

Steve & Elaine
 
marchie said:
Thanks, Ruby. More food for thought! I was described by a former [Senior Social Worker] work colleague 'in her professional opinion' as a 'complete anal retentive', so I do tend to fret over items that more relaxed, and experienced m/home owners wouldn't be remotely concerned about!

Steve & Elaine
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Oh don't worry, we were and still are, exactly the same! We only bought our first van last summer, a 20 year old one as well, so I completely understand what you are going through!
 
marchie said:
I was described by a former [Senior Social Worker] work colleague 'in her professional opinion' as a 'complete anal retentive',
Click to expand...

RubyOptics said:
Oh don't worry, we were and still are, exactly the same!
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Aye, there are a few of us on here I am pleased to say. ;)

Cheers,

Jock. :)
 
There will always be things coming along that need fixing just like a house or a car which basically is what you are buying a second car and a second home which if you use as you should will become your first😁. Things are always repairable in one way or another. Trust me a lot of new vans have problems from day one we even rejected an expensive van once as they get a bit older they settle down and every year the quality goes down hill 15 years ago we had a Niesmann £75,000 it was fantastic excellent quality everything since has never matched it, we are about to order a new Niesmann £140,000 but I can already see it no where near the quality.
Enjoy your van and use it till it wears out and drops apart👍

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Hi Steve, have you explored a chassis upgrade? I suspect you might have the C1 category ;) on your licence.
There have been several links to firms other than SV.Tech to undertake this paper only exercise. You should be able to get to 3700kg easily. An extra 200kg will make life easier and less stressful, Cheaper road fund licence, + a refund on any whole months remaining at the moment of the upgrade.
Some implications in respect of toll fees when touring Europe though:frowny:.
Mike
 
BouncyBoatFolk said:
Hi Steve, have you explored a chassis upgrade? I suspect you might have the C1 category ;) on your licence.
There have been several links to firms other than SV.Tech to undertake this paper only exercise. You should be able to get to 3700kg easily. An extra 200kg will make life easier and less stressful, Cheaper road fund licence, + a refund on any whole months remaining at the moment of the upgrade.
Some implications in respect of toll fees when touring Europe though:frowny:.
Mike
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Hi Mike,
Yes, I do have the C1 category, but don't want to rely upon using that extra weight in case there are health issues in 3 years time when I have to renew my Licence. It has been frustrating and of concern re payload, rather than stressful, not least because published MIRO figures seem to be quite rare, and vary wildly!

The Dealer has weighed the Burstner in an almost dry state [no water & only 1/4 tank diesel] so I have been able to get an accurate enough figure for payload calculations, watching how quickly diesel and water volumes consume the allowance! I've posted the weights on the Burstner section of the Forum in the hope that the figures might be useful to anyone in the future.

We should have a payload of 693kg after adjusting for a zero diesel load. That leaves us a margin of some 133kg after we have allowed for 2 teletubby occupants, full gas, diesel and water tanks and bikes, crockery, bedding food & clothing. Elaine and I need to lose at least 30kg of lockdown weight and there is a further 15kg of carpets [to be left at home] & bike over allowances that we can call upon if needed, so we shouldn't be sweating about taking an extra plate and teaspoon! We will take the loaded m/home to a local weighbridge to give us actual rather than computed weights for peace of mind, before we set sail on our maiden voyage!

Provisional delivery date agreed, so just need to begin blasting on the wallet lock now ...

Steve & Elaine
 
How much stuff do you want to travel with?At 693 you should have more than enough if just the 2 of you. Do you plan on taking bikes?
 
irnbru said:
How much stuff do you want to travel with?At 693 you should have more than enough if just the 2 of you. Do you plan on taking bikes?
Click to expand...
Comparatively little personal stuff, but yes, 40kg allowed for 2 bikes [weighed last year for caravan trip] incl saddlebags for shopping. 120kg for water, 77kg for diesel, 50kg for food & crockery, 42kg for Gas bottles plus driver and passenger who can prove that obesity is a lot of good food gone to waist ...

I've worked on the basis of worst case outcomes, and with a margin of about 20%, I can relax rather than worry about the back axle giving up the ghost half way down the M6 or similar. I am a total anal retentive and do fret over stuff that others wouldn't give a second thought to, but if I could change my character and mindset to be more laissez-faire, it would have happened before now!

Me: 'Elaine, you sure you've got the passports?'
Elaine: 'Yes; and I also had them the 4 previous occasions on which you asked in the last hour or so ...'
Me: 'Just checking ...' Muted screams drown out satnav instructions :eek:

Steve
 
Well it sounds like you have done the deal, good for you. If so you need to change the Avatar

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