Looking for some advice from you experienced funsters
I'm in the process of purchasing a used coachbuilt from a private seller.
The van is two years old, 7.5 meters long, made in Germany, low mileage and one owner. The layout and options are perfect for us and I went to view prior to this latest lockdown.
Unfortunately the owner has not been able to use the van for the last 12 months and it has been sitting uncovered on his driveway, a stones throw from the sea and has not been washed for some time, the interior looked well presented and no signs of damp (other than a couple of ill fitting/slightly warped doors). It has been plugged into EHU and batteries kept charged. The exterior did look a bit dirty but I expected that. He also has the heating on occasionally (I don't know if this is a good idea or not) !
I asked for a damp/hab check to be performed prior to purchase and have agreed a price to subject to test drive etc (which couldn't be performed at first viewing due to having no tax) with the aim of collecting the van once the damp/hab check had been performed and these current restrictions have been lifted.
The damp/hab check was performed last week by a mobile MCEA technician and several areas of damp were discovered. One area is around a window that doesn't concern me too much, the other area is at the roof/wall join in the living area where some readings of 20% - 30% were recorded.
Now the van has supposedly got 4 years water ingress warranty remaining however the seller has never been able to get any warranty issues sorted with the original supplying dealer so that's a non starter and he's also been unsuccessful with other dealers local to him, although this is possibly to do with the current lockdown.
I spoke with a dealer local to me yesterday and they said they couldn't help as their workshops are booked solid for the foreseeable future and they will prioritise work for vans supplied only be themselves - which I understand completely.
Seems I have two options :-
1. Contact the seller, explain my concerns and politely pull out of the deal. Repairs could be very costly, ongoing and frustrating. There will be other vans!
2. Don't worry too much as this van ticks all our boxes except the damp issues (which are possibly minor repairs) and these issues will be rectified fairly easily by a competent workshop. It could even simply be condensation! I appreciate the warranty is probably not worth the paper it is written on so will end up paying for any repairs myself.
My gut feeling is number 1 but welcome peoples thoughts.
Thank you
I'm in the process of purchasing a used coachbuilt from a private seller.
The van is two years old, 7.5 meters long, made in Germany, low mileage and one owner. The layout and options are perfect for us and I went to view prior to this latest lockdown.
Unfortunately the owner has not been able to use the van for the last 12 months and it has been sitting uncovered on his driveway, a stones throw from the sea and has not been washed for some time, the interior looked well presented and no signs of damp (other than a couple of ill fitting/slightly warped doors). It has been plugged into EHU and batteries kept charged. The exterior did look a bit dirty but I expected that. He also has the heating on occasionally (I don't know if this is a good idea or not) !
I asked for a damp/hab check to be performed prior to purchase and have agreed a price to subject to test drive etc (which couldn't be performed at first viewing due to having no tax) with the aim of collecting the van once the damp/hab check had been performed and these current restrictions have been lifted.
The damp/hab check was performed last week by a mobile MCEA technician and several areas of damp were discovered. One area is around a window that doesn't concern me too much, the other area is at the roof/wall join in the living area where some readings of 20% - 30% were recorded.
Now the van has supposedly got 4 years water ingress warranty remaining however the seller has never been able to get any warranty issues sorted with the original supplying dealer so that's a non starter and he's also been unsuccessful with other dealers local to him, although this is possibly to do with the current lockdown.
I spoke with a dealer local to me yesterday and they said they couldn't help as their workshops are booked solid for the foreseeable future and they will prioritise work for vans supplied only be themselves - which I understand completely.
Seems I have two options :-
1. Contact the seller, explain my concerns and politely pull out of the deal. Repairs could be very costly, ongoing and frustrating. There will be other vans!
2. Don't worry too much as this van ticks all our boxes except the damp issues (which are possibly minor repairs) and these issues will be rectified fairly easily by a competent workshop. It could even simply be condensation! I appreciate the warranty is probably not worth the paper it is written on so will end up paying for any repairs myself.
My gut feeling is number 1 but welcome peoples thoughts.
Thank you
