What do you think ?

neilydun

neilydun

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Been looking for a MH since selling an RV earlier this year.
I would be interested to know peoples thoughts on this

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/11656411...pid=5339023013&customid=&toolid=10001&mkevt=1

I like this idea of a Merc but know very little about the running gear. The guy selling it says it has a 6 speed ZF box.
From what research I have done, Frankia seem to have a fairly good reputation.
It has failed a few MOT`s which sounds like lack of maintenance, but the guy says there is a pack of history with it.
 
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The height adjustable bed at the rear will drive you crazy as it moves and rattles everytime you roll over.
The 2.1 litre engine seems small for the van my frankia was 5 tonne and 3.0litre

I'm curious what the yellow stripe on the right hand side is covering

But other than that the frankia is a good van , I liked most of mine
 
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Nice motorhome but looks like a sprintshift box, a robotised manual gearbox! I would investigate this further!
 
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Northernraider said:
The height adjustable bed at the rear will drive you crazy as it moves and rattles everytime you roll over.
The 2.1 litre engine seems small for the van my frankia was 5 tonne and 3.0litre

I'm curious what the yellow stripe on the right hand side is covering

But other than that the frankia is a good van , I liked most of mine
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Ah ok, yes a rattly bed would drive me mad, thanks for that
The 2.1 does seem small, but a twin turbo, so possibly ok
I also wondered about the yellow strip on one side.
 
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Nicely kitted out for off grid use for sure. £45k though for a 15 year old van! :D Seems a lot to me.
 
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That’s our old van!! We were the second owners having bought it when it was only 6 months old! Lovely to see the pictures of it. It served us well for the best part of 5 years. When we had it the bed did not rattle, it was not a sprint shift and it never struck me as being underpowered. A lovely van which we only sold on in part exchange to Travelworld as we wanted to downsize.
There are a few changes that I can see (the yellow stripe, the tape on the rear bumper etc) but internally looks exactly as when we had it.
 
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tonybvi said:
That’s our old van!! We were the second owners having bought it when it was only 6 months old! Lovely to see the pictures of it. It served us well for the best part of 5 years. When we had it the bed did not rattle, it was not a sprint shift and it never struck me as being underpowered. A lovely van which we only sold on in part exchange to Travelworld as we wanted to downsize.
There are a few changes that I can see (the yellow stripe, the tape on the rear bumper etc) but internally looks exactly as when we had it.
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Wow, how amazing. Thats great to hear.
What did you find as a comfortable cruising speed ? Did it pull well enough loaded, uphills etc
If I go any further with it, is there anything your aware of that might need looking at closer ?
How do you think the price looks now ?

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Hard to remember now but we went all over Europe in it, often towing a Smart car on a trailer. Without the trailer we’d sit at 65 or so on motorways (it would easily go faster but I never drive too fast in a motorhome).
It pulled very well indeed, surprisingly so for a smallish engine.
When we sold it on the driver from Travelworld picked it up from our house in Aberdeenshire and thrashed it all the way back to Telford. When they put it in the workshop for checking over they reported that the turbo had blown but fixed it before selling on. The only other issue I recall was the passenger outside mirror wouldn’t adjust from the inside! There was also a scratch on the outside beneath the drivers window where a fence blew down onto it when parked at home.
The lithium, inverter, etc must have been installed since we had it.
I think it had about 35k miles on it when we sold it in 2017. We wanted a slightly smaller van and a bed when one of us didn’t have to clamber over the other to get out during the night!!
 
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tonybvi said:
Hard to remember now but we went all over Europe in it, often towing a Smart car on a trailer. Without the trailer we’d sit at 65 or so on motorways (it would easily go faster but I never drive too fast in a motorhome).
It pulled very well indeed, surprisingly so for a smallish engine.
When we sold it on the driver from Travelworld picked it up from our house in Aberdeenshire and thrashed it all the way back to Telford. When they put it in the workshop for checking over they reported that the turbo had blown but fixed it before selling on. The only other issue I recall was the passenger outside mirror wouldn’t adjust from the inside! There was also a scratch on the outside beneath the drivers window where a fence blew down onto it when parked at home.
The lithium, inverter, etc must have been installed since we had it.
I think it had about 35k miles on it when we sold it in 2017. We wanted a slightly smaller van and a bed when one of us didn’t have to clamber over the other to get out during the night!!
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Great information, thank you so much.
 
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DSCN1557.webp
 
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Nice van but I would weight it before buying as it looks like it’s a heavy van. You will need to know what payload it has.
 
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Im Guessing the payload would not be an issue on such a big vehicle to be honest. I was quite surprised just how much our (New to us) motorhome can carry ! Ours looks small compared to the Frankia yet it has a 1300kg pay load. Amazing really.
Nice van the Frankia . As said before...just check the yellow band and what its hiding or doing on there?

Kev

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I’m struggling to remember as I put it over the weighbridge when I got it. I think that with full water and fuel, two of us inside but not a lot of gear inside it came in at 3880. Even if this is incorrect I do know that payload was never an issue for us and I put it on the weighbridge 2 or 3 times during our ownership.
 
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barryd said:
Nicely kitted out for off grid use for sure. £45k though for a 15 year old van! :D Seems a lot to me.
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I am not saying its cheap.
But, it does seem comparable to similar offerings.
Appreciate the comment, as thats what I was asking.
 
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Northernraider said:
I'm curious what the yellow stripe on the right hand side is covering
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It’s covering the same material as the white strip on the other side.
neilydun said:
I also wondered about the yellow strip on one side.
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As above. I suspect that it’s reflective tape; amber on one side and white on the other side.

Ian
 
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neilydun said:
I am not saying its cheap.
But, it does seem comparable to similar offerings.
Appreciate the comment, as thats what I was asking.
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It might be about right. Just seems a lot to me but its a quality marque I believe. I get the impression though that the motorhome market has been falling for a while and it seems to me that its the big stuff that is going down faster than the smaller stuff. Those extras with the big solar, Lithium and 2 x 12kg Gaslows though well worth having.
 
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Looks a nice van. Having both doors on the same side isn't ideal but I could live with it if everything else was right

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Whats your thoughts on the price its up for ?
I have spoken to the guy selling, and he basically said the price is set.
 
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Very difficult to say really, especially as I’ve not been monitoring motorhome prices recently. I do know that prices of new vans have gone up quite dramatically over the past few years so this will also affect second hand values. The new price to the nearest equivalent of my current van is about 50% higher than what I paid for it 6 years ago. That Frankia is (was) a fantastic machine and with all the added off grid kit that it appears to have, assuming it’s all in good condition, I would think the price is a bit on the high side but not really excessive for a high quality machine, albeit some 14 years old now.
I’m sure that you have looked at pricing of similar aged vans of similar quality elsewhere to get a rough idea of values so you’re probably in a better position than me to judge.
 
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tonybvi said:
Very difficult to say really, especially as I’ve not been monitoring motorhome prices recently. I do know that prices of new vans have gone up quite dramatically over the past few years so this will also affect second hand values. The new price to the nearest equivalent of my current van is about 50% higher than what I paid for it 6 years ago. That Frankia is (was) a fantastic machine and with all the added off grid kit that it appears to have, assuming it’s all in good condition, I would think the price is a bit on the high side but not really excessive for a high quality machine, albeit some 14 years old now.
I’m sure that you have looked at pricing of similar aged vans of similar quality elsewhere to get a rough idea of values so you’re probably in a better position than me to judge.
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Thanks for that.
I agree, in that I think its slightly high.
I have tried to indicate I am nearer to the 40k mark, but it seems that its probably not going to cut it.
Quite a difficult call really, as it does seem to fit what I am looking for in many ways, and so good to hear it was a great van for you also.
Maybe time will tell, and the seller may have a change of heart.
 
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neilydun said:
Whats your thoughts on the price its up for ?
I have spoken to the guy selling, and he basically said the price is set.
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Have you been and seen it yet? It says its got 25 days to run and if the listing is a 30 day one I guess its not been up long. My approach would be to go see it and do a deal face to face assuming you want it. My gut feeling is its a bit niche and big and not one he might sell now as easy as he thinks he might based on my thoughts earlier about big van prices dropping. You could use the questionable MOT history as a bargaining chip but I would start at £38k and go from there. He might have said the price is set but thats for the birds if he can't shift it.

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barryd said:
Have you been and seen it yet? It says its got 25 days to run and if the listing is a 30 day one I guess its not been up long. My approach would be to go see it and do a deal face to face assuming you want it. My gut feeling is its a bit niche and big and not one he might sell now as easy as he thinks he might based on my thoughts earlier about big van prices dropping. You could use the questionable MOT history as a bargaining chip but I would start at £38k and go from there. He might have said the price is set but thats for the birds if he can't shift it.
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Ive been watching it for a while. I think this is its second time around, so its been on a while.
I agree the price can only be what someone is willing to pay, and for me its closer to 40k than 45.
I have indicated that, and, if I were to get a response that indicated there was more movement, I would then stand in front of it and make my best offer.
 
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Just wait don’t rush in, even if you don’t get it there’s always plenty more motorhomes coming along, if it doesn’t sell then it will be reduced don’t fall for the price is set ruse.
 
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If its been on once before he is either not bothered if he sells it or hasnt had much interest but if it were me I'd go and look at it and as said above make a low offer and work up if your only going to pay 40kand he says no walk away but ,eave your number he will change his mind I'm sure
 
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CazPaul said:
Just wait don’t rush in, even if you don’t get it there’s always plenty more motorhomes coming along, if it doesn’t sell then it will be reduced don’t fall for the price is set ruse.
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This is what I have decided to do.
If it is supposed to be, it will happen. If not something else will come along.

Thanks for the advise all
 
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