How old is too old

[Hazy-thoughts]

Thanks Don and Mandrake, I have been looking at or around ten yr old Hymers, They seem to also fit what we are able to afford £25,000 - £30,000
I think that this is realistic, for that I expect to get a Good condition not too high mileage vehicle, which hopefully we may well be able to sell on should something happen and we needed to.
I absolutely love the look of the slightly older 1992-3-4 s700's, but am concerned about mileage, and resale on one of these. Also buying now for a fulltiming adventure how long before we encountered an age related problem or two with something that old.

 

[Don]

I assume that you mean vehicle age and not your own.
A couple of points come to mind.
Normaly Campers come with extremely low milage (mine was 30K on a 10 year old vehicle) Which to me means that I am driving a 10 year old vehicle that had the use of a 3 or 4 year old vehicle.

Assuming you are paying cash as I did, then this enables you to keep some money back for Maintenance.(my son-in-laws is on Hp)

Diesel engines tend to go on for ever as long as you service regularly and dont abbuse them (regular oil & Filter changes and fuel filter seems to be the order of the day).

The only advise I would give on experience is look at lots, dont fall in love with the first one. be honest with your self, does it meet all your requirements. I know that if I was doing it again from scratch I wouldnt have got the pilote, nothing wrong with it more than pleased, but it is more than I need, especially after seeing the small conversions at the Manchester show this weekend.

Any way, good luck in your search.

Don

 

[cas]

try adrian flux, my van is 26 year old and i have no probs. they even offer you a agreed value on your van. i chose him as i use my van as normal transport and he was the only one i could find that will cover me for commuting .

Another classic van driver! ive got mine with adrian flux never had any problems, but wouldnt have there breakdown cover.

 

[GARY ENGLISH]

Oldies

As long as they have been looked after and well maintained,should not be a problem.Just look at some of the marvelious classics about.

 

[Hazy-thoughts]

You guy's have been a great help, I am still scouring the ad's and am hopefully getting closer to the time when we are ready to buy. The house is being spring cleaned and decorated ready to sell, so hopefully this year will see us writing the next chapter in our lives. It is all so exciting....and a little scary.

Having looked at so many vans and configurations, I have a further question, you guy's all have years of experience of different vans and engine/chassis types,
What are the pro's and con's of the Merc against the Fiat engines. I have always favoured the Merc, but not sure if I am missing a trick somehow. There seem to be so many vans built on Fiats that I wonder have got it right. Obviously we are looking at vehicles around ten - twelve yr's old, which I am hoping to get many years of happy service out of yet

Once again

thanks to you all for your help

Wally

 

[Guest]

Fiat/Merc

I must admit that I have always thought the same as you about the Mercs, however you have to bear in mind that both of the vehicles that you mention (Merc & Fiat) are built as commercial vehicles and both have a high mileage live span that is unlikely to be used to the full in any motorhome
There are plenty of old Fiat vans around in Europe just like there are plenty of old Mercs.
The Fiat is supposed to have a better ride as I understand that the tracking is wider, but there must be plenty of good points to be said for the Merc.
I suspect that one of the reasons that most of the Motorhome manufacturers built on the Fiat/ Peugeot chassis is that it costs a little less
Happy hunting for whichever one that you go for

 

[t&s]

You guy's have been a great help, I am still scouring the ad's and am hopefully getting closer to the time when we are ready to buy. The house is being spring cleaned and decorated ready to sell, so hopefully this year will see us writing the next chapter in our lives. It is all so exciting....and a little scary.

Having looked at so many vans and configurations, I have a further question, you guy's all have years of experience of different vans and engine/chassis types,
What are the pro's and con's of the Merc against the Fiat engines. I have always favoured the Merc, but not sure if I am missing a trick somehow. There seem to be so many vans built on Fiats that I wonder have got it right. Obviously we are looking at vehicles around ten - twelve yr's old, which I am hoping to get many years of happy service out of yet

Once again

thanks to you all for your help

Wally

fiats are a cheaper build quality and a cheaper price
fiat specialise in motorhome chasis more than the others
but you get what you pay for or can afford
personaly i would go for as big a vehicle as i could afford
based on a transit or merc ...if i only had the cash
so i will have to stay with my fiat there not that bad

 

[draaiorgel]

I must agree on all that has been said about the early Merc diesels.
I had an old 207D and bought it with 120,000 miles on the clock, I added another 100,000 miles to it with no problems.
These old motors were the best, not uncommon to go 4 -5 times round the clock.
The most important factor of all as has been said before,
regular oil and filter changes including fuel filter.
The one before that I sold with 350,000 on the clock and still ran beautifully after running it for 12 years.

 

[wildman]

Have heard it said Mercs are good for 650,000 miles, your average diesel 350,000 so you pays your money and takes your choice. My Merc is 1981 and only 97,000 on the clock starts first time runs sweetly and will run on vegetable oil LEGALLY!!!!!! (you can use up to 2500 litre a year and not bother about fuel tax.) Currently I pay 73p per litre.

 

[Trevor]

l run on vegetable oil LEGALLY!!!!!! (you can use up to 2500 litre a year and not bother about fuel tax.) Currently I pay 73p per litre.

I dont know about your area but there is not a lot of saving to be made from using vegi oil as the price of it is way high now that they know you can run a vehicle on it, all good things come to an end

 

[wildman]

currently 73p per litre is quite a saving, when I get round to refining old chipshop oil it will be free.

 

[Trevor]

currently 73p per litre is quite a saving, when I get round to refining old chipshop oil it will be free.

Hi Wildman,
A few of my mates have had problems with the stuff from the chip shops and also from a local garage that sells the bio diesel maybe they dont refine it properly

 

[guerdeval]

There's a guy in South Devon who runs a Company called www.bundesvan.co.uk (or .com,I cann't remember), his name is Nick and he sources good quality used vans from his many contacts in UK and Continent, I think he charges over £1000 but it could be money well spent as he has many years experience, also, he sells motorhomes on behalf of people who p/x their vans. On economy I found my previous van (a y2k hymer 694 on 3 axles on a Fiat to return aroung 22-24mpg, my present van is a hymer S820 02reg which gives around 18mpg on a MB sprinter chassis, this is with and without towing a Smart on a trailer, I think the Merc pulls better despite the weight but the Fiat was quieter, I did find the bits around the Fiat to be a lot flimsier though.

 

[wildman]

Hi Wildman,
A few of my mates have had problems with the stuff from the chip shops and also from a local garage that sells the bio diesel maybe they dont refine it properly

Whilst I am told 100% is ok I only use 50% to be on the safe side, I may increase that percentage during the summer. The early Mercs are the best vehicles to use SVO, heck they were originally designed to run on vegetable oil. Refining I am told can be a pig to get right as you have to remove all non veg oil items, batter, water, and finally animal fat. Not as easy as it sounds.

 

[Hazy-thoughts]

Thanks for all the input fellas
Thanks very much for the link Guerdeval

Lovely looking Hymer S700 on there, anyone want to buy a house by the seaside.........