Thinking of buying campervan

coathanger

Hi all, looking for advice, we are currently looking at 98VWLT35, it has 240 miles, bit of rust on the doors, didn't get any damp smell. Can anyone give me some pointers/tips.We are looking at it just to go away in Ireland for weekends etc no children but have 4 dogs. Are dogs allowed on campsites in Southern Ireland. Any help/advice would be much appreciated.

Day Lewin

Do you really mean 240 miles? 2,400? 24,000? 240,000?

Make and model?

coathanger

Day Lewin wrote: »

Do you really mean 240 miles? 2,400? 24,000? 240,000?

Make and model?

its a 98 VW LT35 Diesel,240,000 miles on the clock.

coathanger

Anyone ???

Hi all, looking for advice, we are currently looking at 98VWLT35, it has 240 miles, bit of rust on the doors, didn't get any damp smell. Can anyone give me some pointers/tips.We are looking at it just to go away in Ireland for weekends etc no children but have 4 dogs. Are dogs allowed on campsites in Southern Ireland. Any help/advice would be much appreciated.

crabbypaddy

coathanger wrote: »

Anyone ???

Hi all, looking for advice, we are currently looking at 98VWLT35, it has 240 miles, bit of rust on the doors, didn't get any damp smell. Can anyone give me some pointers/tips.We are looking at it just to go away in Ireland for weekends etc no children but have 4 dogs. Are dogs allowed on campsites in Southern Ireland. Any help/advice would be much appreciated.

Is it a conversion or a factory built yoke. Its based on the T1N sprinter so rust is a given, make sure its all solid underneath, chassis rails inner sills, inner wings, forward member, cross members. Check for play in the diff / driveshaft, universal joints. Most of all drive it, make sure it goes cleanly through all gears, there no knocking, whining, vibration etc at various speeds, make sure the clutch is biting and slipping as it should no judder no chatter. Check central locking is working, blower works on all speeds

Later models had a dual mass flywheel which can be expensive not sure about 98. Most had a 5 pot vw engine which is 90% identical to the t4 engines. Thats probably a good thing because most of the show stopper problems with sprinter were engine and immobiliser related.

Remember its a 19 year old van with 240k on it so be realistic, a few problems is fine once its reflected in the price.

coathanger

crabbypaddy wrote: »

Is it a conversion or a factory built yoke. Its based on the T1N sprinter so rust is a given, make sure its all solid underneath, chassis rails inner sills, inner wings, forward member, cross members. Check for play in the diff / driveshaft, universal joints. Most of all drive it, make sure it goes cleanly through all gears, there no knocking, whining, vibration etc at various speeds, make sure the clutch is biting and slipping as it should no judder no chatter. Check central locking is working, blower works on all speeds

Later models had a dual mass flywheel which can be expensive not sure about 98. Most had a 5 pot vw engine which is 90% identical to the t4 engines. Thats probably a good thing because most of the show stopper problems with sprinter were engine and immobiliser related.

Remember its a 19 year old van with 240k on it so be realistic, a few problems is fine once its reflected in the price.

its a conversion, took for a test drive & seemed fine,once I got the hang of the gears !!!Am a bit unsure whether to go ahead & get a mechanic to give it the once over.How much would that cost?any idea?Also we have never hired one even for a few days, would we be mad to purchase one without ever trying one for a few days?? thanks for you advice

crabbypaddy

coathanger wrote: »

its a conversion, took for a test drive & seemed fine,once I got the hang of the gears !!!Am a bit unsure whether to go ahead & get a mechanic to give it the once over.How much would that cost?any idea?Also we have never hired one even for a few days, would we be mad to purchase one without ever trying one for a few days?? thanks for you advice

Don't think you'd be mad as long as its not overpriced. You would get your money back next year if it was taxed /tested and it didn't work for you. We have one dog and he can be unbelievably smelly after a roll in seaweed or the od dead dolphin at the beach.

If I had no kids and four dogs I would fit a fixed double over a low garage like a racevan. and seperately ventilate the dogs compartment.

This kind of thing but lower:

coathanger

crabbypaddy wrote: »

Don't think you'd be mad as long as its not overpriced. You would get your money back next year if it was taxed /tested and it didn't work for you. We have one dog and he can be unbelievably smelly after a roll in seaweed or the od dead dolphin at the beach.

If I had no kids and four dogs I would fit a fixed double over a low garage like a racevan. and seperately ventilate the dogs compartment.

This kind of thing but lower:

Thanks for that, u have given us plenty of food for thought. The other half is un decided too !! Will keep u posted .

Moomat

crabbypaddy wrote: »

Don't think you'd be mad as long as its not overpriced. You would get your money back next year if it was taxed /tested and it didn't work for you. We have one dog and he can be unbelievably smelly after a roll in seaweed or the od dead dolphin at the beach.

If I had no kids and four dogs I would fit a fixed double over a low garage like a racevan. and seperately ventilate the dogs compartment.

This kind of thing but lower:

Oh how I've longed for a compartment like that for our long haired German Shepherd.

While she hasn't encountered any dolphins, dead or otherwise, she does have a tendency to deposit quite alot of hair, sand, excess water and aroma in the van

shabarn

Hi I m new to boards! But would any one know roughly how much vrt would be on an 2003 motor home costing 22k sterling looking at one in NI. I ve read it's worked out on value of similar vehicles advertised in Car Buyers.??? I ve read it's like a lottery of how the vrt figure is arrived at.
Has anyone bought one recently.
Thanks

piuswal

shabarn wrote: »

Hi I m new to boards! But would any one know roughly how much vrt would be on an 2003 motor home costing 22k sterling looking at one in NI. I ve read it's worked out on value of similar vehicles advertised in Car Buyers.??? I ve read it's like a lottery of how the vrt figure is arrived at.
Has anyone bought one recently.
Thanks

As I recall VRT is c 13.5% of the OMP, Open Market Price as determined by Revenue, not sure how they determine it.

If you are not happy with their valuation you can challenge it.

They provide fairly clear details as to how you can do that; basically you have to provide 3 examples of prices which, of course, are lower.

You'll have your bill /invoice from the seller - if it is lower and you can either get a quotation from a company here in the Republic and one other price from DoneDeal or where ever, or 2 prices from DoneDeal or where ever.

They must be for the same type and year of vehicle.

You can also search for prices in any of the EU states and it you find suitable ones, simple print of the details so Revenue can check for themselves.

It can be quite complicated figuring out the values as you have to strip out the VAT etc, and they are different around Europe.

The Revenue site shows how they arrive at the OMP.

I suppose a simple rule is that that if you can find prices lower than what Revenue quote, then your in business.

I seem to recall using examples from French and Finnish sale sites and they were accepted.

You'll have to pay their estimate first and then claim a refund.

The rules said you "MAY" use a quote from a registered seller here, but you do not have too if it doesn't suit you; 3 suitable quotes from anywhere within the EU are acceptable.

That's my recollection of the process, I'm sure someone will correct it if there are errors.

shabarn

Thank you for all that information.much appreciated.

mrs.doubt.fire

I have large dogs and my camper van was purchased mainly for going places with them. Most camp sites in Ireland allow dogs but you must keep them on a leash at all times when on any camp site (any public area). Some camp sites prefer if folks with dogs park in a certain area of the camp site away from those who don't have dogs with them, and the usual - pick up after your dog etc.

My camper is insured with Dolmen in Dublin, they may require you to have a car too before they consider insuring your camper. Your car don't have to be insured with them. But you may have a problem insuring it if it wasn't a camper made from the factory (purposely built camper) and not a conversion. But check them out anyway. There are others who insure campers/caravans but I only know about Dolmen and I have been with them for years.

As for the VRT in the Republic, they may require photo's of the inside and out side, it's very important you get it done the minute you bring it into the Republic (same day!!), they are slow to react to get the paper work done at their end so the longer it goes on the more they will charge you as a fine for late payment (they will hold it up, don't ask me why). As for your local county council tax office in the Republic (road tax) may ask to see it before they road tax it for you. That's all mainly because folks with horse box's/trailers are claiming it's a camper for cheaper road tax when in fact it's a horse box/trailer and not a camper.

In the Republic, camper vans are DOE tested just like cars. If it's a brand new camper you get it DOE tested for the first time when it's 4 years old, and then every 2 years after that. Car's are NCT tested but Campers are DOE tested whear large vans and trucks/bus's are tested as they are bigger vehicles and fit into the test center. Empty everything out of it before you go for the DOE test as you would when getting the car tested as it has to weight the same as the registration book, you may have to get the reg book re-marked as a camper and not a van if your doing a conversion from a van to a camper. Empty the water tanks too before the DOE test.

For the winter months...empty the water tanks and then drive it up and down the road to let any remaining water in the pipes flow out, do this before you put it away every winter, so if there is a big freeze ..the frost wont burst the water pipes

mrs.doubt.fire

PS...get a tracker fitted to it, camper vans and caravans are always being stolen in the Republic of Ireland. You need a tracker that will track all over Europe and not just Ireland (north & south) and the UK. Some (not all) trackers you can have it set that if someone starts the engine or if it moves off your property (goes out side the gate) an alarm is sent to your mobile phone to let you know...it's moving!!