Buying with 121,000 on the clock?

[kiwitax]

Hello folks

Wondering if you can help. We're thinking of buying a 1990 Renault Trafic Autosleeper Recro, the dealer is selling for £4995 and he says he'll sort some of the rust and put in wiring for a leisure battery. I'm just feeling a bit concerned about the mileage. The vehicle has done 121,000 miles and I don't know if there are there questions I should be asking about how sound the engine/gear box is etc..

I have no idea about this sort of thing but does the engine need replacing after so many miles or will i get another 30,000 miles no bother? Is an engine rebuild expensive or might I face some other unknown big cost?

Any advice you can offer would be gratefully recieved.
Thanks -Andy

[Twolitre]

I would think a pre-purchase independent inspection would be wise. Perhaps by the AA or similar.
The engine and tranamission are not the only things which suffer from mileage and age. I would think that by its very nature and size, it has spent almost all its life outdoors. With long periods without being used, which also takes its toll.
Jim.

[jessiem]

I agree with twolitre about getting an inspection. It will save you many pounds in the long run and a lot of grief if you were thinking of purchasing it and then it goes wrong.... Not sure how much and AA inspection is but it will sure be worth it.

In my honest opinion, when the dealer says he will sort some of the rust, the high mileage and for that price I think I would be inclined to walk away. But that is only me talking.

If you are not in a hurry to purchase a motorhome keep looking because there are some decent ones out there at the price you seem to want to pay.

Good luck

[Guest]

I agree about the age and mileage of this van, it would need to be in tip top condition to warrent that sort of figure. You could get a decent van for that price and the cost of an AA inspection is nothing compared with the horror of rust on a twenty year old commercial vehicle based motorhome.
Best of luck in your search.
Colin

[ant]

Oh what a windy lot you are! 121000 miles on a commercial vehicle is probably only two years of its expected life of about 6 years. The rest of the vehicle is far more likely to be troublesome than the engine and gear box. Cheap rust proofing was always a problem on the Renault, especially around the rear spring mountings, also the brake fluid had a tenancy to turn to water far quicker than any other vehicle I've worked on and in doing so wrecked the rear wheel cylinders and front calipers. I have had many people have AA and RAC inspections here in my workshop and talking to the engineers that carry out the check it is obvious that they have to be very negative about older higher mileage vehicles if only to cover themselves. It is true that without knowing the service history of an old vehicle anything can go wrong at any time so my advice would be to buy from a trusted source and if it's from a dealer make sure they are aware of the fact that you expect a vehicle that is of a condition and road worthiness that reflects the price. Not enough people know thier rights when buying from a dealer, the fact is you have a far greater warranty than many dealers might offer.
Ant

[Twolitre]

Hi Ant, I had in mind the Renault rust problem when I mentioned it probably living outside. I did not condemn it on mileage! In fact my two cars have both exceeded 100,000miles. One by 7,000 and the other (the 40 year old one in my Avatar) by nearly 60,000. Neither are diesels and both are utterly reliable, the engines are as original and do not use oil any faster than they should have when new.
I agree that AA Inspectors tend to be negative, but that is much better than minimising any problems. A knowledgeable friend might be better. If the friend is willing to chance a fall out along the line if the deal goes sour!
Jim.

[jayjay]

Hi Kiwitax, welcome to the forum!

There's one on ebay at the moment:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Renault-Trafic...ans_Motorhomes

Not so much on the clock, a buy it now around £1,795. Newish engine, 1992, although the actual van is 1985 - a classic!!!. The description seems to confirm that they get rusty, so I think the only thing you perhaps need to think about is if you can afford to have it welded for the MOT every year, as perhaps you might have to.

Sounds like the dealer is making quite a packet there. I think I'd want ALL the rust sorted for that sort of price. JMHO.

Another thought I had was that at this time of year, just before the last bank holiday of the summer, is when a lot of ppl panic and buy the first thing they see. (I've done it myself). If you can wait until the beginning of September, the prices fall pretty rapidly! ;)

[kiwitax]

Gratitude

Thanks for your help folks. We have been looking around elsewhere.

[jessiem]

don't forget to come back and let us know how you are getting on