Wanted - older camper van or advice on buying older camper van

Damp DAMP and more damp. Check everywhere inside for signs of damp leaks and soft spongy spots in walls and floors. Rust in all the usual places but usually not as hard to rectify as damp. This is probably the worst year to be looking for a camper, demand is very high at the moment with everyone staying home for holidays. Be careful, there's a lot of scam artists out there just waiting for your money. Don't part with any cash unless you have something in return. Get seller to operate and demonstrate all water and gas systems & toilet &shower & waste dump. If you put in your county it might help. Good luck with the search.

Bingo!

Try to be a bit more specific about what your asking . your going to look at something ???.
Make ,Model Manufacturer,Engine etc.
If your looking for 4/5 berth do you needs belts on all seats or is it just for the room.
put everything on a list and tick it off as you get answers from the seller.if he can't answer them consider walking away.
It's your money,once you give it over your never getting it back, you will get a lot of excuses as to why not.

you have got a lot of good advise so far.

this up an hour on donedeal,lhd but hope its good for you,at 9k maybe worth a look?

Go carefully the test info is incorrect.

CRW Details for vehicle 98KY4393CRW Expiry date /Next CVR test due: 13 Mar 2020CRW Serial Number: A002714501

so it is not in test and whenever its done it will be backdated to 13 March.

feel I am in out of my depth tbh!!

we went and saw a 1993 4 berth Fiat and put down small deposit to hold it. The guy selling seems to be buying and doing up vans for CVRT then selling on. The CVRT had been passed day before we looked at it - but only runs til Jan as had been let lapse. He told us he was selling for some other fellows brother but couldn't show us anything working so said he will get everything figured out and show when we come to pick van up or we can have deposit back (hmmm...) he just didn't know where the switch was to demo everything

we thought he was kosher enough as we visited his home, he has a big workshop out to one side where he seems to do his fixing up etc

Anyway - planning to go and look again/collect it tomorrow if everything working (assuming insurance comes through in time)

He says everything is now working fine, said with the fridge you have to charge it up off mains at home then it works from gas - as I said am a complete novice so not sure if that makes sense - can anyone confirm?

It's a neat little van, short chassis so even I feel ok driving it. Only has one seat belt in back - do you know is it possible to get another fitted? it's probably only one as there is only one forward facing seat in back

CVRT says 114k km on it, also though it says make and model unspecified/unknown - would that be cause for alarm?

the price we agreed came to €9,400 so we may well be paying covid-year prices I don't know. Saw some absolute heaps of awfulness for around €7,000 so given this seems to drive ok and be neat and tidy inside we thought it might do as a starter

The advice I would offer you is to get in touch with someone who knows a bit about these vehicles and get them to go with you to inspect it, there can be lots of problems waiting.
As for the fridge the electricity has nothing to do with it running on gas other than charging the battery that may be required for the igniter.

"He told us he was selling for some other fellows brother but couldn't show us anything working "

I do not like the sound of that. Please do not part with your hard-earned until you get the vehicle checked out by an independent knowledgeable person.
A good friend of mine recently dodged the bullet when a knowledgeable person he brought along found serious damp problems. He said the fee he paid was a small price for avoiding paying €32k for a heap of trouble.

It’s easy for me to say but 27 years old and €9400 is quite some gamble. Will you get any warranty? You could be investing in a money pit, equally it could be great.

Request that the owner of the vehicle comes to meet you and shows you how everything works.
Any money spent on getting a suitable person to inspect it will be money well spent.

I'm still here and very grateful to everyone who took the time to respond. We didn't go to pay for and collect the van Saturday as we had planned because we haven't got insurance sorted out yet, there seems to be a delay with processing for everyone. Our plan was to get that sorted and then go up and check absolutely everything else that we as novices could possibly check and if anything didn't work to walk away, leaving the deposit if necessary.

I looked up "insurance assessor of Ireland" as suggested by Sprinter above but couldn't see anything that might help in terms of someone to come and look at it with us. It seemed to be all just businesses that deal with insurance claims.

I would love someone qualified to take a look, but I just don't know how to find them.

So the advice has been great, I am just struggling to follow it!

One other thing about this particular van, se couldn't see rust anywhere, but the front bumper and various parts of the van have been repainted to look neat and tidy. Is that something that should necessarily worry us? underneath seems to have been coated also.

The inside of the van is in very very good nick, even the toilet roll holder in the bathroom is intact, all knobs and buttons are on and working (apart from fridge which has a different mechanism on the top) which does suggest me that it has been well looked after. But as a previous poster said it is a lot of money for such an old vehicle and we could be wide eyed walking into something horrible without knowing...

thank you so much Sprinter - I did what you suggested and while the person I contacted through the IAEA couldn't help he did recommend we contact Assess Ireland -so I did that and have booked an engineer to go and check the van tomorrow. I asked them about a habitation check, as the engineer who recommended them said that is specifically what you need on a camper van, and the reason he was less keen to do it as he didn't have experience of doing those checks. The woman I spoke to at Assess Ireland didn't immediately know about this but I have sent them details and they said if they can't carry it out they will let me know beforehand and refund the fee. For anyone else who is interested the fee we have been quoted is €307 incl VAT

another update - went through the list from IAEA and finally found a guy about 40km away who will do a check - not full habitation check but will check mechanics and body and that everything is working inside and out. He is charging €180. Hopefully will get there before the seller decides to sell it again as he seems to be getting a bit impatient now!

Mechanicals are a known quantity but water damage can require a blank cheque it's not uncommon to have to pay out a few grand to get damp damage sorted.
I wouldn't buy without getting a competent professional to check for damp.
If you add where you live to your profile there may be someone local who can point you in the direction of a trusted person to look the vehicle over.

thanks folks you are keeping me sane

the engineer who said he will go and check it categorically said he doesn't check for damp

the van is the clare side of limerick city - I am in west cork

if anyone has a trusted independent who can check body and mechanics and that it all works and is not damp I would be eternally grateful

good question Skipper - if you find out please post here

Be aware there are two types of damp meter. One of which has two sharp prongs which measure the moisture content. An owner may be not be happy if you start making holes in his van, so go carefully. The second type is less intrusive. This seems to be a useful article.

https://www.caravanhelper.co.uk/caravan-damp-meter/

Davy