A few tears and a few tears...

[greatnortherncamper]

Probably an oft' asked question - but cant find any direct info so far - (probably not looking in the right area as this is clearly a major item of discussion.)

We're about to buy our first cali and have found a highly likely candidate; a 62 plate 180 4 motion DSG with very little use.

The only negative is that we've found a few very small cuts (25mm or less and "clean") in the bellows adjacent the drivers side rear "scissor" mechanism, in the area of the double stitched "pocketed" part of the roof (carrying the stiffeners / hinges)

Keen to gather opinions as to repairability / patching and if so best methods versus full replacement costs.

Also interested to get feedback on how much a (professionally) repaired bellows would affect re-sale values.



Hope you can help.


kind regards

 

[Californiaman]

I believe they're around £600 for a complete replacement. It is going yo suffer wear and tear if you use the van. I've decided to treat mine as a consumable item and expect to replace it at some point - hopefully not for a number of years though. I wouldn't worry about it too much!

 

[lewisnoble]

I have repaired similar nicks with Tear Aid, and it has worked fine, lasted OK and is hardly noticeable. In reality, however much care you take, small nicks and tears are hard to avoid and we have not found them a problem.

Lewis

 

[yanathem]

Fixed ours by stitching the tear and making a small pocket out of some canvas nearly the same colour and sowed it to the inside behind the rip to use to store a small torch or your van keys, etc.... while we are using the upstairs bed.