Buying secondhand van

[mikeelawson]

I am interested in buying a secondhand VW Calafornia from an individual not a dealer. My wife is concerned about checks on it and warranty. My question are:

Anyone used RAC or someone similar to check a van before purchase

The van is 22 plate, given that I am purchasing the van from a private seller, am I able to extend the warranty on it? Are VW extended warranties worth the monet

Reagrds and thanks,

BOOMEL

 

[LRGS253]

You should be able to extend the VW Warranty upto 6 years and 100,000 miles I believe.

RAC inspection would be peace of mind. Never used them myself, but I though they also gave you some warranty on their inspection.

 

[colintfcolintf]

I bought mine from a couple from the forum who also advertised their Ocean hear. The remainder of the extended warranty etc was transferred over to me. If you are buying from someone on here, and know their forum userid you’ll be able to search all of their forum posts including any problems that they were asking about. Don’t worry about buying privately, hopefully yours like mine came from a very loving home

 

[LRGS253]

My home is loving

 

[mikeelawson]

I bought mine from a couple from the forum who also advertised their Ocean hear. The remainder of the extended warranty etc was transferred over to me. If you are buying from someone on here, and know their forum userid you’ll be able to search all of their forum posts including any problems that they were asking about. Don’t worry about buying privately, hopefully yours like mine came from a very loving home

What checks did you do on the used vehicle please
Regards

BOOMEL

 

[colintfcolintf]

HPI check.

 

[Daveb999]

Ive bought two privately, both I did the HPI check on, didn’t bother with RAC. First one was great, second one needed roughly £1600 work done. However even with that it was still cheaper than buying from a dealer and I then had new tyres, shocks and I think it was brakes.

 

[Stargazing]

This time of year is as good as any. Are you a previous California owner? If so, you will know what questions to ask. If the sellers give the right answers, then they know their vehicle and the answers should tell you its been looked after.
Other than that, check service history, MOT history, outstanding finance etc etc.
The link below will point you in the direction to the many threads on this subject.

Advice on buying privately.

Hello to you all and I’m looking for guidance / advice on buying a second hand VW camper van from a private seller. My problem is handing over a large amount of £’s to an unknown private individual in exchange for a Camper van. You hear stories of people buying cars from private sellers and then...

vwcaliforniaclub.com

Follow the golden rule and follow your head and be prepared to walk away. Good luck.

 

[mikeelawson]

Could I get VW garage to do inspection and report on van?