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?

 

[Ch1pbutty]

We sold our 2015 Club Joker earlier this year. Th buyer had an independent inspection carried out, think it cost them £150, they just selected one off the internet,

The mechanic was very thorough, took him a few hours, checked all the mechanics, took for a long test drive and gave a full report. Only faults were condensation inside the indicator blinker.

Would avoid VW, Independent will probably be more thorough & cheaper:

 

[SusiBus]

Yes, you can take out a fresh extended warranty on a 22 reg as a new owner.
Yes, imo they are worth taking out, especially if you intend having any Servicing done in the future by a VW dealer. The warranty effectively comes free. They want to get you hooked in to paying VW service rates. Nothing comes totally for free in this world, and especially in the VW world.
Yes, a dealer will do a vehicle check, but at what cost? If it's a 22reg just out of warranty is it really necessary?

 

[WelshGas]

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

Remember most vehicle inspections will be related to the vehicle itself and Not the camper side of things, roof, water system, gas system and leisure electrics.

 

[Up10]

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 great aspect about buying privately is that you can see who drove and looked after the van previously. You can see how it was stored too. You do not get that first hand information from a dealer.
I bought a van advertised on this forum and I am very pleased with it. I checked the hpi and ensured any finance was cleared prior to purchase (but I understand there are other ways round this). The extended warranty and services were transferred to me as the new owner which gives good peace of mind when buying a second hand vehicle. I just had a very basic RAC check on the vehicle which was a paperwork exercise.
The purchaser for the van I sold had a full RAC check which seemed very thorough and I even went on the test drive with the mechanic which was informative. So for an older or high mileage vehicle, it might be worth considering. However, common sense and a VW extended warranty will probably be sufficient.
Don't be afraid to walk away if you have doubts. We did before we found the right van and we have no regrets.

 

[Blanco]

Ditto everything from Up10. There's also a comprehensive checklist for camping equipment in the resources section.

When buying our van I checked over everything I knew about vehicle mechanics generally and then asked the owner to demostrate all the camping equipment working. If the one you're looking at is an Ocean ask them to raise and lower the roof several times while you walk around the outside watching and listening - up and down smoothly and with only a slight noise from the roof motor is good. Unlikely on a fairly new van, but gurgling hydraulics, for example, not good.

When the roof is fully up, stand behind the back of the van and look directly along the line of the rubber seal on both sides. If the line of the seal at any point appears to bulge outward even slightly take a very very close look at the side of the roof directly above .. any distortion in the paintwork surface/reflection signals a buckled roof likely because the bellows once got caught in the scissor arms.

Takes a while to check a california over thoroughly especially if you're not completely familliar with them. Half a day in my case.

The biggest decider I've always found buying privately though is the person I'm buying from, and whether I trust them. Look them in the eye ask a question and watch their eyes when they answer .. if they look straight at me or at first glance upwards then most probably they're being truthfull. If they avert sideways or downwards then the chances are they're not and have something to hide - time to walk away.

 

[sidepod]

The great aspect about buying privately is that you can see who drove and looked after the van previously. You can see how it was stored too. You do not get that first hand information from a dealer.
I bought a van advertised on this forum and I am very pleased with it. I checked the hpi and ensured any finance was cleared prior to purchase (but I understand there are other ways round this). The extended warranty and services were transferred to me as the new owner which gives good peace of mind when buying a second hand vehicle. I just had a very basic RAC check on the vehicle which was a paperwork exercise.
The purchaser for the van I sold had a full RAC check which seemed very thorough and I even went on the test drive with the mechanic which was informative. So for an older or high mileage vehicle, it might be worth considering. However, common sense and a VW extended warranty will probably be sufficient.
Don't be afraid to walk away if you have doubts. We did before we found the right van and we have no regrets.

Exactly. If the van is left parked in the street then walk away.
If its nicely tucked away in a garage behind a five bar gate and the owner knows what he’s talking about then bite his hand off. Simple.

It’s no different from buying a car or a house. You know the moment you turn up!