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I'd fallen for a caravan that I'd seen at a dealership on Friday and went back for a second serious viewing with a dampmeter and Mr WR today.  The salesman had assured me that this particular van was dry as a bone - he'd checked it in himself that day.  Now obviously I'm not [totally!] daft and I realise that "he would say that, wouldn't he", but he was pretty darned confident that when I checked it over it myself with a dampmeter I'd find that it was a really good van for its age. 

So, after 36 hours of fairly steady rain and thunderstorms since then, we checked it with a damp meter today (actually, with the salesman's own dampmeter!), We found a couple of areas where the damp reached 31%, some where it was around 20% and the rest of the readings were around 10%.

I've two main questions

1) is it possible that the caravan could have been reading dry on Friday after this really prolonged dry spell we've had?  In other words, is dry weather a really bad time to buy a caravan?

2) What level of damp should put us off buying a van?  I wasn't too concerned with the 10% readings, was getting twitchy atound 20% and walked away for sure at 30% - is that about right?

Have a look here http://www.1carpc.co.uk/wcdr/checking-for-damp.htm , i'd be looking for the door at 31% . With a reading that high i'd say it's been damp for some time .

atb

Wizard

Thanks Wizard - yep, we headed for the door, but with a couple of backward glances as it had seemed like it was a good van for the money.

So in other words, a damp reading of perhaps up to 20% could be a negotiating tool if the rest of the van was pretty darned perfect but beyond that would be walk away territory?   And high levels would be unlikely to disappear completely in a prolonged dry spell. Does that sound about right?  Do  I have the plot as far as damp is concerned?

Ah - meant to add

And what would the impact of that damp be on trade in, if we were only planning to keep this van for a couple of years? Would a dealer be similarly lenient with 20% damp or would they use that to beat down the trade in price? Or will the trade in price in two years on a van that's currently only worth about £3-4k not really be worth fretting about too greatly .... :-(

confirming wizards calculations this is from the caravan hospital page.if you found damp or even thought you did walk away.there are lots of dry vans out there.

At the Caravan Hospital we believe in helping our customers keep their caravans healthy, and offer a FREE damp test in an effort to catch water ingress early on and save on expensive work later on. We use the tester shown, which allows us to monitor the onset of damp and catch it at the optimum moment.

Quote: is it possible that the caravan could have been reading dry on Friday after this really prolonged dry spell we've had?  In other words, is dry weather a really bad time to buy a caravan?

2)

Thanks all!

Al&Mel - yes, I think the damp meter was properly calibrated, not least because it was the dealership's own! I didn't know that they lost calibration though, wonder how often they should be re-calibrated?

Michael - I guess that confirms that up to 20% shouldn't just mean we walk straight away from the caravan then?

Jax - that's interesting to read, as the salesman did seem convincing and they did feel genuinely surprised by the new readings.  If I thought they were completely lying, I'd  be less likely to go there again ... not that I have any inherent faith that salesmen tell the truth

Quote: Originally posted by White Rose on 09/5/2011

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Thanks all!

Al&Mel - yes, I think the damp meter was properly calibrated, not least because it was the dealership's own! I didn't know that they lost calibration though, wonder how often they should be re-calibrated?

Michael - I guess that confirms that up to 20% shouldn't just mean we walk straight away from the caravan then?

Jax - that's interesting to read, as the salesman did seem convincing and they did feel genuinely surprised by the new readings.  If I thought they were completely lying, I'd  be less likely to go there again ... not that I have any inherent faith that salesmen tell the truth

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Quote: Originally posted by Al+Mel on 09/5/2011

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Wow ! Own goal on their part! If they sorted it out and gave you a warranty on the repairs could it still be worth it?

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Yes, and that's kind of why I suspect the results took them a bit by surprise because the salesman was actually enthusiastically encouraging me to use his damp meter :-)  Hmm, wonder whether to ask them if they'd consider sorting it ... I suspect because the van is pretty old, it'd play havoc with their sales margins ...

Quote: Originally posted by White Rose on 09/5/2011

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Ah - meant to add

And what would the impact of that damp be on trade in, if we were only planning to keep this van for a couple of years? Would a dealer be similarly lenient with 20% damp or would they use that to beat down the trade in price? Or will the trade in price in two years on a van that's currently only worth about £3-4k not really be worth fretting about too greatly .... :-(

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I'd imagine they would either beat the price right down or say they aren't interested in the van because it has damp and they would have trouble selling it on .

atb

Wizard