Ive been offered by a friend his 2000 Hobby excellent 540 UFE. He is literally going to sell it to me for £2000 below usual selling price for that year. Heres the catch. It would seem there is a common problem for the rear drainage to get blocked and seep onto the underside of the floor. this has happened on this van and has rotted the 2 rear corners (approx 6" diameter). After searching other forums it would seem the drainage is an easy fix.
Does anyone know if i should steer clear or should i try and repair and have a bargain Hobby with all the extras.
Floor rot around the rear corner steadies has been mentioned in relation to Hobby caravans in the past. Personally I would be inclined not to buy it was I would imagine it would be a very difficult repair to put right. As you say the drainage can be put right but depending on how bad the floor is you could well have a major job onb your hands. Perhaps the 'Fix it Group' could come up with suggestions.
David
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I think you need to find out much more about how you are going to fix it. People may say its an easy repair. It doesn't sound it to me.
Find out how you will do it. Then only you can decide if it is within your capabilities.
If he is selling £2k below market value it is presumably a £2k repair job. That's a big one. When it's done it will be a repaired van and never worth as much as a van that didn't need a repair. Same as cars.
Your friend is selling the van for £2000 less than its value, because it is defective and damaged.
He is not doing it out of the kindness of his heart and no doubt would not be selling it if it was undamaged.
The owner would have made a considered decision as to the potential cost of repair (and inconvenience) against the value of the van when fixed and has ultimately made the decision to sell.
The discount probably represents its true value in its current condition (but might well be worth even less as no repair cost has been stated).
If the repair was easy and cheap, then I would have thought the owner would have had it done and then been able to sell it for its full value.
I am assuming that you would not have posted this issue if you were confident in assessing the damage and repairing it yourself, so I also assume you may be looking for a professional repair.
Having had experience in the past of professional repair costs,you might find that £2000 does not buy you a lot. In which case you would have all the inconvenience of having the work done and could still be no better off financially.
I would get the owner to get a quote for the repairs and then decide if you want to proceed with the transaction. Remember there are many Hobby vans out there in perfect condition.