Price

[Algerlyn]

Can anyone give me an idea on whether a 1998 Bailey ranger 5 berth , what sort of price ? If in good condition , I already know the oven dosnt work and just coming with an awning no other extras

 

[WoodlandsCamper]

Less than £3,000 possibly.

 

[chrisbee1]

To you it's worth whatever you're willing to pay for it, or if selling, whatever you manage to get for it. Some people will think it a good deal, others that you have been ripped off.

 

[colin-yorkshire]

how long is a piece of string !!!. it depends on so many things. condition, service history, and where it is bought from or sold to. lowest price would probably be to a dealer, without using it as a Part exchange, then it would be lucky to fetch £800, and that is only if it is in good enough condition to be re sold.
highest price probably from a dealer off the forecourt with usual warranties around the £3300. or sold as seen without warranty £2600, private sale depends on the seller but would expect somewhere in the middle.
but so much depends on the van, you already know the oven doesn't work that sets the alarm bells ringing to the service history and unseen condition.

if it is any help [not sure it will be] I sold our 2004 ranger in 2014 [10 years old] in perfect condition, bone dry with everything working including all the usual kit including mover, [apart from the items they did not want/need], for £2600, to a private buyer, I had been offered £1600 by the dealer I bought it off new but declined.

 

[Keefanmaxx]

I agree with Chris and Colin here ...... it's not the price the seller wants, it's what you feel it's worth and are prepared to pay.
We asked what our 2009 Bailey Ranger GT60 would be worth if we traded in ....... not suprisingly, we won't lose much if it's against a van thats new or less that 3 years old butvthe value will vary depending on the price/age of others. (We decided to keep it a bit longer!)

The car we recently aquired cost us no where near the screen price. In fact we increased our trade in value by £1600 and reduced the car by £2000, even though it had been reduced anyway just by standing our ground and being a bit cheeky by telling the salesman that I wouldn't be paying screen price.

If the person wants to sell and you want to buy, it's all a matter of numbers ... and finding one that you both like! :cheer:

 

[ProfJohnL]

Can anyone give me an idea on whether a 1998 Bailey ranger 5 berth , what sort of price ? If in good condition , I already know the oven dosnt work and just coming with an awning no other extras

Hello Algerlyn,
I hope you have gleaned from the responses you have received both in this thread and your other comparison thread, that it's impossible for forum contributors to give you a confident answer. With regard to comparing different caravan layouts, that is entirely down to personal preferences, and the best the forum can do is to perhaps highlight any particular issues, which may not be an issue for you.
Valuation's on s/h caravans can at best only be a generalisation, mainly because none of us can actually see the caravan you have in mind and there are so many variables/pitfalls that affect value. It becomes even more difficult the older a caravan is, as there are even more chances for major value eaters to have nibbled away at the caravan, often in unseen ways.

My best advice to you is to find a friend who caravans with several years experience, and ask them to go along with to look at prospective caravans with you. Having someone on the spot who may be able to spot the negatives would be a good start. Only if everything looks good in both your opinions then employ a local mobile caravan engineer to do a condition survey before you decide to buy. This would be money well spent.

Use your head not your heart, as any structural work needed can be very expensive, especially on older caravans where finding the correct parts can be very difficult.

 

[Mel]

Have a look at fleabay, gumtree, preloved and caravanfinder to see if there are any similar vans and what prices they are going for. For a van of that age condition, especially no damp is key, so you cannot expect exact matches on other sales sites; but it will at least put you in the ball park.
mel

 

[Raywood]

I agree with the advice given although if the oven does not work I would have everything else demonstrated to make sure that does and get service records before going any further. Many people do not use the oven so it may just be the jet is blocked but I cannot be sure. I suspect they are fairly expensive to replace although I have never costed one though so I would be wary.
The main condition point to be wary of is damp. It is probably sound but it needs to be checked. If there is no damp check report from a reliable engineer it is essential to have this done. Getting it wrong could be very costly and might mean the caravan is in fact worthless.
If buying privately get the serial number and do HPI and CRIS checks to make sure it is not on HP or stolen.

 

[ProfJohnL]

...The main condition point to be wary of is damp. It is probably sound but it needs to be checked. If there is no damp check report from a reliable engineer it is essential to have this done. Getting it wrong could be very costly and might mean the caravan is in fact worthless.
If buying privately get the serial number and do HPI and CRIS checks to make sure it is not on HP or stolen.

Hello Ray,

I can't help feeling you're giving the wrong impression here. We know that as caravans get older there is an increasing chance of damp issues occurring. It would in my view be better to assume damp could be a problem, and to have a specialist check the prospective purchase before buying.

 

[Raywood]

...The main condition point to be wary of is damp. It is probably sound but it needs to be checked. If there is no damp check report from a reliable engineer it is essential to have this done. Getting it wrong could be very costly and might mean the caravan is in fact worthless.
If buying privately get the serial number and do HPI and CRIS checks to make sure it is not on HP or stolen.

Hello Ray,

I can't help feeling you're giving the wrong impression here. We know that as caravans get older there is an increasing chance of damp issues occurring. It would in my view be better to assume damp could be a problem, and to have a specialist check the prospective purchase before buying.

Hello Prof, I know it can be a problem but I am getting the feeling that we are putting people off with the dire warnings and I am trying to be realistic. The problem has to be aired and damp is a potential problem and a damp test is essential but I do not want to frighten the life out of prospective purchasers. I am just worried that we are going over the top but at the same time want to make sure people understand the potential. It is a fine line assessing as to how far you go with this.

 

[ProfJohnL]

Hello Ray,

I do agree we are pointing out the potential problems more often, perhaps because we are getting more questions about secondhand caravans, I suppose it is open to debate if were are over emphasising damp issues.

However, I hope we want all readers and especially those who are contemplating an older secondhand purchase to be able to make an informed choice. One of the most serious becasue its such a major job to put right that gets aired on the forum are problems with water ingress or damp. I would rather potential purchaser's were aware enough to check for it, and avoid purchasing a money pit, after all it seems there is an increase in the number of new members who are contemplating cheaper second hand caravans, and these are the vans more likely to suffer damp issues.

Fore warned is fore armed.

I'm please to see that at least two or three new members have been steered away from blindly purchasing a caravan without proper checks.

 

[Dustydog]

I don't think anyone has gone over the top here.
The proposed purchase is 18 years old.
A thorough damp test / check is crucial.
Would anyone here buy an 18 year old car without checking for structural rust?

 

[martindf3]

I don't think anyone has gone over the top here.
The proposed purchase is 18 years old.
A thorough damp test / check is crucial.
Would anyone here buy an 18 year old car without checking for structural rust?

We had our van serviced 2 months ago . The chap said 0 % damp showing up quite relieved was I . Then two weeks ago one of the Seitz frames started leaking between frame and van . Sealer had failed ,fixed that one and from the outside ran the gun around all the others . What I was going to say is ... Do those cheap meters work with vans like they do with house damp ? My son has one which I keep meaning to have a go with . If they do, You could recommend that potential buyers take one with them .It would then become a bargaining point as well .

 

[WoodlandsCamper]

Then two weeks ago one of the Seitz frames started leaking between frame and van . Sealer had failed ,fixed that one and from the outside ran the gun around all the others .

New sealant on old will NOT cure a leak as sealant won't adhere to sealant. The old stuff needs to be completely removed and the original surface cleaned thoroughly.

 

[ProfJohnL]

... Do those cheap meters work with vans like they do with house damp ? My son has one which I keep meaning to have a go with . If they do, You could recommend that potential buyers take one with them .It would then become a bargaining point as well .

Hello Martin,

You have to be careful using a moisture meter in a caravan because its very easy to get false readings. Most caravan wall boards have a vinyl membrane and that can cause two major reasons for false readings.

The first is that is its quite possible for the vinyl to have film of moisture on it which can give a false high reading, and secondly the meters probes need to pierce the membrane to get to the wood underneath. If the membrane is not properly displaced the meter can give a false good reading. That will apply to professional and cheap domestic meters alike.

How good a cheap meter is is always uncertain unless it has been calibrated. Even a professional meter in untrained hands can give erroneous readings. The readings you gat also need to be understood in teh context of the material you are measuring.

It would be very tricky to rely on the readings from a cheap domestic meter as a tool to force a better bargain.

 

[martindf3]

Hi woodlands camper ,thanks for the reply , but you are replying to the converted so to speak . On my frames, the sealant had a gap of roughly 8mm from the outside of frame enough to secure frame , and I did clean all the grove out and then applied sealant in grove in my opinion plenty to provide a barrier to water ingress . The one that leaked got the full treatment . Prof ... don't know what to say to your reply , you could be saying that every test done for damp May be flawed or misinterpreted by unscrupulous people . I'm thinking warranty claims to manufactures etc .in my past , in the motor industry ,most water leaks stemmed from a poor joint fit etc. Cure that and you cure the leak . Back in my day , Volvo 480 had a load of complex electrical problems ...... turned out it was a small water leak into the ECU . Fix the leak ,dry out ECU and bingo no more faults . I will say water leaks earned us a lot of money as a dealership . Suspect that still happens in the caravan business

 

[ProfJohnL]

... Prof ... don't know what to say to your reply , you could be saying that every test done for damp May be flawed or misinterpreted by unscrupulous people . I'm thinking warranty claims to manufactures etc .in my past , in the motor industry ,most water leaks stemmed from a poor joint fit etc. Cure that and you cure the leak ...

Can you trust "unscrupulous people"? hmm

The majority of damp problems in caravans are due to the failure of seals, Often due to poor design and construction. So as you suggest there ought to be plenty of warranty claims, and indeed there are. But what is significantly different between the car industry and caravan industry is that the car industry found leaks and took steps to redesign to prevent them, where as the caravan industry continued with the same basic faulty design for decades. Manufacturers resist repairing leaky caravans by placing some quite steep requirements for their customers to follow, miss a step and your claim is disallowed.

I quite agree that if the manufactures were to take water ingress seriously they would redesign joints so they cannot be assembled incorrectly in the same way the car and lorry industry does.