trident T4 - buying dilemma

Hi Im a new member hoping to buy a Trident T4 autosleeper.

 I really need some help! I wondered if anyone might be able to spare a bit of time to look at this van ive got my eye on?

Ive been looking at the Trident (link below). Ive just had an RAC check done on it, which brought up some things:
- broken ball joint gaiter,
- slightly noisy power steering one way on full lock,
- problem with the horn sounding when steering wheel turned (the owner has the horn disconnected to avoid this, and connects it just for MOT.. hmm, not ideal, but not major I guess).
- temp gauge stays constant at slightly higher than where it should be.

The seller is asking £8750. Im not sure how much these vans hold their price. Its 1991 registered. It has a recon engine with 33,000 on it. Its got good body work, and minimal rust. Some surface rust underneath but not structural. Its in good nick inside, well looked after. It doesn't have a full service history but has receipts for a fair bit of the work done, including the recon engine. Has had 15 owners.

Bearing in mind stuff will go wrong with it, im trying to work out:
1) is it just too old realistically, - im wanting to go to France this summer for a month in it, just me and 2 small children. I do need something reasonably reliable.
2) Is it on at a reasonable price?

If youre able to have a look at all i'd be so grateful.
Thanks!
Holly

Heres the link
 
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Hi Holly,
What's the 'real' mileage of the vehicle? Bear in mind that although the engine (or at least parts of it) have only done 13,000 - the rest of the vehicle has done a lot more!

Steve

Hi Steve, It was 151, 000. on the old engine

Hi Holly, I'm not well up on VWs but:

hollysheldon wrote:Hi Im a new member hoping to buy a Trident T4 autosleeper.

 I really need some help! I wondered if anyone might be able to spare a bit of time to look at this van ive got my eye on?

Ive been looking at the Trident (link below). Ive just had an RAC check done on it, which brought up some things:

Says listing ended

- broken ball joint gaiter,
- slightly noisy power steering one way on full lock,
- problem with the horn sounding when steering wheel turned (the owner has the horn disconnected to avoid this, and connects it just for MOT.. hmm, not ideal, but not major I guess).
- temp gauge stays constant at slightly higher than where it should be.

The ball joint boot will need to be done as it keeps grit out and grease in the balljoint.
My power steering pump squawks at full lock both sides, don't know why this one should do it on one side only?
Not having a horn is illegal, why has the owner not fixed this?
Don't think a slightly high temp gauge is a problem unless it's been tampered with - recon engine and new radiator - why?

The seller is asking £8750. Im not sure how much these vans hold their price. Its 1991 registered. It has a recon engine with 33,000 on it. Its got good body work, and minimal rust. Some surface rust underneath but not structural. Its in good nick inside, well looked after. It doesn't have a full service history but has receipts for a fair bit of the work done, including the recon engine.

I don't have a full service history for mine as I do my own servicing / repairs

Has had 15 owners.

This would worry me a great deal, why so many owners?

Bearing in mind stuff will go wrong with it, im trying to work out:
1) is it just too old realistically, - im wanting to go to France this summer for a month in it, just me and 2 small children. I do need something reasonably reliable.
2) Is it on at a reasonable price?

I think condition is more important than age, I don't know if the price is right but it seems expensive to me.
Personally, I'd give it a miss.

Frank

I would also give it a miss, if you have two children you will need three , three point seat belts, this has only two, and lap belts, they are not for children as I understand it, there are plenty of good vans out there don`t rush into getting one, do your home work , then you know more and able to barter if need be.

 took me ages to find the two I wanted, a small one to start with then a larger one. the first one I looked was a complete rust bucket, a Trophy, she wanted £8000, the windscreen  supports were all rusted through, I walked away, took me five more before I found the good one that I did buy, a Topaz, then took some time to find the Anniversary Clubman.

So take your time, not easy I know when you are excited and eager to get one.

Good luck,
Margaret

I would avoid it too. The high temperature would worry me. I don't trust many "engine reconditioning" companies, having had bad experiences with two engines that I have had rebuilt.

15 previous owners is also a worry. Granted it is 23 years old and a few of those will have sold due to change of circumstances, but that still leaves a lot of people who have had a reason to shift it on quickly.

I also don't understand the part which says "I have just sent off to get the van reclassified so it can be used in London" as I'm not aware of any "reclassification" that will exempt a 1991 diesel from the LEZ charges.

Seller's name doesn't inspire confidence either   

Frank

Hi there,

I think there may be a better van out there for you!   
 
Don't be disheartened.  Remember the Princess had to kiss a lot of frogs!!     

Best regards,
 

Hi
Yes, I was planning to get the seat belts sorted for the kids.
Hmm, that's a lot of people saying avoid it... arggghhhh!

Am I going to generally have these problems with any van of this age?  
Do I need to raise what I pay in order to get a decent van?

Seems a 10 year younger van is approx. double the price? 

Hmm, are Trident autosleepers really worth this? That's what im trying to work out. Or get a different make which seem so much cheaper.

Sorry for all the questions! Bit of a minefield.
Reckon I could stretch to £12k. But will this give any better chance of a reliable van?!

Any advice on this greatly received

Holly

Holly

How about a VW clubman,  not much bigger, more comfortable, more mpg, more of them for sale from I can see, there are lots of owners on here, me included, mine is my everyday vehicle as many are. just a thought, very reliable into the bargain.

You will get an older one for less than £12,000

Hi Holly,
We have had our Trident for a couple of years and really love it. It's perfect for the two of us and the dog. The conversion is in my opinion much better than any other T4 conversion i have seen and the high top is so useful for storage (or a bed for a couple of kids). I do think they are worth the money and they do seem to hold their value.

I would agree with previous comments - a recon engine would make me run a mile - especially if it was done at 150k - the 2.4 engines should be fine at this mileage if they have been serviced regularly. And 15 owners seems crazy high for a vehicle that should be a big investmeant and will hopefully become and extra member of the family!

We are actually about to sell ours as we have decided to upgrade to another (2008) Trident - mainly to get automatic gearbox (my wife is deaf and really struggles to hear the gear changes). We pick up the new van on Friday if all goes to plan. I will genuinely be sorry to see 'Sophie' go.

We'll be asking about £14.5k for ours - i dont want to take less than £14k if  (1998 T4, Series 2 long nose, 2.4D, 75,000 miles, lovely condition, Fiamma awning, bike rack, drive away awning, etc). PM me if you are interested. I do have one other person who has 'first refusal' but will be advertising it on here shortly otherwise.

Good luck with your search - there are lots of Tridents out there - I'm sure you'll find the right one for you.

Steve

-mojo- wrote:I also don't understand the part which says "I have just sent off to get the van reclassified so it can be used in London" as I'm not aware of any "reclassification" that will exempt a 1991 diesel from the LEZ charges.

Just a though on this (having had a stinky letter from TFL!). Apparently you can take an older diesel motorhome in to London - if it's below 2.5 tonnes. I believe the Tridents are rated at 3 tonnes. In theory you can take the vehicle to be weighted and (provided it's below the 2.5 tonne mark) get it replated at 2.5 and therefore make it exempt from LEZ.

But i have not tried this and dont know if it's that easy - and i really dont know how much a Trident weights. I assume the government weighbridges are not stupid and 'stripping' the interior to squeeze through might not be allowed!

More info here: [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Steve

Hi Holly, I think you need to take a step back and think about what you need / want.
VWs tend to be at the top end of the price range. Auto-Sleepers tend to be at the top end too so an Auto-Sleeper based on a VW is going to have an asking price higher than "lesser" vans.
Does it have to be a VW?
Does it have to be an A-S? <dons flame proof suit>.
Does it have to be deisel?
Does it have to be a Hightop?
Do you want the same layout as the Trident or would you not prefer a "walk through" layout?

You should be able to get a decent van for well under £12, but its not going to be "new" and might not be a VW. For instance, I know of a 1995 van going for £6800 with the same layout as the Trident, it's an A-S but it isn't deisel and it isn't a VW.

Frank

Have PM you,
Margaret

scrumpyjack14 wrote:

-mojo- wrote:I also don't understand the part which says "I have just sent off to get the van reclassified so it can be used in London" as I'm not aware of any "reclassification" that will exempt a 1991 diesel from the LEZ charges.

Just a though on this (having had a stinky letter from TFL!). Apparently you can take an older diesel motorhome in to London - if it's below 2.5 tonnes. I believe the Tridents are rated at 3 tonnes. In theory you can take the vehicle to be weighted and (provided it's below the 2.5 tonne mark) get it replated at 2.5 and therefore make it exempt from LEZ.

Thanks Steve - I'd not realised that you could do that (or perhaps knew it a while back and those brain cells have died...).

If that's what has been done, I would definitely run away (or budget to have the reclassification reversed immediately after buying). It makes no sense at all to have a Trident re-plated to 2500kg Gross Vehicle Weight!

I had my van weighed recently with just driver and half a tank of fuel on board, and no other load at all. It came in at just under 2300kg. An unladen Trident will be about the same (T4 is slightly lighter than a T5, but mine's only got a pop top - the high top will be heavier). This would leave a Max User Payload of 200kg, which is totally inadequate. Just two "average" passengers and a full tank of water will take you over!

This is not an academic or theoretical issue - if you get random stopped by VOSA (who are known to like random stopping vans) you ~will~ get done if you are over the (re)plated weight.

I cant see a Trident being rated at 3 ton,  Our 1st van was a Calypso / T4 2.4  and slightly larger but same eqt as a Clubman and that was rated at 2.7 ton (Clubman likely to be heavier due to monocoque shell)

Hi Holly
Welcome to the forum. Lots of good advice been given here. Don't feel bombarded   
I have replied to your PM

Regards
John

roli wrote:I cant see a Trident being rated at 3 ton,  Our 1st van was a Calypso / T4 2.4  and slightly larger but same eqt as a Clubman and that was rated at 2.7 ton (Clubman likely to be heavier due to monocoque shell)

Interesting. How do I check? Just had a look at the V5 but can't see a weight. It's obviously more than 2.5 or we wouldn't have had the nasty letter from TFL!?

Steve

My Clubman is 3.3

Hi Holly, You've been given lots of good advice - the questions posed by boxerman all seem very sensible to me. Good luck in your search for a motorhome.

I have a Trident and love it.

Hi
15 previous owners?  Thats a big no from me.