Options for disposal of rusted Boxer

Our 1997 Symphony has seriously failed MOT, on inner wings, chassis rails, engine mounting, rear valence, outriggers, sill. Have booked a very competent chap to look at it in four weeks time, but he has spoken with the garage and says I must be prepared for Bad News, it may be beyond repair!

So, in preparation, can anyone advise on the best way to dispose of the Autosleeper, in excellent working order from the floor up? I see a message here that it is possible to do a "body transplant" to a new chassis, but that sounds complex, specialist and expensive, and not sure it could be done on a van conversion! But it would be a great option...

The most likely option therefore is disposal. I see there are many companies advertising in the Caravan Club mag, along the lines of webuyanycar, stating damp and damage no problem, collection etc. Anyone have experience of these firms, good ones, those to avoid etc? Obviously would like to find the best offer to help with the purchase of a replacement of some kind.

Of course all this happened just before our two-week fixed-site booking in the West Country! We have managed to hire a substitute so that we can go ahead but it looks like our Autosleeper days are numbered! Have Sympathy for the Symphony please!

Paddy in Wales

I guess a second opinion is needed on its condition assuming it passed a mot 12 months ago, another year out of it to decide what to do is always a good option.

Worth contacting specialist breakers such as..

KTG Caravans & Campers




Or you could sell on ebay for spares as a complete vehicle,  the interior could be suitable  for someone who wants to do their own conversion.

If you cannot make any money out of your Autosleeper consider donating it to "Givacar", a no profit charity which arranges collection and disposal as appropriate at no cost to the donor. After expenses are deducted the remaining  proceeds are given to a charity chosen by the donor. Details and telephone details of "Giveacar" can be found on tinternet. Good luck and Cheers John.

Thank you for all those suggestions: this forum is great for support when I have no idea what to do next! I now have a clear plan in my head, with steps and branches like a flow chart - the bafflement has cleared! Four heads are better than one...

Will report progress in a few weeks time so that others can follow or avoid my route.

Thanks again

Paddy

Toffee wrote:I guess a second opinion is needed on its condition assuming it passed a mot 12 months ago, another year out of it to decide what to do is always a good option.

Another year and possibly many more as I found out with a 1993 van i'd taken a punt on buying it cheap as it had no MOT. I booked it in for a test to see what it would fail on and they condemned it as scrap, not even worth attempting a repair. But as I was leaving one of the mechanics suggested I took it to a small independent welder to look at. He gave me a fixed figure including the MOT....that's how positive he was.

I used it to tour around Scotland and did a few tours in Europe before selling and it's testament to the guys welding that van is still on the road to this day!

The question is 'what is it worth to you?'. 
My 97 Symphony failed this year for the same reasons, I can't afford another one and have too much invested in this one to write it off. After being messed around by a local garage who eventually decided it was too much work for them, I took it to an independant body shop and vehicle restorer who said 'yep we can do that, it'll take a while however', the price was left open ended as there is no real telling what its like until they get started. I said ring me when you have spent £2k and I'm still waiting.
I had already removed the bathroom for the previous garage, bodyshop said leave the rest..
Welder was not put off by underslung LPG tank in the spare wheel well - some are!
Work so far includes outriggers, sills, suspension turrets, all wheel arches,- the front of the van has been off as work included new wheel arch and battery tray also. Oh and a couple of bodge repairs put right from before my ownership.

All the welding is now done and an etch primed hard underseal applied.

Just waiting for the paint to be tarted up and then once its home I can fit a refurb showertray, new toilet, basin and cupboard with plastic panel bulkheads for watertight integrity.

So far (10 weeks) I'm in for £1500 to the bodyshop (interim payment) and approx £650 for the new bathroom.  

We use it and enjoy it - so does the dog and felt it worth the time and effort.

Andy

I can relate to this and have found this whole thread very encouraging. I have a '98 Symphony which has all of the same problems. It has 10 months MOT left on it but we've been warned that it probably won't get through another. We are currently looking for a small, independent welder with a view to getting an estimate to put it right and have taken heart from Greenfellers post.

One suggestion we've had was to park it up and use it as a guest bedroom! But it looks like there could be more life in the old goat yet. I'm looking forward to seeing your progress Paddyinwales - don't give up quite yet!

You have to take into account these werent built to last forever, in their commercial van spec they are designed to do high mileages in a short period of time and be replaced before rust ever becomes an issue..

At 20 - 25 years old, 4 or 5 times their projected working life they are going to need TLC.

Andy

Thanks Andy, very useful to hear your experience!

And thanks Paul for your suggestion of a guest bedroom: if all else fails I might consider putting it on blocks behind the wheels and AirBnBing it as a "glampervan" as we live in a beautiful part of mid-Wales and have a small amount of land. Might pay the HP on a new van!

Paddy

 I've certainly considered it Paddy, but I'm willing to throw a bit more money at it yet. We'll see.

Paul

Greenfellers wrote:You have to take into account these werent built to last forever, in their commercial van spec they are designed to do high mileages in a short period of time and be replaced before rust ever becomes an issue..

At 20 - 25 years old, 4 or 5 times their projected working life they are going to need TLC.

Andy

Absolutely spot on and you only have to look at those being used commercially to see four or five year old vans looking a bit rough but with intergalactic mileage on the clock!

As the older AS vans disappear it's worth reading through threads by owners of late model vans. For example there's one posting about rust spots showing on the roof of his van. It's 12 months old FGS!! Another listed a whole raft of faults with his late model van and new pvc's are not cheap costing an average of £50k - £60k.

I have a 2005 Symbol with 29,000 mls. on the clock. Just failed the MOT on corroded seat belt anchor points plus inner sills also an advisory on corrosion of front coil springs. Asked the garage to do ALL the work, including the advisory, total bill was £868. Also last years advisory was tyre replacement (10 years old ). Had that done in April @ £541. Having owned the van for 4 years and not using it for the last 2 years I could not afford to change it. Hopefully the repair work should cover it for a couple of years at least. The original cost to purchase it was £22,000. Admitted it's still immaculate, but sadly the upkeep is becoming challenging to say the least.

Toffee wrote:I guess a second opinion is needed on its condition assuming it passed a mot 12 months ago, another year out of it to decide what to do is always a good option.

When I take it to garage two will they be able to see online via some DoT database what garage one reckoned was wrong with it do you know? In other words will it be an unbiased second opinion?

My son tells me that 30 year old vehicles do not need an MOT! Six years to go then, by which time I shall be 80!

Thanks again to all here for a very informative thread.

Paddy

Hi Paddy
MOT Failures and advisories are listed online and visible. So the answer is yes - the bodyshop which has my van looked it up as I forgot to leave a copy of the MOT sheet.
Might I suggest you look for a bodyshop / restorer - in my recent experience garages who do mechanicking and MOT's don't want something sat on the lift for days or weeks stopping other works from being done and potentially losing them money. 
It is bread and butter for a body shop / restorer - so long as you are not in a rush..

Andy

I think it is 40 year old vehicles that are MOT free, happy 90th?

PLOUGHLIN wrote:I think it is 40 year old vehicles that are MOT free, happy 90th?

Oh dear! Don't think there will me much left of the van or yours truly by then!

I know it doesn't help you at all, but IIRC the "historic vehicles" category started as a 25-year-old exemption that was supposed to "roll forward". That was changed and then changed again before we got to the current 40-year system.

What does, potentially, help A/S owners is that the starting date to determine if your vehicle is eligible is the date at which production of the base vehicle was completed. This can be useful in the case of A/S, because quite often a conversion will be completed a year or more after the base vehicle was built - and it's the earlier of those two dates that counts.

However... it's still a long time to wait, for you!

"Second Opinion" MOT set for Thursday 15th July at High Noon!

Wishing you luck Paddy. We've discovered a 68 year old family run garage locally who are willing to have a look at our van and estimate the cost of putting it right. Fingers crossed!

Ok, I have just come back from the bodyshop, my van is is in the spray booth all masked up and prepped for spray, pretty much the whole body from the AS transfer trim down, all the way round, the rear door where the handle fits and a patch on the gutter line. They were mixing the paint when I walked in.
Once sprayed it will be baked and then ready to collect on Wednesday. 
Auto electrician out to sort the horn and instrument lights and then an MOT.

Bodyshop says £600 ontop of what I already paid so £2100 to keep on the road for a few more years yet I hope.

There is hope yet for these old vans ...

And seeing the prices they currently command in reasonable shape... 

Andy

We left our van with a local bodyshop yesterday for a thorough inspection. When we returned later a grim-faced owner gave us what he thought was bad news - and made our day. £1200 + vat to cut out numerous patches and bodges along both inner and outer cills and to repair some small rust patches on one wheel arch and the chassis.

Of course there may be unseen damage waiting to reveal itself yet but this is great news. I expected something nearer £3k to be honest. We still have 8 months left on our MOT so will be booking the van in later in the year. Hope yet indeed!

Paul

Good news. My Talbot based Symphony is in the garage for inspection. We only paid 6700 so can stand a 1200 bill if it comes to it. The inside is immaculate for a 28yr old van and would be a shame to see it scrapped. My MOT due next April so time to get fixed.

paul200 wrote:We left our van with a local bodyshop yesterday for a thorough inspection. When we returned later a grim-faced owner gave us what he thought was bad news - and made our day. £1200 + vat to cut out numerous patches and bodges along both inner and outer cills and to repair some small rust patches on one wheel arch and the chassis.

Of course there may be unseen damage waiting to reveal itself yet but this is great news. I expected something nearer £3k to be honest. We still have 8 months left on our MOT so will be booking the van in later in the year. Hope yet indeed!

Paul

I have to be honest and say mine is around half of what I expected..