Trident - T5 - Repair and Service before Sale

Hi all

This is my first post - so please bear with me.

As the happy owner of a Silver Trident (T5) I find myself in a position where I need to sell the beauty - as I am simply not getting any time to use her.

She's just been MOT'd and I would like to know a vendor / dealer / repair shop which might be able to fix a few things before I reluctantly sell her.

For example, the Headlining nearest the windscreen needs glueing back down and the interior trim on the sliding door needs to be resecured.  So it's more of the superficial stuff that needs doing.

If the same place can check out the Leisure batteries and the Gas, etc that would be a bonus.

I am in the West Kent area, not far from Brands Hatch (I am just 2 miles from Junction 3 of the M25)

Would welcome any suggestions of places you have used.

Many thanks


Sgt Wilko

Why not try to sell 'as is' especially to an A/S, VW enthusiast who would be able to see beyond the minor defects
just a thought, perhaps try on this site? 
frederic

It's actually quite a difficult one to solve - you can try one of the mobile habitation check technicians, but mostly they will just want to inspect and test - not fix.

Superficial things (or supposedly superficial things) like headlinings can take a lot of time and are hard to make look good, so you may either end up doing it yourself, or selling it as it is.

Hello
I have just had my headlining replaced in 2006 Topaz, it is not a very easy to do, this was done in Sturry, Kent by Kent Car Upholstery. Also had a habitation check by Choose Leisure at Chartham.
Hope that helps.

frederic wrote:Why not try to sell 'as is' especially to an A/S, VW enthusiast who would be able to see beyond the minor defects
just a thought, perhaps try on this site? 
frederic

Frederic,
Thank you for your suggestion.
Being brand new to this site, I was wondering:
  - Is there an area for selling things on this site?
Or
  - Would I just start a new "Thread" like this one?

bobbyd wrote:I have just had my headlining replaced in 2006 Topaz, it is not a very easy to do, this was done in Sturry, Kent by Kent Car Upholstery.

Bobbyd - did they replace with a new cab interior roof panel, or did they re-cover the existing one? It seems to be a common problem on the T5, and I found that a new panel is over £330, without the labour to fit it!

Hello Roopert They recovered the existing one with a cost of £250 including labour. He came to me and took the cab lining away and replaced it at his workshop.

bobbyd wrote:Hello Roopert They recovered the existing one with a cost of £250 including labour. He came to me and took the cab lining away and replaced it at his workshop.

Thanks - that's a fair bit cheaper then. I reckon with labour you would be looking at over £400 to replace with new.

I replaced my T5 cab roof lining with a brand new VW one for £50 a fair mornings work but well worth it. There is a guy near me buys new stuff from a firm converting pickups to council special
Needs minibuses ..Alf

Alf wrote:I replaced my T5 cab roof lining with a brand new VW one for £50

Alf - that's a fantastically cheap price! I guess the problem he has is that an item like that is really difficult to package for shipping, so he would want to sell "for collection only".

I suppose it would be easy to make a stout cardboard box for transport i ha be ha d door rubbers of him and various odds and ends he does advertise on eBay.  ..Alf

I guess "easy" is relative - but I suspect that most Ebay sellers won't want the aggravation of custom-making a 1.5m x 1m x 0.2m stout cardboard box!

As an aside: did you reach any conclusion about Bilbos, or have you decided to stick with the Trooper?

Well the Bilbos were attractive and we have a private buyer offering a huge sum for the Trooper after a lot of talking decided to stick with the Trooper. We had looked at Equity release but found to be Daylight Robbery.
At 80 we will stick with the van we know it will be our last van…Alf

Ah yes, Equity Release is Ok if you don't have any dependants and so don't care where the money goes when you're gone, but they certainly take a big wedge out of your estate!

As you know, we have both. The roof on the Celex is quite a lot easier to put up and take down and the bed is a bit bigger (or a lot bigger in the Komba) but if you want the "classic" rock&roll layout, there's not a lot to choose otherwise.

I was interested in the Nexa+ with its fixed, readily accessible toilet - but of course that creates another compromise, because it significantly cuts down storage space. I guess you can only fit so much into a small panel van!

We liked the 2 separate beds in the Bilbo I’m not convinced about the roof though the Trooper roof is easy to put up ( having 2 Sherpas and a Talbot now that was a heavy roof ) it’s a better roof in wind and rain and does not need drying out you can leave one side down in fine weather iv’e fitted bolt to also leave bothe side open 4” or so as well. As you pointed out the Bilbo was a tad expensive with the wrong engine as well. Will PM E offer.

Agreed about the roof - we've had two (the other on a Transit) and the flexibility is excellent. It's a shame that A/S gave up on the design. The Bilbos roof is good, but it's not waterproof in extreme weather. They have been forced (by legislation) to have a vent strip along the top, and this can let water in if you have near-horizontal rain.

Please avoid the VW biturbo engine if you can! A lot of people have had the massive cost of engine replacement with that engine...

Ever since I fitted the Garage Door Brush strip to the roof we have cut out the draught and wind noise when roof up the older roof without the vent was far better and a better fit to the roof lining.

The last brand new T5 cab roof lining is £50 collection Osset Wakefield PM for details.