We bought the Topaz!

When we found a 2003 Topaz for sale on Gumtree we were cautiously optimistic that this could be ‘the one’.
It was being sold by a lovely couple who are now in their 80s and, with the onset of some mobility issues, were no longer enjoying using the van for holidays.
They’d owned it from new and although it was also their only vehicle (so had done all of their general motoring too), they’d only clocked up 45000 miles.
They were in East London and we live in Wolverhampton- not an issue for us normally, but when we found the van we were down in Cornwall. Typical.
Despite other people being interested, the owner kindly agreed to wait for us and gave us first-refusal. What a gentleman!
It needed a proper clean up (I doubt I’ll be climbing a ladder to to the high top when I’m 80+ either!) but other than that was in fantastic condition and we bought it on the spot. 
The money transferred and a few cups of tea later, we were heading home in our new Topaz. It’s an automatic and even has cab air-con so is a dream to drive.
Today will be spend cleaning and generally tidying and then I’ll post some pictures.
We’ve also promised to send some pictures of our first excursion back to the original owners who seem happy that their much-loved van has found a caring new home.
Hope you’ll excuse my over-excitement! Thank you for having indulged me while I’ve gushed on for a bit!

How fabulous, have fun and will look forward to the pics

What a find! Well done. Enjoy your travels.

Enjoy it

So, I’ve been meaning to post this all week, but here’s us on our first trip away last weekend up at Fleetwood. 
We joined around 20 other motorhomes on an officially sanctioned car park a few steps from the beach.

We tested all of the ‘off-grid’ systems on Friday night and all worked perfectly. The Duvalay mattress toppers we’d collected on the way up (FB Marketplace find) provided a sound night’s sleep.

On Saturday, we decamped to the CMC club site so we could check all of the mains electric components and once again all was good. We sat under the Fiamma, beer in hand, and watched the F1 highlights on the iPad (earbuds in so as not to disturb our neighbours). Pretty blissful.

Hope y’all are making the most of this late sunshine out in AS land!

 
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Nice to see your van,hope you have lots of nice holidays in it.
Boaby

Great news what's the underside condition like 2003?

Markdell62 wrote:Great news what's the underside condition like 2003?

It’s actually totally solid. We used the MOT history service on the gov.uk to weed out those with a history of corrosion failures/advisories and it seems to have paid dividends.

Really glad it's worked out well for you 
I have a Symbol 2003 that had good history the engine is brilliant but the front suspension is noisy so into th repair garage Tuesday for investigating and remedy

I guess all of us who take on an older van will have running repairs to keep on top of.
Both the rear springs were replaced on ours a few years ago (discovered during an MOT) and a Trophy we looked at prior to the Topaz also had a rear spring break so I guess the VW’s have their quirks the same as the Pugs and the Fords.
To be honest, I’d rather have to replace components than deal with rust/corrosion as it seems that once it starts there’s no stopping it!
Hope your Symbol’s trip to the garage and accompanying bill aren’t too tough on your wallet!

Thanks Ian 
Hopefully it's a busy or two and not a welding issue due to corrosion

Congratulations on getting a T4 Topaz particularly with Aircon that would be a very rare on a T4, we had one and in a lot of ways found it better to live in than the T5 Topaz we now own . Our most memorable trip was the NC500 in 2018.

Hi Ian 
Had a call from the garage and it is the nearside shock absorber failing and the top mount is shot too.
All in £350 plus vat

Markdell62 wrote:Hi Ian 
Had a call from the garage and it is the nearside shock absorber failing and the top mount is shot too.
All in £350 plus vat

Do both sides. If one is failing the other will soon and it will always be just when you are mid way through an important trip. It's always worth doing the top mounts and any other rubber components in the fitting at the same time to avoid having to do the job twice and personally I would be changing the springs too. Make sure they buy the correct springs and shocks. As this is a motorhome it is likely to have upgraded shocks and springs and most garages just select the standard ones of the shelf and then it won't sit or ride correctly.

Hi I have asked them about the shock absorber and said it needs the heavy duty one and they should source the same

Markdell62 wrote:Thanks Ian 
Hopefully it's a busy or two and not a welding issue due to corrosion

The top mount being shot would imply to me it is a corrosion issue and does require some welding, have you asked exactly what works they are going to carry out ?

They said the top bearing the shock absorber goes in needs replacing too

Markdell62 wrote:They said the top bearing the shock absorber goes in needs replacing too

Terminology … maybe just me 

zeberdy wrote:Congratulations on getting a T4 Topaz particularly with Aircon that would be a very rare on a T4, we had one and in a lot of ways found it better to live in than the T5 Topaz we now own . Our most memorable trip was the NC500 in 2018.

Thanks zeberdy! I’m going to have a go at adding Cruise Control which will make it nigh on perfect!

We know a couple of people who’ve done the NC500 - your comment has just prompted Helen to grab the iPad and start researching a potential trip in the Topaz next year!

Markdell62 wrote:Hi Ian 
Had a call from the garage and it is the nearside shock absorber failing and the top mount is shot too.
All in £350 plus vat

Ouch! Sorry to hear that news.

It does sound like wizard is on the money with getting both done as it would probs cost more to have the other side done separately should it too start to knock.

Sorry to hijack this thread. We got fudge (thats her name) back today it wasnt corrosion just a completley worn out shock absorber and the top mount bearing had completely crumbled 
They checked the other side no movement at all so they advised all good