UKC

Hi there, been looking at a 1998 VW T4 to buy - its done 120000 miles and its got a bed and insulation installed (but no sinks, leisure batteries etc.). It has 12 months MOT, good service history and is going for £4000.

As a newbie to vans is this a fair price? Also any general advice? Apparently the cam belt needs to be changed periodically but acting else I need to look out for?

Thanks in advance

In reply to Short&Savage:

Be well aware of rust, pillars behind the doors and around the windscreen. If evidence of rust then walkaway.
You could also get a much better van than a 120,000 mile T4 for 4K, I had one with 110K and spent every other weekend tinkering to get stuff working on it.

In reply to Short&Savage: YHM... reply button wasn;t working earlier!

In reply to Short&Savage: I bought one in the summer with similar mileage, but 2003 model for £3800(2.4ltr). 10 months MOT full service history. A bed and insulation should be relatively cheap to install- i did mine for less than £50
Rob

In reply to Rob Kennard:

Thanks guys for all your advice. I see your point Rob but if I had to install insulation and bed that will probably take the lifetime of the van so I probably will end up paying someone to do it....

By the way, I'm not planning on having sinks etc. just want something basic

In reply to Short&Savage:

Seems a bit steep to me. Transporters hold value relative to Fords for sure. However a friend of mine has just bought a 2003 ex RAC transit with full history, water tank & electric pump, leisure battery and lighting for £1400. He'll install a simple sleeping set up for not much money and even if he only gets a few years out of it its a lot of bang for his buck. I like VW, they're good, but not that good. I would have thought around 2.5 - 3k for the one you describe.
Best of luck.

In reply to Short&Savage:

Depending on condition it's around the going rate, certainly down here as the surf dude love them.

Campbeltown change is very important ESP on the 2.5l engine, bit of a ball ache to do, so it's often missed out.

In reply to damo5000:

Cam belt! Damn auto correct!

In reply to Short&Savage:

We have a T4 1998 SWB that only had 38000 on the clock when we bought it two years ago for around 3k..... It didn't have a bed in it, we did that ourselves as well as having units made etc.

They are great for campers, and it you want to get units made then you couldn't do any better than t4life (google it). Top bloke who does a great job!

In reply to Short&Savage: hi, you're asking on the wrong forum tbh, UKC always seems to have a large share of "you could do it cheaper if you..." If I were you I'd browse the vwt4forum.co.uk where questions like yours come up all the time. You could also look at what similar vans are going for on there.

In reply to Short&Savage: Can't comment about the price, but I bought mine new in 1996 and had a simple conversion done the same week. No sink or electrics, just a rock and roll bed and window+insulation.

Still works fine. 155k miles, never broken down. I do have it properly serviced and expect the only thing to stop it going for ever would be rust.

Cheers, David