VRT on much older camper?

Top Dog

Just wondering if anyone could give a ball-park idea of what sort of VRT bill there might be changing this from UK to Irish plates? It's a 1990 2.0 petrol.



Also, being 27 years old, is there any classic camper policy or does that just apply to cars?

colm_mcm

I would assume they'll put a value of €5k on it and charge you 13.5% of that.

Top Dog

One can only hope. Crazy system where you have to present the vehicle before you can get a VRT price - makes importing a headache.

piuswal

You can always challenge Revenues valuation if You think they have overvalued it.

autumnalcore

I would guess €6000 but the vrt could be the least of your worries:

I could be wrong but from the picture I would say that its got an al-ko back axle and its shagged. You could be facing significant difficulty, delays and high costs sourcing a replacement or having it reconditioned.

The al-ko torsion bar axles have to be greased regularly, if not the torsion bars can break.
Even if looked after, a couple of decades led the torsion bars weakening and twisting so you get a saggy rear end.
These axles are obsolete. There are some third parties supplying torsion bars but some require cutting and welding to remove and fit.

If the bars are not broken and just saggy there is a dutch company that supplies a coil spring assistor kit but again its about €800 to buy and fit.

At 27 years you could be looking at thousands in welding, and its getting very difficult to find parts for those, you can forget about Fiat - my van is only 2005 and they already don't stock a lot of parts for it.

It a heavy vehicle with an asthmatic petrol engine, probably 18-22mpg, a lot of them had no power steering.

If you're intent on buying it proceed with caution and only with the support of a mechanic who's happy to give it a very thorough going over mechanically and check for rust, happy to install spring assistors or weld torsion bars into the axle. Do a complete habitation check in every nook and cranny for water ingress and also with a van that age I would ensure the windows have the appropriate safety marks for the DOE test.

Top Dog

Thanks for the lengthy reply autumnalcore.

Yeah, I've been doing a bit of reading on the rear axles alright. Its definitely an al-ko - all the old Swift Kontiki's were. Needing greasing every 10k miles or year. Seizing up and Alko replacements costing in the region of about £2200 all-in. I was under the impression that once some tyre visible between the top of the wheel trim and the bottom of the arch would indicate that its not yet totally shagged? That once its gone most of the tyre disappears into the arch? It apparently only has 30k up on it, but no idea of maintenance history as I haven't asked yet.

I've also read about the unfortunate "leaky-Kon-tiki" nickname they were given in the past, so thats certainly one aspect that will be getting proper attention. I stumbled across an online Talbot Owners Club last night which seems to be a great resource for parts, suppliers and people to perform work (in the UK at least). Pattern parts don't seem too difficult to come by, though the likes of headlights might prove more difficult.

If we managed 18-22mpg then I wouldn't be terribly upset. Our old Impreza did about 19mpg towing our caravan, while our currently-rich-running Vivaro returned a pathetic 21.5mpg on a 300 mile journey last weekend. Any less than 15 and it might bother me. Power-steering, if not fitted, can be retro-fitted by a handy mechanic from what I've read?

I wouldn't necessarily say I'm intent on buying this particular one, but I will give it a chance. For some reason I can't explain I kinda like the look of the older van's, though of course if I had the budget I'd be buying an A-class in the morning. It seems like a relatively affordable entry to motorhoming after a number of years towing a caravan and all the frustrations that came with that. The layout would suit our needs so its probably worth a look at least. If its still available on the weekend then I have it in my head that myself & the Mrs will go have a look at it on Saturday. If we like it and are considering it then I'll go back on Sunday with a mechanic for him to have a more thorough look at it before going any further. I can poke and prod and look, but I know myself that I could get caught up in the moment so much safer to have independant eyes have a look at it.

niloc1951

If all else is ok and the only issue is with the AL-KO axle CLICK HERE where you should find a cost effective solution

autumnalcore

Sounds like you are aware of the potential issues. It could be absolutely fine just be aware its probably completely empty in the photo. Full water tanks, gas, passengers, provisions etc. will easily add 350 - 500kg and could have it sitting on the bump stops or slamming on them over rough roads.

I always urge caution with old vehicles especially from the UK with no test as I've seen old vehicles turn from a dream investment to an emotional and finacial divestment.

I think it could be done for less than £2200, you can send it off to the uk for reconditioning or buy the bars/seals/bearing and get it done locally. If the bundle is intact then spring / air assistors would sort any issue too.