New poster, please help..
Hi, we have a Bailey ranger 510/4 2008, that we have owned for the past 5 years..our first outing of the year this week, which never stopped raining the whole week..The first thing I noticed was a little mould on the window sill of the front window, then to my horror, I open the cupboard in the bathroom, and noticed that boxes were damp, on further investigation, the rear top corner on both sides are damp, with the wall being spongy (gutted)..possibly the 2 rails that run along the top....😢..What could my options be ..repair wise ? Any idea of costs ? Would a dealer part ex a van like this ? Where would I take it to be fixed ?? Any recommendation Tyne and Wear area ..please help x
To be honest, professional repair costs would probably not be realistic given the age of the van. It is repairable (everything is!), but whether you could justify spending a four figure sum (which is what I would expect it to cost) on the van is a decision only you can make.
There will be always be a dealer that would take it in part exchange, but expect to be offered only a nominal amount as they would take into account the damage (what you can see/feel is normally much less than the actual damp which will need rectification) and they would just move it on rather than repair it and put it on the forecourt. A home repair is the only one which would make commercial sense.
It sounds like this problem has been quite a long term in the making, when was the van last serviced and damp checked? A couple of hundred quid for a full service and damp survey may seem like a lot of money, but quite apart from the safety of electrics/gas/running gear it makes sense if it stops a perfectly good van being effectively valued as scrap.
I hope the damage isn`t as bad as you make out, but it does sound to be structural and not just cosmetic, so a reseal won`t be of any use.
Clean it up inside & out & put it on ebay. Reasonable reserve & don't make any claims about the condition. Just a full descripton & full set of good photos. Should get you more than a dealer trade in.
Right now is a good time to sell at start of season. No comeback on a private sale if you do not misrepresent so as pointed out. No claims as to condition.
Thanks for your responses, just been back to have another look, their seams to be a rail that runs across the top of the van from one end to another end at the rear..would scraping out and re- sealing, do any good ? Or is it a lost cause, for a beginner to fix... If so what price, could I possibly get on eBay for the van, I would never sell it.. Without telling about the damp, as I would hate this to happen to me..
If it's at the stage of being spongy inside then if you remove exterior rails to reseal you will have to take out inside wall panel & remove/replace rotten wood or you will have nothing to screw rail back onto.
The only viable way to tackle this is diy. Time consuming work but it can be done if you have reasonable diy skills. Paying anybody to do this is unlikely to get the quality of work that you might take your time to diy.
If you trade it in then dealer will probably only ebay it himself spares/repair so you might as well cut out the middleman & ebay it yourself. You could take it to dealer first & get a trade in price on a caravan you are interested in though. Then put it on ebay with reserve at a better price & see how it goes.
Be honest if you like but don't over egg the pudding. Just describe in listing as having some damp & invite potential buyers to come & view during auction. Nothing wrong with cleaning caravan inside & out to make it look good though.
Amazing family weekend with old steam engines, classic car displays, market stalls, and full catering and bar. And camping on site - Save £25 by booking in advance.
Topic: Bailey Damp
