Help/Advice Reqd. On Florida Whilst I'm In Germany

Hi,

Long story short I'm between contracts for two weeks, going on holiday this Saturday for a week, and having seen a Florida I liked the look of in Germany I thought I'd come over in my first week and drive it home if it was okay. Despite turning up at the dealer's forecourt two days in a row and numerous unanswered phone calls I remain Florida-less. I'm now in Nuremberg having looked at a different dealer's Florida. This one to be precise.

I have to be back in England by Friday evening as I'm flying out early Saturday morning.

To the point then. All prices are in Euros.

Had a really good look at the van. Crawled over it and under it. Even found a couple of solar panels on the roof which they didn't seem to know about although I've no idea if they work or not. I don't think it's worth the 8.5k euros that they are asking for it. I told the guy that and he asked me what I'd be willing to offer, based on not having had a test drive at that point. I said I'd pay 6.5k. The look on his face was priceless :-D He said there was no way they would go that low. I said fair enough. I'm due to go back in the morning for a test drive so that I can give a more fair figure. To be honest though, I'm not overly excited by the van. These are the things I found to be wrong with it. Some of these might be a case of "they all do that" or it might be that it's really broken. I would appreciate it if you could cast your eyes over them and tell me if they are showstoppers or if they are fixable and at what cost.

* Seam bubbling. They all do that though and it's not rotten by the looks of things. There is a fair amount of it though, but I'm not expert enough to say how long a respray could wait.

* Turned the interior blown air heating on, but it never stayed on long enough to heat up and kept turning off. This could be down to the leisure batteries showing a voltage of around 12.10 and droppingg when it was running or due to it having no LPG. It could also mean that it's broken. I have to assume it's broken I think. Strange thing is that they reckon it's a Truma gas heater, but it has the Eberspacher controls.

* In the cockpit, the window vents blow hot air, but none of the dashboard vents did. They only ever blew cold air out, no mater how I twiddled with the levers. This may just be me doing something wrong or it may be that it's broken.

* The roof vent above the passenger seats won't open by turning the handle, it only opens if you push it up.

* There is a curtain missing on the table window.

* Both catches that keep the table-window blind closed are broken, such that it won't stay closed when you pull it down. No idea how much they would cost to replace or if it's even possible.

* How much would two new leisure batteries cost?

* It has electric windows. The passenger side window is stuck though. You can hear the motor turning, but the window doesnt move and is stuck in a 15-20% open from the top state.

* The hot water tap in the kitchen sink doesn't turn as the plastic is broken and the tap just comes off.

* The side window in the roof on the passengers side is missing. I imagine a replacement would be very hard to find and probably quite expensive.

I'm really not sure what to do for the best to be honest. I've run out of time and I need to decide and have the van ready for me to drive home by lunchtime tomorrow as I now won't make it to Rotterdam in time to catch the overnight ferry to Hull which means I'm going to have to drive to Calais to get the Eurotunnel on Friday morning then drive back to Leeds from Dover. Fun and games :-) Of course, if they can't have the van ready, then my decision is made I guess.

There's also the mater of how high I'm prepared to go. I was quite disappointed to see the condition it was in. For the money they were advetising it at, I was, maybe foolishly, expecting a lot better. I think I'd go as high as 7.5 or maybe 8. Aaarrggh :-)

Cheers.

A bit late, but have been looking on the internet for a well cared for (german) florida myself for a couple of months, but none have grabbed me as yet - I am having to learn the new skill of patience!  Hopefully some better examples will turn up soon or will have to bite the bullet and look at something a bit newer like a westy california exclusive

Hard though it may be, and easy as it is for this Florida owner to say it, go with your gut feeling. There are other Florida's about, even on our flea-bay. Speak with Steve at Eastfalia - he's a Florida champion with a wealth of knowledge and a diamond geezer to boot....    

Where is Westfalias for U?

Cheers Steve

Hi,