Buying a 2007 Berlingo

[Garymallissa]

Hi,

We are hopefully buying a 2007 Berlingo tomorrow and wondering if there is anything we should look for ?
It’s from a garage local to us, it’s a 2007 1.6 HDI Multispace 120k on the clock they just fitted a new turbo, we had a quick look at it and apart from a scrape on the front bumper which I can do myself it looks okay although I did notice play on the top of the clutch pedal!??

My partner and I are planning on converting it to a micro camper as we have experience building campers.
Asking price is £1695

Thanks in advance 

Gary & Mallissa

[notsofast]

Rear axles can be a weakness on earlier Berlingos, with at least a couple of youtube videos about it:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cLjrBdQgauk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w5GIVJt0...M&index=11
There's also a thread on here about spotting a bad one:
https://www.berlingoforum.com/thread-2996.html

Feel the footwells for dampness (best done by pressing a dry rag into the carpet), as water ingress is not uncommon on older vehicles. If damp, you'll really need to inspect the floorpan for corrosion, which might necessitate getting the carpets up to see.

Check the heater + demist function work properly - the heater matrix can fail on older vehicles, which might cause vapour to come out of the vents (or it just blocks up and you get no heat).

Other general things that it's always good to check:

Read through the service history for evidence that it's been done regularly (esp oil + filter change, and that the cambelt and water pump have been changed as per schedule).

Get the engine running up to operating temp, look for unusual exhaust smoke and check there's no overheating and that the cooling fan kicks in when it should.

Check the oil and coolant for signs of head gasket failure - Berlingos aren't especially prone to this, but it's expensive to fix.

Look up the vehicle's MOT history by inputting its reg number into the govt MOT site here:
https://www.gov.uk/check-mot-history
This will give an idea of issues the vehicle might have had, and might flag up warnings of maltreatment or poor servicing.

[Garymallissa]

wow thank you very much for the information, much appreciated, I will update if the sale goes ahead ?






Rear axles can be a weakness on earlier Berlingos, with at least a couple of youtube videos about it:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cLjrBdQgauk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w5GIVJt0...M&index=11
There's also a thread on here about spotting a bad one:
https://www.berlingoforum.com/thread-2996.html

Feel the footwells for dampness (best done by pressing a dry rag into the carpet), as water ingress is not uncommon on older vehicles. If damp, you'll really need to inspect the floorpan for corrosion, which might necessitate getting the carpets up to see.

Check the heater + demist function work properly - the heater matrix can fail on older vehicles, which might cause vapour to come out of the vents (or it just blocks up and you get no heat).

Other general things that it's always good to check:

Read through the service history for evidence that it's been done regularly (esp oil + filter change, and that the cambelt and water pump have been changed as per schedule).

Get the engine running up to operating temp, look for unusual exhaust smoke and check there's no overheating and that the cooling fan kicks in when it should.

Check the oil and coolant for signs of head gasket failure - Berlingos aren't especially prone to this, but it's expensive to fix.

Look up the vehicle's MOT history by inputting its reg number into the govt MOT site here:
https://www.gov.uk/check-mot-history
This will give an idea of issues the vehicle might have had, and might flag up warnings of maltreatment or poor servicing.

[notsofast]

I've not owned a 1.6HDi specifically (maybe other guys on the forum who have, can comment more specifically), but I'd also be looking to see that the new turbo performs OK through the normal rev range.  The garage should allow a test drive (in which you can also listen out for any unusual noises e.g. suspension knocks)

[ItsGreen]

My concern is the "Just fitted a turbo". The reason the turbo's fail is the oil feed gets clogged, so people "Just fit a turbo" and do nothing else, so the new doesn't get a decent oil supply and wears out really fast. Why would you go to that trouble and expense, just to sell a relatively low value vehicle, unless you were worried it was going to go again?

[RattyCortina]

"I did notice play on the top of the clutch pedal!??"

If you mean the pedal feels 'floppy', mine's been like that since I bought it two and a half years ago.

[Garymallissa]

I've not owned a 1.6HDi specifically (maybe other guys on the forum who have, can comment more specifically), but I'd also be looking to see that the new turbo performs OK through the normal rev range.  The garage should allow a test drive (in which you can also listen out for any unusual noises e.g. suspension knocks)

Thank you, it’s been delayed now until Monday so we will test drive it

[Garymallissa]

My concern is the "Just fitted a turbo". The reason the turbo's fail is the oil feed gets clogged, so people "Just fit a turbo" and do nothing else, so the new doesn't get a decent oil supply and wears out really fast. Why would you go to that trouble and expense, just to sell a relatively low value vehicle, unless you were worried it was going to go again?

Thanks, I will speak to the garage regarding this

[Garymallissa]

"I did notice play on the top of the clutch pedal!??"

If you mean the pedal feels 'floppy', mine's been like that since I bought it two and a half years ago.

Thank you that’s good to know