Flood Damaged Tributes Forums

maddie

WOW Tribute,unlucky or what Laughing

remind me not to buy a second hand car off you Laughing

The vans are made for work and so far have decent feedback to compare to trannys etc.Haveing said that my mates got a new tranny & ducato for his buissness and says he will keep his Sprinter with 120,000 miles up any day agaisnt them both! Laughing

terry

Tribute_650

You would be ok Maddie as they are perfect when I sell them as I have had all the stuff replaced Wink

We have at least 6 vehicles on the go at any one time in our family but it is the old "Historic Vehicles" that cause me the least bother ( probably because I have totally rebuilt them myself as that is one of my main hobbies) As far as the new vehicles are concerned it will teach me to go for the new models as all the problems with these, including the new Fiat Ducato Tribute have been design faults, both Ford engines were the fist of the production line of that version and had design faults, wrong valve seats, wrong diameter bearings or something like that and the steering rack is now a recall on new style Ducatos ! Also, thinking about it the reason the engine needed rebuilding on the XJS was that a recall for a modified head gasket was never done. There is a lot to be said for buying a model that has been out for a while.... but I never do unless it is over 30 years old Laughing

650

maddie

Hi 650 30 years ago ,my friends dad told me never buy a new model car untill they had been out a couple of years!!Still true! only now I used to buy 12 mts old.Now my son has always got 4/5 cars on my drive or outside the house for sale so I just use 1 of these Laughing

at the moment a 5.7 HEMI st Dodge pick up (untill it needs filling that is)
Laughing

terry

Tribute_550

Many Thanks to everyone for helping me out and especially to Simpsonbrothers for coming on to the forum.

I have not made a purchase yet Otto de froste but I am at the moment needing a Tribute 550 because of parking on my drive but many thanks for your offer.

Whilst I am still awaiting the finance company to get their act together I am still checking out the options for a Tribute 650. I have one more question for Bruce if he is still around.

I have been told that Trigano removed all the Tribute badges and distinguishing livery from the vans so as to make the anonymous, is this true ??

I have seen a pic of one sold from Simpsons on another forum and that had them all removed but was that a one off ??

Many Thanks All

Tribute 550

Tribute_650

Hi 550,
Hope to see you register as that was your last "free" post Wink

You are correct I think. I have been chatting on another forum this morning to my name sake on Tribby, 650.

Tribby's 650 has purchased one from Simpsons and has confirmed that Autotrail have removed all distinguishing features which I think is a bit off and must damage the vans reputation further. Some may say it will make them easier to spot when they come back onto the market in the years ahead and must be why they have done it as it will have taken some effort as mine are laquered over ( plus dishing out the chassis numbers to everyone) They really have it in for these poor little vans. I bet it will be near impossible to buy the decal from CI and if you can will cost a fortune. I paid £50 for a 2 foot bit for an Award caravan 5 years ago. Just when I was warming to these vans after Bruce painted a better picture of them...makes you think what else dun it Rolling Eyes

cheers
650 Paul

sundazzler

If the vehicles were written off why were O/T selling them to Simpsons. Surely they belonged to the insurance co. Or were O/T acting as their agents, and making some extra cash? Wink

SimpsonBrothers

Hi Sundazzler

As I've stated in previous posts, these are NOT WRITTEN OFF nor are they Total losses. I've explained all in previous posts.

You've got totally the wrong end of the stick!

Trust this clarifies the position, but if you've any other questions, then I'll try to respond! As already stated - I'm being totally transparent on every aspect relevant to these motorhomes!

Best regards

Bruce

dbh1961

Simpsons seem to be being very open about these, and not hiding anything - good on them.

Autotrail seem to have taken a stance that these vans aren't officially an Autotrail/Trigano anymore (hence the removal of the badges etc, which would be expensive to replace). I suppose that's for a few reasons:

1) They distance themselves from the vans, and therefore don't get a bad name, should faults develop later
2) Their loyalty will be to their ongoing dealers, not to Simpsons
3) Having got their money, they are now perfectly happy for these vans to devalue.

In the grand scheme of things, I suppose Autotrail's stance is understandable - business is business.

That leaves the issue of whether or not these vans are a good buy, and that is all about price (the'd be dear at full price, cheap at a penny, and fair somewhere in between).

The lack of warranties is easily covered by the reduction in price. Buy one cheap, pay for your own replacement bits and pieces, and you're quids in.

THE BIG ISSUE, is resale value, especially as dealers will have them on some sort of blacklist (and at least one finance company has already taken exception to one).

I'd say they were good value (in fact a bargain), for cash buyers, who intend to hang onto them for a few years. I'm sure that Simpsons will find enough of these people to clear them all.

Longer term, other than dealers still not liking them, I can't see that they should be any different to any other van. Warranties will all have been and gone, and any faults should have been found and fixed.

On the whole, I think a pretty fair solution, and full marks to Simpsons for being so open and for coming on here.

Broom

Bruce

I am after a spare wheel 16 X 265 for a fiat 4 ton have you got any.

Sorry for the hijack of the post

Best Regards
Broom

geraldandannie · Moderator

Another quick hijack - thanks for subscribing, Bruce.

Gerald