# Swift Kontiki advice required. Value for money?



## barryd (May 9, 2008)

Hi

I am searching avidly for our first motorhome and have decided on a 6 berth with rear lounge, dinette and over cab bed. The Swift Kontiki seems ideal. I have found the following van on ebay via a dealer in Derby.

You can see it at the following URL

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI....Track=true&ssPageName=VIP:Watchlink:middle:uk

Its on an N reg 1995, 75000 miles, 2.5 TD, service history. I called the dealer and he wants £17000 for it. Looking around it seems to be the going rate with perhaps a little bit of room for negotiation.

What do you think? Any advice is greatly appreciated.


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## 107088 (Sep 18, 2007)

Is £ 17,000 really the going rate for a 13 year old m/h?

anyway, I got no idea, but I wouldnt be buying anything for over 20 quid without looking and inspecting it very carefully.


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## JohnsCrossMotorHomes (Jul 21, 2007)

Sounds reasonable and they are MH dealers who would appear to know what its all about.

Early Kontikis are a nice MH even though they have the old rice pudding gear box!

You can always get an AA inspection for peace of mind.

Good luck


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## maddie (Jan 4, 2006)

Hi I personaly think it is a bit steep -15k ish more likely,but remember it is advertised as 6 birth you can only get small children in the overhead cab bed-hardly any headroom-try before you buy, get a good inspection done.Make sure everything works and check for damp they are not nick named con leki for nothing :lol: 
terry


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## 96410 (Sep 30, 2005)

£17,000 does seem a lot for the old 2.5 engine with 75,000 miles on the clock. I would be thinking more like 13,000 to 14,000 for it.


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## maddie (Jan 4, 2006)

Hi just done a quick search on auto trader and there is a 96 n -37500 mls for 16500k plus there will be room for negoation, make an offer and walk away leaving your number for them to stew on- bet they phone you within 24 hrs :lol: 
terry


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## solentviews (May 9, 2005)

Looks good to me. I own a 14 year old Swift Kontiki 640 (L reg) which has done over 100.000 miles. Six weeks ago I was offered £15,000 for it which is what I paid for it over 5 years ago. It isn't in pristine condition although has been looked after carefully since I have owned it and does look good. The engine is sound and has nothing done to it between service's including no oil or water. Everyone who has worked on it both garage and other services I have used has said how good it is. I couldn't bear to part with it although I could probably manage with something a little smaller. Don't let age put you off although do check everything is in working order and check for water ingress. Also get the back axle checked. Jarcadia has an "N"ish reg and has just had a back axle fitted. Cost around £1,800.
Good luck
Ian


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## chrisndeb (Feb 7, 2007)

Hi we are very proud owners of our 11 year old KON TIKI the comment about the over cab bed RUBBISH im far from a small man 15st and my son is 6ft and we have both used it with no problems yes the head room is not massive but your in a camper van not the Hilton Hotel, comments of "Is that what a 13 year old camper goes for" people forget what they started out with, NOT everyone can buy NEW. As for con leaky BOLL**KS Kon Tiki is a FANTASTIC VANS new or 15 years old if maintained. Read on here all the problems with NEW some 50K+ vans. You go and look at it im sure you will love it as we do ours.  Sorry im letting off steam people should think about how many people read comments on here and how they can get upset.


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## barryd (May 9, 2008)

Thanks to everyone for their input. I will have a look at it and probably haggle anyway if its a good van.

REgards
Barry


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## solentviews (May 9, 2005)

chrisndeb, Now we just need to learn how to resize our avatars to show them off to the best!  
Ian


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## chrisndeb (Feb 7, 2007)

Here Here Ian,
Sorry but some dare I say snobs do rub me up the wrong way. I mean we started camping 25+ years ago with a tent but I would never knock anyone who still does.


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## 107088 (Sep 18, 2007)

Why dont you name the folks you consider to be snobs that have posted snobbish words on this thread?


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## chrisndeb (Feb 7, 2007)

Read and make your own mind up. But its not just this thread, as I say comments on here can be read by many many people and some comments can be taken to heart when it comes to peoples pride and joy.


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## 107088 (Sep 18, 2007)

I have read, and there were 7 posts on the thread, 1 of which said he had the same van age-sh, mine was a question as I was surprised at the cost of a van this age, and others at the same time gave their, presumably, honest answers to the question posed.

None, made any comment about the age of the vehicle, or its price, in any derogatory way, 

FYI, my first motorhome was 2 years older than the one asked about, and I imported it from germany 19 months ago. Its was, around £10,000 all in. same sort of size and layout. If this vehicle hadnt been stolen, it would remain my only, thus far vehicle, and a good one at that. However, this information wasnt relevant to the thread, and therefore I made no mention of it. My response, for example, was because given the price I paid, I was, genuinely surprised at the cost in the Uk.

Many times, I have read threads from the forum, and most times, I see comments such as, 

Its your motorhome, doesnt matter how old/new/expensive delete whatever you feel like, enjoy it.

My particular favourite is 

dont care what it is, if its yours it the best van in the world.

I consider this forum one of the most supportive, generally, I have read. Its only on contentious subjects like ( I aint going to mention the word, )i**migra**ts that things get more....personnally involved. Which I think is a bad thing.


So, I would ask once more, please name those you feel agrieved by, explain the snobbishness, and then we can ask for arbitration by a moderator, and certainly, if they consider my post to be downcrying yours, or any other persons motorhome, I will, forthwith issue a new thread with a tootal and unreserved apology.


edited to include: and I'll even make sure the spellings correct


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## chrisndeb (Feb 7, 2007)

Things can be said and read is different ways 1 of my sayings is " live and let live" I do try not to upset anyone enough said lets leave it at that and put this one to bed, tomorrow is another day.


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## 107088 (Sep 18, 2007)

fair enough



night mate


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## maddie (Jan 4, 2006)

Hi, I assume chrisndeb's comments are aimed at me :lol: seeing as I made the comment on headroom and con liki :lol: 
I looked at 2 kon tikis 2 yrs ago so I said /warned of what I found to be true in my opinion.Of the 2 I looked at 1 was wet through/hence my interest to do it up- the other was to put it bluntly a shed -with a what I think is still a nice looking body- upon which I climbed into the o/h cab bed and I could not turn over without my shoulders hitting the roof ! if you want to argue this point measure the mattress to ceiling and post on here. :lol: I am sure if the person wanted to get from front to go to the loo it would make for a very cosy/experience. :lol: I did not try to put off or knock the con tiki merely warned of what I found -maybe constructive comments for them to consider,indeed I went to the trouble of a little reseach to find another for them to give options.I have never knocked anyones vans whether /how old they are or condition,at the end of the day people enjoy themselfs and I do not care what others think as to the condition of there choise of van.Again my opinion but kon tikis hold there price very well indeed,but I think that is more because they do look good :lol: from outside :wink: I was not, would not knocking any kon tiki owners at any point and say again they are nice looking vans :wink: 
terry


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## crag (Oct 30, 2007)

Barry D, providing everything works ok and the engine is sound I think you will like the Kontiki. I bought one this old recently for more from a dealer although the mileage is less than half what the one you are looking at. The overcab bed I don't use but if I needed to, I could very easily do so. It may not have mega headroom but is plenty long and wide enough.
It also is my first motorhome and if I look back the only cock-ups I made are where I bought it from and maybe taking it for granted that all dealers would rectify the obvious problems.
The only other downside is cleaning it. I;ve spen most of the weekend with a polish (farecla) tyring to get rid of the yellowing and the flecky stuff on the sides and I haven't finished yet, and it's not coming up as well as I expected it to.

But for a first van it has given me a starting point, is more than big enough and I just want to get out there and use it.

Just take your time, and don't get overly excited about getting a MH until you find what you think is the right one.


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## Sonesta (May 10, 2005)

Hi there Barry,

We bought our first ever motorhome in September 2004 and that was a brand new Swift Kontiki 645 with rear end u shaped lounge and we loved our Kontiki. We had a few niggly warranty problems (as seems the norm with most new vehicles I'm sad to say) but nothing major or that could not be rectified. I think the older style layout of the Kontiki is probably more useful than it is on the new Kontiki 645 model that we had as we found the long seat opposite the kitchen area was very rarely used and I would have preferred the fixed table dining area that the Kontiki you are thinking of buying has. To me that layout seems a lot better and made far better use of the kitchen/dining area

As for the over the cab pull down bed we often had 2 adults sleeping in ours and obviously like chrisndeb point out, it is not a spacious hotel bedroom at the hilton - it is after all only a motorhome making the most of every available piece of space. However, it was more than adequate to get a decent night's sleep in and the mattress was dead comfortable too. Granted, there is not masses of headroom but as an extra bed for a larger family it is an excellent feature and we certainly had no complaints about it.

The rear lounge on our Kontiki was very cosy, spacious and comfortable and also made up into a huge king size bed and to make it more comfortable we bought 2 single bed memory foam mattresses which really enhanced the comfort of this bed enormously and to be honest I would recommend anyone who has to make up a bed from the lounge area seating arrangement to get one as they turn the most uncomfortable mattress into a little nest of sheer comfort.  

A leaky Kontiki is not something I have heard of before I must be honest with you but I suppose it is like with any other motorhome by any other manufacturer, there are bound to be problems that arise from time to time and just because there may be a bad batch or a one off serious problem it doesn't mean to say that all models from that particular model range or manufacturer will be the same. That's life and sadly as annoying and frustrating as it is for us all - faults will occur and mechanically things do break down and as such they need correcting. Don't be put off though, just ensure that you get a proper inspection done on the vehicle before you commit yourself and make sure you leave no stone unturned!

All in all we were thrilled with our Swift Kontiki and the fact that they still make this model today speaks volumes and I would not hesitate to recommend them.

I am no expert on second hand used motorhome prices so cannot help in that department I'm afraid but is there not a guide or something that you can buy like there is for used cars which can give you an indication of what this vehicle might be worth?

Take my advice and if you are really tempted then go and have a proper look at this motorhome, take someone with you who knows what they are talking about and what you should be looking for and remember to get them to check for damp and possible leaks. If after this you are happy to proceed then offer the seller a price you feel is fair and take it from there.

Good luck and keep us posted as to how you get on and what happens.

Sue


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## chrisndeb (Feb 7, 2007)

Barry D, Crag made a good point about the yellowing of the sides I have seen some Kon Tikis like this I thought thats how they should be not a problem that I could tell looked fine(shows what I know). Ours is 1998 and does not have this so swift must of altered the side panels at some point from 1995-1998, but I suppose it may affect the price going up in years. What ever you get you will have great fun and meet great people,Have fun Chris


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## Penquin (Oct 15, 2007)

We have a 5 year old Kontiki and love it to bits, it's reliable, roomy, well equipped and does what we ask it to. All of the Kontiki owners that we have spoken to have been pleased by their vehicles although most have minor niggles about "if I was designing it I would have ....."

75,000 is not a lot for a diesel engine that has been properly maintained and that is the key feature to carefully check the service history which you say is available. Has the mileage been gained regularly or has it jumped in one or two years - that will give you an indication about how it has been used. Our garage says that a vehicle used frequently will have fewer problems than one that has sat around for 10 months and then been used for a few heavy weeks. We trust their opinion implicitly.

It is important to check that all the equipment works and to give it a good test drive - try for 20 - 30 miles and not just 2 - 3, try on a variety of road surfaces and speeds and have a good listen for "odd" noises. It will not be silent, no vehicles are (my wife has a 1 year old car with noise from one door that the delers have tried to rectify 7 times so far). but try to locate where noises are coming from.

Getting the vehicle checked independently is a good idea - the RAC and the AA do such checks for a modest fee, or if you have a tame garage ask them to give it a look over. A good dealer won't mind - if he does why? Remember warranties are of very limited value - they only cover certain items failing in certain ways - probably not the common failings!

If you like it, go for it, offer and haggle and be prepared to walk away, but remember if you like it it is worth what you pay for it. Enjoy owning it and join one of the caravan organisations - if you are not already - they have lots of advice available. Also keep using this forum - it's great to be able to get opinions from others, you don't have to accept them but they are all worth reading!

Good luck!


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