glennD Posted July 29, 2009 Share Posted July 29, 2009 email addy anyone: I'm about to buy a 1987 Toyota Dolphin with 114,000 miles on the engine. the fridge cools but doesn't make ice, and the owner has removed the A/C belt for better gas mileage (so he says).. there's slight evidence of a leak over the cab area which he says has been patched. Should I keep looking or are these things easily fixed without mortgaging the house. I'm about to offer $4500 for the rig which is close to his asking price. any comments are welcome. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sparky60 Posted July 29, 2009 Share Posted July 29, 2009 email addy anyone: I'm about to buy a 1987 Toyota Dolphin with 114,000 miles on the engine. the fridge cools but doesn't make ice, and the owner has removed the A/C belt for better gas mileage (so he says).. there's slight evidence of a leak over the cab area which he says has been patched. Should I keep looking or are these things easily fixed without mortgaging the house. I'm about to offer $4500 for the rig which is close to his asking price. any comments are welcome. Hello Glenn, For what it's worth...I bought a 1983 Toyota dolphin 3 years ago and have been fixing it up ever since, in between work that is. Paid 3200.00..55,000 miles on it. Had engine rebuilt, new paint job on front cab , new hot water tank, tons of work on inside, all new tires, lots of time and effort to be sure but I am finally semi confident to take it out for a long drive. It seems to be a solid little RV. If ur willing to put a bit of money into these puppies I think you'll be happy. I do wish I'd looked a bit closer at mine before I bought it tho. Lots of rotten wood inside. Look carefully under the cab over bed along the front and both sides , If it ever leaked or still does you'll notice these areas will be wet and spongy. In fact mine had rotten wood all along both top edges of the roof . The sealant they used originally was not the greatest so check carefully. If u see any water stains up around there then probably it leaked and someone slopped a little caulk on the roof edges outside. Also check around the windows on the outside and see if anyone chaulked them too recently. Check around the outside bottom edges of the unit. Mine looked OK but when I laid down and REALLY looked the wood there too was all rotted and I had to replace it with 3/4" treated wood. If any of these checks show up on yours I think due to the high mileage you might get him down to $4000 or less. Good luck............... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gulfstream Greg Posted July 30, 2009 Share Posted July 30, 2009 Have him put the belt back on the A/C and verify it works. A new compressor, dryer and valve is over $300. A recharge and change to R134a might be around $100 plus. Then labor at probably twice the parts cost. If it don't work it is not cheap to fix. $4500 seems like a good price if the A/C works. Oh ya, taking the belt off does not save much gas if any because the pulley free spins when the A/C is not on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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