For Sale 65 reg Auto-Sleeper Burford Duo

Due to the DVLA deciding that I am no longer fit enough to drive vehicles over 3500kgs I have lost my C1 entitlement on my driving licence. Thus, I am now only allowed to drive vehicle up to and including 3500kgs in weight BUT also restricted to vehicles with an AUTOMATIC gearbox.
This being so I thought I would see if there is anyone here in the ASOF who could possibly be looking for an Auto-Sleeper Burford Duo.
It is a thing of joy and after owning many many Auto-Sleepers over the years this particular one has been a pleasure to own and drive. 
It is of course over the 3500kgs threshold and plated at 3880kgs therefore you would need to be in possession of a C1 entitlement on your driving licence.
Today we went looking at motorhomes in the under 3500kgs category with automatic gearboxes at dealerships around and about my local area. It was going really well wherever we went until the phrase 'I have such and such a motorhome to be taken into consideration.' I have never in all my 79 years witnessed so much sucking of teeth, even more so than my local builder!!!! I got offered this that and the other but nothing more than £47500.
Obviously before going in pursuit of a replacement motorhome I did peruse such things as the Auto-Trader and the like to see what motorhomes of the same brand, model and year with similar mileages and thought I would receive offers in excess of those given.
This being so I had the brainwave of why not try ASOF. Should anyone here be looking at the Auto-Sleeper Burford Duo 4 Berth and have £47500 to hand you can willingly have mine. Or, if you have an automatic motorhome up to 3500kgs and are thinking of getting the luxurious Burford Duo I will of course do either a straight swap, or money my way or money your way.
As we are both coffin dodgers we are unable to get either travel insurance or medical insurance and so we only go to local destinations for the odd couple of days.
We are not smokers but have a lovely little 20 month old Pamapoo who sheds no hair, poo or wee and we obviously take her with us when we do go off hither and yon.
As most will know this motorhome is based on the Mercedes Benz Chassis with the 6 speed automatic gearbox and the economical 2.1 litre diesel 163 bhp engine which is ULEZ compliant. It was first registered in October 2015 and had one previous owner before we purchased it. The mileage is at present 21750.
It has all manner of things which I'm sure you don't really want me to list.....but I will.
It has the following:
Tow bar and single electrics.
An extra solar panel.
Rear cycle rack for two cycles.
Fitted wind out awning, brand new and never used. Long story but rain and wind were involved!
Interior spotlights.
Air conditioning in both the cab area and rood mounted air conditioning in the lounge.
Alloy wheels.
Remis cab blinds.
Fly screens.
Hot water.
Wardrobe.
Hand basin.
Microwave.
TV bracket.
Rear colour parking camera.
3 burner gas and 1 electric hob'.
Separate oven and grill.
Underslung LPG tank.
Electric step.
Electric windows.
Electric mirrors.
Loose fit carpets.
External 240v socket.
External BBQ point.
TV aerial.
Separate toilet.
Separate shower.
Cruise control.
Fridge freezer.
Mains hook up cable.
Both cab seats swivel.
Curtains.
There must be more but I'm getting brain freeze. 
Should you need to see photo's please get in touch and I will do my very best to send some through, and should anyone wish to come and view this immaculate example you will be more than welcome to see it here in Garstang near Preston. 
Tyre kickers and empty wallets will be frowned upon.

Hi There,

Your posting has caught my attention and although we were not planning to change our motorhome the Burford Duo is one that has attracted us in the past.  You don't mention it but does it have the double bed or the two singles?

We currently own an Autosleeper Northants which is a two berth on a Mercedes Sprinter chassis with automatic gearbox and is under 3500kg.  It was first registered in September 2009 and has done 46500 miles.  We acquired the vehicle in February 2014 with it just having 3500 miles on the clock (previous owner didn't take to motorhoming).  It has just passed its MOT and is in excellent condition throughout.  It recently has had new discs and pads fitted front and back and two new tyres on the front (normal wear and tear replacements).  We have driven it throughout the UK, Ireland and Europe and it has been a pleasure to drive.

Can provide more details and photos if this might be of interest to you.

Dave Wilkinson

We are also suddenly incapable of driving anything over 3500kg and I also wanted an automatic. Beware of the following when you are looking:
You will very quickly find there are no automatics other than the Fiat Ducato Comfortmatic - steer well clear of that, it doesn't work properly - and the new Fiat 9 speed automatic, and the Ford Transit. Ignore the Renault Master which my garage says has a rubbish automatic.
New (and I think older) Fiat Ducatos have passenger air bag ECUs which need replacing each time you have a cup of tea - £380 I think.
New-ish Ford Transits frequently eat fuel injectors, £700 ish upwards ( see many recent copies of MMM). Ford do not do this free of charge although it is an acknowledged 'feature' unless they are still in warranty. But if you have it done under warranty you will be wondering how often you have to have it done once the warranty expires. Chaussons tend to be based on automatic Transits.
That leaves Mercedes. Mercedes hasn't made a manual gearbox since long before Theresa May was PM. There aren't any others.
I have a 2019 Bourton (on a Mercedes obviously) which like your Burford was originally 38somethingorother kilos, and it was downplated before I bought it to 3500. Have you actually been to a weighbridge and had it weighed? I have removed a few bits of junk such as the rear corner steadies and the satellite dish - but I have added another solar panel. I loaded it as I think we would go away with a little fresh water, a full fuel tank and some food and clothes. I went to the weighbridge and was delighted to find that we were 150kg under the 3500. This was with driver but no passenger and although my best beloved is no Twiggy, she wouldn't take us over 3500. Also I have it on good authority that there is some 'allowance' at a weighbridge if you get stopped so I think if you were 150 or 200 over, you would not get penalised. If you are stopped overweight and told you can't go any further, just empty your water tanks and that might get you inside the limit.

If I were you and wanted to keep the Burford, I would remove the tow bar, and if you feel so inclined the air con unit which weighs 38kg and possibly the awning. How often do you use those items? And the satellite dish although that I think isn't more than about 15kg. Get it downplated to 3500kg at SV Tech https://www.svtech.co.uk/our-services/downplating/
You fill in the form, take a few photos of the tyres, send them and a few pounds, and they notify DVLA, who then send you a new log book and the joyous news that you now have to pay a lot more Road Fund Licence money than you did when you had a much more road-destroying heavier vehicle. They are unable to explain the logic of this however, and neither am I.

David Marsh here, just to let everyone know that my Auto-Sleeper Burford Duo has been sold to Emm-Bee Motorhomes, Bury, Lancashire and will be listed by them for sale in due course.
Thank you to all who read my post with regard to having to sell it, I couldn't downplate it as it weighed nearly 3400kgs completely empty!!! Sad really.

I went to EmmBee and saw just what I wanted: A Burstner 6.4(ish)mtr automatic - but it had a 'Sold' sticker in the window. They didn't have another one in stock so I placed a deposit on one due in on their next delivery, but unfortunately it got delayed and delayed and delayed and eventually I gave up and got my deposit returned. EmmBee seem to be a nice dealer.

OK David so what have you got as a replacement? Do Tell
Or are you going to strike a bargain at the NEC? It is a good place to buy. Some years ago I went, having got a part ex price from a dealer for a caravan I had. I couldn't afford the balance to get the caravan I wanted. I went to the NEC, and saw the same dealer on the manufacturer's stand and he was able to give me about £2000 more there, than he could at his dealership. So there are good reasons for buying at the shows.

Good morning young man, and what a beautiful day it is.
To be honest we just don't know which way to move with regard to motorhome. I have just bought my lady a new Puma, I was going to buy myself a newer car for myself and so sold my little Porsche Boxster......I am at the present time without a car, and of course we have sold the motorhome due to the fact the DVLA thought of me as a 'Coffin Dodger'. Should we or shouldn't we? That is the question. I was looking yesterday at the costs involved with hiring motorhomes and would you believe due to the fact I have survived 79 years I would be either penalised or refused the pleasure. I'll see what the next few days bring. Emm-Bee are very good indeed and their stock is of a choice nature. Sadly I just cannot justify buying anything new as I just wouldn't use one as often as one should. We are restricted to the UK, my lady has to go to The Rosemere Centre often as she has stage 4 ovarian cancer. 
Thank you and my best wishes,
David.

Oh I'm sorry to hear about your wife David.
I think the monocoque AutoSleepers would be a good buy, with the proviso that you are confident it would survive not needing any unobtainable parts. That's the risk. Of course I expect you are familiar with the fact that a three or four year old camper will be about half the price of the same model new - or to put it another way, the same price it was when it was new . And it should be in 'as new' condition. That is to say, with a 4 yr old A/S the Sargent electrics will be sparking and falling to bits, just as they are when new 

Thanks for that. Yes, I am well aware of the Sargent electrics and their faults as we had to have all our electrics renewed that were made by them last June. Wasn't something we expected but nigh on £2000 later we are now. My Lady is doing very well, all things considered, as it will be three years this coming June that she was diagnosed and has since had radical surgery and continuous chemotherapy.........she must be doing something right as she celebrated her seventy ninth birthday at the end of January. I think we might have found a little 19 registered Autotrail with the hit and miss gearbox. We've owned one previously....a 15 registered Tracker RB with the same gearbox.......just something that has to be taken into consideration AND that infernal ECU unit that went bust. I'll get it checked over and see what's what. As we don't intend doing much it could suit our needs. As you say, the price is more or less what it was when it was first sold!!!!

For some reason your post came back to my mind today, and I suddenly thought that a Transit (edit- I just thought, of course VWs as well) is more likely than the others to have spare parts availability when it gets old - and as I read somewhre, "you can get it repaired anywhere in the world".
Are you referring to a Fiat Ducato gearbox? I know why it's sloppy on a RHD one, since I converted a LHD Burstner to RHD. The LHD ones, which of course is how they were designed, had a column gearchange. A rod ran down parallel to the steering column in a straight line into the gearbox. Where the rod enters the gearbox is a small bronze bush. However when the RHD version was designed they needed to put the gear stick in between the front seats. This meant a fairly complex system of rods, levers and pivot points to get to the gearbox. The result is that when a gear change is necessary, considerable side force is exerted on the small bronze bush where the mechanism enters the gearbox housing. This, and the many ball and socket joints all wear. If you can be bothered, or can find someone who knows, these ball and sockets can be renewed, and a new bush installed in the gearbox housing, returning the change to as-new operation.
Keep it up, don't let the bar stewards get you down. As someone once said.

Edit: £2000 for Sargent repairs?  Eek gulp. for that I would want proper German electrics, (or Japanese), a spa, coctail bar and dancing girls installed.

Good morning, and thank you for your comments. We won’t be buying anything ‘old old’ due to the costs incurred generally keeping one up to date. Swings and roundabouts to be honest, it’s either depreciation or the extra running costs. I’m fully aware of the manual gearbox bearing and rod issues with the Sevel products that have surfaced over the years. Indeed the money it cost to have the issues remedied with the Sargent electrics were indeed a bit of a shock but it involved having a series of repairs done in Lockerbie and more repairs done here in Garstang and eventually all issues cleared once and for all in Clitheroe. Everything connected to the Sargent became an issue and therefore wasn’t performing as intended. Whoever buys the Duo will be able to have ‘positive’ outings. We are going ahead with the purchase of the 2019 AutoTrail Trigano Tribute. Checked it over and noticed that it had more or less anything and everything ordered and fitted when new. We are aware of the known issues and have taken into account that the Ducato with the comfortmatic gearbox isn’t exactly on the same level as the Mercedes. We will be ok with it I suppose and be able to have a few days here and there when we have days free from appointments that have become a necessary part of our lives. Hopefully we will have a lovely spring and summer this year, anything will be better than we had last year. 
Be safe,
David.

Glad to hear you have got something sorted out David. Enjoy it while you can. we went to the NEC today and saved £97,000 by not buying a new van. However I see myself in the future buying a panel van because they are easier to drive and less butt clenching. If we are stuck with staying in the UK I think a panel van is pretty mandatory - it's such a crowded place.

PS I am pretty sure AutoTrail also have Sargent electrics . . . . . still, you know all their features don't you?

Hi again, thanks for your info with regard to Sargent and AutoFail. I'm fully aware of the connection. I guess I'll just wait for the next thing to go wrong. I must admit we thought about getting a panel van and were quite taken by the Consort model built up near Selby, she who must be obeyed though wasn't a fan and so that was that...........although like myself she did love the AutoSleeper Duetto we had with the banana engine and an automatic gearbox about twenty nine years ago. In the time we owned that we only ever had one issue, the exhaust literally dropped off when driving through Lyon. I have just had to battle with the DVLA yet again, this time taking my private registration off the AutoSleeper. I wouldn't mind so much but at the same time I have just taken yet another private registration off our little Smart car that we towed behind us and had got the new registration docs and retention certificate back in a matter of four days. Up to now its taken twelve days to try and sort out the motorhome docs. Hopefully we will get the fresh motorhome next Tuesday sometime and maybe get away somewhere to try it out. Just been looking at some sites and are noticing dramatic increases in their prices, in fact we came out of CAMC last year due to their ever increasing costs but we are still in the CACC. Generally we stay on their sites, we will see how the year progresses although we do like to be sited with facilities such as toilets etc. I guess we should try some of the CS's or whatever they are called in the vein hope of saving a shilling or two. Fat chance.

Well, if you want expensive and not particularly good try a Premier Site such as Hayling Island. More expensive than C&CC, with paint peeling off the toilet block walls and doors, falling to bits shower hoses, plaster coming off the walls. The lights go out if you sit too long in a cubicle and the PIRs are all over the place, where they shouldn't be. Whatever electrician installed them had no consern for their actual usage in the dark. Go to the washing-up basins and you had better stand and wave your arms around while doing the washing up or the light will go out. And if you have the courage to do your duty three sinks away, the PIR will never detect you. So that puts two of the three washing up sinks out of action. This site won some 'site of the year' award from MMM. I think they missed an h out of the title.

Hahahaha,
Over the years I suppose we have all had the misfortune, more than once, to visit and stay in sites as you have described. It reflects really bad on either the owners/management and quite rightly so.
We have been a bit tied up this past few days as 'She who must be obeyed' had an appointment with her oncologist......and has to start a new programme of chemotherapy. Not the best day but hey, she is still here and able to boil my eggs for breakfast. Has it put her off continuing going hither and yon in a motorised biscuit tin? Not at all, she put on a bit of lipstick and we went down to Bury this lunchtime and collected the little Auto-Trail. 
It's just not the same as the Burford Duo, but it is what it is.
Fingers crossed we can get away for a few days in-between treatments. 
We live i hope.
Be safe.