Help needed FAST: should we walk away?

Better_Days

Hoploz wrote: »

Potterton Suprima 50 ... I had one of those in my old house. It was put in about 2002 I believe. My plumber (known him for years, old family friend) checked it over when we moved in and said 'whatever you do don't let anyone talk you in to replacing this boiler. All parts readily available and they go on for donkeys years'.

We've got an old boiler too (Camray 2) and our heating engineer said something similar. He said there's not a lot to go wrong with it and best to keep it while parts are easy to obtain. We've had some repairs done, but no point replacing atm. Just because a boiler is old doesn't mean its on its last legs, although it wont be as efficient as a new boiler.

One of the things that has put me off getting a new boiler is the short warranties on them now. Some have only 2 year warranties Manufacturers don't seem to have much faith in their products - I suppose its because there is more to go wrong with the newer models.

Atomix

just to say the last house we bought (In 2005) had a potterton boiler.

It was the original boiler from when the house was built (1993). We sold in 2010, and it never missed a beat. I was happy to spend on it if it did go wrong - but it was a reliable workhorse, how on earth can you tell if its about to breakdown? Was his name Paul Daniels or what?

Atomix

Also agree with Hoploz, its like saying the oven might go, so we need to knock off 10 grand for a new kitchen?

sianlovestea

Atomix wrote: »

its like saying the oven might go, so we need to knock off 10 grand for a new kitchen?

Oh come on, it's not like that at all and I don't think you're being very helpful. Forgive me as I'm new but I thought the point of these forums was to help one another?

Atomix

The seller has just spent £500 on fixing the boiler which may last 10 years with no issues, or may pack in in 6 months, the same boiler that was there when you agreed the sale price.

You would like to put in a completely new combi heating system at a cost of £3700.

see the point?

sianlovestea

Yes, I understand and appreciate the point you're making, I just think your oven analogy was a bit of an exaggeration.

Anyway, I thank everyone for their opinions - it's always helpful to see other people's points of view on these things.

I still have T minus 28ish hours to make my decision so I'm going to sleep on it but I think the general consensus seems to be to see the bigger picture and if the boiler breaks down in a couple of months time put it down to bad luck and take a hit.

Belfast1978

I think you could get it done for less than that I had a gas combi boiler put into my houses stripping out old oil systems knackered old pipes too. the first one 1.8k second 1.4 and third 1.7k why are they asking 3.5k? shop around and haggle thats what I did.

searchlight123

you do need to compare like for like. if the worse comes to the worse and you do end up needing a new boiler then replacing it within the same system as exists now will cost you a lot less than £3700. probably well under £2k with utilising existing pipework etc.
obviously if you wish to change to a combi system there are a lot higher initial costs involved. that's your choice.
personally, i wouldn't lose a property i really wanted for the sake of under £2k so would bite the bullet and hope the boiler survived a little while longer.

Belfast1978

exactly as Tony said its not a huge deal with a boiler and ring around I got quoted around 4k but like I mentioned I found a few really nice people who helped me out the second house that was all I had left and I was honest about that so he did the job for that amount. Infact how I found all my tradesmen was speaking to local landlords making friends with them you would be surprised how many great contacts you can make that way.

Also the amount of times I have been told something's on its last legs and its still up and running now I wouldn't worry to much about it

Argghhh

i replaced my boiler for 2K they capped off the old water tanks etc and i removed old boiler and pipes that were now redundant myself