2004 Fiat Motor Caravan 2.0L Diesel · BX54 OBV

This Ducato-based motorhome has just passed an MOT two months ago, but the history tells a more complicated story. The test was clean apart from an advisory for fluctuating brake performance at both axles. Fluctuation is often caused by disc-thickness variation or surface corrosion, and on a vehicle that has covered very few miles it likely points to long periods of standing rather than hard use. The real concern is what the MOT doesn’t say. For two consecutive years (2024 and 2025) the brake pipes were noted as corroded and fully covered in underseal. That advisory didn’t appear in 2026, which doesn’t mean the pipes have been replaced or cleaned—it’s far more likely the tester simply didn’t look behind the underseal, or the coating is hiding deterioration that will eventually become a structural problem. You must assume the pipes are still corroded underneath and may need replacing sooner rather than later. Previous advisories also record a nearside rear brake that has been binding and an offside rear that was grabbing in 2023. Together with the fluctuating brakes, the pattern points to caliper or slider-pin corrosion, again linked to the vehicle’s low mileage and long idle periods. The same standing time explains why a steering-rack gaiter on the nearside front had failed so badly in 2024 that it no longer prevented dirt ingress.