Dealers Mark Up

[EuroTrotters]

Brownhills offered me £28,000, same month I got £48,500 from Alan Kerr, I took Alan Kerr’s offer. They had just what I wanted at a good price too, la Strada Nova.

I kept the la Strada for 18 months and sold it privately for what I paid for it.

You just have to be savvy.

Our first motorhome, a euro Mobil 716HB. I bought off eBay, three years old with 8,000 mikes on the clock. £29,000.

I ran it 4 years until around 44,000 miles and traded it in to a dealer for £28,750 (Dudley’s).

Our Hymer cost it’s previous owner £24,000. We purchased 12 months after for £13,000. Including costs to repatriate and fix up the issues, ended up around £14,000. I turned down an offer of £19,500 last year. And we have had it 3 years.

Maybe I should start dealing in motorhomes ?

 

[Lenny HB]

Brownhills offered me £28,000, same month I got £48,500 from Alan Kerr,

Our first Hymer I put some adverts up and Brownhills phoned me saying the sort of van we are looking for on our forecourt. When they came back with a price they said we see it at low 30's retail we will give you mid 20's for it. I sold it a couple of weeks later for £36k.

 

[The Wino]

So many ifs, buts & maybe in OP.

Is it the same dealer that has both the carbon copy on their forecourt and the new one?
£28k is the sticker price... the dealer will probably have to give a discount.
As you point out, selling is so time consuming... if your time is valuable, why isn't the dealers?
A private sale doesn't offer a warranty nor has to pay VAT. Nor any of the associated costs of running a business.

Agree a bit and the dealer's aren't all coining it evidenced by some going bust but the vat is a red herring. The vat on the new one will be only on the dealer's margin as they will reclaim the vat on buying it in and on all their expenses similar with the sale on of the trade in. Vat is often used to justify a really low amount offered for nearly new vans sold back to dealers it's just an excuse. Of course the vat payable will depend on the mark up so the lower the margin the less vat is payable.

 

[The Wino]

I can charge £1000 Inc VAT for a repair, with the parts costing me a mere £50.

But by the time I've done my unpaid tax collecting of £166'ish and all the rest of the cost of sales....

Advertising
Fuel
Motoring costs
Telephone and other utilities
Etc etc
Public liability insurance etc



If I am lucky and I make a profit. I have to pay corporation tax.

It's all about each companies cost of sales and profits

That's when I've already paid my National insurance, employers national insurance and my standard income tax.

It's not that simple as looking at initial figures

Depends on your turnover the%of those expenses attributed to that 1k job are probably pretty small and must be if the net vat payment is 166 or was that the gross not accounting for claiming vat back on most of the costs you quoted !!!!. I accept that running a business is not as easy as some make out we ran our own for 28 years neither is it all bad.

 

[Blue Knight]

Brownhills offered me £28,000, same month I got £48,500 from Alan Kerr, I took Alan Kerr’s offer.

Brownhills' accounts are heading South so they'll be keen to make some money on its vans asap.

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[PeteH]

It`s not about anyone making (or not making) a profit. If you want a product, you will pay what is being asked, If you want to haggle likewise. The "profit" made is down to the deal(er) in the final analysis. In our case the salesman asked the "gaffer" and he obviously thought on balance that the "deal" was worth it.

The fact that the "Aftersales" at that particular dealership was a pathetic joke.? Is another story. And a light years away from the service we had from Fullers on our previous `van.

 

[Mrsambulancekidd]

The problem is, we cant stand anyone making a profit, can we.

Everyone should spend a few years self employed....

That is true, years ago I was a one woman business and if I was ill I earned nothing, I had no room for anyone else to work with me even if I wanted them too.
The trick was finding the balance between making a living & competing with another picture framer in the next street.
How on earth I did what I did in the tiny unit I had is still a wonder even to me.....

 

[Cheshirecat57]

I hate it when we criticise someone for making an offer......

An offer is worth a thousand opinions

If it's not enough, ....don't accept it and move on. Not all dealers are "cash rich" I'm sure, and the one for sale is probably stocked by Lombard, not the dealer...........the p/x has to be paid for

 

[Coolcats]

Maybe a commission sale would sit more comfortably than a part exchange, I have done this before it incentives the dealer to get the best possible price for the vehicle. The dealers wanted to 'steal' our previous Camper we advertised it at a private sale rate and had around £5k more than the dealers would offer plus a reasonable discount on the new MoHo.

Some are just happy with a PX and no hassle which is fine but there are different strategies that can be used.

 

[Coolcats]

Last week we looked at PX'ing our 11-month old van (via my original supplying dealer) and the figures were thourougly depressing to say the least.

Mind you, I looked at the accounts pertaining to said dealer and, like many dealers, their net profit margin has seen a significant decline recently so I'm not surprised that they wanted to rip our eyes out.

As my previous post why not try a commission sale, it means if they do not sell the vehicle at the price you want you get your vehicle back neither pay has lost anything, the dealer will just want you to let them have the vehicle for x period of time (negotiable) and if you sell it privately they get their commission (of their offer price).

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[Cheshirecat57]

As my previous post why not try a commission sale, it means if they do not sell the vehicle at the price you want you get your vehicle back neither pay has lost anything, the dealer will just want you to let them have the vehicle for x period of time (negotiable) and if you sell it privately they get their commission (of their offer price).

Andrew (@BlueKnight) probably wants to scrape his shoe and walk away....asap

 

[Lot lover]

The only target of any business is to make a profit. If customers are happy that is a bonus for them.

A Dealer does not have to take my vehicle in px and I do not have to accept his price.

BTW for hopeful pricing go to any French vide grenier.

 

[Rimswell Wanderer]

I fully understand that a business is not a charity and that it can only survive by making a profit, but recent experience has got me wondering what planet these people are on.
We would like to trade up our motorhome to one that is a little younger and to that end we went to the show at Shepton Mallet this year. Having had a good look round we decided that the Autotrail Tracker EK met our needs and it became apparent that we would need to find £40K to proceed. One of the dealers had a carbon copy of our current Auto Sleeper Nuevo for sale for £28K, so we figured we could expect somewhere around the £25K mark as a part exchange. As there was not a single Tracker EK at the show we left our details with several dealers and asked them to get in touch as soon as one came in. Result?.....not a single call. Recently we noticed that one of these dealers had a Trakker so we asked why no contact and received some story about their computer system not being very good. We moved on and asked for a part exchange deal and were offered £17K for our van, which would be some £10K+ less than what they would try and sell it for plus the margin they were making on the van we wanted to purchase. We would assume the latter margin to be at least £5K so they stand to make around £15K on the whole transaction. When I pointed this out they miraculously "found" another £4K they could offer for our van out of thin air. These kinds of mark ups are totally unacceptable to us. We were hoping not to have to do a private sale / purchase as it is so time consuming but its the only reasonable option.
So if you want a Nuevo or have a Tracker for sale drop us a PM, and if you are driving past Junction 22 on the M5 and thinking of popping into one of the dealers there........keep on driving.

The Tincas

I always go to Springfield Motorhomes in Bridlington and last three deals where ok as far as I was concerned plus they also have brilliant customer after sales and service.

 

[Tincataylor]

Mmmmm, some very interesting responses to my original post. Many thanks for your responses, if we ever manage to negotiate a successful deal we'll let you know.

The Tincas

 

[Geistguy]

We were given £32k for our Geist, dealer asked for £38k on forecourt, even if he did get that figure I don't consider it to be an excessive profit considering overheads and warranty.

Having been self employed from age 17 to retirement I know that a realistic profit has to be paramount, not every deal will make money.

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[PhilG]

Mmmmm, some very interesting responses to my original post. Many thanks for your responses, if we ever manage to negotiate a successful deal we'll let you know.

The Tincas

I will say that if you have a decent MH that isn't messed with, that you are happy to own, and sell, then doing it yourself is by far the most cost effective way to do it. There is no shortage of buyers,but you have to pick your time, to get the best price. Where this falls down is when you want to arrive with your old MH and leave with the new one. I would say that by being prudent and careful you could save as much as £25k on a new purchase, if you are looking at a higher end MH. Dealers have to make a profit, but you don't have to use a dealer.

 

[Northernraider]

I fully understand that a business is not a charity and that it can only survive by making a profit, but recent experience has got me wondering what planet these people are on.
We would like to trade up our motorhome to one that is a little younger and to that end we went to the show at Shepton Mallet this year. Having had a good look round we decided that the Autotrail Tracker EK met our needs and it became apparent that we would need to find £40K to proceed. One of the dealers had a carbon copy of our current Auto Sleeper Nuevo for sale for £28K, so we figured we could expect somewhere around the £25K mark as a part exchange. As there was not a single Tracker EK at the show we left our details with several dealers and asked them to get in touch as soon as one came in. Result?.....not a single call. Recently we noticed that one of these dealers had a Trakker so we asked why no contact and received some story about their computer system not being very good. We moved on and asked for a part exchange deal and were offered £17K for our van, which would be some £10K+ less than what they would try and sell it for plus the margin they were making on the van we wanted to purchase. We would assume the latter margin to be at least £5K so they stand to make around £15K on the whole transaction. When I pointed this out they miraculously "found" another £4K they could offer for our van out of thin air. These kinds of mark ups are totally unacceptable to us. We were hoping not to have to do a private sale / purchase as it is so time consuming but its the only reasonable option.
So if you want a Nuevo or have a Tracker for sale drop us a PM, and if you are driving past Junction 22 on the M5 and thinking of popping into one of the dealers there........keep on driving.

The Tincas

Businesses these days dont just want to make a profit they want to make a killing

That's why when you see a boss in a £3k suit and £150k car saying he cant afford to pay his staff more than minimum wage the eyes roll



But if people keep encouraging them what incentive is there to change