Motorhome Buying (Best time)

[PCmag]

Hi everyone been looking to buy a motorhome for a month or so now. I knew that prices were rising due to lockdown etc! But it seems to be silly at the moment, especially when going to motor home dealers, no or very little wiggle room on price displayed. Thinking of waiting till Autumn/Winter and seeing if prices become a bit more realistic.
Is this usually the case ?
Cheers
PCmag

 

[steve 6644]

What are you looking for and the budget, it looks like a fifteen grand van is selling for twenty five at the moment but I dont think new stuff is quite as silly.

 

[PCmag]

Looking at getting an Autotrail Tribute 720. Looked at a few at dealers, and they seem to be wanting to make a fortune on every sale,(I was told the price that one of them went to the dealer for by the person who sold it). And they made £9,000.
I'll keep looking and hopefully find one being sold private, or wait till later in the year.
Cheers

 

[PCmag]

Sorry budget up to £40,000 for the right mh.

 

[Spanda]

Hi everyone been looking to buy a motorhome for a month or so now. I knew that prices were rising due to lockdown etc! But it seems to be silly at the moment, especially when going to motor home dealers, no or very little wiggle room on price displayed. Thinking of waiting till Autumn/Winter and seeing if prices become a bit more realistic.
Is this usually the case ?
Cheers
PCmag

We deliberately waited until the start of Winter when we bought our as prices normally take a bit of a dive once the bad weather comes. Happy hunting !

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[PCmag]

Yes looks like we'll have to wait till winter kicks in and just get ready for next year. Shame as we were looking forward to a few trips this year, but can't justify paying the amounts some dealers seem to want and are obviously getting. Supply & Demand I suppose.
Cheers for the replies.

 

[Spriddler]

Have a look at this recent thread on availability/rising prices/high demand which you may find interesting:

MOTORHOME SALES BOOMING!!!

As we were bored over the weekend, we thought that we would visit a few local MH dealers. First one we visited was a large dealer of good quality second hand MHs. Met by a salesman who asked us to use gloves etc, my comment to him was is how are things going with this Corona virus, his comment...

www.motorhomefun.co.uk

 

[Littlewheels]

Looking at getting an Autotrail Tribute 720. Looked at a few at dealers, and they seem to be wanting to make a fortune on every sale,(I was told the price that one of them went to the dealer for by the person who sold it). And they made £9,000.
I'll keep looking and hopefully find one being sold private, or wait till later in the year.
Cheers

The windscreen price might have been £9000 more but they have other costs that have been explained on this forum many times,VAT etc etc.
In answer to your question there is no good time, some are trying it on with the prices asked because of media driving it.
The best time to buy is when you find the MH you want particularly a certain model. Keep looking and make a purchase decision life’s for living not waiting for what’s around the corner.

 

[IRHP]

If you have the money a few grand more just now for the van you want might seem a lot but look at it over long term.

 

[PCmag]

It's a business I get that, I understand they have other costs, and the van they were selling was in very good condition.(The person who sold them it, told them about a patch of damp that had been done under warranty by auto trail). So whilst having a look at van I asked about any damp issues, surprise surprise, salesman says no....
Will keep looking and hopefully one will come along, sooner or later.
Cheers
Yes the post on costs of mh's does make interesting reading, could go either way, oh for a crystal ball.

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[Billylyne5]

We are in the same boat, started looking in Feb, went to the NEC show and then planned to get something in the spring, I have just seen prices go up and up, and some vans we have looked at that were definitely damp and generally a bit grotty have sold for £20k plus. One we were interested in this week, which I wanted more info on - like when was the cam belt changed and what is the weight of the van, has sold, the owner didn’t know the weight and said they don’t know when the cam belt was changed but as it was a £30k van then a few hundred to change that should be nothing for us to do if we wanted it.
I think we will just stop looking until holiday season is over, and things settle down a bit.

 

[Crazylegs]

My brother purchased a brand new Cathargo last year, he couldn’t get a brass farthing off the not inconsiderable sticker price. I honestly think that good quality in demand stock doesn’t need to discounted to sell. On the other hand if a van has sat on the forecourt for months discounts will most likely be available, if I was you I would try and identify a brand with a layout will work for you at the dealers, then try and locate one the same being sold privately.

 

[Simon Select]

Looking at getting an Autotrail Tribute 720. Looked at a few at dealers, and they seem to be wanting to make a fortune on every sale,(I was told the price that one of them went to the dealer for by the person who sold it). And they made £9,000.
I'll keep looking and hopefully find one being sold private, or wait till later in the year.
Cheers

How do you know they are making a fortune every sale? Did they show you their profit and loss?
Also that £9000 fortune......
£1000 - Discount to do the "Deal"
=£8000
- £2000 - Vat on profit
= £6000
£50 - Autotrader
£1500 prep
£250 Comission
£150 Valeting
£200 Warranty
£150 Smart Repairs
£65 Bottle of Gas
£20 Mains hook up lead
£150 PDI
£40 Camping

The list goes on............

 

[EuroTrotters]

How do you know they are making a fortune every sale? Did they show you their profit and loss?
Also that £9000 fortune......
£1000 - Discount to do the "Deal"
=£8000
- £2000 - Vat on profit
= £6000
£50 - Autotrader
£1500 prep
£250 Comission
£150 Valeting
£200 Warranty
£150 Smart Repairs
£65 Bottle of Gas
£20 Mains hook up lead
£150 PDI
£40 Camping

The list goes on............

general public don’t understand net profit. You neglected to mention

Tax on profits!

so even if you do end up with say a £2,000 net profit, you will be paying your accounts to prepare your 19% corporation tax.

not forgetting the Employers NI, liability insurance, public liability and so on

 

[Simon Select]

general public don’t understand net profit. You neglected to mention

Tax on profits!

so even if you do end up with say a £2,000 net profit, you will be paying your accounts to prepare your 19% corporation tax.

not forgetting the Employers NI, liability insurance, public liability and so on

I would love to post some of the workshop bills, even on vans a couple of years old!

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[Shaun929]

Didn’t realise there was vat to charge on second hand??

 

[Simon Select]

Didn’t realise there was vat to charge on second hand??

Unfortunately on profit there is.

 

[Gaston aires]

Why don’t you check out the vans for sale on the Funsters classified section? Most Funsters treat their vans like children.
Phil

 

[Chris]

There’s a nice Burstner Aviano in classifieds in your price range.

Having owned both a Burstner and a Autotrail ( Scout) I think the Burstner wins on quality and payload.

 

[DangerMousy]

If you're after a specific model secondhand then the right time to buy is when you see one you like at a price you can afford.

We bought our Rapido in January - I've no idea whether we got a good deal because it was winter....but it was the model we wanted, with the interior styling we wanted and the price was about right (though it was right at the top of our budget). Would I have liked to pay less - of course! Am I happy with our purchase - absolutely! And since we bought ours I've not seen another one come up for sale with the right colour interior so it looks like we made the right decision.

We bought via a broker and negotiated a small discount (less than 5%) off the asking price and I know what figure the sellers were due (they left their contract in amongst the other paperwork - oops!) so the broker's commission was a couple of grand. Some people might say that a broker's commission is money for old rope and obviously he doesn't have the overheads of a dealer, but in the end we got the exact MH we wanted so why should I care? Everyone in business needs to make a profit otherwise the business wouldn't exist.

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[EuroTrotters]

I think the leisure vehicle market was on the up anyway.

There will, in my humble opinion be a lot of vehicles and caravans. On the market when people can go back to their usual type of holiday.

if I sold our current, 4th motorhome In 16 years tomorrow for its current value, we will have only lost £4,000 over the lot.

I suspect many will lose 10’s of thousands in just a year or two on selling. In-turn, many Buyers will get some real bargains.

time will tell....

 

[DangerMousy]

Yes looks like we'll have to wait till winter kicks in and just get ready for next year. Shame as we were looking forward to a few trips this year, but can't justify paying the amounts some dealers seem to want and are obviously getting. Supply & Demand I suppose.
Cheers for the replies.

Don't rely on prices dropping in the winter.....in my experience this is a myth. I monitored the market for the model we wanted for over a year before bought (yes I know, I'm a spreadsheet geek!) and when factoring the age of the MHs for sale I saw no evidence of prices dropping after the summer, in fact there was a slight increase over time.

 

[PCmag]

Thanks for that Chris, I did have a look at the Burstner and liked the look of it, but like the two dining/living area layout of the Tribute.
Going to look at one today through a broker, see how it goes.
Like I said in earlier post I get it that dealers are a business and look to maximise profit, but the deal has to be right for both parties.
Didn't show me profit/loss, the £9,000 was with a £1000 off the window price, also £1500 to prep an immaculate 2 year old mh !! Other costs I'll take your word on.
The main reason I didn't buy was that he wasn't truthful about the damp issue.
There are good dealers/brokers, I didn't think the guy I dealt with was one of them.
Cheers.

 

[Simon Select]

Thanks for that Chris, I did have a look at the Burstner and liked the look of it, but like the two dining/living area layout of the Tribute.
Going to look at one today through a broker, see how it goes.
Like I said in earlier post I get it that dealers are a business and look to maximise profit, but the deal has to be right for both parties.
Didn't show me profit/loss, the £9,000 was with a £1000 off the window price, also £1500 to prep an immaculate 2 year old mh !! Other costs I'll take your word on.
The main reason I didn't buy was that he wasn't truthful about the damp issue.
There are good dealers/brokers, I didn't think the guy I dealt with was one of them.
Cheers.

No van is ever immaculate, they always have something. We sold a 2018 Adria Sonic last year (So a year old), battery charger knackered as well as a couple of looms. That was £400 + Vat. Then the supplying dealer hadn't fitted the Gaslow system properly so that had to come out and have a load of bits replaced and sorted along with standard bits of prep, smart repairs etc.
Sold a 2 year old Autotrail with 100% damp in the rear locker, had to rebuild/ replace floors etc, that went into thousands to repair.
As an average on a van that is "Immaculate" we spent circa £1000 sorting bits out.

 

[PCmag]

Looks like your one of the good one's (read your reviews). Pity I am at the other end of the country.
Cheers
PCmag

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[Simon Select]

Looks like your one of the good one's (read your reviews). Pity I am at the other end of the country.
Cheers
PCmag

If your buying used its not so much of a problem, as most of the niggly warranty/ snagging bits are already sorted! Plus the whole point is to travel
Unfortunately I seem to have ran out of used vans so couldn't sell you one of those anyway, unless you want new!

 

[DangerMousy]

Going to look at one today through a broker, see how it goes.

Having bought via a broker my advice would be: have a really good look around the MH, ask why its being sold, test everything (gas, electrics, water, heating etc.), check all the manuals and documentation is there. Check what accessories/equipment is being sold with the vehicle and which things the seller will be keeping.

If you do go the route of buying via a broker it would be worth asking if the sellers would be willing to do a handover to show you what's what. We didn't bother because most things we either already knew or could work out, but as you don't have any previous experience to fall back on it might be useful.

 

[PCmag]

Thanks for that DM, had thought of most of it but not all.
Cheers

 

[125BEER]

It's a business I get that, I understand they have other costs, and the van they were selling was in very good condition.(The person who sold them it, told them about a patch of damp that had been done under warranty by auto trail). So whilst having a look at van I asked about any damp issues, surprise surprise, salesman says no....
Will keep looking and hopefully one will come along, sooner or later.
Cheers
Yes the post on costs of mh's does make interesting reading, could go either way, oh for a crystal ball.

You can have mine for a fee

 

[Simon Select]

You can have mine for a fee

If you want a crystal ball moment, try ordering a few million quids worth of next years models trying to work out what colour, trim, spec, gearbox etc etc will sell!