Before we give you two dealer tips… You should know that you can buy a motorhome considerably cheaper from a private seller. However, unless you already know your way around a motorhome, and are au fait with the technical aspects or you have a good friend who does, then I don’t suggest buying your first motorhome privately.
Of course, the vast majority of private sellers are honest, but a few of them will say anything to sell any old rubbish and your recourse if you are caught out is negligible. So unless you have a very knowledgeable friend who you can trust; my advice is your first motorhome should come from a dealer.
Tip One: Choose a Dealer That is Close
If the motorhome you want is at a dealership over 75 miles away, this might cause you problems down the line. Motorhomes have lots of components that can go wrong. It’s rare you won’t have to travel back to the dealer for something. If you buy a long way from home, it’s not the dealer’s fault that you are so inconvenienced when they ask you to ‘pop in.’
A local dealer that you can develop a relationship with is far better than travelling miles to save a few quid. Only to see those savings burned when you have to keep travelling miles to see them. I’m not saying you will always be back at the dealer. Lots of buyers never have anything go wrong, but plenty do, and if it happens to you, you’ll be pleased you bought local.
Getting servicing done is always easier from your supplying dealer. If you buy from miles away, don’t be surprised if your local dealer is not too concerned when you call in for help with a problem or a service.
Tip Two: Do your Research on the Dealer
Before you buy, check out the dealer’s reputation. These days this is so easy to do. Start with Google, type in the company name, then add a space and the word review. This will probably bring up some interesting hits. An important one will be on the right and it will be Google’s own information that includes reviews. It’s important that rather than look at the overall rating, 3,4,5 stars etc, you actually spend some time reading the reviews.
I’m sure you know that many reviews online are fake. You need to dig into these reviews for clues. Treat terrible 1 star reviews and superb 5 stars, with equal suspicion. Read the reviews and click through to the reviewer and see how many reviews they have left for others. They may have reviewed a few other local dealers given critical reviews that point to it being a competitor. A big giveaway is the time. A bunch of good or bad reviews over the same weekend say, is a red flag.
Important..Check out the company’s responses
A good company will respond with genuine concern to critical reviews, bad ones will not respond at all or leave a boilerplate response to every complaint.. “Sorry you’ve had a problem, call our service manager blah..”
You are likely aware there are a lot of strange people on the internet and some of those like to review things. Look at these.
I once saw a 1 star review of a dealership because when the new dealership premises were under construction, they were noisy on a Saturday!
The London icon, Big Ben got a 1 star Google review for being too loud. Whereas the Great Wall of China, one of the major wonders of the world, got one star because it was too long.
The truth is to be found in those Google reviews, but you must discount the rubbish and hunt out the nuggets that really let you know what is going on.
Ask your peers
For the best reviews and the best place to get the lowdown on a company is to ask on the forums, the members here have bought vans from every dealer in the land. Just ask.
Most members are happy to praise an excellent company publicly, but if you ask and people have bad things to say, be assured you’ll be messaged privately. And don’t forget to check out our own reviews section.