I was amazed to find when surfing that it's possible to buy a coachbuilt Joint motorhome in Germany for £15,800... These are made in Italy on a Fiat 2 litre chassis and the quality (or otherwise) of this product is not what I'm querying. Don Amott sells them here and the price leaps up by about £7,000. Now, the dealer in Germany is making a profit, ferry and transport prices are not THAT high so how is this vast price difference justified? Apart from profiteering, that is...
------------- Each life is short. Make the most of this one while you can, you may not have a Land Rover or skis next time.
Add on the VAT for importing the van, sorting out the insurance both here and in Germany and man hours to deliver the vehicle. Profiteering doesn't come into it. Is it exactly the same vehicle? I'm sure producing a RHD version incurs extra costs as well. Don Amott probably has high overheads as well. I'm sure if you wanted to get into it and fetch it yourself, you could save 2000 to 3000 pounds if you're lucky. There are companies out there who help with all this but apart from the adventure you don't save a lot, in my humble opinion of course. Each to their own I suppose.
Thanks for your reply. The price of £15,800 included 16% German vat, so you don't pay another lot on import to the UK. Insurance is no different, you arrange it here. There are many motorhomes and vans in the UK built on RHD Fiat chassis, so I can't see that the chassis would cost much more, it's not exactly a one-off. I'm aware of the ease of going to Germany to buy (see my 'Buying in Germany' in the caravan section!!) where I went to buy a small Hobby caravan for a £3500 saving.)
I think the main problem is that here in 'Rip-Off Land' we have been conned over the years and we are now used to paying higher prices than anywhere else and importers take advantage of it. Sorry, I still think it's profiteering! I expect a UK dealer selling that motorhome for £17,000 would be fighting people off with a stick!
Your right--most continental built motorhomes sold here in RHD have the van door still on the wrong side ie in the uk you get out in the middle of the road--apparently in Italy there is a huge factory that produces motorhomes for many different customers--I believe they supply uk manufacturers with complete rolling vehicles that are fitted out in the uk & sold for £1000s more than continental makes--also upmarket vans such as Burstners are sold for thousands more here than in Germany where they are made, the rhd chassis makes no difference cos the van bit still has a right hand door--if you by a new van on the continent you buy it tax free-drive it home then pay uk vat here--of course it doest cost much for uk dealers to deliver the van here--an air fare a ferry fare & 2 days hotel & wages-£500?---its up to the dealer whether he makes £2000 or £10000 on the deal & you are free to buy wherever you want in the EU----
Thanks for that. If you pay vat in the EU country of purchase, then you don't pay it again when importing as we're now all the 'same country' as far as that's concerned. I did look into it and I paid the German Hobby dealer German vat. In fact I wasn't given an option - I had to pay it there. It's not much of a difference, but I'd rather pay German vat at 16% than UK vat at 17½%. Maybe the Joint factory (link above) is the factory you mentioned. It does state it's new and purpose built. I think that's the answer many of us consumers don't yet realise, you can buy anywhere in the EU, and the only hassle is finding someone at a dealership to talk to in English. Certainly the only 'hassle' regarding importing is arranging a ferry ticket. If you're stopped at Customs, you simply show the receipt showing 'vat paid'. When we came back from Germany in July, all sorts of things were coming in - the guy in front of us had a new motorbike on a trailer and there were caravans and new cars in the Customs queue too. None were stopped, there was no reason to stop them.
Post last edited on 22/09/2004 18:56:21
------------- Each life is short. Make the most of this one while you can, you may not have a Land Rover or skis next time.
if you are deciding to do a lot of contiental touring it pays to buy abroad also easier driving overtaking ect.why bring over here at all unless intending to use a lot park at calais save ferry charges and this pays for storage.its only 15 mins walk to storage.
I've also found that we're ripped off across the board for most consumer items. I was just reading a UK magazine review of an HP pocket PC. The magazine is also sold in the US so it gives UK & US prices. The prices quoted are £449/$482. There are almost 2 dollars to the pound at present!
Also, how come the prices for caravan and motorhome parts are extortionate? Not in comparison with other countries, but just regarding 'value for money', or lack of it. A very cheaply made and fragile Whale mixer tap for use with a shower is about £60. I installed a new one and the shower head shattered when dropped 18 inches. A domestic mixer tap made from chromed heavy metal can cost less. A 'motorhome or caravan consumer unit' from a caravan retailer is about £80 but I can buy a similar one with the same requirements for less than half that from a domestic electrical retailer. Truma equipment is highly priced, for example a 4 way gas manifold is 3 times the price it can be bought elsewhere. The list is endless..
The price I mentioned above for the Joint motorhome has now gone up in Germany since I posted the first message. It's still much cheaper than the UK, though.
The sooner we change to the Euro and people can make direct price comparisons with Europe, the better. I don't believe the major UK financial institutions want to change, though. Have you ever changed a lot of Sterling into Euros? I did to buy a caravan in Germany, but ended up not buying as the dealer had ordered the wrong model. I was charged £300 on the exchange rate by the Royal Bank of Scotland to change £8500 to Euros. AND they had the nerve to also charge me £99 commission on top!! To change it back I went to Marks & Spencers as they had the best exchange rate, believe it or not, 0.8% below most others.
------------- Each life is short. Make the most of this one while you can, you may not have a Land Rover or skis next time.
Hi Debbie. No, I haven't a clue, I dealt with Hobby dealers. Do what I did and find the Burstner factory home website, then look for their list of dealers, find some nearest to the UK (Munchengladbach area most likely) get their phone numbers and call them and compare prices. You will find that most, if not all will speak some English. Decide on your model first, though. If you decide to go over, it can be a little difficult going one way with a car and coming back with a caravan as the ferry companies and agents seem to want the same thing going both ways, although I did find that it just cost a bit more in the end. I found that used vans were pricey and it was better to buy new.
Regards
EF
------------- Each life is short. Make the most of this one while you can, you may not have a Land Rover or skis next time.
If you purchase a caravan from mainland europe the VAT is payable in the country of purchase at their rate, the U.K. customs and excise don't have an arrangment for caravans as there is with cars.
I have just purchased a buerstner and what was a reasonable price in August ,due to the strength of the euro, is now not as good.I feel the build quality of the 2005 models and fixtures and fittings is of poorer quality than 2004,the costs involved to upgrade to Brit standards eg battery Electric pack etc,the costs involved going over to preview and collection etc reduce the savings(if any).
I have found several faults i.e.: road lights failed on the way home,hot water not working,blown air not working,door locks very stiff all allegedly O.K.when I collected it (didn't have time to personally check everything) will now have to either pay for repairs or arrange to go back to dealer where I bought it, U.K. dealers wont carry out warranty work.All considered I think I made a big mistake!
If you purchase a caravan from mainland europe the VAT is payable in the country of purchase at their rate, the U.K. customs and excise don't have an arrangment for caravans as there is with cars.
I have just purchased a buerstner and what was a reasonable price in August ,due to the strength of the euro, is now not as good.I feel the build quality of the 2005 models and fixtures and fittings is of poorer quality than 2004,the costs involved to upgrade to Brit standards eg battery Electric pack etc,the costs involved going over to preview and collection etc reduce the savings(if any).
I have found several faults i.e.: road lights failed on the way home,hot water not working,blown air not working,door locks very stiff all allegedly O.K.when I collected it (didn't have time to personally check everything) will now have to either pay for repairs or arrange to go back to dealer where I bought it, U.K. dealers wont carry out warranty work.All considered I think I made a big mistake!
If you do decide to buy in EuropeI found the most cost effective way is to arrange a Swift Money Transfer direct to the vendors account that way you get nearly interbank rates.
Sorry to keep posting but I keep thinking of further info that may be of use.
If you go to Buerstner website the prices you see are factory gate prices to this you have to add dealer mark up.
The best website in Germany to find any kind of motorhome is www.mobile.de. Than click on Wohnwagen/wohnmobile and you get to the motorhome site. ( they deal in cars aswell or anything that drives !) From there on you got to fill in some fields as to what you require . You can go to Altavista for translations. We have been buying our last 3 motorhomes in Germany and we have saved a lot of money. The Germans trade them in a lot quicker than here as they want constantly the latest but do use them a lot so you can get a lot higher mileage. I am lucky that I speak German ( I am Dutch) and so makes life easier and my husband leaves all the dealings to me.
Amazing family weekend with old steam engines, classic car displays, market stalls, and full catering and bar. And camping on site - Save £25 by booking in advance.
Topic: European prices
