Hi, I have a 2002 Bailey Ranger 500/5 which has a bad damp problem which I intend to sell. The van is in really good condition except for the damp which is in both of the back corners one side 75% the other dry rot. In my opinion the van was scrap value only and that is how I intended to dispose of it but the maintenance guy who did the reading and Service said we could get about £700 + as lots of people do home repairs.
What do others think?
BTW I wouldn’t dream of not declaring the damp to any prospective buyers.
Take a good set of photos & list it on ebay auction with £500 start & no reserve. Describe the caravan & any equipment with it but do not make any claims to it’s condition. Do not mention it is damp. Invite inspections during auction. Buyer pays cash on collection.
If you can wait until March before you auction it you will get a better price. For a private sale if you make no claims as to it’s condition then there can be no comeback. If you simply describe it as a caravan with whatever layout & equipment then you are not misrepresenting then no comeback with private sale.
Oddly if you did describe it as damp the buyer could attempt to claim the caravan was scrap & claim you misrepresented the caravan so make no claims to condition whatsoever & you are covered.
If you are going to sell it privately described as a damp caravan you would be better taking it to a breakers & taking whatever they would offer you.
You do see companies advertising that they buy caravans including damp or damaged ones in the Caravan and Motorhome Club magazine. I imagine these companies would only pay rock bottom prices but they may be worth a call if only to try to establish what the lowest price would be if they were interested in buying. Just out of curiosity have you established the source of water ingress and has that been stopped?
I would disagree about not mentioning the damp. I think that would be false representation. Mention it’s got bad damp, describe it honestly and keep a paper copy of the advert just in case.
You’d probably be better advertising it for spares, someone converting a van would be looking for a good interior.
Provided no claims are made about condition then a private seller cannot be said to have misrepresented the item they are selling. They only have the service man’s word of how damp it is.
If you are selling a secondhand item the only possible way to avoid any comeback is to make no mention of condition & invite buyers to come & look at caravan before end of sale. Otherwise auction rules apply & highest bidder has bought it.
Thanks for the replies to date - I did say in my post that I wouldn’t sell on without letting any prospective buyer know the extent of the damp. I would view anything other than being completely honest as deceiving a gullible buyer and I couldn’t do that.
Is the damp visible? If it is not then apart from the service man’s word what do you know about it? Would you keep the caravan if it was ok? Maybe all it needs is a cartridge of PU sealant around the outside seams to stop the water coming in & you will get a few more yrs out of it.
Quote: Originally posted by teedub55 on 27/12/2017
Thanks for the replies to date - I did say in my post that I wouldn’t sell on without letting any prospective buyer know the extent of the damp. I would view anything other than being completely honest as deceiving a gullible buyer and I couldn’t do that.
Very wise to mention damp as it could be a newbie buying a caravan for the first time. It would be very upsetting to them to find out later that the caravan has damp which cannot be repaired unless they spend a fortune.
Also stops any legal proceedings as you can demonstrate that you were open and honest about the presence of damp.
However the op wants to play it if they want to sell then as pointed out ebay auction is best bet & preferably hold off until about March to get best price.
We bought our first caravan (an Eriba) which looked good and having believed all the positive reviews about how good they are, didn't check for damp and actually believed the lovely people we bought it off when they said there wasn't any. However, not only was there damp, but the chassis was rotten and cracked! Please don't reply and tell me how stupid we were, I know that!
However, we decided to sell it, we advertised it as it actually was, damp, rotten chassis, plus a few other things that didn't work. We could have sold it about 8 times over, but I am so glad that we were honest, not too sure if the people we bought it off had any conscience (they may not have known about the chassis, but I suspect they did know about the damp). We lost an awful lot of money but have gained in wisdom!
We now have a brilliant caravan which we bought from a dealer in Holland and have at long last stopped kicking ourselves for being so trusting. Be honest, you'll be able to live with yourself then
Tbf the sellers might not have known about the damp & rot if it was not visible from the outside. I would tell anybody considering an Eriba Touring to crawl underneath first & check metal chassis members. An Eriba with the rot you mention is basically scrap beyond viable repair so the bad news is that those 8 buyers taking advantage of your honesty probably saw the chance of making money by selling caravan on no mention of rust to a buyer like yourself.
& so it is with the op’s caravan. If he is honest about the damp then the cheap price will be seen as an opportunity for a buyer who will sell it on for profit by selling it with no mention of damp so either way a buyer who Is not knowlegable about caravans is going to buy a pup.
So however the op plays it somebody will get ripped off with a damp caravan.
There are plenty of older caravans out there both with and without damp. I viewed several before we bought ours, but I must admit that if I saw the dreaded word damp in the advert, I didn't even go and look at it.
It is perfectly possible that some of those that mentioned damp weren't as bad as some of those that I viewed that didn't mention it, but the word alone ruled them out for my viewing immediately.
I paid £500 for the first one I found without obvious signs of damp, but I wouldn't have given £50 for a damp one.
Yes Colin it is absolutely buyer beware out there. It’s no good a seller being honest & admitting the caravan is damp. Most people looking for a cheap caravan won’t buy a damp one. In fact that advice is always offered on this forum. When anybody posts asking whether they should buy a damp caravan as a repair project the advice is invariably to leave it & keep looking until they find a good one of which there are plenty about.
So who buys those cheap damp caravans? Mostly buyers looking for a quick buck by selling on with no mention of condition. So the honest seller needs to do more than just be honest about the condition. They need to break the caravan themselves to ensure it is never used again.
Otherwise they are simply passing the buck not stopping it.
I sold our 1997 Swift Conqueror a couple of years ago.It was riddled with damp. The engineer I had to give an estimate for repairs found loads more I hadn't seen!The walls were spongy and soft so he wasn't trying it on! He estimated about £2k to put it right with the van being worth £3k if sorted. He left an offer of £500 to strip it for spares if I didn't shift it but said people will buy them for parts, upgrade fixtures or camper conversions.
I advertised it for £1k as damp and in need of major work.I sold it locally as a private sale for £750. The lad used it for a few outings then stripped it for a camper conversion.
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Topic: How much for severely damp caravan
