Looking for a bit of advice on selling up. Due to no longer having enough time to make any sort of proper use of my caravan I am considering selling up and returning to occasional tenting and self catering cottage/lodge holidays.
My questions are these:
Is selling privately worthwhile versus selling to a dealer? I know this all depends on what the dealer would offer etc but I am hoping to gain some feeling for what to expect from others experiences.
Is selling the expensive accessories seperately advisable? The caravan has a Powrtouch motor mover fitted and an Isabella Opus(?) awning.
For info the 'van is a 2006 Abbey Vogue 540 (6 berth single axle) which I have owned from new (Dec 2006)
I agree. We sold the folding camper on ebay with all the equipment and I've always regretted it because I think it went to cheap considering what there was.
I'll be interested to see what people say about selling the mover separately, though, because that's crossed my mind, too.
Quote: Originally posted by chilephilly on 01/8/2010
If you weren't in Renfrewshire I'd buy it off you! Unfortunately, Renfrewshire is rather far away from Central England...
Wouldnt it still be worth the drive, get there do the deal and travel back at a leasurly pace
------------- If its not broke, dont fix it, and stop nagging
We did exactly that Gaz mc
Saw a van we liked on the web , did all the paperwork checks etc before we saw it. Travelled down and viewed the van had a little haggle and had a two nighter on the way back.
Got a bargain and had a nice break at the same time.
Obviously the seller has to be forthcoming and flexible to make it work.
Quote: Originally posted by jimbouk on 06/8/2010
We did exactly that Gaz mc
Saw a van we liked on the web , did all the paperwork checks etc before we saw it. Travelled down and viewed the van had a little haggle and had a two nighter on the way back.
Got a bargain and had a nice break at the same time.
Obviously the seller has to be forthcoming and flexible to make it work.
It's a good job I didn't do that with mine, and it was well within a days travel, both to collect and back home again! It was 'I should have gone to specsavers' kind of thing. The seller wasn't very forthcoming, didn't seem to know much about it. Was assured I could go camping straight away in it...
It needed (before it was safe to use):
New gas pipes, new regulator, new gas bottle.
New wiring and RCB, new plug sockets
Condemmned gas fire removing
Roof leaks sorting
new spare tyre....
So if I'd tried camping in it, I would probably have been gassed or electricuted!
Yes, my own fault for buying in the first place - I was in two minds, just from what I could see, but decided to go for it.
End of story - now safe to use and a lovely little thing, to my delight!
Moral of the story - you need to know how to check these things out before you buy. On reflection I should have send a mobile engineer there in advance for a report. It would have saved me several hundred pounds...
Hindsight is a wonderful thing!
I'd definitely sell the awning & mover separately, they don't seem to add value as part of a deal, sadly I doubt you'll get very much for them, many Isabellas go for around £200 on eBay, not sure about the mover, we had one given to us and then bought the control panel & remote (2nd hand) for £80.
Make sure you are certain about selling up first though, I know of 2 couples who have both sold everything this year and are regretting it and can now not afford to buy anything anywhere near as nice as what they sold.
Make sure you are certain about selling up first though, I know of 2 couples who have both sold everything this year and are regretting it and can now not afford to buy anything anywhere near as nice as what they sold.
My sentiments entirely. We keep saying that each summer will be our last but we just can't bring ourselves to sell our beloved outfit. If we did and then live to regret it, we would never get back in at the level of spec. that we currently enjoy. I think the only thing that would stop us is if the doctor was to say "enough already". But until one of them does I think we'll be soldiering on.......
at Jax
Sorry to hear that Jax, cant say I am an expert on these matters though I feel those problems are more likely on 'vans older than 2006.
at Esther
Oh I hope not :( £200 for an awning which cost £1600 and has been used 3-4 times seems a terrible return, I think at that price I might rather store it in the garage as a keepsake :(( As for the motor mover I am not sure, I/we intend to return to caravanning in around 4 years perhaps with a twin axle van. (By then my part time studies should be complete). I know the MM can be modified for twin axle use. Might keep the MM for then :unsure:
One thing I am sure of is that, at this moment we are not getting use of the 'van. By way of example; since we bought this outfit in 2006-07 we have used it (including weekends) a grand total of 6 times or so!!
We also(now the kids are a little older)feel a desire to go tenting again (no point having a dog and barking yourself as they say) on top of that we have developed a real fondness for Orkney! By all counts it seems we can rent a self catering cottage there for a similar cost to taking the car and van!
at Vic
No doubt we will return to caravans or perhaps a motorhome as there are so many holidays we have planned which we have not yet realised France, Spain, Italy etc. Most are better suited to when the kids are older again and continental travel from Scotland is a little fairer on them.
As for the sale of the van, if anyone is interested let me know!
I agree with jimbouk (as in all cases of significant outlay on used items) some form of inspection is worthwhile before travelling any great distances, but, for my part the van is as it was when we bought it save for some signs of useage expected with any used caravan. Ofcourse I would prefer it went to someone who would enjoy it and to read of their travels on here would be a nice bonus :)
Maybe you will get a bit more for your awning, we have bought an isabella 2nd hand for £200 then sold it for £150 when we changed the van but not sure how much it was new and a few weeks ago bought a Quest Palace Elite (same as isabella forum) that was brand new in April costing £1025, used once and we paid £200, the curtains, extra panel & pegs are still in their original unopened packaging.
It may be worth waiting until the winter months to sell it as the market is flooded with awnings at this time of year.
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: Thinking of selling up..
