I posted yesterday that we bought a brand new van yesterday, however we didn't set out to do so.
This is the second time that we have set out recently to see a van advertised by a dealer which we have seen before the dealer has spruced it up and I was amazed by the state it was in. The van was 2008, so not old, but there were cracks in the shower, damage to the fridge door, damage to the cooker, there were crumbs in places that were easily cleanable and cup marks on the table...now I know that the previous owner could not do anything about the damage, but I clean the crumbs away and wipe a table every time it is used so I find it astounding that someone would take something for part-ex without doing this, as I am sure most people do.
Our current van, which we bought last year is 2005 and is in far better condition than many newer vans we have seen, but then I take a pride in keeping it nice (more so than the house ) and the previous owner obviously did too.
This is also how we ended up buying a new van, the state of some used ones. On the other hand my sister managed to get a great one, however it took about 4 months of looking. We're too impatient!!
Some people don't lookafter anything. We do, our house, our garden, our car. Needless to say our caravan (now 3) is immaculate too! Its all about the way you are.
I'm sure that a clumsy family could easily wreck a new caravan in a season.
On the subject of buying second hand, a colleague once told me that with cars, in a lot of cases buying second hand is buying somebody elses problems, I guess it can be the same with some second hand caravans.
well looks like my little 30 year old van was in better condtion than vans a few years old. I have pride in my little van and even when the day comes and she does have to go i am that sad i would even clean her if she was going to a breaks. so why do people not clean them for part ex surly if they look well looked after there worth more
------------- Dyslexic not stuped
It's nice to be important but its more important to be nice
I know and we are about to start the hunt to find a second hand one and unfortunately you can not really tell from the advert if someone has looked after it or its going to be hideous (or worse have hidden problems) and as completete novices we don't know what we are doing. SCARY
Is it really that difficult to clean a van when you buy it - especially if you beat the seller down to a good price for yourself?
Of course buying form a dealer is different and something I wouldn't do anyway, dealers give you a set trade in regardless of cleanliness - buy privately and the owner rarely wants you to see how dirty they are and if they do and you can see the caravan's ok through the grime beat them down
------------- Caravanning is a way of getting a cheap holiday out of an expensive hobby
Quote: Originally posted by fallenangel on 12/9/2010
well looks like my little 30 year old van was in better condtion than vans a few years old. I have pride in my little van and even when the day comes and she does have to go i am that sad i would even clean her if she was going to a breaks. so why do people not clean them for part ex surly if they look well looked after there worth more
Sometimes caravans end up back at the dealers due to finance non payment leading to reposession, some owners then angry at the fact they have lost their van let them go in the most appaling of states as an act of revenge, even if it was entirely their own fault. The same can be said for reposessed cars, our son-in-law used to work for a firm of baliffs, and came across this often, filthy torn upholstry and carpets on almost new veichles, and often bits of kit and trim would be missing also.
Julia
------------- Just love to be out amoungst Nature and Wildlife
Celebrating 37 years of Caravanning in 2019, Recently Considered Retiring, but Totally Addicted for Life!
Eww but having to sleep on cushions used by a mucky family would put me right off - even with my mattress protector etc it would still make me feel a little bit ick!!
I clean, scrub, milton and mop my van on return, then after emptying the fridge I clean that too whilst OH cleans the outside. I know its easier for us than some as its on our drive but it doesn't take long. How can anyone expect to get the premium trade in or sale price for their van if its not presented for sale.
How can anyone expect to get the premium trade in or sale price for their van if its not presented for sale.
We have traded in caravans to a dealer twice. On both occasions, the dealer referred to a 'book' value and talked to us about the overall condition of our van - and made a deal with us, without even seeing it.
On the day we traded them in (in both instances), the dealer made a thorough check for damp and made sure we had all the equipment - such as bunk ladder, sets of keys etc,. They didn't give so much as a passing glance towards cleanliness.
As it happens, we always take pride in always keeping our vans pristine, but when you are trading in and spending a huge amount of money on a new van, it surely isn't unreasonable to expect the dealer to do any necessary showroom valeting of your old van before he offers it for sale again?
It's a bit like trading in a car. No matter that it's your pride and joy that has served you well for X years...the dealer just looks in his little book and tells you what it's worth. The last time I traded in a car, I was told not to bother wasting time cleaning it - they would be giving it a thorough valet.
That said, we do keep the caravan clean and keep on top of any repairs. As someone else here said - probably more so than the house.
When we traded in our last one it was immaculate - at 10 years old it was in better condition than some at 2 years.
I guess when you see the way some people treat site facilities and let their kids run wild, why would they treat the caravan any differently?
Many moons ago when we got our first little two berth van a 1980 Monza. it was green up to the tops of the windows from being stood in nettles on the side of a mountain next to a sheep barn. The inside was a graveyard for millions of bluebottles and crawlies. But i let the handbrake off gingerly and rolled it downhill towards my towcar and hitched it up, then very carefully drove the 23 miles home. where it got scrubbed to within an inch of its life. 3 weeks later we went away in it for a dog show week end. I have to admit it looked like a new van, it shone. many other dog owners came up and asked how much was our 'new' van. It really p"??*d them off when they found out that i had been given it as a rescue !! It sold 3 years later for £300. and i have seen it only this year still going strong. Just shows what a little TLC will do.
some folks try and sell on anything ,some things ive saw for sale i would have put in a skip,we bought a caravan on ebay once and the pictures looked great and we got it for a great price ,hubby had to drive to devon for it from central scotland and drive back when he picked it up,it was stinking of urine they had kids who werent toilet trained,when i say filthy i mean thick grease at cooker area they had stripped the fire so it was only a front ,we got and engineer out and he said it had been stripped bare,hubby was terrified to show me it,
I had to gut it and had said to hubby it would be okay it could clean up ,we re upholstered it and took out the fire and put in a radiator, cleaned it to an inch of its life and i loved it,i have always regretted selling it and buying a static,it was a tabbert and once we had put in new mattress and cleaned it up we could have got treble what we bought it for,if you can see past the dirt and are getting it for a good price with no damp ,its saveable,just depends if your prepared to put in the work
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Topic: The state of some second hand vans
) and the previous owner obviously did too.
