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Hello All,

We've just returned from 2 weeks away in our 11 year old caravan. Our plan was to part exchange our caravan in October / November this year for a brand new caravan. When we were away this time though we discovered a spongy patch below our bathroom window! Also the attachment on the van for our water pump seems to be broken so my other half had to hold it on whenever I ran the water! Also the hot water tap has broken and is permanently on unless we turn the pump off!! (they do say these things come in three's!)

So the question i have is whether all this - especially the damp - will have a huge impact on what we can get as a part exchange value? Will a dealer refuse to take part exchange once they know about the water ingress? Is it worth us forking out now for repairs or should we just leave it for the dealer?

Any advice would be appreciated. I think it's whats called Sods Law that all this has happenned now!!

Nikki1171

Not quite the same thing but I traded a car with a scrape on the rear bumper in & itmade no difference tothe part-ex price.  The dealer told me itmade no difference as they could repair it for next to nothing.

I think in your situation where you have time to sort the problems with your van if you need to I'd give the dealer a call & ask them whether it's worth you repairing them or not.  They'll probably say not as they'll be able to sort it out much cheaper than you could so won't knock too much off the price.

The dealer will offer trade money or  less if you tell him it has damp or he spots it.

Pristine or poor it will pretty much have the same value as a trade in. The same can be said of retail prices, everything has a market value, pristine or poor will be sepratated by very little money. Thats why it is a good idea to do some home research before you buy and compare  caravans with others the same to see the difference in condition. Same with cars, they offer you little for your trade in unless they have big margins in what they are selling, or just want shot of it.