I've been looking around some local dealers, thinking of changing our immaculate 8 year old van. Up to £12000 to spend on the right used van. You might think that at that sort of money dealers would take the trouble to make sure that vans were in good nick and well presented.
Not so.
Missing catches, broken door knobs, badly stained carpets and upholstery, broken cupboard springs and in one case a shattered shower cubicle.
They are going to have to try a hell of a lot harder than that before I part with a five figure sum.
I know how you feel! some of them are nothing more than pig styes! and to think that you are to hand over you money and sleep on them beds! one of the reasons why we have now stopped buying or even looking at dealers, at least going private you get to see the family that owned the caravan, you wouldn't buy a car if it was in the state a lot of caravans are presented in so why they expect to sell a caravan like that then I have no idea
We saw some from a dealer on Saturday, they were dirty and looked scruffy outside, and all were over priced. But then another dealer were all beautifully presented, looking much newer than their years, but again well over priced. They seem to add a lot of money on for a service, valet and 3 month warranty, when if you're buying a newish van privately most have full service history anyway, valeted by the owner, and sometimes you find the warranty isn't worth the paper its written on from a dealer. Depends what your peace of mind is worth I suppose.
I found the same thing last weekend went to 3 dealers all the caravans were shocking dirty full of dents poor paint & catches and furniture missing ,you should of seen the sales managers face when he asked what I thought of a luner that was on his pitch, I said it looked like it had done 10 rounds with Tyson and hadn't even stepped foot in it, we sold our 7 year old coachman on Friday which was in immaculate condition so was getting worried that I may have made a mistake,
We did however find a caravan through a private sale on Sunday that was in the same condition as ours immaculate in every way......so bought it (deposit at this stage)
I agree with you all, we went to a dealership, armed with a 2013 caravan to buy a brand new much more expensive model, dealer showed no enthusiasm, couldnt even be bothered to come out to our storage place (close by) said had 'staff shortages' and value our caravan for part ex.
I was so pleased to find another dealer, same new caravan, cheaper, better service and hopefully good for the long term servicing, snagging problems.
My ideal dealer is the one we bought our swift off, but sadly he doesnt stock the caravan we are now buying.
I'm sure you could sell your caravan privately and then buy one privately.There are some lovely caravans being sold.We sold our last three privately and just sold our motorhome the same way.We bought two lovely ones privately as well.
Quote: Originally posted by Grampian91 on 04/3/2015
Depends on how long the vans been in stock. If a van comes on and needs parts then it may take a while to order the parts and for them to arrive.
Possible the parts got broken whilst on display?
It wouldnt bother me as long as everything got fixed before I towed it away.
One of my old caravans was immaculate when we traded it in, but when we went back a few weeks later to buy gas, we had a look at it for old times sake, and were horrified at the damage that had been done to the interior. The front table had a large hole in the middle, and the carpets were filthy, it was apparent that someone had broken into it, and used it to doss in overnight, the hole in the table had been caused by a heavy object being dropped onto it, and the sharp corner piercing the skin of the table. It never sold after that, and eventually was donated to a charity that was providing shelter for people after natural disasters, so something did become good out of it in the end, but such a shame for such a nice little caravan that was barely 5 yrs old at the time.
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!
The used vans at my local dealer are poorly presented and very expensive. Looked at a 2005 Adria which they wanted £6k for, it was the managers special deal reduced from £7k and it was filthy inside and out, and very overpriced. The frightening thing is people were looking at it and seemed very interested in buying it. I don't see the point in buying a used van from a dealer like this, they don't provide a water ingress warranty on older vans so you may as well buy privately and spend the cash you save on getting a professional inspection before you hand over your dosh.
Complete newbie here, so a view through fresh eyes.
When we were looking around we were more concerned with the build quality.
Having given up sailing for various reasons we were rather used to things being properly fixed, lined up, sealed and generally workmanlike.
What we found in a lot of even new caravans was far from that.
In fact most looked as if they and been thrown together by apprentices on a Friday afternoon from plans on the back of a fag packet.
Wasn't impressed to point that SWMBO gave me one of 'those' looks.
Fortunately looked at a second hand Hobby and faith and the great plan was restored.
Very impressed newbie owner of a one owner Knaus Starclass 470 eagerly awaiting the first trip .......
Depends what caravans your looking at, some are better than others just like cars, funny you should mention a hobby my old boss bought a new one from Germany to go on a permanent pitch, he only had it 2/3 seasons before getting a static, but his literally fell apart.
Hi Bessie
Maybe it's the year of manufacture thing but the 2006 Knaus I bought is streets ahead of anything else we saw at dealers for quality and at far more money, but wth all the bits and bobs and accessories such as aqua roll, waste, spare wheel, Alko jack, towball lock, wheel lock, mover, new battery, spare water pump, chemicals and TV
With anything 9 up years old I was expecting some DIY.
One interior bulb, a broken switch, a coaxial plug badly wired, a lock barrel needing greasing, a TV power unit and that was about it.
Time will tell........... Of course.
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Topic: State of vans in dealers
