Dealer rip off!!!!

[baxtjhn@aol.com]

We are`looking to change our van and went looking at what dealers have to offer.

We have a Elddis Hurricane Vogue SE 1997 - 2 BERTH in mint condition and are looking for a 4 berth in similar condition to enable us to take the grandkids away for the odd weekend.

We live in Fife,Scotland and went to a dealer just over the Kincardine Bridge,don't want to name them or my post will not be shown.

Anyway looked at vans of a similar age and up to year 2000.

We could not believe the condition of some of the vans and I don't mean they just needed a tidy up prior to sale,they had obviously been abused by their previous owners.

The salesman explained that all vans would be given a full valet prior to being picked up by the new owner which is fair comment but we could not believe that anyone spending their hard earned cash could abuse then as mentioned.

One Bailey Ranger with fixed bed year 2000 smelt like the toilets in a dodgy pub,the bathroom sink was thick with scum and I could go on, another 1998 Swift Tiree required a swift exit as the smell of babies dirty nappy was unbelievable and the excellent sunshine obviously made it worse..

I asked for a ballpark trade in price and he said between £2,800 and £3000 ,considering he had for sale the same van,age,spec etc as mine but not as good condition as mine and he had it advertised at £6000.

Told him what to do with his offer and to be honest would'nt have bought a van from him anyway.

Have looked at 2 or 3 local dealers and find their prices in general very high and condition of some vans do not justify the price asked.

I wonder if these people had tried to sell privately and because of the condition did not sell and had to trade in at a loss...

I'll advertise my van privately and buy privately this time.

regards john.b.

 

[rob_jax]

Hi John,

You've highlighted a number of good points in your post.

1. If I was trying to sell something or arrange a trade-in with a dealer, I'd make damn sure it was presented in the best possible condition.

So you'd just have to assume that the previous owners of the smelly caravans didn't care what price they were offered for the trade in.

2. If they didn't care when they came to sell the van, they probably didn't care when they owned the caravan either - servicing? owner rectification of faults or damage? hidden faults wait for the new owner?

3. The dealer was probably doing you a real service by not preparing the caravans - you didn't buy one did you?

I don't think the dealer was making an excess profit - they would need to include a warranty, need to spend a considerable sum on cleaning and rectify faults, plus overheads, salaries, etc.

And they probably set the value of your van at the same level as the dirty vans, just because that is what they expect to pay, not what your van is actually worth.

4. We have an Eriba Triton (3-berth) and there is a strong demand for pre-owned Eriba caravans in the UK.

Via my web-site www.eriba-amiga.co.uk and since I work in Rotterdam we've directed UK people to Dutch Eriba dealers and the Dutch marktplaats web-site (a web based advertising board).

Dutch owned Eriba caravans up to 20 years old were immaculate - people had just looked after them. Maybe it's a Dutch thing - they like to clean and have everything in it's right place - and maybe some people in the UK don't care anymore.

Robert

 

[RichardS1]

Hello John

Its like Rob says the van is a reflection on the previous owners so I would want to present it as clean as possible.

With a van that has been looked after I would always suggest you sell privatly. Vans in good condition are sought after especially if you price competitively showing a saving to the private buyer from what the dealers are asking but obviously making yourself more than the trade in you were offered.

 

[gavin_5121842]

Hi John, maybe its a "north of the border thing". Im from Inverness and tried a few dealers ,and probably the same dealer your talking about. I had a budget of 5-6k,but couldnt find anything suitable. In all fairness, the vans in the Inverness area were clean, but very overpriced. I dont know if the screen prices are discounted if you bought one without a trade in,as you would expect when buying a car from a garage, but even so, buying privatly saved me a small fortune. I searched the Auto trader and local papers before buying one on e-bay.The van was immaculate, and came with all the extras from awnings to pots and pans,which you wont get from a dealer. I believe there is a small dealer in Lochgelly,whose prices seemed fairly reasonable, although i never made it there as he never had any 5 berths at the time i was looking. Cant remember the name but he advertises in the Auto trader. I ended up travelling to Derby for mine, but it was well worth it. Good luck , and hope you find a good"un. Regards,Gavin.

 

[baxtjhn@aol.com]

Hi Gavin,

I have seen the dealer you mention from Lochgelly in

the Auto Trader,might give him a look.

He seems to deal in older vans but its only 5-6 miles

from where I live so worth a look.

I think I will probably go private like yourself,problem

is finding a weekend that I am not working or away in

the van.Need to set a weekend aside and advertise my

van.

regards john.b.

 

[alexander_5096480]

hi john.i used to put an advert in the local paper[courier/press and journal]and also in the green adds paper.i have had a couple of great dealsthis way as some people have a good van lying in the yard and just call you on the off chance.now have a bailey indie, very nice.

good luck. alex.

 

[mark_5102932]

Hi John I live right in the middle of the area you are talking about and earlier this year I wanted a caravan so I went around the local dealers and for the money I was looking to spend I would not have let my dog sleep in them. I had almost resigned myself to the same thoughts as 2 years ago when I last thought about caravanning, too dear for sh*t% caravans. Then a colleague told me he was selling a caravan as he was upgrading, I went for a look with my daughter and decided that this caravan was suitable for the family, it was clean, well looked after and came with a load of extras, caravan was not too dear so well up to general abuse without too much worry . but the main thing that I realised is that dealers ALL must make a profit so at least

 

[CliveV]

Of course all dealers must make a profit - how else are they to pay their bills/mortgage/Business rates/tax etc etc.

But I agree that most dealers do themselves a great diservice by leaving tatty overpriced caravans on the forecourt.

Another "trick" they can do is to remove all the "extras" like awning etc and then add that to the price of the caravan once you have got all excited about the purchase of your "new" van.

However, the small dealer I have used gives a twelve month warrenty and all caravans are re-sealed before sale. I watched them do one in their workshop and it was very well done. You have to pay for that somehow.

Buying privately generally gets you a better deal and all the "extras" thrown in. But little comback if anything goes wrong.

But from what you read on this Forum we seem to have little comeback even with a new caravan at the dealer!!!

 

[matthew3]

hi folks both my caravan have come of ebay both where as advertised are last one is a elddis mistral 1989 we where in the dealers today 1992 mistral 4000.00 newer model but same interier

matt