Good or bad time to buy?

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Nov 6, 2005
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If you use a dealer it will come with a warranty as required by the Consumer Rights Act - but most dealer will offer slightly more friendly warranty. If they don't - look elsewhere.

Warranties on second hand vans will be governed by the T&C's of the seller, Always read them! If you need warranty work to be done on a second hand caravan always check with your seller about who can do the work and still claim the warranty costs..
Warranties aren't "required" by the Consumer Rights Act - they're a way of formalising the liability for any faults but are always additional to the CRA rights, not instead of.

Some short warranties are less favourable than CRA rights so effectively worthless.
 
May 7, 2012
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The trade seems to be trying to talk up the potential sales, but as very few if any will have been sold since mid March, there must be a lot out therefor sale and dealers with cash flow problems. Difficult to know what will is the truth, but personally I suspect prices will have to drop so bargaining hard will be needed.
If you can ind two caravans you like in different dealers you could play one off against the other. Those with no trade in should also be able to do well.
 
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Mar 27, 2011
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I’ve been very lucky to have come through what is hopefully the worst of the lockdown mentally, health wise and financially unscathed, we have been thinking of upgrading to a newer caravan, currently got a 2007 Bailey Ranger that has no visible faults but I’m fully aware it has a damp issue that is uneconomical to repair, I was going to get one ASAP but seems to me that all the dealers appear to be having restricted viewings, all the vans are locked and I would have to make an appointment to view just 3, actually it’s caused me to re think and I’ve decided it would get little use and then go into storage so early spring it’ll be hunting high and low, looking online we’ve been looking at a swift challenger 545 2016/17, we like the look of having the 2 single beds rather than a fixed bed but we would want to check if the singles are big enough, don’t know if anyone has first hand experience of this model, as far as I’m aware swift seem to be of a decent spec and have no worse a reputation for build quality than the rest.

BP
 
Mar 14, 2005
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Warranties aren't "required" by the Consumer Rights Act - they're a way of formalising the liability for any faults but are always additional to the CRA rights, not instead of.

Some short warranties are less favourable than CRA rights so effectively worthless.
I didn't express my point very clearly. You are correct the CRA doesn't demand a warranty , but it does give you statutory rights which mimic a form of warranty.
 
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Oct 12, 2016
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If it’s any indication my local dealers stock on their showground seems to be changing on a daily basis which would indicate a healthy market for used vans.
The amount of new people joining the various forums I subscribe to who have bought ‘lemons’ privately is worryingly high.
I’d always buy from a reputable dealer, (as my Dad used to say, someone you can sue) not an out of the way yard with a few old Caravans at seemingly bargain bucket prices.
 
Nov 16, 2015
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I wonder where all these new caravanners are storing their caravans, maybe on their driveways, our local council do not allow it, except for a couple of days and I must admit where I live it would be an eyesore if permanantly there. The two storage sites near to me are full, the one I am on, increased his storage by almost 200 storage pitches two years ago. And thats all the council will allow.
 
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Nov 11, 2009
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Our storage site is full with a long waiting list. A couple of weeks ago I was just looking at various dealers websites as I entertained (as one does in idle moments) the thought of a nice two berth at 6.5m with lounge seats being long enough to have a nap on, or a 7.0m max with side dinette and end shower. What really suprised me was the large number showing sold, or deposit paid, reserved etc. I think Bailey started production a few days ago and the local news film of their factory taken just before production restarted, was just as if there had been a fire drill. There was the production line with vans in various stages of completion, tools just laying on the staging etc. The Mary Celeste of van making.
 
May 7, 2012
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I am afraid that the forums are alive with people who have been sold lemons or obviously faulty caravans. Some people do seem to have bought blindly and are now regretting it being too eager and not researching the dangers first.
Dealers seem to be saying they are offering deals which suggests an eagerness to sell and a good dealer is certainly the best place for newcomers to go unless they have expert help.
 
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Nov 16, 2015
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My kid brother, 56 years old. ( when does it change to years young) asked me last year about hireing a motorhome for a cheap two week holiday down into TRC, ( The Republic of Cornwall ) in about June , I told him about the cost of pitch costs, still buying food etc. Ended up after working out where he wanted to go it would have cost him over £2000 for the two weeks. He ended up with a week at Pontins.
 
May 11, 2017
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There has been talk of lowering the VAT rate at some point to trigger consumer spending.. on a high value purchase such as a caravan it might be worth hanging out to see if it happens?
 
Nov 11, 2009
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That’s an interesting point but with personal savings rising during the period and Tax receipts low the Chancellor may feel that it’s not the time. We’ve just bought a roller garage door and the 25% discount more than wiped out any couple of percent VAT. We’ve also bought doors for our other house which our daughter lives in and are negotiating a quote for all radiators to be replaced. So the bargains are out there now.
 
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May 7, 2012
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My daughter has just bought a new car and shopping around did seem to work. Some dealer were trying to talk up the sales levels and saying they were doing well and trying to stick to high prices and others were bending over backwards to do a deal. I get the impression some are trying a hard sell to try and increase their profit margins, but others are trying to do deals to improve cash flow. You need to go and bargain hard.
 
Nov 11, 2009
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My daughter has just bought a new car and shopping around did seem to work. Some dealer were trying to talk up the sales levels and saying they were doing well and trying to stick to high prices and others were bending over backwards to do a deal. I get the impression some are trying a hard sell to try and increase their profit margins, but others are trying to do deals to improve cash flow. You need to go and bargain hard.

Send a drone over Avonmouth and Southampton docks plus a couple of old airfields. That will tell anyone how well the market is doing.

If vat were cut 2% I really think that would one way or another find its way to the Dealer.
 
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Jan 31, 2018
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But the country are in huge debt and this would make it worse; they reckon there's more money in people's pockets after being furloughed and not using petrol etc so am not sure this sort of incentive would be a good idea-of course time will tell !
 
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Nov 6, 2005
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But the country are in huge debt and this would make it worse; they reckon there's more money in people's pockets after being furloughed and not using petrol etc so am not sure this sort of incentive would be a good idea-of course time will tell !

It's a complicated situation - increasing taxes in any form will stagnate the economy even further - reducing taxes will stimulate the economy and (maybe) increase the total tax revenue.
 
Nov 11, 2009
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It's a complicated situation - increasing taxes in any form will stagnate the economy even further - reducing taxes will stimulate the economy and (maybe) increase the total tax revenue.

Of past experience is anything to go by an interim reduction in taxes does boost spending by a degree but also tends to then pull in more imports which adversely affects the balance of payments. In some respects it is an artificial boost. What would enable taxes to come down is an increase in productivity aligned with rising real incomes. But that is the Holy Grail that has escaped UK governments and business for years being addicted to cheap labour.
 

PTA

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Of past experience is anything to go by an interim reduction in taxes does boost spending by a degree but also tends to then pull in more imports which adversely affects the balance of payments. In some respects it is an artificial boost. What would enable taxes to come down is an increase in productivity aligned with rising real incomes. But that is the Holy Grail that has escaped UK governments and business for years being addicted to cheap labour.
Yes, I agree. The only real way forward has to be a massive increase in productivity. Tax reductions are unlikely, this time, to provide asufficient boost to our economy in these exceptional times. Sunak, according to the Times, has not ruled out tax rises and I think he is right not to do so. The pension triple lock is not sacrosanct either which, given the heavy impact on those who are/will be unemployed, and even those in work, seems fair enough.
So I still believe there will be plenty of caravan bargains out there.
 
Nov 6, 2005
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Yes, I agree. The only real way forward has to be a massive increase in productivity. Tax reductions are unlikely, this time, to provide asufficient boost to our economy in these exceptional times. Sunak, according to the Times, has not ruled out tax rises and I think he is right not to do so. The pension triple lock is not sacrosanct either which, given the heavy impact on those who are/will be unemployed, and even those in work, seems fair enough.
So I still believe there will be plenty of caravan bargains out there.

Through the Bank of England, the government will probably keep the interest rates at or about zero to make massive borrowing possible - but at the same time it eliminates interest on savings which will gradually erode the value of pensioners' savings due to inflation, something that's very risky when elections come round.
 
Nov 11, 2009
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Through the Bank of England, the government will probably keep the interest rates at or about zero to make massive borrowing possible - but at the same time it eliminates interest on savings which will gradually erode the value of pensioners' savings due to inflation, something that's very risky when elections come round.
We have had four elections with Conservative wins ( including Coalition) since 2010 and savings rates have been rock bottom throughout. But I agree with PTA that the triple lock has to go down one, just on the maths alone. When more folks are off furlough and average wages go back the jump would probably put pensions increase into double figure, which whilst nice for us oldies, isn’t defensible given the hardships many younger workers have experienced.
 
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PTA

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Through the Bank of England, the government will probably keep the interest rates at or about zero to make massive borrowing possible - but at the same time it eliminates interest on savings which will gradually erode the value of pensioners' savings due to inflation, something that's very risky when elections come round.
Again, I agree. However, electoral risks also revolve around those in and out of employment. I'm a pensioner and have seen my investments decline rather dramatically but I wonder how many younger people will even be able to put any money aside for anything on top of their pension contributions.if they have that option.
 
Mar 14, 2005
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My hope was that; pre pandemic the economy had established a solid albeit small positive inertia, and the sharp downturn was the result of emergency measures to fight the pandemic. Provided the pandemic was not too prolonged, the previous economic inertia may help us to recover more quickly. But the longer the pandemic holds everything down, the economy will have less resilience to bounce back.

I believe we are reaching the point where the resilience is almost spent, and it's going to be harder to climb out of this pit.

But despite this we have found some positives such as some the practices we started to use during the lockdown will be continued afterwards producing a new "normal"

I strongly suspect the Government will try and restart the economy by using a range of low interest strategies. Sadly this approach won't suit everyone, and some will be hit very hard. We haven't seen the last of job losses, and businesses being forced to close for good.

but for those that might survive: I do think we will see a lot of businesses initially discounting quite heavily to stimulate sales. However when sales start to pick up, and there is greater confidence that we have controlled or beaten the Virus discounting will disappear and I suspect price rises over pre pandemic values will follow.
 
Nov 11, 2009
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My hope was that; pre pandemic the economy had established a solid albeit small positive inertia, and the sharp downturn was the result of emergency measures to fight the pandemic. Provided the pandemic was not too prolonged, the previous economic inertia may help us to recover more quickly. But the longer the pandemic holds everything down, the economy will have less resilience to bounce back.

I believe we are reaching the point where the resilience is almost spent, and it's going to be harder to climb out of this pit.

But despite this we have found some positives such as some the practices we started to use during the lockdown will be continued afterwards producing a new "normal"

I strongly suspect the Government will try and restart the economy by using a range of low interest strategies. Sadly this approach won't suit everyone, and some will be hit very hard. We haven't seen the last of job losses, and businesses being forced to close for good.

but for those that might survive: I do think we will see a lot of businesses initially discounting quite heavily to stimulate sales. However when sales start to pick up, and there is greater confidence that we have controlled or beaten the Virus discounting will disappear and I suspect price rises over pre pandemic values will follow.


With Bank if England rate at 0.1% there’s little scope for further reduction. The BoE could give loan guarantee support or as some countries do it could introduce negative interest rates, as some countries already have. Some of today’s papers are reporting a paper by a Harvard economist that if Quantitative Easing isn’t working after a couple of years then negative rates of up to 3% could be an option. Effectively lenders would be subsiding the borrower and savers paying to have their savings on account. Which in theory would encourage them to spend. Think the under bed draw would be an option in such circumstances 😂
 
Nov 6, 2005
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With Bank if England rate at 0.1% there’s little scope for further reduction. The BoE could give loan guarantee support or as some countries do it could introduce negative interest rates, as some countries already have. Some of today’s papers are reporting a paper by a Harvard economist that if Quantitative Easing isn’t working after a couple of years then negative rates of up to 3% could be an option. Effectively lenders would be subsiding the borrower and savers paying to have their savings on account. Which in theory would encourage them to spend. Think the under bed draw would be an option in such circumstances 😂

Effectively, we already have negative interest rates, where the actual rate is below the rate of inflation - it has been for some time and is likely to continue for considerable time.
 
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May 7, 2012
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For those wanting an Adria look what Pembrokeshire tourers are offering
  • FREE MOTOR-MOVER OR AWNING WORTH £1000
  • FREE STARTER PACK FOR FIRST TIME BUYERS WORTH £250
  • FREE SEASONAL PITCH ON LUXURY SITE IN PEMBROKESHIRE WORTH £1000
  • FREE FIRST YEAR SERVICE WORTH £200
  • £1000 OFF SELECTED NEW ADRIA MODELS
That suggests they are there to deal.
 
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