That was my experience last year. If you can show a caravan in good condition, with a comprehensive service record and recent damp survey, it will sell itself. Mine sold within 2.5 hours of appearing in Autotrader.
Just left the service history from new & damp check on the table in the caravan and what it had done and been fair with the price
I recently sold a 1997 24 ft yacht which I bought 2 years ago I sold it privately I had loads of enquiries and sold it for twice what I paid for it, (on eBay) Perhaps Caravans are like boats where there is such a demand now that private buyers will happily buy a private sale as they know they can save a couple of thousand from buying from a dealer. Plus any caravans built since 2011 may have better water ingress protection
Not sure how long that will last for caravans, I wonder if the moho market is already slowing, our local caravan dealer has a yard full of used motorhomes and I see so many advertised, many of which were bought in the last two years.
They have very few used caravans so maybe people are hanging on to them?
They have very few used caravans so maybe people are hanging on to them?
Not sure if it is the possible recession or just that supply of new models is now improving but availability looks a bit better and prices do look to be possibly stabilising and might drop soon. I suspect some people are looking to go back to whatever they did before covid and others need to sell to pay for the electricity. but a bit early to be sure.
A warranty is very important. Dealers have a vested interest in selling a good quality used caravan that isn't coming back to them unless absolutely necessary.
Private sales and traders can carry a risk which wipes out any savings made.
Private sales and traders can carry a risk which wipes out any savings made.
A rhetorical point!
If the caravan sold is of good quality, you would not need a warranty!
after market warranties are a let off for the dealer to sell products that are well known to be disproportionately unreliable. It's also a way of extracting more money from the punter to cover the cost of enrolling them into a warranty (insurance) scheme, from which the dealer is likely to receive commision.
Warranties will continue to be a necessary evil as long as caravan manufacturers pay lip service to good design and consistency of manufacture seriously.
I don't entirely agree with that. Things can still go wrong and break even if the build quality is good (whatever that means). Failures of parts can occur at anytime from early on in their life to when they eventually wear out and its not always predictable when and what these will be.
I don't think anyone would but a new item without a warranty.
However, the one instance when I needed to talk directly to the manufacturer about a warranty issue re: damp, the impression I got was that they knew damp was difficult to design out so they just included a 10 year warranty.
My latest car has a 7 year warranty is that because Kia aren’t of good quality? The generation 1 Sorento had a 10 year 100000 mile warranty in the USA!!!! Some companies can give excellent warranty because their products are high quality. The nub of your comment is that caravans are of variable quality.
Like a car you can buy a warranty to cover issues in a privately purchased caravan. But I suspect very few ever do.
Warranty Cover for Caravans & Motorho… - Autoguard Warranties
Autoguard Warranties offer a range of extended warranty products for new and used caravans, campervans and motorhomes. Read about our range of cover here.
www.autoguardwarranties.com
Just to add that Toyota now have a similar 10 year warranty even for second hand cars where they have been regularly serviced by the Toyota dealership. EVs get 15 year warranty.
Toyota is an excellent scheme as they accept cars that may not have been serviced by a franchised dealer or not to the recommended schedule. But then when serviced by a franchised dealer and any issues resolved they are accepted into the scheme and the warranty is extended year by year after each service.
Without knowing their rate of warranty repairs, which are closely guarded secrets, we'll never know whether 5-7 year warranties are based on faith in the product to need a low level of repairs or whether the higher cost of repairs is balanced by increased sales due to public perception.
When I had my Hyundai Santa Fe, it had quite a lot of work done under the 5-year warranty, including engine/transmission rebuilt, but it was very clear that the workshop had little experience of each fault suggesting that most faults are uncommon and random.
Many cars get 10 year / 100,000 mile warranties in the USA - the market "demands" it and no doubt the manufacturers build warranty cost into the selling price.
I would suggest that if the rate of warranty repairs was high, customer satisfaction and reliability as reported in surveys would reflect a lower score. Yet consistently Korean and Japanese out score other marques. This is so in JD power, Warranty Direct and Truedelta (USA) and most others that I have seen. No one wants a car with a good warranty when things are regularly going wrong.
My Sorento was the 2004 model so I reckoned if a maker gave 10 years/100k miles it must have confidence. I was proven correct. Here’s a link showing 2018 US warranties. Interesting that the federal government mandate a minimum of 8 yrs/100k for batteries.
Every Automaker Warranty Ranked From Best To Worst
Warranty coverage for some new cars and trucks can run as long as 10 years, but the devil is in the details.
www.motor1.com
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I don't think aftersales warranties are a necessary evil more of an additional product that is included in the sale price which inturn establishes trust between the business and customers. Yes the sales person receive a commission on each closure, thats business!
Many people don’t feel comfortable with a private sale in case if any comeback should the buyer feel unhappy with their purchase.
I think the other reason could be the way the purchase is paid for if a high value vehicle or item?
When I sold our caravan privately last year the buyer used interbank transfer of funds into my account. They did it at our house and the transfer took only a couple of minutes to show in our account.I think the other reason could be the way the purchase is paid for if a high value vehicle or item?
Which? Has always said After market insurance type Warranties are a waste of money. The two Dealers near me give their own Warranty on used models. The wordings of the TP Warranties need very careful scrutiny to spot to , dare I say, carefully worded exclusions.
We are all well versed on just how hard some manufacturers seek to avoid water ingress claims.
We are all well versed on just how hard some manufacturers seek to avoid water ingress claims.
I am not sure if I can totally agree with you now. We bought a Jeep from a dealer in Poole and it came with a 3 month warranty underwritten by a warranty company promoted by someone called Quinton.
Shortly after purchase I had it examined b y a Jeep dealer who found that it was leaking coolant from the air con radiator. Cost in excess of £650 to repair. Repair was authorised, I paid and then claimed it back. About 2 months later the driver's seat heating stopped working and again no issue with them authorising and payment. However to continue with the policy would have cost about £100 per month.
So 36 months later when I started having serious issues with the Jeep, I would have paid in £3600. Repairs totally just over £2000, but would have they put the alternator issue as wear and tear or paid up I guess I will never know. It was also suspected that there was an issue with the transfer box and the repair would have cost in excess of £2000. Again would they have deemed it a wear and tear issue or paid up?
Currently I have a full Jeep 12 month warranty as if the Jeep was brand new. It does exclude wear and tear like tyres, etc.
We bought a Mercedes A150 with a Quinton warranty, when the gearbox sensor failed they refused to pay as one garage service receipt was missing, nothing to do with the gearbox at all.
So as Dustydog says, read the wording carefully, they will wriggle out of paying if they can.
So as Dustydog says, read the wording carefully, they will wriggle out of paying if they can.
I have actively refused to take out any extended third party warranties on anything I've purchased for many years. I can't be bothered to work out how much I have saved by not taking them out, but I pretty certain that any repairs I have needed beyond manufactures or sellers warranty I have either concluded through Sae of Goods Act or Consumer Rights act.
Any costs I've incurred for repairs for out of warranty costs have been considerably less than what I might have paid for the warranties.
(edit) I am perhaps lucky as I have the necessary skills and capability to undertake many repairs that might arise outside of warranty cover, and I appreciate some people may not be so lucky or able for a number of reasons, in which case third party warranties may be desirable solution.
Any costs I've incurred for repairs for out of warranty costs have been considerably less than what I might have paid for the warranties.
(edit) I am perhaps lucky as I have the necessary skills and capability to undertake many repairs that might arise outside of warranty cover, and I appreciate some people may not be so lucky or able for a number of reasons, in which case third party warranties may be desirable solution.
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Buckman has answered the point. Wear and tear covers a myriad of let outs. A Dealer / Manufacturer backed warranty is a different issue. VW gave me their full VW as new warranty on my newish Touareg a few years ago.But as Prof points out the magic wand CRA is there and it is free.
I think that when a dealer does the limited 3 - 6 month extended warranty included in the cost of the vehicle, the warranty company probably cough up hoping that you will extend the warranty. As said too many get out clauses. Are they regulated by the FCA or FOS?
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