Buying from Germany (1 Viewer)

[Reevsie]

Thinking about buying my new MH in Europe. I have already put a deposit down on a MH in the UK and if I don't buy go through with it I will lose my deposit of £1000 But looking at the Euro against the £ I thought I would look into the possibility of buying from France or Germany. I will be buying cash and have no PX so I will be in a position to negotiate on the price. I don't mind if it is a LHD as I will intend to tour Europe in a year or so.

The MH i am looking at is a Rapido Serie 10001 Retail price in the UK is £99k but looking at same van from Germany in LHD is £83k This is a £16k saving. So tempted to do this but was wondering about MOT, service and any warranty work.

Has anybody done this and what pitfalls should I look out for?

 

[Lenny HB]

The base vehicle warranty will be pan European so can go to any dealer in Europe, don't know what Rapido do warranty wise but most German vans the converters have a pan European warranty.
Apart from minor items which can be fixed at low cost, any of the expensive bits, fridge, heater etc., have a pan European warranty.

 

[GWAYGWAY]

I would like to know Just what is the profit to a dealer in the UK when buying from Germany or France It must be in the region of 25% plus they add on the delivery. The taxes in Europe are roughly on par with the UK why the difference ( treasure Island comes to mind)
The only real difference is the right hand drive base vehicle chassis everything else is the same.

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[Reevsie]

I am not sure of the price the dealers make. But as I say in the UK it will cost me £99K. The same van in Germany is €113K Approx £83.6 Both prices include VAT

They would be the same price if the Euro exchange rate was 1.16 as it was not to long ago. But it is about 1.37 This is great for us Brits buying in Europe. But I also sell to Europe through my business and this is not so good.

 

[Lenny HB]

You obviously take the risk with Euro but the price difference often so much it is well worth the risk, or you can open up a Euro account and top it when rates are good.
The importers agree an exchange rate which is often set for the next 6-9 months.
Germany & Belgium dealers are prepared to give higher discounts.
Hymer's prices on paper spec for spec are not that different but they then add on a £2000 delivery charge, delivery charge in Germany or Belgium is only €500 and most dealers absorb the in the deal. Combine that with the better discount and you are quite a few grand better of even if the Euro hadn't shifted since they set there prices.
Also UK dealers tend not to like giving discounts on options, not so abroard.

 

[Judge Mental]

look on mobile.de for vans on offer and in stock. they tend to have reasonable spec and could be a ex show van. Pick a few and play dealers of against each other.. bargain hard! Obviously the more you spend the more you save. just write of the 1k deposit and put it down to experience

treasure island is right!ol it is a total rip of here. UK right had drive cost less then £2k to order above LHD.and they try to get away with charging in your case £20000

chassis service/maintenance no problem as pan european warranty. I dont know about the brand you're interested in so check out feedback on various forums. worse case scenario. pop in to a french dealer for yearly damp proof warranty checks etc..when going away

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[gus-lopez]

IThe taxes in Europe are roughly on par with the UK why the difference ( treasure Island comes to mind)

I find most things in the UK expensive by comparison with other countries.

 

[Judge Mental]

@Reevsie, probably won't get notification till you become a member my friend..its a paltry tenner

there is a recommended elsewhere Rapido dealer in Belgium, they are under 1 hr from Calais in the direction of Ypres. very professional and easy to deal with. One caution I picked up on reading through Rapido threads...many suffer with poor payloads so watch out! nothing worse then buying van of your dreams and finding out its both impractical and potentially illegal in use

http://www.decuypermotorhomes.be/en


The Three Belgian dealers here:
Broken Link Removed

 

[Sheddy]

Last year we bought a 3 year old 10001 from a dealer in Germany, the main problems we had were with the incompetent Uk agencies dealing with the import process.
I found the van using mobile.de, but they dont come up second hand very often.

The payload on ours is about 700kg which we did not exceed for our current winter trip to Spain including a full spare wheel (not supplied by Rapido) and 2 electric bikes.
Gook luck with your search.
(PM me if I can help further)
Cheers

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