do prices drop in winter? (1 Viewer)

Handy Sue

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Hi Funsters.
We are looking for our first motorhome.
Does the price of a motorhome, both dealers and private sales, fall at the end of the summer?
What does everyone think?
We are looking for second hand about 30k, but could the unsold new ones fall to our price range? Would it be worth our while to hold back for a couple of months?
Thanks for any input.
Handy Sue
 

Jim

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Hi Sue, there are plenty for sale, you can get good deals privately or from dealers, it really is a buyers market right now. While some might people drop a price to sell, there is no special time this might happen. You just have to know exactly what you want, what you are prepared to pay and then hunt it down.

You really should take a look at Link Removed it will take you through the whole process and show you how you can save a LOT of money, I know the author he's a great guy:winky:

EDIT: Oh and welcome to the Fun:thumb:
 
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Cumbrian_Georgie

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We've just bought ours and from first advertisement it eventually dropped £3000. Definately a buyers market, go haggle :Smile:





Katie

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chrisgreen

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you would be better off buying a secondhand one, a new one loses £££££££ the second you drive it off the forcourt.
also you will get problems with a new one some big some small but you will have problems.
let someone else have the biggest hit money wise,and the problems and headache that go with buying a new one.
johncross motorhomes is about the best dealer out there and he is a member on here,for 30 grand you will get a very nice secondhand one and johncross is your man.




chris
 
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lorger

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Hi Sue welcome to fun.
We bought our privately 3 years ago and the price we paid for it is still less than dealers are asking for same age and model of van and ours only had 1ooo miles on it.

Just to give you an example of deals going about just now we are hoping to change our van in a cpl of years when our daughter wont be coming with us as often. Yes we have started looking and like the hymer b504 and 544 i think new they are £75k and bowhills have brand new ones at £53 only 2 things wrong one is because its the old model never been reg'd though and the other is the white plastic shower cubicle is slightly discoloured but a saving of over £20k. I know that above your budget but just an example.

Gerry
 
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sedge

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Think ours might have gained ££££££ when we drove it off the forecourt because we had a discount of just over 20% from the dealer. And Pete got an awning fitted in with the price, that would have been another £500. (I then tried to get 12 months road tax, but the miserable git would only give me 6 LOL)

We weren't even looking at new ones; we knew for a fact we couldn't afford them - so we were well pleased and still are. Shop around Sue. Make a salesman a silly offer, nothing to lose, have you?

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haganap

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:Blush:Managed to get £9500 knocked off ours when the banks crashed and we would all be living in caves within 3 years.

Had it 3 years now, still not living in a cage (just) and when I have enquired about selling it been offered way more than I paid for it.

My advice, find a dealer with a van you want, be sure it is the layout etc etc by reading Jim's excellent book and then see if you can't source one privately.

How desperate the person is to sell will make the difference between what you pay. You might just find some one as we did, who wanted out, didn't like motorhoming and simply could not see all that money sat on the drive and never know if another buyer would be around to offer him money.

Haggle Haggle Haggle.

Unless you are viewing mine :Blush:

Oh and welcome ot the Fun:thumb:
 
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DuxDeluxe

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As all the above - we saw the right van (pre-registered) got a wacking discount and a very acceptable trade in offer close to what we originally paid for the old van, negotiated more, got a bike rack and in the end very happy - right at the "wrong" time of year to buy. It is a buyers market.
 
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Terry

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Hi Handy Sue,and welcome :thumb: as everyone is saying it is a buyers market out there ::bigsmile: You ask a very valid question is it worth waiting until the end of the season.The short answer IMO is yes wait (if you don't want one yet ?) Vans are very hard to sell now let alone in winter and usually from late Oct to March when the smaller dealers are happy to get a sale to help pay overheads.Having said that I cannot envisage me ever buying from a dealer :ROFLMAO: Do your homework :thumb: go to a couple of shows to see what you like and look at both dealer and private ads before buying :thumb:Try hiring one for a few days as this will tell you what you like-dislike and could save you from buying the wrong van saving you £,000s exchanging for the right van :ROFLMAO::winky:
Be ruthless when bargaining and never pay the asking price :winky:

terry

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Globalempire

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Hi Sue

We are planning to get our first van soon and, like you, I was wondering about waiting for a few months to see if prices come down.

Originally we were going to get a new van but as we will be spending several months touring parts of Europe next year I think it may come back with a few scratches and dings and therefore be worth a huge amount less than we paid for it just a few months previously.

So, its a second hand van for us. I often look at

Link Removed

There are literally thousands of vans for sale on there. I have noticed that vans don't seem to sell all that quickly, even though some are low mileage late models allegedly in good condition so I'm sure a reasonable (to me) offer may well be accepted.

Good luck with your search

Paul
 
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Terry

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Hi Sue

We are planning to get our first van soon and, like you, I was wondering about waiting for a few months to see if prices come down.

Originally we were going to get a new van but as we will be spending several months touring parts of Europe next year I think it may come back with a few scratches and dings and therefore be worth a huge amount less than we paid for it just a few months previously.

So, its a second hand van for us. I often look at

Link Removed

There are literally thousands of vans for sale on there. I have noticed that vans don't seem to sell all that quickly, even though some are low mileage late models allegedly in good condition so I'm sure a reasonable (to me) offer may well be accepted.

Good luck with your search

Paul

That is what I mean by homework :thumb: Lots of vans both on Auto-trader and E bay get re-listed -- As well as giving you an idea of price/models it also gives an idea on what is selling or what is waiting for a low bid and walk away leaving your phone number :winky:
terry
 
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Peter JohnsCross MH

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Motorhome prices do not neccesarilly drop in the so called quiet or off season period, we sell vans throughout the year.

Your best bet is to buy privately but then you stand alone once you have parted with your money, there is no comeback unless it is totally misdescribed.

You may find a dealer desperate for cash flow, but its the profit that provides the after sales service, insurance based warranties are not worth the paper they are printed on unless the dealer is prepared to back them up.

Just find the van you WANT and will be happy with and pay the price is my advice.

Peter
 
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Handy Sue

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Thank you to all for your opinions, they have been very useful.
We are currently doing our homework very diligently, we have been to all the local motorhome dealers many times over and 2 of the shows, we know exactly what we want and have a very good idea of what the prices are.
We plan to keep on looking, the internet is a wonderful thing isn't it, how did we cope before?
when we have whittled our list of 30 models down to a few favourites then we shall start putting in a few silly offers. We are happy to buy privately, with a full HPI check and lots of common sense of course. If the offer isn't accepted then we shall move on to the next one.
we would ideally like one this year, but we are not jumping in to anything.
I shall keep you posted.
Handy Sue

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aba

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hi and welcome
one thing some dealers and some private sellers may not tell you is that some of the medium sized vans have a very small payload and it is all too easy to travel around over weight without even noticing.
also check your driving licence as depending on your age you may only be able to drive up to 3500 Kg and whilst there are a lot of vans under that weight there are equally a lot of small - medium sized vans over it.

there was an article in one of the magazines a while ago and showed a few vans under and over 3500kg i was quite surprised to find some of the smaller ones were in fact over and some had little more capacity than filling the water tank nevermind clothes and food for 2 people for a couple of weeks away.
 
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Handy Sue

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Thanks Aba,
That is just the thing we are about to look into in more detail, with all the decisions made re layout, model etc it can easily be overlooked. We are compiling a list of questions to ask when we are ready to buy and the payload is one of them, thank you for bringing it up.
How often are motorhomes actually pulled up for being overweight? Is being over the maximum weight something to avoid at all costs or something that you can do without worrying too much? We will be travelling in England and will not need to use a ferry.
My OH is more than old enough to drive the motorhome without taking another test, but hopefully it may stop our sons from borrowing it!!!
I won't ask for any more suggestions yet with regards to the questions to ask before buying, I am sure there will be lots, but it will cause the dreaded thread drift, so i may post again, meanwhile I will read the motorhome buyers book which I have downloaded as suggested. the 79 pages will keep me amused for a while!!
Thanks
Handy Sue
 
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SandJ

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Thank you to all for your opinions, they have been very useful.
We are currently doing our homework very diligently, we have been to all the local motorhome dealers many times over and 2 of the shows, we know exactly what we want and have a very good idea of what the prices are.
We plan to keep on looking, the internet is a wonderful thing isn't it, how did we cope before?
when we have whittled our list of 30 models down to a few favourites then we shall start putting in a few silly offers. We are happy to buy privately, with a full HPI check and lots of common sense of course. If the offer isn't accepted then we shall move on to the next one.
we would ideally like one this year, but we are not jumping in to anything.
I shall keep you posted.
Handy Sue

Sue
Try and take an experienced motorhomer with you if you can when looking a van over as you may forget something and they should know what to look for :thumb:
You have just missed a belter at a belting price :thumb:

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sedge

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Think aba was thinking the other way re age, Sue - over 70's who wish to retain their C1 to drive vans over 3500 need medicals!

Err, they set up road blocks on certain roads and filter you off onto the weighbridge, you don't have choice and you never know when. There's one under the Mway on the island at Jct 3 of the M5 for instance.

Hefty fine, seem to remember up to 4 figures but don't quote me. Anyway it ain't recommended cos - depending on how badly overweight obviously - it could be dangerous. There are ways and means of increasing the plated weight with some vans, but anyway just ask the available payload. Take away from that the passenger(s) and anything not included already eg they may quote the payload having already deducted the driver, a full fuel tank but only half full fresh and grey water, so if either of those are full or empty you would need to account for them and not all mfrs use the same combination of things in their sums. :cry:

Or just be blase about it all, get into a high wind with your overloaded van and see what happens ....... Thelwall viaduct or that road over the Pennines would be a good place to practice ....... :Eeek:
 
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