Paying in advance for new motorhome (1 Viewer)

[31791]

I am due to pick up a new Carthago from E S Hartley in Cumbria in the next couple of weeks and they are asking for the payment to be made so that they have cleared funds 7 days before the handover date. I had intended just paying on my debit card on the day of handover and my bank, the Nationwide, said it would be no problem and it is the safest way of doing it.

I am wondering if they have a loan against the van.

What have other purchasers had to do?

 

[mikebeaches]

Sounds surprising to me.

I have always paid on collection using debit card, and wouldn't really expect anything different.

You are potentially exposed if anything happened to E S Hartley during the 7 days. It also makes it much more difficult in the, unlikely, event you wanted to reject the van at handover for some legitimate reason.

I had a factory-ordered van with lots of items I'd specified, and only after 8 months waiting for it to arrive at the dealer with a manual gearbox, instead of the automatic (comfortmatic) I'd ordered! It was a deal-breaker.

I would certainly query the request for advance payment in full.

 

[nicholsong]

If at all pay the money into an Escrow account with a Solicitor, to be released on presentation of the Bill of Sale into your name, together with the appropriate section of the V5C completed.

All after you have completed a satisfactory inspection of the MH.

If the Dealer has a problem with that, then they need to have an arrangement with their bank to bridge the 7 days.

If they cannot accept either there could be something going wrong.

Caution.

Geoff

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[Abacist]

I would not do it. Quite unreasonable. Unless they can produce something to you that you signed agreeing to this I would tell they they will have to wait until you have seen the van, checked it and are satisfied with it.

 

[TheDogMan]

I would not pay it all in advance, I paid a big deposit on mine and paid the rest on a debit card on collection day.

 

[Minxy]

Do NOT pay for it in full in advance, a deposit obviously, but never ever in full, until you go and see it in the flesh you don't know if there are any problems ... we nearly walked away from a purchase in the past due to issues but fortunately they were resolved, however if they couldn't be and we'd paid in advance we'd have been stuffed.

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[gus-lopez]

I am wondering if they have a loan against the van.

Ask them .
Point them to the camper north east thread on here. I wouldn't even consider it & would ask why they are asking ?

 

[Theonlysue]

Ordered new mh. £9,000 deposit which was in a protected client back account.
Balance was payable on collection day after I checked the van out.
Under NO circumstances pay the balance untill you have checked it out on collection day, no matter what the dealer says!!!!

 

[Jim]

PAY ON THE DAY AND ONLY WHEN YOU ARE 100% HAPPY WITH THE VAN.

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[Gerby]

As previously mentioned pay by debit card on collection and only after checking van, I had a balance of 87000 to pay when I bought my van and it took all of 5 seconds, I did check with bank a week before that it would be OK and they just said so long as I had the money in the account I could spend as much as I wanted to, though they did say I might get a phone call to confirm I was who I said I was and they also put a note on the account that it was going to happen and when (though they did say it was unnecessary).
I would like to think its just the dealer trying to cover you using bank transfer or similar which can sometimes take a little while depending on what bank you use and any limits set (I once had to pay for a house I bought to renovate and due to limits set it took several payments, over a number of days to a holding account with my solicitors) but after the Camper NE debacle I would be very wary.

 

[PhilMary]

I would suggest something fishy going on.
Suggest to them that you will pay half , check over the MH and collect then pay the remainder after 30 days.
If they don't like that ask them why!
Phil

 

[Pausim]

I have a new Carthago on order from Chelston and expect to pay for it by debit card at handover. I know Carthago expect the dealer to pay them for the motorhome before they will release it from the factory and put it on the transport. The dealer will have known this and should have priced this into the deal. It could be that the motorhome is not yet even in the UK or owned by the dealer. Take a look at your order/contract, it should say something about payment.

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[Kannon Fodda]

No way do you pay before you get your hands on it. A deposit is one thing, but far too many instances on here that there have been people pay up for something and in the short period between pay and collection someone has gone to the wall and you become a creditor. Banks can transfer funds by fast pay same day if debit card doesn't work. Yes bank transfer could take a while but you are too exposed.

Even if the van is brand new, how has it been paid for by the dealer? What is their credit line from the builder or has the dealer needed temporary finance? You almost need a HPI check?

I can see myself having this headache to argue over in a few weeks time where the dealers terms say much the same thing.

 

[Lenny HB]

Do Not Pay in Advance.

Had a friend who few years ago paid on Monday went to pick up the van on Friday dealer had gone bump on Thursday.

Also I never give more than £1000 deposit, a deposit should never be more than you can afford to loose.
Bought 3 new vans never had a problem.

 

[old-mo]

Have a read of this before you even think about paying the full amount before you get your van...

Then it`s not written in stone that what you have paid for is Yours...
............................

.https://www.motorhomefun.co.uk/forum/threads/camper-ne-go-bust.190668/

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[31791]

Thanks everyone.
The van has arrived at the dealer and I have been inside it but it is going to take about 2 weeks to get it ready with solar/alarm/gas low which is fine as in no rush.
Was just checking that I wasn’t being paranoid so I will refuse to pay until got the documentation and keys.

 

[BobtheBass]

Would you pay for a bag of fish and chips a week before you ate it? No, of course not. Same thing applies here.

 

[nicholsong]

I bought privately from a policeman. I inspected the MH, we went to the bank, I drew the cash by arrangement, he signed Bill of Sale and V5C, which he exchanged for the cash.

Job done.

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[sueandjohn]

Even Marquis let us pay on the day

Take care

 

[Grianan]

Agree with the majority of replies. We paid deposit of £2,500. Went to pick van up, found snags. They fixed snags, delivered the van to us a fortnight later, we rechecked and paid by debit card before driving them to the station.

Better safe than sorry.

 

[Antique]

Strangely enough

We've just bought a Carthargo from CamperUK

Paid balance with debit card on collection AFTER PDI and all was happy.

No problem

Antique

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[Lanerboy]

Just bought a new carthago from southdowns paid £1000 deposit then paid the rest on the day of collection

Do not pay before you collect it if dealer goes bust you loose everything

 

[Just smiffy]

COD is the only way.... otherwise you’ll regret it.....

 

[DaveandJen]

Most dealers try to play the same game - You must pay in full normally about 7-14 days before the collection date and in most cases they get their wishes because the buyers don't like to upset the sellers.

If you don't agree to paying the full amount before collection - tell them face on and they normally back off instead of losing a sale.

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[31791]

Had a call with them. Justification is that as soon as they register it they have to pay off the loan company and they say it takes 10 days to register a motorhome unlike a car which is instant. Don’t know if this is true. His justification is the problem with cash flow if I was to pull out of the deal having only given them a £2000 deposit. He then said he would accept 50% in advance and issue paperwork. After further discussion, he said he would accept £10000 as commitment from me. Think I can live with that. I do live 6 miles from the dealer. Probably go in and see them tomorrow.

 

[Minxy]

Had a call with them. Justification is that as soon as they register it they have to pay off the loan company and they say it takes 10 days to register a motorhome unlike a car which is instant. Don’t know if this is true. His justification is the problem with cash flow if I was to pull out of the deal having only given them a £2000 deposit. He then said he would accept 50% in advance and issue paperwork. After further discussion, he said he would accept £10000 as commitment from me. Think I can live with that. I do live 6 miles from the dealer. Probably go in and see them tomorrow.

Be careful ... AFAIK the loan shouldn't be linked to the MH as such, but a general loan to the company ... if they need your money to pay off the loan it makes me wonder what sort of cash flow they have.

As for registering it, it sometimes has to be done via post, rather than on-line which you can do with cars and most MH makes, so it taking up to 10 days does have some merit.

From what I can recall you're getting an expensive MH though so that may be why they are asking for more up-front especially since they are also adding accessories for you too.

 

[31791]

Thanks @Minxy Girl and everyone.

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[wiljoy]

NO, NO ,NO..
DON'T part with a pence until collection. Ive just lost £20,000 by trusting a so called family business. Never an issue on collection.

 

[Clarky]

We have bought three new motorhomes, the last one a Carthago, and always paid by debit card after the handover inspection.
Pay, collect receipt and drive away. Job done.

Richard.

 

[The Wino]

If you pay £10,000 what do you own in the event they meanwhile go bust or the van is totally unnaceptable.............nothing!!. Very unlikely but if that £10k plus deposit its a lot to gamble even on a dead cert. Whats in it for you?. If you want to make it clear you aren't going to leave them stuck with the extras offer to pay up front for things that are going to be fixed permanently to the van but I wouldn,t want to do that either. Whats their "commitment" to you

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