New or second-hand? (1 Viewer)

[Kryten]

Hey peeps!

I'm still motorhome-less atm and am looking to hopefully get one later this year (once I've paid my car loan off! ) but would like to know what you all reckon...

Should I go for a new one or second-hand? Obviously, if money was no object I'd like to get a nice brand new shiny one but is it really worth doing that, given that it will lose value immediately after driving it out of the showroom!? :Sad:

The one major thing I like about going for a new one is the fact that I could get it at 0% finance! I will probably end up going for a really old cheap thing first to see how I get on.

 

[camocam1]

Do you homework and look at lots of vans there are plenty of low milage 2nd hand vans out there
Make a list of what you want in a van then make a check list so you can see which vans tick the boxes

 

[daveandsan]

If your on a budget, secondhand every time.

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[Allanm]

This really is an impossible question to answer. Obviously a used one will be a good deal and you will save a lot. There are some very good very low mileage vehicles around, even some at 20 years old still have loads of life left in them, but, at that age, mechanicals start to wear and you can expect some sort of ongoing maintenance.
New vans? Well, you lose at least 20% of the value as soon as you put the key in the ignition ( Vat) If you can take the hit, thats great. We did and it doesn't bother me, we intend to keep the van till it falls apart, or I win the lottery ( so, forever then!) But, you get to order the spec you want and you know exactly how its been used. No mot's for 3 years and no ones used the toilet!

We started looking for used vans but couldn't find the spec we wanted so went for a new one. Bit more than we wanted to spend, but you can't take it with you!

Allan

 

[MHVirgins]

We bought our first mh new, but traded it in last year for an older one with a different layout and a few extras that we felt were good to have. So we'd say buy second-hand/pre-loved rather than buying new........let someone else take the hit.

It's not until you spend time in a particular van that you realise there are things you don't quite like about it. It's a big outlay and some on this forum have said in the past that it can take three vans to get it rightoh:

Having said that we did well on our trade-in when we bought our current van. Take plenty of time looking over as many as you can before taking the plunge. Happy hunting!

Bill

 

[Kryten]

Thanks for the input/advice so far peeps! :thumb:

Yeah, I think I will probably go for second-hand one for starters to see how I get on with it, then it shouldn't be too much heartache to change for a different style until I find one that fits. Then in a few years I could opt for a new one when I'm happy with a style that I like. I could even trade in the old one!

My only probably is I always seem to act on impulse and I will probably end up buying the first thing I see!! Everytime I check out the mh ads, I say to myself, "ah, look that's just the one for me!!" Hmmm...I need someone there to hold me back!!

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[MHVirgins]

Thanks for the input/advice so far peeps! :thumb:

Yeah, I think I will probably go for second-hand one for starters to see how I get on with it, then it shouldn't be too much heartache to change for a different style until I find one that fits. Then in a few years I could opt for a new one when I'm happy with a style that I like. I could even trade in the old one!

My only probably is I always seem to act on impulse and I will probably end up buying the first thing I see!! Everytime I check out the mh ads, I say to myself, "ah, look that's just the one for me!!" Hmmm...I need someone there to hold me back!!

Aaarrgghhh! No! Don't buy on "impulse"......you'll end up regretting it

Margaret

 

[Allanm]

Aaarrgghhh! No! Don't buy on "impulse"......you'll end up regretting it

Margaret

I agree. Lots of research needed. We only spent 13 years with older vans before we bought new,
Allan

 

[daisy mae]

Second hand every time for me, if I won the lottery which I won`t as I have never done it. I would still go for used, heard too much about the problems with new ones, to waste my time going there, anyway older ones are better built, wood instead of plastic etc.

Have a good look around what is out there, even if used it is still a lot of money ,if you can afford not to make a costly mistake. I am on my second one, only because I decided to go bigger, same build and base vehicle though, it took me some time to find what I did want.

Pays your money take your choice.

Good luck.
Margaret

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[Kryten]

Yeah thanks for the advice. :thumb:

I know one shouldn't buy on impulse and I will try my best not to, but it's such a temptation when everyone you look at seems to be 'the one!' :Blush:

 

[womblevra]

Remember as soon as you drive that brand new van off the forecourt its second hand
and
severely depreciated in resale value!!

Buying used -your not carrying that depreciation.

 

[Scout]

NEVER EVER buy without thinking "how much can I sell this for" if I NEED/WANT to


you know it makes sense

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[daisy mae]

Just as an after thought, I sold my first one for more than I paid, and I didn`t buy it cheap either, some models hold their price well and others increase.

Margaret

 

[Ber090]

:thumb::thumb:The advice I was given before buying included not to get overly concerned with the mileage on a motorhome. How many nights used is much more important if you can find out. I have seen low miles but tired insides due to it being used like a caravan. Short drive to site and not moved for weeks but lived in. Overall condition is what matters not low mileage in my opinion.
Cheers
Bernie

 

[Nigel67]

We bought a 15 month old A class a few years ago and it had the original buyers receipt still in the paperwork and we had paid over £20k less than he had new (and we bought from a dealer so goodness knows how much the guy lost altogether). Our current Hymer maybe old but it does everything our other vans have and it cost a lot lot less than £20k. And we get a lot more " smiles for miles" and it's costs considerably less to service etc. second hand every time for me:thumb:

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[Kryten]

Thanks for the replies again peeps! :thumb:

Yes, I will defo be getting a second hand one (unless I suddenly find I've inherited a multi-million pound fortune! ).

The only two things I liked about getting at a new one was the 0% finance option, which would save me thousands in interest (but I guess I would lose just as much as soon as I drive it away ) and the fact that nobody else has used it and abused it. However, I've listened to all your wise words and I think second hand will be my best option for now. :Cool:

Bernie: Yes, I agree with the low mileage thing, especially diesel ones. As long as the mh hasn't been abused then they should be good for many many miles. I'm certainly not overly concerned with a mh that has high mileage.

Margaret: Interesting point that you sold a mh for more than you paid. Nice one! :thumb: I'm interested to know how long you had it for and what type it was that held it's value so well?

 

[thraxugrut]

I'm battling with a similar problem Kryten.

We are looking for our first motorhome. We'll be buying secondhand and it's hard not to feel like I have to rush to buy before someone else get's that bargain van that's perfect for us.

I am constantly telling myself there are plenty more van's out there, and it is better to be prudent and be really sure it's a worthy buy and if someone else get's in before me, well that's just how it is and I'll find another one.

It's not easy to do but after seeing some great looking deals on the web then checking them out thoroughly in the yard only to find mold, or other issues I think I'm getting into the swing of it to the point that I think I'll get independent hab/engine checks on any potential vehicle as well as insisting on a weigh bridge check pre-purchase so I know what payload I will have to play with.

Best of luck finding the right vehicle at a great price in a timely fashion!

Cheers,
Mark

 

[daisy mae]

Thanks for the replies again peeps! :thumb:

Yes, I will defo be getting a second hand one (unless I suddenly find I've inherited a multi-million pound fortune! ).

The only two things I liked about getting at a new one was the 0% finance option, which would save me thousands in interest (but I guess I would lose just as much as soon as I drive it away ) and the fact that nobody else has used it and abused it. However, I've listened to all your wise words and I think second hand will be my best option for now. :Cool:

Bernie: Yes, I agree with the low mileage thing, especially diesel ones. As long as the mh hasn't been abused then they should be good for many many miles. I'm certainly not overly concerned with a mh that has high mileage.

Margaret: Interesting point that you sold a mh for more than you paid. Nice one! :thumb: I'm interested to know how long you had it for and what type it was that held it's value so well?

It was VW Auto-sleeper Topaz, a small one but well built with a good name, I could have sold it 6 times over, folk came round the house and wanted it, but I sold it to the first guy who came months before, I never advertised it, this was folk who had seen it on the drive and wanted first refusal, they knew the price I was asking.I had it 14 months, it was 10years old and very low mileage, never a problem, the one I have now is still a VW Auto-sleeper just bigger, and still 3 pps have asked if I was selling it, no way it had 9,770 on the clock when I bought it, last October, I bought this one from a good dealer, the first one privately, with both I have all the paperwork even to the original bill of sale.
Good luck with whatever you decide.
They were / are both like new inside, low mileage and in excellent condition I couldn`t have asked for more, certainly haven`t had the wear. that is why good vans are sort after, it took me some time to find them.
Margaret

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[Kryten]

Good luck with whatever you decide.

Margaret

Thanks again for the info Margaret! :thumb: It sounds like you've done well.
Gosh, it's not going to be easy to find a good one without breaking the bank is it?

 

[Kryten]

Best of luck finding the right vehicle at a great price in a timely fashion!

Cheers,
Mark

Thanks Mark! :thumb: Yeah, you too buddy. Take your time and get a good one.

 

[Scattycat]

It's real hard one and only you can decide.

We spent a long time looking at different vans before we purchased our first, albeit, secondhand van.

We'd decided on the layout and were quite chuffed at how sucessful we were.
But after a few long trips in it we found that the layout we thought was our ideal turned out, in real life, for us, a nightmare and impractical.
But being out and about in it, talking to other folks and having a few social evenings with folks in their vans and listening to their advice, accepting some and disregarding others and also looking at many many more vans for sale we settled on our present van.

The Rapido suits us very well but there have still been things we wanted to and have changed but the van has resolved the main problems we found with our first van.

So I Suppose what I'm trying to say is, in my opinion, look around and find a cheapy that layout wise ticks as many of the boxes of your requirements in a van, then do as we did, use it lots, talk to lots of folks about the pluses and minuses they have found in their vans fixtures, fittings and layouts etc and then look for a van that fits your, no doubt, new requirements.

Our first van had bench seats down each side with a dining table in the gap between that we thought was ideal and sociable only to find that having the table blocking the route to the front of the van and the cab was, for us, a nightmare. Also we found, for us, an island bed was much easier to make in the mornings than the side bed. My biggest problem was the garage area which in our first van was big but difficult to get to things that were at the back of the locker without having to take a lot of other stuff out first, it was also accessable by the hinged double bed. Although this sounded a good idea we found that unless everything in the garage was secured down tightly then lots of rattles eminated from that area when travelling on bumpy roads.

Sorry if this has been a long reply, but may be some of it may be useful.

Good luck

Mike&Lin aka Scattycat

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[IanF]

Hey peeps!

I'm still motorhome-less atm and am looking to hopefully get one later this year (once I've paid my car loan off! ) but would like to know what you all reckon...

Should I go for a new one or second-hand? Obviously, if money was no object I'd like to get a nice brand new shiny one but is it really worth doing that, given that it will lose value immediately after driving it out of the showroom!? :Sad:

The one major thing I like about going for a new one is the fact that I could get it at 0% finance! I will probably end up going for a really old cheap thing first to see how I get on.

We were a bit surprised when asking a dealer at the SECC Motorhome show this week how much a new MH loses as soon as you drive it away------His answer was between 20% to 30%. Certainly made up our minds when he stated we could get a 1 year old model with a few new toys fitted by the first purchaser for between 15% to 20% less than new price
Ian

 

[JimboT]

Hi we are new to motorhoming and took 3 months to find our first van.
We were told to buy a secondhand one but go for a quality make, go for the largest size in your search.
When looking look at age and condition some may have done little mileage but could have had more living in.
We bought the buyers guide on here and checked as much as we could.
We did not find any damp or mold in any we looked at mainly 2007~2009 machines.
We were told until you done it for a few years you won't know what suits your needs.
So far all good just need weather to improve don't want to risk damaging van due to inexperience of weather conditions.
If moneys no object buy new!
I must admit a friend is looking for a motorhome and they have looked at a few six wheel models and the extra space would be better but we cannot go larger than 7m wont fit on the drive!

 

[Allanm]

Second hand every time for me, if I won the lottery which I won`t as I have never done it. I would still go for used, heard too much about the problems with new ones, to waste my time going there, anyway older ones are better built, wood instead of plastic etc.

Have a good look around what is out there, even if used it is still a lot of money ,if you can afford not to make a costly mistake. I am on my second one, only because I decided to go bigger, same build and base vehicle though, it took me some time to find what I did want.

Pays your money take your choice.

Good luck.
Margaret

Have to disagree here, although, a lot of the new vans we looked at were very cheap looking and feeling inside, and that wasn't just UK built vans, quite a few Eurovans felt a bit like they wouldn't last more than a few months without looking tatty.
Ours is new with all wood ( Italian ) furniture and chrome ( not plastic) fittings, in fact there is very little plastic about. It feels well built and substantial.

There was only one dealer we visited whose used vans were of such a high standard, we had to go outside to look at the reg plates to check they weren't new ones. Mind you, the salesmen's attitude put us off spending our money there.

I think the best policy, is research the dealer and research any van you are looking at. If you can find an honest and well recommended dealer, then any problems with your "new" van will probably have been sorted before it leaves the forecourt and any new problems should be sorted out quickly afterwards.

Allan

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[Chris]

Buy new on impulse!

It is great fun getting home and realising your drive is too small:thumb:

 

[4matt]

We looked at both new and old. In the end after six months of weekly visits to dealers we settled on "The One", Okay It looked perfect and we went for it without a second thought. Did we make a mistake? I have only thought that once when we had our first trip away in it and the water from the on board tank had a rather nasty taste to it. Our van is 12 years old this year and looks as good as new inside. We have owned it a year and enjoyed our time in it. We made the right choice first time. We made a compromise on the washroom size but have learned to live with it. As for the water tank taste, simple solution, came from this forum. A water filter jug. We also saved a heap of money buying an older van and some have said got a better quality van into the bargain.:thumb: