Advice regarding potential buyer wanting to take our motorhome for a test drive

Skeggysue

Skeggysue

Free Member
Joined
Sep 26, 2007
Posts
330
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Location
Skegness, Lincolnshire
Funster No
433
MH
A Class Carthago Chic XL
Exp
Since 2004
Hi everyone,

I just need some insurance advice please?

We are currently advertising our beautiful Carthago motorhome for sale both on here and on various other internet motorhome selling pages. We’re sadly having to sell due to my husbands health issues and we’ve had lots of enquires from several people wanting to come over to view it. Anyway, we have 3, possibly 4 different people coming over to view it over the next few days but one of the potential buyers has just called me to ask if she could test drive it? I said of course she could but when I told my my husband I’d agreed to this he was a little concerned about the legalities of allowing her to do this regarding insurance etc. Obviously we will stay in the motorhome to make sure she and husband don’t drive off into the sunset with it but it’s the insurance situation we are unsure about so your advice would be much appreciated.

Thank you.
 
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Hhhm. Insurance is the main one. Is the ability to drive someone else's car valid for a motorhome? Anyway it would only be third party so any damage to your moho would not be covered. If you are prepared to allow them in it when you are why don't you drive?
 
Had similar issues when selling motorcycles over the years. Typically I'd ask for a large cash deposit and the keys to the car they arrived in. If it was a motorcycle I was selling (they'd be riding it alone) I'd keep their ID (Licence and CC or passport) but if you are in the vehicle with them and their insurance is at least third party - you at least have a bunch of cash and their own car to bargain with if the worst happens. Get them to sign a note that they agree to pay for all and any damage how-so-ever caused whilst they were in control of the van.
 
I would not let anyone in that situation drive my vehicle.

It would not matter whether they had valid insurance or not.
 
Thanks for your replies.
Regretfully, because of my husbands medical problems he is unable to drive now, hence the reason we are reluctantly selling our dream motorhome. So, unfortunately he cannot take anyone out on a test drive and I don’t drive our motorhome either. I can drive but I’ve never dared drive any of our motorhomes I’m embarrassed to say.
I think i’ll call her back and explain a test drive is not possible unless she can take out temporary fully comp insurance cover to do this and of course I will need proof she is covered etc.
Thanks again.
Sue
 
Ask them to look on the web for insurance companies who will insure them for a test drive, it should be no more than £20 for a day, DO NOT let them go on their own make sure one of you is always in the van, social distancing etc might have to sit in the passenger seats and do not get out of the van till they go first! .

They can be given the reg no and ask to print off proof of insurance or send a copy to your phone/web address, if they do buy it, knock the £20 off, and let them know that! It will have cost them nothing and you only £20 Its a small price to pay for peace of mind and knowing that if it is bumped as they are not used to the size its covered
 
busby said:
I would not buy any vehicle without a decent test drive,,,Madness. BUSBY.
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Same here.

Surely you can speak to your insurer and explain the situation to have any driver on your insurance as you are selling to make sure you are covered.

I would also make sure they have correct licence to drive and take a photo copy as proof, you can always give copy back once you have completed the test drive.
 
No insurance no drive and if they have insurance I would go with them especially if they are not used to driving a large vehicle ( if it is )
 
Apart from the insurance issue, make absolutely sure that cleared funds are in your account and non retrievable before release of your van.
Far too many thieves, vagabonds and scammers around.
Take care.

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MichaelT said:
Same here.

Surely you can speak to your insurer and explain the situation to have any driver on your insurance as you are selling to make sure you are covered.

I would also make sure they have correct licence to drive and take a photo copy as proof, you can always give copy back once you have completed the test drive.
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Beware telling your insurer that you are selling and allowing test drives, they have the right to cancel cover with immediate effect
 
Historically, driving other cars was covered on most insurance policies - this is not the case today and often you will hear a claim "my insurance allows me to drive any car." If you permit another to drive and they do not have insurance, you can be prosecuted. It is an offence under s143 Road Traffic Act 1988 to use (or permit to be used) an uninsured motor vehicle on the road (or other public places - car park for example). Temporary and short term insurance is possible depending on circumstances. Personally, I would not allow anyone to drive my motorhome.
 
I wouldn't let anyone test drive my vehicle. Best to let them sit in the passenger seat and take them for a run.
 
busby said:
I would not buy any vehicle without a decent test drive,,,Madness. BUSBY.
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Buyer point of view
I'm with you on that one they can put a temp insurance on it for the time /day they are driving it.
There is no way I would part with a huge amount of cash until I had driven and crawled all over it. When I bought my 'old' girl I didn't step in side until I had checked the bodywork both the easy to see and the underneath. and the engine. The pretty bits can be sorted but if the chassis & engine are no good you could end up with a very expensive container unit.

Seller point of view
It is my pride and joy I have loved and looked after it. why can they not see that. I am not letting anyone drive my baby.

Maybe contact your insurance company the buyer can also get you an up-to-date licence check so that you know what they have driven . DO NOT RELY on a plastic licence it may not be up to date.
To be honest, you will know as soon as they sit in the drivers seat if they have any experience.

You could ask them before hand for a licence check code this will allow you to log onto DVLA and check the licences is C1 and also how long they have had it. If they are genuine they will not have a problem with getting you the code you can then use this to put them onto your insurance temporarily , It is a beautiful machine and if it was me spending that amount of cash I would be happy to pay the temp insurance. If they buy you could be really nice and knock it off the price. It they not that interested and only tyre kickers they won't invest.

Good luck with the sale but don't hand the keys over until the money is in the bank. With that kind of investment if it was me I would have already done all the vehicle checks to make sure you had the right to sell it before travelling to see it. They will love it as much as you and be happy to start as they want to go on.

Loose the my lovely van and look at it as a business deal it is a vehicle that you want to sell.

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irnbru said:
I wouldn't let anyone test drive my vehicle. Best to let them sit in the passenger seat and take them for a run.
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My old work van (diesel) will miss a beat every now and then, if I'm driving it no one would know, if someone else was driving it they would know it straight away.

No way would I be spending big money on a MH without driving it. Would you expect to buy a secondhand van from a dealer without driving it?
 
As Motorhome’s are making premium money these days I wonder would the dealer you bought it off be interested. As far as I can see they cannot keep up with demand. Just my thoughts...
 
Eggs said:
My old work van (diesel) will miss a beat every now and then, if I'm driving it no one would know, if someone else was driving it they would know it straight away.

No way would I be spending big money on a MH without driving it. Would you expect to buy a secondhand van from a dealer without driving it?
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Yes, I've done so twice.
 
I would suggest to the buyer that they have the van professionally inspected by somebody who does hold the correct insurance. Peace of mind for both of you

Otherwise sell through a reputable agent, who can prove they hold the correct trade insurance. Usually costs 10% but with a very valuable vehicle can be negotiated
 
Larrynwin said:
Then you wouldn’t be buying one from me :wink:
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You are correct,,,Who in their right mind would spend any amount of money on a vehicle they had not driven.Even if its brand new until you actually drive it you would not know if it is a vehicle you would be comfortable with...Bit like getting married,,until you live with someone you havnt a clue what they are actually like.. ;) ;) BUSBY.

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I was going to say I wouldn't buy a van I had not test driven but when I thought about it I cant remember driving our current van
I had driven more or less the same van though
If £20 is all it cost for temporary insurance its a good way of weeding out time wasters
 
Out of the over 700 vehicles I've owned the only one I didn't test drive myself before buying it was my frankia and it was also the most expensive one ....the previous owner quite rightly didn't let me test drive it when I viewed it. The first time I got to drjve it was when I had bought it and collected to drive it home.

I wasn't comfortable doing it but understood his reasons in a £43k van
When I sold it I did the same thing ...I drove it on the test drive

My current hymer and a other vehicles I drove it before paying for it

When selling my motorbikes it was on the agreement the buyer gave me the cash in my hand before they got to ride it and if they didn't want it they got the cash back.
 
IanRJ said:
at least have a bunch of cash and their own car to bargain with if the worst happens.
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I don't think the fact that you have a set of keys in your hand would give you any bargaining chip at all. One call to Dibble and they would arrest you if you did not hand them back.

Again, if they gave you cash but you had not transferred the ownership by means of a signed receipt. If you kept the cash, they could probably get you arrested for theft.

The buyer proving that they have insurance is the only way possible and even then beware of a fake policy document. You should phone the insurance company and put them on speaker phone to go through security and get the insurance company to confirm the cover is in place. Make sure YOU dial the insurance company from a Google search not from a number on the policy certificate, that could be a fake number with an associate on the other end.

When I helped my sister-in-law buy a car from a private seller. He drove it and I told him what I wanted him to do such as hard breaks/acceleration, gear changes with the Auto box etc.
 
When selling my cars and motorbikes I let them do any test they wanted on my drive ,if they wanted to test drive the vehicle they had to buy it money up front and if they found a fault with it on their way home they could bring it straight back and they could have their money back no problem of course checking for any damage . I guess this only works with cash .
 
Fairly certain you can't get short term cover for Motorhomes, only cars that is how it was last time I looked.

If your own insurance won't play ball if they are serious they could insure it themselves then cancel so only pay for the days cover but a lot of companies will only insure the registered owner.

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