Brokers (1 Viewer)

[Frazzle]

Hi

We intend buying our first motor home, we want a Transit the only one we seem to like is being sold by a broker (first i heard of brokers today) Are these third parties safe to buy from i drove 90mile trip today only to find the motorhome was 65miles away and not where the listing said it was, any advice would be helpfull.

 

[pyro]

Welcome

Wouldn't touch an intermediary myself. and with a transit (given widely documented security issues) you need to know the provence of the vehicle. Especially if this broker has given misleading information as to location, one wonders what he is hiding

 

[movan]

Welcome. You will get lots of advice on here but there are good and bad in all walks of the motorhome business so no-one can say that brokers are all good or all to be avoided. They can advise you on specific vehicles if you can give some information ... or on how to avoid doing fruitless journeys as you have just done.

Would be advisable to join fully though as you are limited to five posts.

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[treetops1]

Just be very careful .l would be reluctant to lay a deposit until you have checked it out and know all the facts . N o doubt there will be others coming along that will know better to advise you how to proceed safely .

 

[Frazzle]

Thats the way i feel, as with security on a transit the only other make seems to be plenty of are Fiat and don't like Fiats, can't the security on a transit be beefed up.

 

[Frazzle]

Welcome. You will get lots of advice on here but there are good and bad in all walks of the motorhome business so no-one can say that brokers are all good or all to be avoided. They can advise you on specific vehicles if you can give some information ... or on how to avoid doing fruitless journeys as you have just done.

Would be advisable to join fully though as you are limited to five posts.

Just upgraded to full member

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[pyro]

Well done, a great investment

Best to read up a bit about transit security issues. Lots on here about it,.

Presuming that the vehicle is legitimately being offered for sale, it is mechanically sound and the internal layout looks like it will suit your use, get it independently checked for damp.

There is a very good guide on the site for buying motorhomes. Don't part with a deposit unless it is to the owner of the van and you are completely satisfied it is his to sell

Check out this link for all the help you need:

 

[TheBig1]

Thats the way i feel, as with security on a transit the only other make seems to be plenty of are Fiat and don't like Fiats, can't the security on a transit be beefed up.

you need to fit different locks and stop the thieves accessing the obd port otherwise stealing a transit takes a matter of seconds using cheaply available tools

 

[TheBig1]

oh and dont rule out modern fiat ducatos, just as good and reliable as a transit

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[pyro]

oh and dont rule out modern fiat ducatos, just as good and reliable as a transit

Some might even prefer them. In fact most do

 

[Allanm]

Some brokers have real premises where they store these vans. We bought a new Autosleeper from Choose Leisure in Canterbury, not too far from you. They are also brokers and have lots of used and brokerage vans on display. Might be worth a visit, I always found them good to deal with and we got a good discount when we bought our van from them.

 

[davidbaldam]

Hi and welcome to FUN. There's good and bad vans, I much prefer my Fiat but if you do get a Transit be sure to really, really beef up the security. Transit Motorhome appear to disappear quite regularly.

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[The Wino]

We have a transit and its like everything else the fiat owners are thankfull everytime a transit gets nicked I'm glad I haven't got a fiat dashboard!!!!. I wouldn't be put off buying through a broker the stolen ones wouldn't say they were a broker just pretend to be a private seller but would check the paperwork and do an online finance check. Its a bonus to see the previous owner to see what sort of person they are I always think to a large extent you are buying them (how they looked after it).I think a lot use brokers because they have never sold something so expensive so feel they want their hand holding the price should be less than a dealer as there isn't the warranty if something goes wrong that being said a lot of dealers aren't bothered once the payments cleared!

 

[gus-lopez]

 

[Mr Colpot]

If you are looking at Motorhome Depot in the Kent area I would personally say tread carefully. We had an experience with them (some of which was our fault) but it cost us quite a bit of hard earned cash to put right. If the Van has outstanding finance on it think carefully before buying it and if it needs an MOT putting on it dont part with any money until you have seen the MOT certificate. Also check everything is working yourself on and off hookup prefereably. We have bought privately, through a dealer and Motorhome Depot. Our 3 private buys were the best handovers as the owners knew what all the switches were for and all the operational stuff. The downside was no warranty (luckily we didnt have anything major go wrong) and the other downside is seeing the sad faces (and in one case tears) as you drive away in their pride and joy. Our dealer purchases (again we may have been lucky) have been good too. Warrany issues were sorted out relatively painlessly including a new shower tray, egr valve, accelerator gate valve, alternator, electric step issue. Also a dent which we spotted when we picked a van up in Somerset was repaired locally but paid for by the dealer. (the issues above were not all on the same van!)

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[MC 55 FUN]

Make sure the payload is adequate for your needs & that there are sufficient forward facing passenger seatbelts.

 

[cornish boy]

Hi

We intend buying our first motor home, we want a Transit the only one we seem to like is being sold by a broker (first i heard of brokers today) Are these third parties safe to buy from i drove 90mile trip today only to find the motorhome was 65miles away and not where the listing said it was, any advice would be helpfull.

Brokers are the norm in the marine industry but there are a few things you need to be aware of if you decide to use a brokerage to purchase your motorhome.

• Brokers tend to advertise vans using their office location for ease although the vehicle is not likely to be physically located there, always ring before going to see a particular vehicle and ask if you can meet the broker at the vehicle rather than going to the office first.
• Brokers are working on behalf of the seller (just like estate agents) so dont expect too much help in the negiotation as it is in the brokers interest to sell at the highest price.
• You pay deposits and balances to the Broker, make sure you see proof from the Bank (normally in the form of a letter) that the broker operates a 'Client Account' and ensure you only pay deposits and balance's electronically into that account and you use the vehicle registration number as the payment reference.
• Card payments made in the office or over the phone normally go into the brokers trading account rather than the client account. It is very bad practice to pay the broker in the hope that they will then put the money into the client account. (There is case law surrounding this and money paid into the brokers trading account is not protected in the event the broker goes into administration/insolvancy).
• Brokers should ensure any outstanding finance is cleared as part of the sale, normally a broker pays the finance company direct and then passes on any remaining balance to seller. Specifically ask if there is outstanding finance and get confirmation as to who will clear the balance.
• If the seller is intending to clear any outstanding finance from the proceeds of the sale rather then the broker dealing with it, then walk away, quickly.
• I dont believe that there is any membership association covering motorhome brokers so they are pretty much unregulated so make sure you do your research into the broker/brokerage as part of the purchase.

There is nothing wrong with brokers and most of the time everything will go well but you should always keep you eyes wide open and make sure you protect yourself from the small number of rogues who are out there.

 

[Frazzle]

Thanks cornish boy and other for useful information.