Gills motorhomes goes bust (1 Viewer)

[Robin McHood]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-business-48067694

 

[Wildbill]

Dose not seem to be unusual with dealers don't think i have herd of one yet that hasn't had sum kind of issues
bill

 

[chaser]

seems to be the way the job is going, can any be trusted, too many fancy firms setting up to sell over priced vans and shoddy after sales , going to put a lot of people off buying new motor homes, prices approaching house price and apparently no guarantee the sellers are solvent.

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[DuxDeluxe]

seems to be the way the job is going, can any be trusted, too many fancy firms setting up to sell over priced vans and shoddy after sales , going to put a lot of people off buying new motor homes, prices approaching house price and apparently no guarantee the sellers are solvent.

Apart from those that are badly managed/overfinanced/overexpanded, I think the ones that have problems are the ones recently jumped on the baby boom bandwagon to sell or hire out vans. The well managed businesses will survive and prosper

 

[Peskyrabbitt]

I watched this on the news last night,cant believe people would part with there hard earned cash in excess of £50,000 in some cases without doing there own HPI check which costs about £10, Absolutely ludicrous !!

 

[Lenny HB]

new motor homes, prices approaching house price

Only if you live up north.
Can't even buy a single garage for a 100k down here.

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[chaser]

Only if you live up north.
Can't even buy a single garage for a 100k down here.

look and weep
https://www.zoopla.co.uk/house-prices/stoke-on-trent/

 

[eddie]

look and weep
https://www.zoopla.co.uk/house-prices/stoke-on-trent/

There is a reason lol even cheaper in Scotland!

 

[Lenny HB]

Worth the extra down here to be 20 miles from a channel port when you have a Motorhome.

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[Kannon Fodda]

I watched this on the news last night,cant believe people would part with there hard earned cash in excess of £50,000 in some cases without doing there own HPI check which costs about £10, Absolutely ludicrous !!

I dunno. You are buying from what you believe is a reputable dealer. Most dealers provide paperwork for HPI and such like so I would never have thought a need to duplicate that myself. But in this instance it appears the dealer has said there is finance and they would pay that off as part of the purchase process. The dealer needs the purchase payment to clear down the finance.

The issue for any vehicle subject to finance on a dealer's forecourt, how do you ensure the finance is cleared during the transaction, when the dealer needs the purchase money to clear the loan? Somehow buyers are going to need to be able to make payments direct to the finance company to clear the loan, and then to the dealer for any balance.

 

[The Wino]

I dunno. You are buying from what you believe is a reputable dealer. Most dealers provide paperwork for HPI and such like so I would never have thought a need to duplicate that myself. But in this instance it appears the dealer has said there is finance and they would pay that off as part of the purchase process. The dealer needs the purchase payment to clear down the finance.

The issue for any vehicle subject to finance on a dealer's forecourt, how do you ensure the finance is cleared during the transaction, when the dealer needs the purchase money to clear the loan? Somehow buyers are going to need to be able to make payments direct to the finance company to clear the loan, and then to the dealer for any balance.

I think we could have easily been caught out as we always buy with cash not finance if you were buying on finance the finance company would effectively own the vehicle until the final payment and no doubt be very careful to check ownership at the start so the dealer going bust would presumably knowing that make sure they were the sales that they made sure the finance was cleared on before sale. Of course for everyone any dealer aftersales is gone so anything out of manufacturers warranty is sold as seen and even if in warranty it could be difficult to find anyone willing to deal with it.

 

[SpeedyDux]

I dunno. You are buying from what you believe is a reputable dealer. Most dealers provide paperwork for HPI and such like so I would never have thought a need to duplicate that myself. But in this instance it appears the dealer has said there is finance and they would pay that off as part of the purchase process. The dealer needs the purchase payment to clear down the finance.

The issue for any vehicle subject to finance on a dealer's forecourt, how do you ensure the finance is cleared during the transaction, when the dealer needs the purchase money to clear the loan? Somehow buyers are going to need to be able to make payments direct to the finance company to clear the loan, and then to the dealer for any balance.

The buyer and seller could use a trusted third party such as a Solicitor to split the payment and obtain a Release from the finance company on behalf of the buyer.

That's a simplified version of what happens on the purchase of a house which has an existing mortgage, relying on a written Undertaking by the seller's Solicitor who receives the proceeds, to discharge the mortgage after completion of the sale. The sums involved are not so dissimilar, and this tried and tested protocol is 100% risk-free for the buyer.

The question is whether MH buyers are willing to pay for the service.

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[The Wino]

The buyer and seller could use a trusted third party such as a Solicitor to split the payment and obtain a Release from the finance company on behalf of the buyer.

That's a simplified version of what happens on the purchase of a house which has an existing mortgage, relying on a written Undertaking by the seller's Solicitor who receives the proceeds, to discharge the mortgage after completion of the sale. The sums involved are not so dissimilar, and this tried and tested protocol is 100% risk-free for the buyer.

The question is whether MH buyers are willing to pay for the service.

Depends how keen they are to buy and the dealer to sell and if cash buyers whether the dealer mentions the outstanding finance owed. As a buyer unless it was a fantastic deal or rare van I would just say I will only buy if an HPI check shows it clear its up to the dealer how they do it. If there was a cost to release the finance I would have thought that was up to the dealer. If I was buying and realised there was undeclared finance on the vehicle look elsewhere.

 

[Peskyrabbitt]

I know from personal experience from buying used Cars that a lot of smaller companies/garages have there stock vehicles on finance and rely on the sale to pay it off, but I always do my own HPI check for peace off mind. I found this out a few years back after doing a Hpi check on a car prior to purchase, the Garage told me it would be paid off after I purchased it . I phoned there Finance company to make sure it had been !!

 

[SpeedyDux]

Depends how keen they are to buy and the dealer to sell and if cash buyers whether the dealer mentions the outstanding finance owed. As a buyer unless it was a fantastic deal or rare van I would just say I will only buy if an HPI heck shows it clear its up to the dealer how they do it. If there was a cost to release the finance I would have thought that was up to the dealer. If I was buying and realised there was undeclared finance on the vehicle look elsewhere.

A HPI search showing finance is only one of the potential landmines for an innocent buyer (or seller) to beware of. See the post by Ludo on this recent thread:

https://www.motorhomefun.co.uk/forum/threads/new-purchase-what-to-do-about-payment.190737/page-2

Don't forget that the dealer's Bank will have a Fixed and Floating Charge or Debenture over all the stock to secure his lending facility and overdraft. Any deposit is normally unprotected in the event of the dealer's insolvency. The Bank, the Supplier, the stocking finance company, and last of all the buyer all have competing claims on the MH if the dealer goes bust.

I would add another potential landmine where the Manufacturer/Converter retains full title to the brand new MH until paid in full by the dealer. Most of the lack of title situations but not all are covered by the various exceptions to the nemo dat rule that you cannot pass a title that you do not have.

It's much too complicated for the ordinary buyer, which is why they aren't aware of the risks and end up handing over tens of thousands based on optimistic trust in the salesman with a cheap suit and plenty of shiny stock on the forecourt.

The riskiest gamble is allowing the dealer to act as your broker or agent receiving payment on your behalf, with your MH on his forecourt. Be lucky or be broke.

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[Robin McHood]

Worth the extra down here to be 20 miles from a channel port when you have a Motorhome.

Been down there.. couldn't take the traffic on a daily basis.. Took me 20 minutes once to do a right turn off Marine Parade in Seaford onto the A259... After that started driving to Newhaven so I could go round the roundabout. I'll just get the ferry out of Newcastle and have a wee mini cruise to Holland thanks...

 

[Euro330]

I bought my current MH privately. I did an HPi check just to confirm a few vehicle details and that there was no outstanding finance on it.
Having already done my own other checks, the HPi report came back with some discrepencies about the vehicle itself.
Hpi checks the base vehicle only, not the MH conversion.
As a result the HPi vehicle spec came back completely different from the MH coachbuild itself.
I lodged a complaint with HPi who refunded me in full admitting that the vehicle spec was not relevant to the vehicle in question!
Be aware.

 

[tonyidle]

There is a reason lol even cheaper in Scotland!

Not all 'up North' is cheap.

House prices in Kendal - sold prices and estimates - Zoopla

The average sold house price in Kendal is £289,028. Get a free instant estimate for your property online and find more UK property prices.

www.zoopla.co.uk

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[Mr Colpot]

Somehow buyers are going to need to be able to make payments direct to the finance company to clear the loan, and then to the dealer for any balance.

We did this when we bought a Motorhome from Motorhime Depot. Paid Black Horse direct and balance to MD. Problem was I wanted to reject the MH as there were issues with it when I picked it up but had to live it.

 

[Simon Select]

I dunno. You are buying from what you believe is a reputable dealer. Most dealers provide paperwork for HPI and such like so I would never have thought a need to duplicate that myself. But in this instance it appears the dealer has said there is finance and they would pay that off as part of the purchase process. The dealer needs the purchase payment to clear down the finance.

The issue for any vehicle subject to finance on a dealer's forecourt, how do you ensure the finance is cleared during the transaction, when the dealer needs the purchase money to clear the loan? Somehow buyers are going to need to be able to make payments direct to the finance company to clear the loan, and then to the dealer for any balance.

If you want to know if a dealer has cleared the finance then do a HPI a couple of weeks later on the van....

 

[Lenny HB]

If you want to know if a dealer has cleared the finance then do a HPI a couple of weeks later on the van....

A bit late if you have already parted with your money.
What happened to it being illegal to sell a vehicle with outstanding finance on it?

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[Simon Select]

A bit late if you have already parted with your money.
What happened to it being illegal to sell a vehicle with outstanding finance on it?

At that point you can chase the dealer and ask why they havent cleared it off.

 

[Simon Select]

A bit late if you have already parted with your money.
What happened to it being illegal to sell a vehicle with outstanding finance on it?

In terms of the finance, "Forecourt funding" they are meant to clear it. However some dealers that know something isnt right won't bother knowing when they go bust they don't exist anymore! Finance company will go to the customer then to recover the van as its owned by the finance company.

 

[Theonlysue]

Hpi only cover up to £30k.
It's been that value for over 15 years. No good if it's a £70k mh.
Also, funds should go into a dedicated client account, within 2 business days of receipt, where funds are fully protected.
Travelworld has this set up however, I spoke to another large value mh dealer who didn't know what I was talking about.

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[Theonlysue]

Police probe motorhome fraud claims - BBC News

Customers of Gill's Motorhomes say they lost large sums of money after the company ceased trading.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[Theonlysue]

Jim
Perhaps some notes on buying a mh, the dos and don'ts financially??

 

[Simon Select]

Hpi only cover up to £30k.
It's been that value for over 15 years. No good if it's a £70k mh.
Also, funds should go into a dedicated client account, within 2 business days of receipt, where funds are fully protected.
Travelworld has this set up however, I spoke to another large value mh dealer who didn't know what I was talking about.

Funds should be used straight away to clear the vehicle of the credit line.

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[The Wino]

At that point you can chase the dealer and ask why they havent cleared it off.

Unless they have meanwhile gone bust!!!! It seems strange to me when spending an amount of dosh that would buy a house in some parts of the country that its legal to sell something you don't actually own. Surely its time dealers were required to declare any outstanding finance and clear it before the sale or carry insurance to cover the customer if theres a problem with the outstanding finance. Its bad enough buying one without any recourse in the loss of any warranty but to part with the cash and then find out you don't actually own it would be terrible. Maybe the directors ought to be made liable in such circumstances and not allowed to become a director of any company in the future until outstanding debts are cleared.

 

[Theonlysue]

Funds should be used straight away to clear the vehicle of the credit line.

I would say not, as it's the clients funds not the companies funds to use.

 

[Simon Select]

I would say not, as it's the clients funds not the companies funds to use.

That makes no sense? Surely if you buy a new motorhome from a dealer, you would want them to use the money to pay your vehicle of their credit line?

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