How to determine a motorhomes value

Graham of Madrid

Graham of Madrid

Free Member
Joined
Oct 22, 2018
Posts
366
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174
Funster No
56,861
MH
Mc Louis Glamys 40
Exp
Since 2019
Hello Campers,

I’ve just joined the forum and need some buying advice.

Having been to a couple of motorhome shows and viewed some different layouts I am looking at motorhomes with the front dinette / rear bunk beds / Luton top and capacity to seat/sleep six. I am based in Madrid and am looking for a newish model that has had some depreciation in price over a new one.

I have found this model. It’s 18 months old. I viewed it last weekend and will view it again tomorrow. It is an ex-rental model with 65,000 kms on it for 40,500 Euros. It comes with a 12 month warranty and includes all taxes and change of owner registration fees



If I decided I wanted to buy this how would I determine it’s value ? This is not a popular vehicle in the UK, it’s mainly popular in Europe and I’m clueless as to what it’s value would be if I were to try haggling with the dealer.

Any help appreciated.

Thanks, Graham.
 
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I think there isn't a fixed valuation its like a house just worth what someone will pay but could be a good time of year for a low offer if they want a quick sale (and you can always go back higher if turned down) best luck!

Just looked at the add says 39500 now maybe they are willing to go lower!!!
 
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I don't see the age of the van in the ad - that's surely got to be relevant? That it's been a rental van makes you wonder about abuse through ignorance of renters and whether it has existing faults which the dealer can't/won't fix? Some dealers in UK will promise to fix any faults arising but once sold they're not interested.
There are some Funsters who live in Spain and know the market who may be able to help.
 
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I'm sure you can get one with zero miles for not a lot more.

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There is a 2016 one for sale here at less than the one you are looking at:
. They have a new one available at £44,495 so the one you are interested looks overpriced, especially bearing in mind that it is an ex-rental vehicle and you have no idea if hirers have abused it mechanically.
 
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rental companies tend to use entry level vans so expect the spec to be bare minimum as someone has said these dont look much of a bargain but without the year and mileage its difficult to compare
 
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It’s not the interior parts I would be worried about Graham, my concerns would be in relation to the engine and transmission - expensive if they go wrong.
 
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Hello and welcome from West Midlands.


Wyn

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You could ask if you could hire it for a few days and if you decide to buy it have the hire charge refunded against the price. This might give you an idea if it feels like it has been abused as a hire vehicle.

There is always going to be room for haggling. If you have made up you mind it’s the one for you, go for a big bite off the price, €5000 then the dealer will come back with a price and you take another nibble off that.

As part of the deal you could ask for next years service to be included. Be prepared to walk away and remember that there probably are not buyers lining up to bite his hand off and he wants the input of cash to fund next years hire models.
 
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It's difficult to ascertain a price. Most prices on motorhomes whether from private sellers or dealers are not sold for the asking price. So if you base your price on others asking prices you will likely be paying too much.

Search eBay but for completed listings so you can see what they actually sold for. Otherwise its just being a good sleuth and monitoring everything that is if sale everywhere. Use a Google email alert for the model you are after and google will email you whenever the model is mentioned anywhere. After a while you'll know what is a good price and what is not. Don't forget to ask here about any aspect of a van you are thinking of buying...happy Hunting yy
 
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:welcome3: Hi and welcome!

You say the van is 18 months old, and if that is the case the Fiat chassis should have 6 months manufacturer's warranty left - which could be useful.

The mileage is on the high side for its age, but that just reflects the fact it has been a rental vehicle. It probably has been driven quite hard at times, but I think they are reasonably robust in that sense - think 'white van man'.

If you are interested, as suggested, I'd start by offering 5k less than the screen price and see where you go from there. Much will be down to your negotiating skills, and whether you are prepared to walk away if you can't agree the price you're willing to pay. Also, as already suggested, when you are VERY close to securing a deal, ask if they will include an annual habitation, and possibly chassis, service to complete the sale.

Good luck whatever you decide.
 
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:welco:

I would be very wary of ex rental vans unless very cheap. Clutches often get a very hard life when driven by hirers that are not use to bigger vehicles and they will not be coverered under warranty. Also any damage to cabinet work can often be impossible to repair.
Have aBroken Link Removed it's a German site that lists nearly every van for sale in Germany private & trade, it will give you some idea of price.
 
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Thanks for all of your advice. The majority of MH's sold through dealers here are ex-rental and less than 2 years old, many with over 100,000 km. There are also a lot of private sales of vehicles that have been rented through Yescapa. They come with a years warranty. This one is 18 months old with 'only' 65,000 km. Yes I agree the clutch travel should be checked, but these are relatively robust 'whitemanvan' vehicles so I'm hoping that due-diligence checking should be enough of a test. That means looking for leaks and chassis damage. I'll leave the OBD2 code reader and trolley jack at home !

I'll check what is excluded from the warranty too. I'll haggle and be prepared to walk away but I'll have to find an amount to haggle for by looking on Ebay

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I like the idea of renting it for a 'test trial'. It is a common offering here.
 
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Graham of Madrid said:
Yes I agree the clutch travel should be checked, but these are relatively robust 'whitemanvan' vehicles so I'm hoping that due-diligence checking should be enough of a test
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Clutch travel won't tell you anything on a hydraulic clutch as it auto adjusts. Only takes one persons bad driving to stress the clutch. White van man does not drive a van that is fully loaded to it's maxium all the time like a Motorhome is. One van we hired a few years ago had only done a 1000km driving it onto ramps got a lovely smell of burning clutch. Just make sure you have €1500 or whatever it cost for a new clutch in your budget.
Ex rental vans can be a good buy but it's like tossing a coin, I wouldn't risk it.
 
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Only ever rented once ,it was a seven month old van and to say it was unfit for the road is to say generous .For myself i would say never buy a rental ,second hand yes .Good luck on your search.
 
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I quite like the idea that it has an 'electric bomb'.
Very useful for sorting out those noisy neighbours on a site. :D

Richard.

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If you are travelling with 5+ passengers then you will also need something with a good payload. No point in looking at anything around 3500kg mark you will be overloaded as soon as you get everyone in.
 
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OMG Thank you for that insight. So this model is not suitable for 5+ passengers who want to take luggage with them. Maybe you can point me in the right direction.
 
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You may want to search for payload issues on this forum so you have a clear understanding of the pitfalls. You also need to be clear about what vehicles you can drive on your licence.

There is loads of info on this forum.
 
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Yes I have C1 entitlement but others who will drive it won't. So that why I'm stuck with a MAM of 3500kg.

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Sounds like a trailer may be necessary! you'll also come across vans advertised as 'sleeps 6 ''.....only to find they only have four belted travelling seats :doh:
 
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You can find others for sale to get an idea of price on 'milanuncios'
Here;
Broken Link Removed

Price doesn't seem dear when you look at what some of the others are at.
I'd ensure that it actually states 3500kgs on the weight plate/ficha tecnica as they have a habit of building them on 3300/3200/3100kgs. The dealer won't usually have any interest in what is on the weight plate nor in what it actually weighs here.
 
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rb62 said:
Sounds like a trailer may be necessary! you'll also come across vans advertised as 'sleeps 6 ''.....only to find they only have four belted travelling seats :doh:
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On the ficha tecnica here it states how many can travel.Not to sure on newer ones but you used to be able to work the payload out by the number of legal travelling seats that it has. I've seen ones with 8 legal seats , no belts though, & no seats for all 8 to sit on! :D2
 
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Thank for that Gus. MH rentals is a huge business here and it seems that all the nearly new models are ex-rental. The one I was looking at is being sold by a rental firm who put a lino on the floor of his new vehicles for protection. Of course I'll check he's hiding nothing. 65,000 km for an 18 month old MH sounds a lot but all the others out there have more ! Looking at milanuncios I could get something 10 years old with
 
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