Negotiating on a used motorhome. (1 Viewer)

jaykay

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Hi, I'm wondering how much I could expect to get a used motorhome between £30k and £40k reduced by from a dealer?

Anyone care to provide their experiences?
 

lorger

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Every dealer and deal will be different wha I always do is get a figure I'm happy to spend for that deal and if I don't get it for that I walk away, so once you've seen the correct MH think of the max you'd be happy to pay and start below it.
Don't be embarrassed to offer a good bit less they can only say no and they always ask for more than they need.
Or if you fancy buying private we are in the early stages of thinking about selling ours.
 
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Badknee

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As a one time car salesman we had to look at a card. On it it told me how much the said car was bought for, how much had been spent on it or would have to be spent on it and then profit required. If it was up a few hundred above this that was the discount available to seal the deal.

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Research your market and as suggested above decide your top price. Always offer a really low bid to start, never ask for a discount always suggest a number. A MH dealer probably has 5-8k margin in unit your looking at, he needs to make a living and has to cover presale and warrantee costs so on a £40k van the lowest margin he will accept is probably 3-4k so on is £40k MH start the bidding at say £34k and expect to finish at £36k.
Good luck and remember walk if your not happy, MH sales are not exactly fast in January!!
 
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JimboT

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you have from now till 1st week February to get a deal price movement slows down end February and some dealers increase prices come March and stay high until October.
One dealer I know struggled to get second hand stock this summer.
I live just outside London and went up north to get a deal!
Jim
 
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joncris

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If your paying in full without the need for finance. Tell the dealer your a cash buyer and watch him/her take your hand off

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deleted-member02

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Do lots and lots of research to find out what the exact van is and how much it's likely to sell for.

Some vans are offered for sale way out of line with 'real' price, so even with a hefty discount, you can end up overpaying.
I can think of a few 30 - 40k vans on ebay that must be approaching 10k overpriced, so do take care...

Also be realistic, after researching, if you see a van that looks good value, you can't expect to beat the dealer down too much, they've got to make a living too.

As a guide, I purchased in April from a dealer, paid 2k below window price. had extras fitted, problems fixed and extended warranty at no extra cost. Very happy with the whole process and price (and I generally loathe dealers).
 
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Dec 24, 2009
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I wouldn't put too much faith in getting a discount for cash most dealers get a kick back from the finance companies, so from their point of view they would sooner have you pay by way of HP.

No PX can give you a bit of sway though as less of their cash is tied up in stock. Our van that we traded in against the Pilote we have now was on the dealers forcourt for over twelve months before he sold it! and no we don't think he overpriced it.

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Badknee

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If your paying in full without the need for finance. Tell the dealer your a cash buyer and watch him/her take your hand off
Hmmm, not so. Finance is a good money earner for sales. They get paid for using them.
 
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jaykay

jaykay

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Some interesting responses thanks. I work in procurement so i'm confident in salesman's tricks and negotiating.

Great to see the dealers have a decent margin on the product to give decent room for negotiation.

I just need to train the wife so she doesn't show how much she loves it when the time comes! :)

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jhorsf

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its just as important as the price to get a dealer that will be HONEST with you if you need any repairs doing under warranty .Say you buy a motorhome that gets damp or already had damp when it was sold to you that few grand you saved a few months ago does not look so good now.
Recommendation of customers is what to look for they do not come any higher than Johns Cross motorhomes @Johns_Cross_Motorhomes they may not be the cheapest but have a first class reputation

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Emmit

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We bought ours at the start of the year and, after reviewing the purchase we both decided we made a big mistake, not to be repeated.
It may be that you have travelled a long way to see the 'van. Don't tell 'em. Don't give your personal details, (Can I just have some particulars for the record Sir, Don't tell 'em)
Knowledge is power. The less they know or believe, the better it will be for you.
 
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Nov 8, 2014
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Hi, I'm wondering how much I could expect to get a used motorhome between £30k and £40k reduced by from a dealer?

Anyone care to provide their experiences?

I have copied the review that I gave a dealer, on this website, obviously I will be well guarded as to my next purchase.
Price may reflect a warranty so check if they are able to do the works in a suitable environment or do they have joe blogs laying on his back trying the impossible. Much of the above is good advice. BEWARE THEY ARE NOT YOUR FRIEND IT'S YOUR MONEY THEY ARE AFTER.

:cry::cry::cry:(n)(n)(n)(n)(n)Having lived and worked abroad for the last 20 years it was always my intention to purchase a motor home on my return to the UK when I retired. I spent a lot of time and effort to find the right vehicle and eventually settled on a Devon Tempest, 2 years old and with 1500 miles on the clock. What I should have done was completed the purchase after the dealer Dolphin Motor homes had done the habitation check. my mistake!. The van was sent off to their Southampton branch for the habitation certificate to be issued and in my opinion that is what they did, issued the certificate because they certainly DID NOT DO THE WORKS SATISFACTORY, the van was delivered to me with a faulty fresh water tank, waste water problem, toilet badly functioning and other jobs either done badly or not done at all.
The waste water tap was ceased and needed renewing the electrics on the fresh water system were faulty there was a bolt missing from the strike plate on the rear door the swivel seats would not swivel the radio and Sat nav system did not work along with other problems. All of these problems I was assured would be corrected but the van had to go back to Southampton as the Iford branch only has a valeting bay and not a mechanics workshop, image my surprise 3 days later when I phoned Southampton to be told “NO” we do not have a bay to lift the vans and our man has taken his tools to Iford to carry out the faults there, (I assume laying on his back on the floor)
The offending problems were all done bar the radio/sat nav which apparently 3 people had tried to correct, the main dealer had been contacted , who was not prepared to give free advice and eventually the MD fiddled with the system (his words not mine) and after 15 minutes did manage to solve part of the problem. I have solved the remaining fault with a friend. I now intend to have the gas check done by an independent engineer All of the running about has been at my expense and I feel that the company had no interest what so ever after my monies had been banked..
I started by explaining that I had been abroad for twenty years and am aware that the UK is named RIP OFF BRITAIN; service like this only adds fuel to the fire. I WOULD NOT RECOMMEND THIS COMPANY(n)(n)(n)(n)(n)(n)(n)(n)(n)(n)(n)(n)(n)(n)

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Pudsey Bear

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Unless I had the dosh to buy new, I would under no circumstances buy from a dealer , once bitten twice shy as they say, last episode cost us £4k, still not recovered form that, all others have been private sale from people who didn't mind my questions, didn't mind me taking them for a test drive and then again to let my other half see and feel what it was like, were happy to show me how everything worked and prove that it all did, made sure I had all the manuals for everything, and still negotiate on price

Why would I go to a dealer, the warranty on used vans is a joke it seems in most places, and you pay for it anyway, if it's not your first van you should have confidence in your own abilities to check out 99% of it, and take a mobile Mh engineer for the rest if unsure.

But you pays your money etc, but I'd go nowhere near a dealers except to perhaps check out a layout of one to see if it suited, before going long distance to see the same model with a view to buying, Ebay and Autotrader are full of a myriad of different vans, a dealer will not have anywhere near as much choice.
 
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gibbon

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If I was spending a lot of money, & 30 to 40 grand is a LOT.
I would do a colossal amount of research including visiting dealers etc.
When the model(s) are identified I would then look for a private sale from people who have obviously cherished the veh & can provide a shed load of receipts for service history, parts, from when they first acquired it.
Those genuine owners are out there, I suspect a great percentage are Funsters:xgrin:
 
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Puddleduck

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We paid £1K more to the dealer than he paid to the previous owner in part ex. The previous owner lives near to us so it was easy to find out the details of the history.

We've had a couple of minor niggles sorted out and were happy with the dealer and what we paid. He came down a bit from the window price but it wasn't overpriced anyway judging by other examples.

The dealer has to make a profit - if dealers didn't make a profit soon there would be no dealers - and no where for us to go to look at a myriad of vehicles in the flesh.

You can see a lot of details online but nothing beats sitting and standing in the actual van.

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Emmit

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I would like to correct what may be perceived by readers as us not being happy with our purchase.
We are ecstatic with our van. If we're not actually in, we're planning where to go in it.
When I put, in the original comment,
"We bought ours at the start of the year and, after reviewing the purchase we both decided we made a big mistake, not to be repeated."
It was the supplying of informationn to the dealer that was the big mistake and not the actual purchase itself.
 
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Nov 8, 2014
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I would like to correct what may be perceived by readers as us not being happy with our purchase.
We are ecstatic with our van. If we're not actually in, we're planning where to go in it.
When I put, in the original comment,
"We bought ours at the start of the year and, after reviewing the purchase we both decided we made a big mistake, not to be repeated."
It was the supplying of informationn to the dealer that was the big mistake and not the actual purchase itself.
I make you right my friend, I am very happy with my van it was the lies and very bad after sales that leaves the bitter taste after you have parted with your dosh. Be happy, Keep M Homing
 
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jaykay

jaykay

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I would like to correct what may be perceived by readers as us not being happy with our purchase.
We are ecstatic with our van. If we're not actually in, we're planning where to go in it.
When I put, in the original comment,
"We bought ours at the start of the year and, after reviewing the purchase we both decided we made a big mistake, not to be repeated."
It was the supplying of informationn to the dealer that was the big mistake and not the actual purchase itself.
Thanks for clearing that up, I though you meant the start of the year was a bad time to buy! :)

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Emmit

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JK,
You're close enough to 'Gods own County' to know the mantra.
Tell 'em nowt.
Go to Poker School to get rid of any emotion in your face or body movement. (Even if you want to jump up and down and get the cheque book out!)
Find fault with ANYTHING. Even if it's nowt.
Make them want to get the 'van off their hands.

Now that you've read that, I'll try to drill it into my own brain for next time!!!
 
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westy77

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We love our van, but I have no faith whatsoever in the dealer we bought from, South Hereford Motorcaravan Centre.
 
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Peter JohnsCross MH

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its just as important as the price to get a dealer that will be HONEST with you if you need any repairs doing under warranty .Say you buy a motorhome that gets damp or already had damp when it was sold to you that few grand you saved a few months ago does not look so good now.
Recommendation of customers is what to look for they do not come any higher than Johns Cross motorhomes @Johns_Cross_Motorhomes they may not be the cheapest but have a first class reputation
Thanks for that, apreciated, we might not be the cheapest but we try hard to be the best

Peter

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Oct 29, 2008
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You can negotiate better on a less popular layout or model. If the van is a sought after model its sometimes first come forts served.
 
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