Sticker price V actual price paid

[Brendan Stone]

I'm interested in people's experiences of buying a used van from a dealer and the final price you paid (haggled to) compared to what it was advertised for.

As an example:
Sticker price £34900
Cash buyer, no trade in.
Nothing obviously wrong, good records, new MOT, dealer has loads of excellent reviews etc.

What might you hope to pay for it and what might your 'opening gambit' be?

I appreciate there are multiple variables in a hypothetical, what are people own experiences?

Thanks

 

[Jonno1103]

Do you think you can get more % off the price if the MH or Van has been on sale for an extended period of time - some are over 12 months on sale - do you think therefore you could negotiate better price to get rid of the MH off the books.

Additionally, you might question why it has been on sale for so long? Is overpriced? or is it a lemon?!?

Again with motorhomes there are other considerations. Heavier motorhomes, single & tag axle tend to hang around as the market place for them is diminishing year on year, this is possibly the weight class which offers the best deals for 2nd owners.

 

[delia]

Again with motorhomes there are other considerations. Heavier motorhomes, single & tag axle tend to hang around as the market place for them is diminishing year on year, this is possibly the weight class which offers the best deals for 2nd owners.

I agree that the issue of grandfather rights to a C1 licence due to an ageing population will have some impact, there are still well over 12 million drivers who can still drive over 3500kg motorhomes without needing to take a test, and that excludes over 70 years olds who have maintained their C1.
I think that the main reason for the current slower sales in the larger motorhome category is purely the financial cost of running them and buying them in the first place compared to a smaller one.

 

[The Wino]

I agree that the issue of grandfather rights to a C1 licence due to an ageing population will have some impact, there are still well over 12 million drivers who can still drive over 3500kg motorhomes without needing to take a test, and that excludes over 70 years olds who have maintained their C1.
I think that the main reason for the current slower sales in the larger motorhome category is purely the financial cost of running them and buying them in the first place compared to a smaller one.

And it being difficult to park in towns and villages

 

[Jonno1103]

I agree that the issue of grandfather rights to a C1 licence due to an ageing population will have some impact, there are still well over 12 million drivers who can still drive over 3500kg motorhomes without needing to take a test, and that excludes over 70 years olds who have maintained their C1.
I think that the main reason for the current slower sales in the larger motorhome category is purely the financial cost of running them and buying them in the first place compared to a smaller one.

It's a good topic for discussion that's for sure. Only 19% of UK drivers have grandfather rights now, that's down from 22% only 3 years ago. Modern housing too, most new builds only come with postage stamp sized driveway.

 

[Scout]

price isnt the only factor, theres always 3 sides to any deal top bottom middle,

extras the YOU WANT costs the dealer less than money off, service snd warranrty cost too, but trust is the most valuble thing in any deal, no trust with the dealer no real warranty.

 

[funflair]

And it being difficult to park in towns and villages

I would rather live in a nice big space than park in a town or village so that really didn't come into the selection process.

 

[James.Blonde]

Hi, my first post as new to the forum. I'm currently looking to buy a Carthago as a cash buyer. I know what I'm after and low and behold the "one" seems to be overpriced at 68k, more expensive models ( by 10k) from the same year and manufacturer available at 65k. Its been listed since January 2025 according to Tigger Tims Post about auto traders listing numbers. Part of the issue is it being 200miles away, its a long way to go to negotiate and get turned down. Listing for over a year seems nuts to me and suggests it is too much.

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[The Wino]

I would rather live in a nice big space than park in a town or village so that really didn't come into the selection process.

It did if thats what you decided! We all have different wants.

 

[EuroTrotters]

Cash is t always king.

Dealers can make commission on finance.

If you pay with part credit. You will have a little extra consumer protection

 

[The Wino]

Cash is t always king.

Dealers can make commission on finance.

If you pay with part credit. You will have a little extra consumer protection

Depending on the total price on most these days no protection. Very few motorhomes less than£30k

 

[1090alex]

I'm interested in people's experiences of buying a used van from a dealer and the final price you paid (haggled to) compared to what it was advertised for.

As an example:
Sticker price £34900
Cash buyer, no trade in.
Nothing obviously wrong, good records, new MOT, dealer has loads of excellent reviews etc.

What might you hope to pay for it and what might your 'opening gambit' be?

I appreciate there are multiple variables in a hypothetical, what are people own experiences?

Thanks

Any discount depends entirely on one thing. The vehicle's SIV (stand in value). In other words what the vehicle is costing the dealer. As result some vehicles will only have a token amount that the dealer can offer as a discount.
This is especially true if the vehicle is a part exchange unit. If this is the case the dealer will often be looking to get his money back and has no margin to further reduce the asking price.
All you can do is ask for a discount but won't always get one.

 

[1090alex]

Cash is t always king.

Dealers can make commission on finance.

If you pay with part credit. You will have a little extra consumer protection

As a dealer that's one of the reasons why I wouldn’t take any payments by credit card. If there's a dispute down the line the card company in my experience tends to side with their customer.

 

[1090alex]

As a dealer that's one of the reasons why I wouldn’t take any payments by credit card. If there's a dispute down the line the card company in my experience tends to side with their customer.

The other reason for not taking credit cards as payment is the eye watering commission the merchant is charged.

 

[1090alex]

I have not got a clue where to start...... but, my only comparison is a house up the road from us went on the market a month ago..... they asked £600k...... were offered £475k and got it for £500k...... who is ripping off who ?????

Try that in Scotland! The asking price is usually "offers over" If this is the case any offer below the asking price won't even be passed on to the owner by the agent

 

[HMB68]

I'm interested in people's experiences of buying a used van from a dealer and the final price you paid (haggled to) compared to what it was advertised for.

As an example:
Sticker price £34900
Cash buyer, no trade in.
Nothing obviously wrong, good records, new MOT, dealer has loads of excellent reviews etc.

What might you hope to pay for it and what might your 'opening gambit' be?

I appreciate there are multiple variables in a hypothetical, what are people own experiences?

Thanks

Start at 15% settle for 10% and ask for them to fit stuff you need as equipment costs the dealer less than money off
You and they both know you can just walk away frpm the putchase

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[Rozzer]

As an ex owner/buyer of a business for 40 years…. My maxims for buying -
Everything’s negotiable
Make your offer and shut-up - first to speak loses.
Hope this helps, it did for me!

 

[The Wino]

Any discount depends entirely on one thing. The vehicle's SIV (stand in value). In other words what the vehicle is costing the dealer. As result some vehicles will only have a token amount that the dealer can offer as a discount.
This is especially true if the vehicle is a part exchange unit. If this is the case the dealer will often be looking to get his money back and has no margin to further reduce the asking price.
All you can do is ask for a discount but won't always get one.

Depends on the dealer. According to my retired dealer mate they often made a loss on an occasional vehicle to move it on and put something else in its place. As long as overall they made a good profit they accepted the occasional loss and of course the occasional really nice earner!

 

[activecampers]

Look at the price of skeletal chassis' from the likes of Stellantis, Ford & Mercedes then consider the coachbuild cost in terms of labour, materials & utilities then finally the retail cost. There's a reason why turnovers look healthy but profits are very, very slim.

Riiiiiight

I've been working at the NEC motorhome shows, and out comes the fiat price guide "you want the next engine, lets see, here you go thats £1000 and we'll pass that on. Alloys, err, £600 extra see it says here". etc etc

The list price of my base unconverted van, from Fiat, with all the options etc etc was £44500. Converted vans roughly same spec £65-70k. So not a lot in it for the converters.

Riiiiight.

I asked nicely and got 44.5% off the list price (and paid cash). So I'm sure pro converters can or did get similar discounts - yet the same brochure prices are left around.. My discount applied to all options, tyres, alloys, heated seats etc - so the makers make money on everything, fear not.

List price is for "show" and not what you really pay.

Pug I was offered 37% off the list price.


Anyway, everyone has to make money, so its really down to the van and what you think is worth rather than a set deal. If you aren't bothered and its not cheap enough, walk. But if you are like a dog on heat at the advertised price, its probably worth paying (if you've dyor you'll know if its the right price)

Both private van sales I have had, and my last car sale, I priced accurately, advertised accurately, and 2/3 paid the price without comment, and the 3rd we reduced by £x as we planned as there was some work needed an thats what it could be done for (upholstery). IMO if its fair its fair.

 

[Heebson]

Unfortunately, we bought (cash) coming out of COVID and the hottest market ever!

It was a couple of years old, but v low mileage.

The Dealer wouldn’t budge a penny - it was a seller’s market.

But I was armed with the most excellent buying guide on here - so I did manage to get an extra year’s service & warranty, plus cables, hoses, ramps, kitchenware & cleaning sets!

If I was buying now, I might ask them to change battery to lithium and/or add solar. But it is a buyers market now!

 

[Jonno1103]

Riiiiiight

I've been working at the NEC motorhome shows, and out comes the fiat price guide "you want the next engine, lets see, here you go thats £1000 and we'll pass that on. Alloys, err, £600 extra see it says here". etc etc

The list price of my base unconverted van, from Fiat, with all the options etc etc was £44500. Converted vans roughly same spec £65-70k. So not a lot in it for the converters.

Riiiiight.

I asked nicely and got 44.5% off the list price (and paid cash). So I'm sure pro converters can or did get similar discounts - yet the same brochure prices are left around.. My discount applied to all options, tyres, alloys, heated seats etc - so the makers make money on everything, fear not.

List price is for "show" and not what you really pay.

Pug I was offered 37% off the list price.


Anyway, everyone has to make money, so its really down to the van and what you think is worth rather than a set deal. If you aren't bothered and its not cheap enough, walk. But if you are like a dog on heat at the advertised price, its probably worth paying (if you've dyor you'll know if its the right price)

Both private van sales I have had, and my last car sale, I priced accurately, advertised accurately, and 2/3 paid the price without comment, and the 3rd we reduced by £x as we planned as there was some work needed an thats what it could be done for (upholstery). IMO if its fair its fair.

Did you add the VAT to base price on the price guide?

The Ford skeletal chassis used across all of the coachbuilders in Trend spec is £49k + VAT. £58,800.

 

[activecampers]

Did you add the VAT to base price on the price guide?

The Ford skeletal chassis used across all of the coachbuilders in Trend spec is £49k + VAT. £58,800.

Yes, that was including vat (a few years ago), but be surprised if a skeletal chassis be £49k+vat! The brochure price is bull and no idea why they do it, they will always be discounted.

Brand new converted skeletal chassis cabs with, say, tipper attachments (so extra bits on top of chassis) can be had from £32k+vat without trying! And the tipper attachment is worth a few grand at least! Transit panel vans +/- £30k+vat. Obvs spec pending.

This, brand new, is £32k for instance (not ford, but it was a quick search)

Point being, no one pays the brochure price., its only touted (IME) as a sales tactic....


I've bought 1x brand new campervan, zero discount lol
I've bought 2x brand new vans for cash at a main dealer, one was 30-40% off brochure price (can't recall but it was around that); and the last 44.5% off.
All the above were custom spec so all specific factory builds, not stock.

I've bought 1x brand new car (pre-reg) 32% off list (exact model/spec I wanted, stock obvs)

Vans also say "business only" but ask nicely and they don't really care - all down as private sales. The discounts were easily offered by being nice, and as they were what I expected/wanted I didn't negotiate (lol) - so its not like I won any awards for haggling. Hence no chance a bulk buyer pays list no matter what they tell you

 

[Jon Stewart]

Again with motorhomes there are other considerations. Heavier motorhomes, single & tag axle tend to hang around as the market place for them is diminishing year on year, this is possibly the weight class which offers the best deals for 2nd owners.

There's a small number (8-9) of new or nearly new Carthago Chic S-Plus have been sitting for a long time on Autotrader, now discounted.

Single axle motorhomes?

 

[Jon Stewart]

I would rather live in a nice big space than park in a town or village so that really didn't come into the selection process.

That's what your bikes or moped are for, or public transport for that matter.

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[Hettie's Crew]

I'm interested in people's experiences of buying a used van from a dealer and the final price you paid (haggled to) compared to what it was advertised for.

As an example:
Sticker price £34900
Cash buyer, no trade in.
Nothing obviously wrong, good records, new MOT, dealer has loads of excellent reviews etc.

What might you hope to pay for it and what might your 'opening gambit' be?

I appreciate there are multiple variables in a hypothetical, what are people own experiences?

Thanks

The thing is, you don’t know what they paid for it, or how much room there is for them to make a reasonable profit.
I know of two instances, one where I the dealer paid £12.5k cash for a motorhome and was asking £28K for it in the dealership and one where they allowed £40k px and were asking £53k for it. There will be many were the margins are much closer than those two examples but you should start off thinking they are looking for a good return but they also want a sale on the books, not a motorhome sat around getting less valuable.
I’d first look at as many examples as possible of the same or similar to get an idea of what they are selling at, not what they’re advertised at, stick to your offer a wait, letting them know you want it but can’t afford that much, I think you’d get it for around £32k.

 

[Jonno1103]

Yes, that was including vat (a few years ago), but be surprised if a skeletal chassis be £49k+vat! The brochure price is bull and no idea why they do it, they will always be discounted.

Brand new converted skeletal chassis cabs with, say, tipper attachments (so extra bits on top of chassis) can be had from £32k+vat without trying! And the tipper attachment is worth a few grand at least! Transit panel vans +/- £30k+vat. Obvs spec pending.

This, brand new, is £32k for instance (not ford, but it was a quick search)

View attachment 1190581

Point being, no one pays the brochure price., its only touted (IME) as a sales tactic....


I've bought 1x brand new campervan, zero discount lol
I've bought 2x brand new vans for cash at a main dealer, one was 30-40% off brochure price (can't recall but it was around that); and the last 44.5% off.
All the above were custom spec so all specific factory builds, not stock.

I've bought 1x brand new car (pre-reg) 32% off list (exact model/spec I wanted, stock obvs)

Vans also say "business only" but ask nicely and they don't really care - all down as private sales. The discounts were easily offered by being nice, and as they were what I expected/wanted I didn't negotiate (lol) - so its not like I won any awards for haggling. Hence no chance a bulk buyer pays list no matter what they tell you

Again though it's apples & oranges, who but budget builders use Citroen? They do it due to cost. A year old Transit panel van with the usual PVC spec will cost over £43k.
I used to source our Renault panel vans for conversion through Bristol Street Motors, yes we'd get the Renault Master Sport discounted but that was due to them being imported specifically to be motor caravans with production line tweaks - they couldn't be sold as panel vans. At the time we paid £27k for a £34k van. Myriad would then charge us upto £15k depending on customer spec for everything on the habitation side... there's then the 8 week labour costs in turning it around & type approval. These are figures from 10 - 15 years ago.

 

[Tony50]

Hi, my first post as new to the forum. I'm currently looking to buy a Carthago as a cash buyer. I know what I'm after and low and behold the "one" seems to be overpriced at 68k, more expensive models ( by 10k) from the same year and manufacturer available at 65k. Its been listed since January 2025 according to Tigger Tims Post about auto traders listing numbers. Part of the issue is it being 200miles away, its a long way to go to negotiate and get turned down. Listing for over a year seems nuts to me and suggests it is too much.

It's also costly to run backwards and forwards for warranty work, I know as I have ran 300 miles round trip and what about if they can't fix it first time around or second time around it does happen.?