Warranty on second hand van from dealer.. ?

[scotjimland]

What would you consider an acceptable warranty period on a second hand van from a dealer costing over £25k ?

I have inquired about a van from a dealer advertising on Autotrader and I asked about warranty and they only offer three months parts and labour mechanical warranty ..

reply

Our general warranty is provided by ourselves and covers all major failures to include; Engine, Gearbox, Suspension and Brake System etc for a 3 month period.

I appreciate that warranties cost money which is reflected in the price but that is why we buy from dealers in the first place rather than private.. .. peace of mind..

I replied that I wouldn't consider purchasing with only three months warranty..

It would be out of warranty before I hit France this summer.. what would you accept or expect ?

 

[hilldweller]

You should know by now that warranties aren't worth a whole lot in the real world. Just an insurance policy with loads of escape clauses.

It might just be a genuine 3 months at the dealer's expense and no quibbles.

And pigs might fly.

 

[JeanLuc]

Ours was a bit more expensive than you are indicating and that was 8 years ago when the van was 4 years old. We got a one-year warranty from the dealer (insurance based obviously - with an option to extend it thereafter at our cost).

 

[paulmold]

I bought the Nuevo from a main dealer who offered 3 months no quibble warranty of his own and because of the time of year and his expectation of us using it little over the winter he extended it to 6 months. We only had one warranty issue which he sorted brilliantly.

 

[scotjimland]

Insurance based not interested.

I also inquired from Becks Motorhomes in Gt Yarmouth .. , they give 12 months on vehicles over £20k, their own warranty, not an insurance backed one.

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[DavidG58]

IMO if a warranty is important to you I would take out one personally, I think if you go for an RAC type inspection that gives you an option to buy a warranty, but the whole package will cost a lot

I ran an expensive Audi a few years ago, when the 3 year manufacturers warranty ran out Audi wanted £800 for the 4th year, which I paid but sold the car before it was due next

 

[Lenny HB]

I would have thought a 3 month one the dealers is supporting himself is probably a better bet than a one year insurance backed one with all the get out clauses.

Better still buy privately save a few grand and if anything goes wrong you have the money in your pocket to pay for it.

 

[Badknee]

We got six months on ours and it has been back twice, first visit was for quite a few jobs all done to my satisfaction thank you Stuart Longtons and the second time when the brand new habitation door lock/catch failed which was a manufacturing fault not there's

 

[scotjimland]

Better still buy privately save a few grand and if anything goes wrong you have the money in your pocket to pay for it.

yes, I tend to agree..

the hard bit is finding the right van .. be it private or dealer.. no qualms about buying private.. but if it is a dealer I want a decent warranty.

 

[DavidG58]

I think the hardest bit these days with private sales is paying for it

Applies to selling or buying, you daren't take a cheque, a bankers draft could be dodgy, notes could be forged

Then as buyer are you happy to transfer many £ooo's the day before collecting from a private seller and if selling are you happy to let him do it when he arrives to pick it up, I am convinced there is a system where you could ring your bank half an hour after a transfer and get it reversed, or am I just paranoid

edit - sorry Jim gone a bit off topic

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[Techno]

I bought both vans privately without warranty. If I bought from a dealer it would have to be local as the time and expense of travelling for a fix is just not worth the hassle. If the engine is average mileage and runs ok and is priced correctly or cheaper that's enough for me. Most vans are over serviced by their previous owners anyway and any service book looks like a joke most often compared to mileage done. I would spend all day examining it and be sure everything is working.
EDIT that way if you find faults you are in a better position to knock the price down legitimately to cover the cost of rectifying

 

[scotjimland]

I think the hardest bit these days with private sales is paying for it

Applies to selling or buying, you daren't take a cheque, a bankers draft could be dodgy, notes could be forged

Then as buyer are you happy to transfer many £ooo's the day before collecting from a private seller and if selling are you happy to let him do it when he arrives to pick it up, I am convinced there is a system where you could ring your bank half an hour after a transfer and get it reversed, or am I just paranoid

edit - sorry Jim gone a bit off topic

no apology needed.. it's a chat about buying second hand vans, and anything connected with it.. not just the warranty

your point is very valid.. I hadn't given that much thought.. been concentrating on dealers..

so what is the best way to pay privately ?

 

[scotjimland]

If I bought from a dealer it would have to be local as the time and expense of travelling for a fix is just not worth the hassle.

good point.. no use buying from a dealer hundreds of miles away..

hence my inquiry to Becks.. they are about 40 miles away, and get a good reviews from several funsters .. but if I saw the right van at the right price privately would go for a look..

 

[Techno]

It depends how much money is involved, I believe 10k is the max for instant transfer without pre authorisation and sometimes a FEE is charged for larger amounts
Check with your own bank for options

 

[DavidG58]

so what is the best way to pay privately ?

I really don't know, sold our last one privately and told buyer I needed money in my bank on day before collection, he did, so all OK.

If I was buying not so sure I would be so trusting, even though I would have seen it at their address, there is always a con waiting out there somewhere

Similarly with a dealer, they will want money up front, you might get away with debit card payment on collection, but if prepaid is the dealer going to be as bothered with sorting things found on the day if he already has his money?

There must be an answer, but any system is going to favour one side more than the other

very best of luck with your search though

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[Techno]

Cash transfer with a banking app is generally instant with the exception of Santander! My son bought his car from a Scottish lad who banked with them and it took over 2 hours to show in his account. However he was trusting so there was no delay in leaving.
Nat West & Barclays both work well from my own experiences

 

[Lenny HB]

Cash transfer with a banking app is generally instant with the exception of Santander! My son bought his car from a Scottish lad who banked with them and it took over 2 hours to show in his account. However he was trusting so there was no delay in leaving.
Nat West & Barclays both work well from my own experiences

The girl who brought my last van transferred 35k using her phone for her Santander account,it was in my Nationwide account in seconds, when I've just transferred a few hundred on-line with my Santander account some times instant sometimes takes a couple of hours depends which bank it's going to.

 

[Techno]

Perhaps it is just slow going in Lenny, The guy said it was normal for him with santander, probably why he was happy for us to leave. My son showed him the completed transfer on his phone though.

 

[Lenny HB]

It depends how much money is involved, I believe 10k is the max for instant transfer without pre authorisation and sometimes a FEE is charged for larger amounts
Check with your own bank for options

Santander can be done over 10k no problem or cost, Nationwide you can send multiples of 10k that's how I sent the money to exchange brokers when paying for my van did it in 6 transactions all done within minutes.

 

[Techno]

For me Nat West limited me to 10k per day

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[Judge Mental]

A warrenty on a circa ten year old van is a bit of a stretch..what are you going to be paying for that do you think! whether its hidden in the deal or purchased separately.

I always buy new or nearly new. But then I would never buy from a UK dealer. I would buy privately here, simply, carry out my own due dillengence, weigh bridge ticket, damp test , DEKRA inspection (extremely thorough in my experience) whatever it takes, I make my own peace of mind..... and live with the consequences..Safe in the knowledge that I've saved money and bought a better van hopefully

 

[Scout]

motorhome inspections, just in case

Ive used these people in the past

.

not cheap, but they do do it all, and back up their findings with a writern report.

 

[MitchandJenny]

Jim, have you had a look in Simpsons in Gt Yarmouth ??
We bought our (new) van there from the salesman called 'Brinley' Crick.. excellent service,
good P/X rate and good back-up to any warranty issues..
To save you a trip here's his phone No 01493 601696. And NO, i'm NOT on
commission !! Just thought you could ask him over the phone what he could do !!
Good luck with whatever you decide to do..
Mitch.

 

[scotjimland]

Jim, have you had a look in Simpsons in Gt Yarmouth ??

yes, on my list of local dealers .. will be visiting both them and Becks

thanks Mitch

 

[maison]

Coming back to motorhomes after a break using caravans we bought our current M/H from a dealer. It was 6 years old at the time and came with a three month dealer's warranty, extended to 12 months on an insurance warranty.

Had two claims within the first three months, one small and one large. Both fixed immediately with no hassle and no cost. We did not need to make a claim on the insurance warranty as we had no further faults in the following 9 months, so can't comment on how good insurance based warranties are.

With my fingers crossed I would say always hold out for a twelve month warranty, even if insurance based. It should be better than nothing.

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[Judge Mental]

Jim, have you had a look in Simpsons in Gt Yarmouth ??
We bought our (new) van there from the salesman called 'Brinley' Crick.. excellent service,
good P/X rate and good back-up to any warranty issues..
To save you a trip here's his phone No 01493 601696. And NO, i'm NOT on
commission !! Just thought you could ask him over the phone what he could do !!
Good luck with whatever you decide to do..
Mitch.

thats a lot of money though..need to get rid of middle man and employ the engineer directly, they are all self employed anyway.

I got a thorough Dekra inspection in Germany, as that's all I needed as had a year manufacturers warranty anyway. Just peace of mind..it only cost £100

 

[deleted-member02]

Jim, have you had a look in Simpsons in Gt Yarmouth ??
We bought our (new) van there from the salesman called 'Brinley' Crick.. excellent service,
good P/X rate and good back-up to any warranty issues..
To save you a trip here's his phone No 01493 601696. And NO, i'm NOT on
commission !! Just thought you could ask him over the phone what he could do !!
Good luck with whatever you decide to do..
Mitch.

I also bought from Simpsons, salesman was Brinley's colleague Steve Seawell, we had the warranty extended to a year foc as part of the negotiations, although it is insurance backed.

Personally, I would rather of bought privately and kept any savings (few thou ?) for unexpected problems. Once you've owned a van, should really have an idea of what to look out for.
But when you have a very short list of suitable vans, you have to be flexible and willing to travel.

It's an almighty trek from Bristol to Great Yarmouth but was necessary to get 'the right one'.
Fortunately, the van was very low mileage and met my high expectations.
Since we travelled so far, we spent four hours inspecting the van before entering negotiations.
Must have been the right van though, agreed the deal before even test driving, something I would never normally do....