When a customer mentions they have just bought their caravan or motorhome the first question I will generally ask is whether it was bought from a private seller or a dealer.
Buying from a dealer brings its advantages. First of all you will have some protection – this will either be in the form of a warranty or – crucially – if it is a business you will have consumer rights protection. If you have bought the van on a credit or debit card – or on finance – you will also have protection from the bank or card company.
Based on my own experience, and seeing pitfalls my customers have fallen into there are some key points to make sure you follow before and after your purchase
First of all – common practice is for dealers to offer a limited time on their warranty. The assumption is that you will not find any of the ‘hidden’ faults that come from getting the van serviced or hab checked within this period. Unless you get the van serviced within the warranty period any horrors of the service report such as worn brakes will show themselves after the warranty has run out
A service is not always a service. I often get told by the customer that their van came with a service. Sometimes this is true and sometimes it is not !! I had one bought van from a main blue chip dealer (I won’t name them) that was serviced before it was sold. The van was full of damp, rotten and had shot wheel bearings. I asked the service manager how this could be and he told me their pre purchase service did not include checking the brakes or doing a damp check !! So – if you are told it has been serviced ASK FOR THE SERVICE REPORT. What have they checked and what have they not checked?If you are told a car has an MOT you would want to see it before driving off !!
Check the warranty. What does it include. A warranty that excludes any water ingress coming from expired seals is pretty useless to protect you from damp. If it excludes wear and tear as well ask yourself what is actually covered.
Pick your seller – or at least know who you are dealing with. There are some really good dealers out there that will stand behind their van and put things right. There are some bad sellers that will disappear once you have driven your van off the forecourt.
Don’t be afraid to try everything out for yourself. Be inquisitive. Get yourself a notepad and write down a check list. Ask if you can have a couple of hours on the forecourt with the van plugged in. Run the heating, light the fridge on gas. Check all the blinds. Have a look underneath. Is the floor solid? What age are the tyres? It will be much easier to get any niggles sorted before you’ve paid all the money or driven off. It will also be easier for you if you can save a return trip especially if the dealer is some way away
If you’ve any doubts don’t be afraid to get an independent check. There are plenty of companies that will carry out pre-purchase inspections for you. These can range from a damp report (we charge £65) to a full pre prurchase inspection (we charge £199) Quite often the costs of these are more than recovered either by your peace of mind or getting some free repairs done by the seller
But above all, enjoy the peace of mind that will come from having some legal protection on top of the satisfaction that you have carried out your own checks !!!