Selling our caravan advice
Discussion
Hi all,
Due to a change in our lifestyle we are giving up the caravan lifestyle after 15 years, and we are wanting to sell our latest caravan.
Spoke to the local supplying dealer and they are only taking px so I have contacted a few other local dealers and am waiting to hear back.
I have also contacted a few we buy any caravan type places and gain am waiting for a call.
Really don’t want to autotrader it as it is in storage and I can’t be bothered with tyre kickers, or worse.
Any other suggestions on best ways to sell.
Due to a change in our lifestyle we are giving up the caravan lifestyle after 15 years, and we are wanting to sell our latest caravan.
Spoke to the local supplying dealer and they are only taking px so I have contacted a few other local dealers and am waiting to hear back.
I have also contacted a few we buy any caravan type places and gain am waiting for a call.
Really don’t want to autotrader it as it is in storage and I can’t be bothered with tyre kickers, or worse.
Any other suggestions on best ways to sell.
Trevor555 said:
I've heard so many horror stories from people selling caravans.
From having them stolen days after a viewing, to buyers spraying water inside a cupboard to then claim their little moisture tester is pointing out damp.
Stick to selling to a dealer would be my advice.
I would imagine that selling at this time of year would achieve a good price. From having them stolen days after a viewing, to buyers spraying water inside a cupboard to then claim their little moisture tester is pointing out damp.
Stick to selling to a dealer would be my advice.
I wouldn’t be put off by an Autotrader Advert. It’s just a case of filtering the enquiries, which isn’t difficult.
I’ve sold many cars (and 1 caravan) through AT and met some lovely people.
Rob 131 Sport said:
Trevor555 said:
I've heard so many horror stories from people selling caravans.
From having them stolen days after a viewing, to buyers spraying water inside a cupboard to then claim their little moisture tester is pointing out damp.
Stick to selling to a dealer would be my advice.
I would imagine that selling at this time of year would achieve a good price. From having them stolen days after a viewing, to buyers spraying water inside a cupboard to then claim their little moisture tester is pointing out damp.
Stick to selling to a dealer would be my advice.
I wouldn t be put off by an Autotrader Advert. It s just a case of filtering the enquiries, which isn t difficult.
I ve sold many cars (and 1 caravan) through AT and met some lovely people.
I've sold hundreds of camper vans, and spoken to some of those customers about their woes of disposing of their caravan beforehand.
Some were quite scary.
Much like selling a car really, only with added nomadic caravan enthusiasts who like lucky white heather.
If you do sell privately, be wary of people offering deposits upfront, 2-man teams distracting you constantly, anyone trying to pay with cash, and for the modern version of that, people waving a phone in your face insisting that they've paid and you have to let them take it now.
Don't negotiate a price before the buyer has viewed it and is stood in front of you.
Your first step might be to get some offers, compare to what they sell for privately, and decide if you can be bothered.
If you do sell privately, be wary of people offering deposits upfront, 2-man teams distracting you constantly, anyone trying to pay with cash, and for the modern version of that, people waving a phone in your face insisting that they've paid and you have to let them take it now.
Don't negotiate a price before the buyer has viewed it and is stood in front of you.
Your first step might be to get some offers, compare to what they sell for privately, and decide if you can be bothered.
Johnnybee said:
Definitely sell privately. I sold our motorhome on FB marketplace, we had a couple of viewers who were obviously just having a day out but it's easy to pick out serious buyers.
My sister sold our parents caravan on FB Marketplace (with their agreement!) - it sold within a few days for cash and no stress involved.Spend a few weekends at some big caravan sites around the country and put a big banner up in front of the caravan with "FOR SALE" on it.
Easter weekend at the site i used to work on would get several thousand people staying, so that's several thousand potential customers who are already interested in caravans. Do that for two or three weekends and you've got a potential audience of 5,000 caravanners. And you get a weekend away.
Easter weekend at the site i used to work on would get several thousand people staying, so that's several thousand potential customers who are already interested in caravans. Do that for two or three weekends and you've got a potential audience of 5,000 caravanners. And you get a weekend away.
I'm happy to be proved wrong, but I feel that the number of people who are happy to buy any caravan for north of £20k from a private seller in whatever your locality is is probably pretty small. Then you need to find someone who wants your particular van.
You also mention not wanting to deal with tyre kickers and it being in storage, how are you going to handle that? Last time we used a storage facility they specifically excluded selling your van from there because it invites members of a certain community who are keen on caravans to get a behind closed doors look at on-site security. It was strictly collection and return only, no hanging about.
Good luck, but I fear dealer trade sale price is the best you will get here.
You also mention not wanting to deal with tyre kickers and it being in storage, how are you going to handle that? Last time we used a storage facility they specifically excluded selling your van from there because it invites members of a certain community who are keen on caravans to get a behind closed doors look at on-site security. It was strictly collection and return only, no hanging about.
Good luck, but I fear dealer trade sale price is the best you will get here.
Shooter McGavin said:
I'm happy to be proved wrong, but I feel that the number of people who are happy to buy any caravan for north of £20k from a private seller in whatever your locality is is probably pretty small. Then you need to find someone who wants your particular van.
You also mention not wanting to deal with tyre kickers and it being in storage, how are you going to handle that? Last time we used a storage facility they specifically excluded selling your van from there because it invites members of a certain community who are keen on caravans to get a behind closed doors look at on-site security. It was strictly collection and return only, no hanging about.
Good luck, but I fear dealer trade sale price is the best you will get here.
I completely agree with your thoughts about it needing to go to a dealer. I doubt many are going to be happy parting with 25-28k on a private sale.You also mention not wanting to deal with tyre kickers and it being in storage, how are you going to handle that? Last time we used a storage facility they specifically excluded selling your van from there because it invites members of a certain community who are keen on caravans to get a behind closed doors look at on-site security. It was strictly collection and return only, no hanging about.
Good luck, but I fear dealer trade sale price is the best you will get here.
With regards to storage, it’s no problem, our drive is big enough for the caravan and the cars so I could bring it back and line up potential viewings over a period of a week with no dramas. It just goes to storage to give us the extra room and for the added security benefits.
Sixpackpert said:
I completely agree with your thoughts about it needing to go to a dealer. I doubt many are going to be happy parting with 25-28k on a private sale.
With regards to storage, it s no problem, our drive is big enough for the caravan and the cars so I could bring it back and line up potential viewings over a period of a week with no dramas. It just goes to storage to give us the extra room and for the added security benefits.
Check your insurance policy.With regards to storage, it s no problem, our drive is big enough for the caravan and the cars so I could bring it back and line up potential viewings over a period of a week with no dramas. It just goes to storage to give us the extra room and for the added security benefits.
Where have you told them the caravan is stored overnight?
The storage park?
Or your home address?
Hopefully both covered.
Trevor555 said:
Sixpackpert said:
I completely agree with your thoughts about it needing to go to a dealer. I doubt many are going to be happy parting with 25-28k on a private sale.
With regards to storage, it s no problem, our drive is big enough for the caravan and the cars so I could bring it back and line up potential viewings over a period of a week with no dramas. It just goes to storage to give us the extra room and for the added security benefits.
Check your insurance policy.With regards to storage, it s no problem, our drive is big enough for the caravan and the cars so I could bring it back and line up potential viewings over a period of a week with no dramas. It just goes to storage to give us the extra room and for the added security benefits.
Where have you told them the caravan is stored overnight?
The storage park?
Or your home address?
Hopefully both covered.
I will spend the weekend calling some dealers and see where we go from there!
Sixpackpert said:
trade in value is 25k. Trade price from a we buy your caravan type place is 22k.
What do they sell for, privately and trade? There is probably a deal to be done somewhere, depending what you want to buy.As someone else mentioned, not many people these days will take the risk of a £25k+ private purchase, and not many people have that amount in ready money, most are trading-in, financing, or both.
shtu said:
Sixpackpert said:
trade in value is 25k. Trade price from a we buy your caravan type place is 22k.
What do they sell for, privately and trade? There is probably a deal to be done somewhere, depending what you want to buy.As someone else mentioned, not many people these days will take the risk of a £25k+ private purchase, and not many people have that amount in ready money, most are trading-in, financing, or both.
shtu said:
Sixpackpert said:
We are not buying anything else as mentioned in my OP. We simply want to sell it!
Sorry, missed that.In which case, decide if the private/trade difference is worth it to you.
Just trying to find a dealer to take it is proving quite hard. I am guessing they have new stocks in for the season that they want to sell via px so they have no interest in just buying a van. Gone are the days where they were screaming out for them due to demand!
Recently sold an expensive 2023 Coachman privately on behalf of my parents.
Like you I approached dealers and WBAC places and maxed out at £24k whilst a dealer would market it for ~£32k. I tentatively advertised it on a couple of Facebook groups and actually sold it to a lovely family who wanted the exact model.
Very painless and we got £28.5k for it. I think we were quite lucky but it can be achieved.
Like you I approached dealers and WBAC places and maxed out at £24k whilst a dealer would market it for ~£32k. I tentatively advertised it on a couple of Facebook groups and actually sold it to a lovely family who wanted the exact model.
Very painless and we got £28.5k for it. I think we were quite lucky but it can be achieved.
Not really any help op, but my caravan has a spot of damp, we paid £30k for it 7 years ago and have had it from new.
I went back to the supplying dealer this week to see if they’d seen this issue before, thought it was worth an ask.
No customers, plenty of new and used stock, two sales guys twiddling their thumbs, one of them I remember was the guy that sold ours to us.
They couldn’t have been less interested, shrugged shoulders at why there was a wet spot, didn’t ask if we were enjoying caravan life, didn’t go down the route of ‘yours is probably a right-off, but we’d p/x it against something new’.
I then popped down the road to another dealer, this is a Motorhome dealer, but apparently these guys can do damp repairs.
Again, ‘sales’ guy could barely be bothered to look up, not in the slightest interested to assist or enquire as to whether I’d be interested in looking at any of their stock, basically ‘f
k off I’m busy’ attitude.
I was in my 2025 Bentayga, so not exactly a tyre kicker, it’s almost like I’d have to beg them to sell me something.
If these lazy fks can’t be bothered to look up from their newspaper then good luck trying to sell yours to a dealer.
No wonder the caravan industry is on its arse.
Back on topic, I’d take the hit and sell to WBAC, I wouldn’t want white Transit driving tyre kickers at my house or at my storage.
I went back to the supplying dealer this week to see if they’d seen this issue before, thought it was worth an ask.
No customers, plenty of new and used stock, two sales guys twiddling their thumbs, one of them I remember was the guy that sold ours to us.
They couldn’t have been less interested, shrugged shoulders at why there was a wet spot, didn’t ask if we were enjoying caravan life, didn’t go down the route of ‘yours is probably a right-off, but we’d p/x it against something new’.
I then popped down the road to another dealer, this is a Motorhome dealer, but apparently these guys can do damp repairs.
Again, ‘sales’ guy could barely be bothered to look up, not in the slightest interested to assist or enquire as to whether I’d be interested in looking at any of their stock, basically ‘f
k off I’m busy’ attitude.I was in my 2025 Bentayga, so not exactly a tyre kicker, it’s almost like I’d have to beg them to sell me something.
If these lazy f
ks can’t be bothered to look up from their newspaper then good luck trying to sell yours to a dealer.No wonder the caravan industry is on its arse.
Back on topic, I’d take the hit and sell to WBAC, I wouldn’t want white Transit driving tyre kickers at my house or at my storage.
We went through this about two years ago.
I contacted a number of dealers and only one agreed to come out. The caravan was based 100 miles from home. The day before the agreed handover I stayed in a hotel the night before emptied the caravan and cleaned it.. An hour before the dealer was due to arrive he cancelled and refused to rearrange. I was furious.
I advertised it privately it’s sold within two days for 2K more than the dealer was going to pay and the private buyer bought every single extra we had with the caravan at an additional cost. They were very happy and we were very happy.
My recommendation is to advertise privately on Autotrader worst case scenario use a dealer if it fails to sell.
I contacted a number of dealers and only one agreed to come out. The caravan was based 100 miles from home. The day before the agreed handover I stayed in a hotel the night before emptied the caravan and cleaned it.. An hour before the dealer was due to arrive he cancelled and refused to rearrange. I was furious.
I advertised it privately it’s sold within two days for 2K more than the dealer was going to pay and the private buyer bought every single extra we had with the caravan at an additional cost. They were very happy and we were very happy.
My recommendation is to advertise privately on Autotrader worst case scenario use a dealer if it fails to sell.
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