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Depreciation.... gulp


arthur49

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Shockaroonie!

Looking to trade in our van for a panel van as we want to downsize. Van new July 2009 in great nick. We paid £45000 - £46000 for it but we must have added £2000 of extras to it since then eg solar panel, cruise, awning etc.

Imagine our horror to be offered between £27000 and £30000 for it against a new panel van in the £43000 region, by three different dealers. I know you take a big hit in the first year or so, and we could probably negotiate down the price of a new van but that depreciation seems steep.

Is it me? Am I just a tight git? 8-)

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No it's not you.

 

Sell the van privately. Pain in the backside? It can be but you'll get more for it and you'll (more than likely) be able to negotiate some discount off the new van.

 

Perhaps you're not too confident about selling private, well I politely suggest getting some help from this Forum on the subject and/or engaging a friend or colleague who is familiar with the process.

 

We're currently considering changing our car, just out of idle curiosity I asked a dealer for a part ex price and he offered barely half of it's private (realistic) sale price. I then asked him for a price of the new car without part exchange and he offered 2.5% off, without me haggling either.

 

As for the extras, forget 'em, right 'em off. They're extra to you - not the next owner. They're probably very useful extras, but it won't mean a thing at trade in time. However they will be attractive to a private buyer. It's perverse but that's how it is.

 

That's the reason we didn't load our van up with "goodies". Other than a bike rack.

 

Martyn

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That does seem a bit of a hit Arthur!..can I ask,were the dealers all from the same area?..if they were,it would be worth just asking the question a bit further a field...

 

When we traded our previous van in,we ended up getting £4000 more from Highbridge (against a less expensive,secondhand van),than we were offered by our local(ish) dealer,against a dearer,brand new vehicle...

(..maybe Highbridge had a buyer in mind..)

 

Although,as Martyn says you will get a better price selling privately...

 

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Thanks Martyn. Sold cars privately in the past. Its the delay and extra hassle of a private sale but since my initial post original supplying dealer (who offered £29500) has come back to say a private sale should get me £35000 comfortably, and £38000 on a good day, so private sale its going to be

Arthur

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pepe63 - 2011-01-31 5:22 PM

 

That does seem a bit of a hit Arthur!..can I ask,were the dealers all from the same area?..if they were,it would be worth just asking the question a bit further a field...

 

 

One dealer in NE England, other two in Scotland.

Arthur

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arthur49 - 2011-01-31 5:25 PM

 

Thanks Martyn. Sold cars privately in the past. Its the delay and extra hassle of a private sale but since my initial post original supplying dealer (who offered £29500) has come back to say a private sale should get me £35000 comfortably, and £38000 on a good day, so private sale its going to be

Arthur

 

Hi

 

i would be wary of arranging a private sale through a dealer. If its on sale on dealers forecourt and he goies into liquidation you could have big problems

 

Better to do a private sale yourself.

 

Peter

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Peter, I think that's what Arthur meant, selling private as opposed to giving it a dealer to flog on his behalf.

 

Just a thought Arthur, if it's convienient for you, be as bold as brass and park your newly polished van as near as possible to the dealers, and stick 2 nice big FOR SALE signs in.

 

What have you got to lose? Good luck though whatever you choose to do.

 

Martyn

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LordThornber - 2011-01-31 6:33 PM

 

Peter, I think that's what Arthur meant, selling private as opposed to giving it a dealer to flog on his behalf.

 

Just a thought Arthur, if it's convienient for you, be as bold as brass and park your newly polished van as near as possible to the dealers, and stick 2 nice big FOR SALE signs in.

 

What have you got to lose? Good luck though whatever you choose to do.

 

Martyn

 

Saw that done once when a dealer left a car outside another dealer. When he came back next day car had all glass smashed, so not the brightest of ideas.

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sshortcircuit - 2011-01-31 6:51 PM

 

LordThornber - 2011-01-31 6:33 PM

 

Peter, I think that's what Arthur meant, selling private as opposed to giving it a dealer to flog on his behalf.

 

Just a thought Arthur, if it's convienient for you, be as bold as brass and park your newly polished van as near as possible to the dealers, and stick 2 nice big FOR SALE signs in.

 

What have you got to lose? Good luck though whatever you choose to do.

 

Martyn

 

Saw that done once when a dealer left a car outside another dealer. When he came back next day car had all glass smashed, so not the brightest of ideas.

 

Arthur isn't a dealer.

 

Martyn

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We bought an Autocruise Startrail in April 09 and sold it in Jan 10 the cost when bought was £45k..when we sold it we took a massive hit of13k we only got £32k for it..and I know the dealers sold it for 40k as I was contacted by the new owner and asked on various aspects of it mind you he did grt various things fitted for the sale deal!!

 

All the dealers I contacted all offered the same price...Is it a Cartel or what!!

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sshortcircuit - 2011-01-31 7:16 PM

 

Would not make any odds Martyn, he would be trying to free-load of a legitimate business.

 

Well free loading from someone who was (had) offering me goodness knows how much less for a vehicle than it was worth wouldn't keep me awake Hamish, but I guess we'll have to agree to disagree :-D

 

Back to the trade in caper, a lot depends on how "fashionable" the van is in my opinion. Take our 1st new van, in 2000 we paid £21750, traded it in, in 2003 and received £21000 for it.

 

Why? Because at the time high top PVC's were hot money and we got the kickback from it. It wasn't, on that occasion worth selling private the deal was that good. We missed out on a possible discount for trading in but we were happy enough.

 

Martyn

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arthur49 - 2011-01-31 5:25 PM

 

Thanks Martyn. Sold cars privately in the past. Its the delay and extra hassle of a private sale but since my initial post original supplying dealer (who offered £29500) has come back to say a private sale should get me £35000 comfortably, and £38000 on a good day, so private sale its going to be

Arthur

Just on a personal note. I would not buy a 2 year old van from a kerbside seller! Not saying you or the van is dodgy, I would just like some form of security, not to mention some warranty from a dealer, if only 3 months.

Good Luck

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DJP - 2011-01-31 8:04 PM

 

arthur49 - 2011-01-31 5:25 PM

 

Thanks Martyn. Sold cars privately in the past. Its the delay and extra hassle of a private sale but since my initial post original supplying dealer (who offered £29500) has come back to say a private sale should get me £35000 comfortably, and £38000 on a good day, so private sale its going to be

Arthur

Just on a personal note. I would not buy a 2 year old van from a kerbside seller! Not saying you or the van is dodgy, I would just like some form of security, not to mention some warranty from a dealer, if only 3 months.

Good Luck

 

I fully understand your points. In the case of the warranties both the base and habitation warranties are transferrable, the latter however for a fee of £100..... but thats a reasonable price for peace of mind especially re water ingress

Arthur

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When selling 2 of my vans I had a vinyl sign made by a signwriter to stick to one of the van windows. First van sold at a MH show. I put home & mobile numbers on the sign and got calls from people driving behind me and I would pull in at the next layby for them to have a look.

 

Second didn't sell and was eventually sold at a MH auction. The auctioneers reckoned it would fetch £8,000. It sold for £8,000 to a private buyer after several traders dropped out of the bidding.

 

Both vans were LHD and it was amazing how many men who looked at the van told me they would have bought it but their wives wouldn't drive LHD *-)

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smifee - 2011-01-31 11:06 PM

 

When selling 2 of my vans I had a vinyl sign made by a signwriter to stick to one of the van windows. First van sold at a MH show. I put home & mobile numbers on the sign and got calls from people driving behind me and I would pull in at the next layby for them to have a look.

 

Second didn't sell and was eventually sold at a MH auction. The auctioneers reckoned it would fetch £8,000. It sold for £8,000 to a private buyer after several traders dropped out of the bidding.

 

Both vans were LHD and it was amazing how many men who looked at the van told me they would have bought it but their wives wouldn't drive LHD *-)

 

I would be extremely cautious about this approach. There have been plenty of people selling cars that have been knocked about and the vehicle nicked doing this and selling on Auto-Trader. Be careful.

 

The other point that I would make is that depreciation can be minimised by buying a second hand vehicle; at least you would have the opportunity to test drive it and make sure that everything works and that it reverses up hills etc. This is something you struggle to do with a new one, some 6 months after you order it and pay a sizeable deposit!

 

Buying new is a lovely concept but only really for those with too much money or those that need something so incredibly bespoke that you will not find one like it anywhere.

 

Nick

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I don't think you can generalise about motorhome depreciation, save to say it is usually less than for cars.  You always lose heavily the moment a vehicle is registered and driven.  The rate of depreciation falls with time, as for cars but, as with cars, the newer the van, the heavier the rate.  If imported, what you get when you sell will be depend in part on what similar new vans are presently selling for, which will be heavily influenced by exchange rates.

Dealers want to shift their new stock, so won't undercut the new prices too heavily - unless they just want to shift the odd stubborn van.  If the dealer thinks your van an attractive proposition, in terms of make and layout, you'll get more than for a less well known make with an unpopular layout.  You'll get a better price against a new van than against a used van.  You'll get a better price when the market is buoyant, than when it is stagnant: static stock costs money.

So, if you bought an import when the pound was high, and sell it when the pound is low, and you have a popular make and layout, and you sell/trade into a buoyant, sellers' market, you will be agreeably pleased.  Reverse all those factors, and you'll be horrified.

Somehow, I think the OP may in part be suffering the reverse effect!  However, when he sells the one he is considering buying now, he may find the market has reversed and the average over the two vans isn't that bad after all.  Who knows?  The only way to avoid depreciation is not to buy vans!  Sorry!  :-)

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Guest pelmetman
BGD - 2011-02-01 4:30 PM

 

Actually, the only way to avoid depreciation is not to SELL your van. Ever

 

Thats my approach :D

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We were told a couple of years ago by a dealer when we were toying with selling our then Rimor (just over a year old) that we would be offered the same value then as we would when it was 3 years old ... he was right!

 

You can't stop depreciation, but you can reduce how much you lose by how you sell it and when.

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