New van target price

[splatercash]

My wife and I are looking to buy our first static caravan and are trying to get to grips with what we should expect to pay.

The van would be on our own land in the Highlands and so there are no site/park fees to pay. The manufacturer does not sell to the public and only sells through their dealers.

The caravan we want is just under £22,000 ex works on the manufacturer website. That is the price including vat but it obviously is not a price joe public can buy the van for, because you must purchase through the dealers.

Logically, you would expect that the true price of the van would be more than that given that a dealer has to take a cut and factor in the price of collecting the van from Hull and delivering it to the Scottish Highlands.

However, I also believe that the dealer will pay nothing near £22,000 to buy the van from the manufacturer. What I cannot get much of a feel for is what he would pay and therefore how much I can expect to knock him down.

At the recent caravan show at the SECC we got talking to another manufacturer who was willing to sell a £20,500 van for £17,000 direct. That was the price he gave us when we simply asked, "what would you do it for". No arm twisting, no pressure, not even much interest....

So, I guess my question is this: On a van that is listed at £22,000 ex works....what would be your target price when negotiating with the dealer? I have talked to one dealer who made noise in and around the £25,000 mark which, frankly, I do not think we can justify. However, I do not want to look like a tool trying to knock him down for £25,000 if there is in fact no way he could move on this!

[emmell]

Have you tried the manufacturers who sell direct to the public. There is a company called Hulse Ross who manufacture bespoke caravans.
I have seen their vans, very nice. You can pick your own upholstery, kitchen units, bedroom units, your own internal layout and whether you want fixed furniture or not.
We couldn't go with them in the end as we had a part exchange van and they don't do part exchange but you could give them a try, they have a website, just google
Hulse Ross.
ML.

[Skegness Caravan Sales]

Hi splattercash, which caravan is it you wish to purchase. When we sell caravans we have to gear it all up for commissions to parks as well as all checks,and full gas set up,connections and transport to sites. It would be cheaper to you because we wouldnt have any of this to include in that price,(esentially we would sell it to you as if it were a trade sale)Please private message me if you need more information.
regards
Skegness Caravan Sales Ltd.

[splatercash]

The caravan in question is a Swift Burgundy 35x12 2-bedroom with Double Glazing and electric plinth heater options (2011 model).

The location of the site is quite tricky and there are only two dealers that I know of who have tackled the single track road before (both many times) and only one of them has ever taken a 12-footer up it.

However, once it is there I only need the van dropped onto it's pitch as I have prepared the land, ground anchors, septic tank connections, water and electricity, and will happily connect these up myself.

Obviously I want to achieve as cheap a price as I can manage but I still realise that the dealer must pay the manufacturer for the van, cover transportation costs and wages and then make a profit on top of all that. However, I have no idea what the dealer margin is like on their sticker price and therefore no idea how much movement I can try to achieve on the price.

The price including vat and options on the Swift website is £21,751.53.

I tried PM'ing you this but I need 15 posts or more to do so. If you wish to make a private response by all means try PM'ing me (I think I can receive)...failing that let me know and I can give you an email address.

[indianwells]

I've just spoken to my dealer and he suggested you should get at least 25% off list price for private land.

[splatercash]

Is that the list price at the dealers or the list price at the manufacturer i.e. swift?


....he asks, secretly confident of the answer :D

[indianwells]

Is that the list price at the dealers or the list price at the manufacturer i.e. swift?


....he asks, secretly confident of the answer :D

The dealers go off the manufacturers price list, so it's the same, at least with my dealer it is.

[Skegness Caravan Sales]

Hi again splatter cash, email me and i will send you some info if this will help
james@skegness-caravansales.co.uk.
Thanks

[Skegness Caravan Sales]

The price of £25,000 the company offered you does seem high, so im not entirely sure why hes charging that much.

[splatercash]

At that point I hadn't discussed options but I noticed most of the vans on their site were heavily specced. I'm guessing the person assumed we would be wanting DG, GCH, galvanised chassis, etc. Either that or they were chancing their mit.

[emmell]

Quite a few Swifts on our site supplied by Highfield caravans, Bridlington.
We bought our last two vans from them very nice to deal with.
ML.

[splatercash]

For the benefit of others I now have a 2011 35x12 Burgundy with the options I mentioned and I paid £19,150 delivered to the private land in question. That included the requirement for an escort vehicle and tackling an extremely difficult last 3 miles (single track hell). Also the delivery was from Hull to north of Ullapool in the Scottish Highlands!

We've now got the van connected up and fully functional and are gloriously happy with it. An excellent model and I'd highly recommend it if social space and a contemporary feel is one of your key considerations.

I'm happy with the price I paid and it does show that there are good discounts to be had if you aren't needing a van sited on an actual caravan site. A word of warning though, if you are doing this insurance can be difficult. We ended up going with Towergate who had no issues with the van being sited on my fathers croft land.

[Angela B]

Hi, thats great news! Thank you for updating us, we all love a happy ending!
It would be lovely to see some photo's if you wouldn't mind please? (i'm a cheeky monkey lol) i've been to ullapool, breathtaking scenery... I envy you ... Hope you spend many happy years there :)

[emmell]

well done splatercash, enjoy.
ML.

[splatercash]

Here are some pics taken immediately after the install. You can see the 4x 1m high custom ground anchors we cemented into the ground. If the caravan ever takes off then Scotland goes with it!

We've since painted the retaining wall white to give it a more finished appearance and hope to do the shed behind the van as well. Also planning to get an L-shaped decking out the front and side and to box the underside of the van in. Crucially the sky tv is set up and the beer fridge has been placed in the spare room.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v226/SaxoBoy/_MG_5504.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v226/SaxoBoy/_MG_5512.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v226/SaxoBoy/_MG_5522.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v226/SaxoBoy/_MG_5525.jpg

[emmell]

That's a good job well done.
ML.

[splatercash]

All done, just a bit more wall to paint and also some more of the block storage building behind. Very happy and the decking is awesome. We had several drunk night on it surrounding our firepit for warmth.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v226/SaxoBoy/_MG_5991.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v226/SaxoBoy/_MG_5992.jpg

[emmell]

Looking good splatercash. :)

[Tiamaria589]

that looks amazing.. well done xx
and thanks for the update

[ricardo62]

looks really nice, you lucky sod !!!!!!!!!! lol! must be brilliant 2 knw you dnt have site fees to pay and hope you have a great time in your new home ...

[splatercash]

Very pleased with it. It's a 4.5h drive away so we can't go there every weekend, but I guess that's a good thing as it's still special when we do get the chance to get away.

[Angela B]

Looks wonderful! ... Can you see the sea from your plot? ... (there I go again ... Beach beach beach lol)
You should be very proud of the look you've acheived :)

[Dogbert]

I got a Van 3 - 3.5 hrs away from home, 4-5hrs if the Girlfriend is driving :-) glad she doesn't read these threads... I go down every 2 weeks, its a long drive but worth it to get away from it all. I looked at friends sites nearby by & the downside that i saw was the closer to home you are, the more chance people will just pop round to see you as you are just there. Sometimes it's worth the extra travel time.

[splatercash]

Can't see the sea unfortunately but at least our location is private and a little away from the nearby caravan sites meaning that we don't cause too much disruption when we have 20+ 14-55 year olds getting p*ssed up around the fire pit :D

We've developed a good system of getting this first few drinks down in the comfort of the van and then moving everyone out to the decking before people are drunk enough to spill things ;)