Is this a reasonable deal?

[Funkyboy]

Hi All,

So glad ive found this forum spent hours going through the posts.
I have been looking for a static for a while now and have found a park and a van we both like.
The van in question is a 2003 Willerby Lyndhusrt 2 bedroom double glazed/central heating and is in immaculate condition for its age. It is priced at 15k with a three month gtee. Could some one please tell me if this is a reasonable price. Also what is the lifespan of this type of van (i know that is a how long is a piece of string situation)
The site only allows sales back to the site so if i come to sell i would have to accept their offer or move the van off site or sell to a trader.

Is there anything else i should consider or findout before i commit as it is easy to get excited and just jump in.

Thanks in advance

[dasboot]

Welcome to the forums funkyboy.You have asked a bit of a rhetorical question there.The general rule is if you think it's worth it and you love the site then yes it's a good deal.If you are doing it thinking you might regret it later then it's a bad deal.It doesn't sound too expensive to me though .Go for it.

[Funkyboy]

Thanks for the quick reply.

I know what you mean it was when i read some of the posts about people paying more now than what the van cost 4 years ago though i know the Lyndhurst would have cost a lot more new than 15k just in these times didnt want to seriously overpay for something. I also agree that if you like it you should get it. I just didnt realise there was a book price.
If anyone can guide me with the book price that would be really helpfull as that would put my mind at rest.

[dasboot]

Thanks for the quick reply.

I know what you mean it was when i read some of the posts about people paying more now than what the van cost 4 years ago though i know the Lyndhurst would have cost a lot more new than 15k just in these times didnt want to seriously overpay for something. I also agree that if you like it you should get it. I just didnt realise there was a book price.
If anyone can guide me with the book price that would be really helpfull as that would put my mind at rest.

There's a couple of park owners on here who will probably be able to give you a figure funkyboy.They may well be on later.

[vanman]

you usually get the feeling that something is right for you when you walk in,if you are having doubts and looking for reasons not to buy then thats not the van for you. it is a big step to take and one where you should be happy with everything before signing anything or handing over your cash. make sure you have all the details/charges the site might impose and read the small print. good luck what ever you decide and welcome to the world of caravan's. :D

[Funkyboy]

Thanks Vanman agree you know when you walk into one as we have been in quite a few.
I'm happy with the van and the park.
The other people who posted though who spent £ssssss more than the van was worth (though i totally understand parkowners have and deserve to make a profit) probably wish they had the benefit of some advice first.
Also as i can only sell later to the park they will only offer the book trade value.

[Clarissa]

Has it got decking or would you neded to add that? Does the site close at the end of October, if so the warranty would have ran out by the time you got back into it? Are you planning on keeping hold of it for a few years and therefore not having to sell it over to the park at a much reduced price?

[JimmyG]

Hi All,

So glad ive found this forum spent hours going through the posts.
I have been looking for a static for a while now and have found a park and a van we both like.
The van in question is a 2003 Willerby Lyndhusrt 2 bedroom double glazed/central heating and is in immaculate condition for its age. It is priced at 15k with a three month gtee. Could some one please tell me if this is a reasonable price. Also what is the lifespan of this type of van (i know that is a how long is a piece of string situation)
The site only allows sales back to the site so if i come to sell i would have to accept their offer or move the van off site or sell to a trader.

Is there anything else i should consider or findout before i commit as it is easy to get excited and just jump in.

Thanks in advance

Hi there, how long does the site , or rather the owners, allow re the age of the van, is it , no age, 10 years, 15 years. These wee facts could influence your decision, re cost, ie years left on site, is it good value in reference to only having 3 years left ,on site, or not ?
Knowing, that the offer you will get from the owners, is not going to be financially weighted towards yourself, maybe i am wrong, but worthof considering.

[Maddy]

The lyndhurst is a better van than ours and ours is a 2003 and with out decking I would expect about £15 000 so if it is on a 15 year licence or more I wouldn't think it a rip off.

[Funkyboy]

Thanks Guys

The van is on a site that is open from 1st March to 15th Nov it doesnt have any decking.
The site manager says there is no age limit on the site but the parent company has another site were there is a 15 year limit.
I have a copy of the terms and conditions and it just says when you pay your fees you are granted a yearly licence and the management has the right to give you notice if it feels your van is looking unsightly. The only thing i would say about this is that If i go for the 2003 Lyndhurst it would by no way be one of the oldest on the site as there are only about 40-50 vans on site and if they asked everyone over 15 yrs to leave half of them would have to go.
regards the warranty it wouldnt start till the new season as there is a caravan going off on a spot we like so they will move the van there.
The lyndhurst is currently on their sales area.
Sorry havent worked out how to reply to your questions individually.

[Bungle]

Thanks Guys

The van is on a site that is open from 1st March to 15th Nov it doesnt have any decking.
The site manager says there is no age limit on the site but the parent company has another site were there is a 15 year limit.
I have a copy of the terms and conditions and it just says when you pay your fees you are granted a yearly licence and the management has the right to give you notice if it feels your van is looking unsightly. The only thing i would say about this is that If i go for the 2003 Lyndhurst it would by no way be one of the oldest on the site as there are only about 40-50 vans on site and if they asked everyone over 15 yrs to leave half of them would have to go.
regards the warranty it wouldnt start till the new season as there is a caravan going off on a spot we like so they will move the van there.
The lyndhurst is currently on their sales area.
Sorry havent worked out how to reply to your questions individually.

I would say stay well clear if your conditions say that, this could mean in a years time the site tell you to move your caravan off and then where are you? you need to make sure you get a fixed term on your contract with yearly renewal after and initial amount of years otherwise this van is worth next to nothing:eek:

[Funkyboy]

Thanks Bungle

Can you tell me what the contract should say if there is no age limit?

[Bungle]

Thanks Bungle

Can you tell me what the contract should say if there is no age limit?

If you do not have a set amount of years on a licence, then you are only on an annual agreement, this means that you could bye the van and in a years time be asked to leave, 15k down and with nowhere to site you van. as far as i understand there is no such thing as a never ending site agreement! only an annual renewal which gives no security whats so ever! as an example you person that current's owns the site could sell this site on to one of the big operators and if they wished they could clear the site with next to no notice at all! this really is a very dangerous way of owning a caravan.

[emmell]

I think the price seems ok. We part exchanged a Lyndhurst a couple of years ago for our present van. The Lyndhurst was a 2004 model that we had owned from new and was absolutely immaculate, I think we got £12,500 or thereabouts for it, cost new about £26k.
The size and type of site will also have a bearing on the cost, the larger the site and the more facilities and whether it is privately owned or owned by one of the large operators, will make a heck of a difference in price.
What would bother me more than anything is not being able to sell the van privately, if you have to sell back to the site, well, they've got you good and proper.
ML.

[Funkyboy]

I know thats what i was thinking ive heard of parks selling the van through themselves and taking a % but i thought it was a bit wierd only being able to sell to the site or take it off.
I suppose at this moment in time with the economy being like it is they will be glad of people paying site fees but as you say i dont have much safety regards the time i can keep the van on site.

I still could do with some help ref the trade/retail price i noticed on some posts theres a guy Indianwells that has helped people with this before. Can one of the senior members PM him for me to see if he can help me with this please. No problem if he doesnt want to.

The other thing was in the sites terms and conditions it doesnt say anything about selling the vans in the future.

The good things about the site is its yearly fee is £1200 which is the lowest ive seen so i suppose it pro's and con's.

[indianwells]

I know thats what i was thinking ive heard of parks selling the van through themselves and taking a % but i thought it was a bit wierd only being able to sell to the site or take it off.
I suppose at this moment in time with the economy being like it is they will be glad of people paying site fees but as you say i dont have much safety regards the time i can keep the van on site.

I still could do with some help ref the trade/retail price i noticed on some posts theres a guy Indianwells that has helped people with this before. Can one of the senior members PM him for me to see if he can help me with this please. No problem if he doesnt want to.

The other thing was in the sites terms and conditions it doesnt say anything about selling the vans in the future.

The good things about the site is its yearly fee is £1200 which is the lowest ive seen so i suppose it pro's and con's.

Hi Funkyboy, i'm out of the office at the moment so I haven't got my Glass's Guide with me. I'll get back to you tomorrow with the info you need.

[Funkyboy]

Thanks Indianwells

[TreeTops]

Thanks Guys

The van is on a site that is open from 1st March to 15th Nov it doesnt have any decking.
The site manager says there is no age limit on the site but the parent company has another site were there is a 15 year limit.
I have a copy of the terms and conditions and it just says when you pay your fees you are granted a yearly licence and the management has the right to give you notice if it feels your van is looking unsightly. The only thing i would say about this is that If i go for the 2003 Lyndhurst it would by no way be one of the oldest on the site as there are only about 40-50 vans on site and if they asked everyone over 15 yrs to leave half of them would have to go.
regards the warranty it wouldnt start till the new season as there is a caravan going off on a spot we like so they will move the van there.
The lyndhurst is currently on their sales area.
Sorry havent worked out how to reply to your questions individually.

Hmmm.....

A caravan is worth what you are comfortable paying for it, but please remember you are buying more than the tin box.

You are purchasing a package which includes the park, the facilities and the terms of the contract includong the time the caravan can stay on park.

The terms of the annual contract are common, lots of people who think they don't have a time limit are actually on an annual contract. Your park owner has been up front enough to put the terms in writing, I for one like that. The park owner has to have some way to ensure that standards are maintained, but they don't have to exercise the right. What you need to do is talk to some of the other caravan owners on the park. See if they or their friends on the park have had problems when owning older caravans. The worry is that they might change the rules at some point in the future.

You're going about this in the right way, i.e. With your eyes open. You'll get there in the end.

Cheers

Andy

[deejay24]

Sounds about the same terms as most people will have-we found annual contracts were the norm when we were looking around for our van-what was important was finding the age limit in writing. I dont think that we came across any park that agreed to a ten/fifteen year contract

Funkyboy, have you looked at other vans in the area and the parks that they are on? this is how we made our judgements regarding value for money of a van-what vans are neighbouring sites offering for the same money, on what plots and what facilities do the sites have?

For what its worth-if I liked the plot and I liked the park, and the van was in good nick (and I liked the van) I wouldnt consider that an unreasonable price (but I'd still try and haggle some money off!!;)).

[indianwells]

OK, top book is £12,175 and trade price is £7,250.

[Funkyboy]

Thanks Indianwells

Is top guide price what you would expect for a sited van and i assume trade is guide for buyback from site or to a trader?

Thanks to the posts for the advice on yearly renewals

[indianwells]

Thanks Indianwells

Is top guide price what you would expect for a sited van and i assume trade is guide for buyback from site or to a trader?

Thanks to the posts for the advice on yearly renewals

No, the top book price is what you will pay on a dealers forecourt. On a park is where the value lies so the van will be more expensive. Glass's Guide is purely for the trade so has no real bearing on vans sited on parks. It only becomes useful when you are selling your van to a dealer.

[bondubill]

Before anyone buys. They need to consider the depreciation of static caravan values. This borders on daylight robbery. I made this mistake and regret buying mine daily. This is all fuelled by the site owners "rules". My site states if you don't sell back to them at a price set by them. I'm unsure if there is a price guide like Glass's but my nieghbour got £7000 for a van that he'd bought for £22000 from them 18 months previously ! If you want to sell it to someone else, They will un-site (unplug the electric cable and water pipes) and tow yours to the gate for £1200 ! A distance of 50 metres for my van. Recently there was a very interesting article on the radio about static caravan and park home sites. The government is looking at cleaning up the dirty practices employed. I hope this happens. The main rule of thumb is. If you are not willing to wave goodbye to most, if not all, your money. Don't "invest" it in a static caravan !!!!

[dasboot]

Before anyone buys. They need to consider the depreciation of static caravan values. This borders on daylight robbery. I made this mistake and regret buying mine daily. This is all fuelled by the site owners "rules". My site states if you don't sell back to them at a price set by them. I'm unsure if there is a price guide like Glass's but my nieghbour got £7000 for a van that he'd bought for £22000 from them 18 months previously ! If you want to sell it to someone else, They will un-site (unplug the electric cable and water pipes) and tow yours to the gate for £1200 ! A distance of 50 metres for my van. Recently there was a very interesting article on the radio about static caravan and park home sites. The government is looking at cleaning up the dirty practices employed. I hope this happens. The main rule of thumb is. If you are not willing to wave goodbye to most, if not all, your money. Don't "invest" it in a static caravan !!!!

I don't think many people see owning a static as an investment tbh and I certainly don't. What I have invested in is quality of life and the joy of the life it affords us. It seems you have been treated unfairly by your site and £1200 to disconnect your van is as you describe it daylight robbery. But it goes on and you're right to hope for the rules to be tightened for rogue park operators

[treetopper]

Hi and welcome bondubill.
I have to agree with Das.but hopefully anybody who is looking to buy a van will have looked at the pros and negs before buying .
It's a pity that you cannot name theses sites,but people should also take the responsibility for their decisions to buy on such sites.

[yogabreathes]

If you are still not sure, and you've spoken to other owners on the site, then walk away. If you know you've got the right park, theright plot a fair price and a super caravan then its decision time. Whatever you do , there's always always a lovely autumn day to take advantage of.....

[MuppetChops]

Before anyone buys. They need to consider the depreciation of static caravan values. This borders on daylight robbery. I made this mistake and regret buying mine daily. This is all fuelled by the site owners "rules". My site states if you don't sell back to them at a price set by them. I'm unsure if there is a price guide like Glass's but my nieghbour got £7000 for a van that he'd bought for £22000 from them 18 months previously ! If you want to sell it to someone else, They will un-site (unplug the electric cable and water pipes) and tow yours to the gate for £1200 ! A distance of 50 metres for my van. Recently there was a very interesting article on the radio about static caravan and park home sites. The government is looking at cleaning up the dirty practices employed. I hope this happens. The main rule of thumb is. If you are not willing to wave goodbye to most, if not all, your money. Don't "invest" it in a static caravan !!!!

I don't think a lot of people realise that on some sites they are paying £15000 over the odds for a van just to be on that site and it does come as a nasty shock to them that they lose that amount on the van straightaway if they decide to sell the van back to the park a few months after they bought it. We knew this before buying but, obviously, the sales staff didn't point this out to us. If they did, then I don't think they would make many sales ....... A static is an investment in your lifestyle only.

I agree that £1200 to disconnect a van and drag it 50 metres is daylight robbery. I do hope the government look into some of the practices of some of the park owners, but I'm not going to hold my breath!:rolleyes:

[FlixtonFlyer]

It just goes to show that you cannot beat Word of Mouth.
Any major purchase has to be considered very seriously,I was fortunate to have friends on a site that they recommended to me.I have a contract which states that I have 17 years on site.(Brand new vans are given 18years).Site fees are £1100 + Rates £295.My Caravan is actually a 2008 model but was a demo until Sept 2010.the site owner
was good enough to allow me the 18 yrs from 2010.

[eddiesolo]

Owning a static is just like owning a car, the deperciate something rotten, you can never view them as an investment. What you do is keep them as tidy as you can and tinker now and again and use it for what it is...a hoiliday home/weekend retreat.

They can be expensive beasts and they can swallow up your money, depends on the site and of course running costs, not only the van but the fuel for getting to the thing.

To get back on topic, I think the OP has done thr right thing and is searching with his head and not his heart, check out everything before you buy.

Si:)