Caravan at Auction?
Some may remember my friend's daughter bought a van a few months ago to travel to Husky races - to cut a very long story short - its a Coachman Pastiche and its up for Auction tomorrow. It has 5 service history stamps and I think 2011 manufacture. I was tempted to buy it from her when I knew she wasn't keeping it. I wonder what anyone thinks of buying at Auction? It is surely going to go for quite a knockdown price so I am tempted to go for it. She has only used it about three times since she got it - and it is a lovely van. I don't quite know why it's ending up at auction but I do know she bought it on Finance and now wants to buy a Transit van large enough to hold her husky team! She called today to ask me if she could just cut the battery and inverter free as those didn't come with the caravan! Cut the wires I don't think so. I am hoping her ignorance hasn't done any harm to the van in its short life with her. Glaring mistakes like driving with the gas still turned on and the aerial sticking up were the ones I discovered - but that's about it! I am very tempted to have a punt!
Comments
-
Why let it go to auction if you're seriously interested, Pippah? Make her an offer now and secure the deal at a guaranteed price.
1 -
I'd be tempted to make her an offer before the auction. Don't know if it can be withdrawn without cost at this stage? Has she got a reserve on it? You can offer that and she'll get to keep all of the money as selling fees are charged, as are buyer charges both plus VAT so can add up. If she hasn't got a reserve then it'll go for whoever offers most in the day. Might pay to have a chat now, if she's not open to an offer at the mo I'd go to the auction for the experience, I keep threatening to go to one, be VERY FOCUSED and set a limit stick to it. Nothing ventured nothing gained. If it's what you'd like seems silly not to. ☺. Keep us posted.
0 -
Thanks for the replies - I did try and buy it a couple of weeks ago from her - but asked her to check that she COULD sell it due to the finance. and after a lot of to-ing and fro-ing she said she had to take it back. I did think of going to the dealership she got it from Rydale Caravan and Leisure - Leicester but never quite got there. It is definitely out of her hands now which is probably better as she offered it to me for £7K (having paid I think £11K for it in October). I was thinking of going for it but then wondered if I could rip off a friend - but that wasn't going to happen when she took it back. She isn't selling it - as far as I can gather its the finance people who are selling it - but I suppose that is something I should ask the Auctioneers to make sure they really have the proper entitlement to sell it. I seriously shudder at her ignorance and have had to help extricate it from her driveway twice now!
I can't help wondering if she should have paid over £200 for an inverter and £350 to wire up the caravan so she could use a TV (better to get an Avtex at that price).
0 -
If the caravan is on finance your friends daughter cannot legally sell it without paying off the finance company first. If the finance company are selling it then it sounds as if she has not kept up the payments and it has been repossessed. If the caravan makes less than she owes the finance company will be after her for the shortfall.
Your friends daughter could not sell it in these circumstances but if you knew who the finance company were then they might take an offer if it exceeded the auctioneers estimate.
Auctions are very unpredictable and a lot of these things go to dealers who need to make a profit on reselling it so very low prices are the order of the day. An alternative is to attend the auction and if you can raise the cash needed you could get a bargain.
0 -
Thanks Wildwood - I tried asking the auctioneers what price they thought it might fetch - and they couldn't give me any idea - as you say - I think I shall have to be at that auction tomorrow! With a very strict hold on my budget!
I have a feeling that she hasn't a clue what is what and she may get a very nasty surprise if it doesn't fetch enough to cover the debt. Some people live on a different planet to me and she is one of them bless her! When struggling to get the caravan hitched and out of her garden she didn't even know if her van was front or rear wheel drive and instead of backing the caravan onto the grass - she tried to drive it forwards uphill on wet grass - having refused to hitch it to my 4 x 4! Which of course she had to do and I backed it and kept the car on the driveway. I suspect my vehicle would have stuck if I had tried the grass. She then declared she would be buying a 4 x 4 transit! Seems her future credit rating could well be at risk.
0 -
Just tread carefully, Pippah. If you can get it at a bargain price, great, but if it reaches market value I think I would walk away and buy elsewhere with a warranty in place.
0 -
Yes good idea Tinny - I was going to see if I could discover the Market Value tomorrow - a little difficult as I am not certain of the year - but the auctioneers may know more tomorrow. I think I can be careful - I have bought horses at auction without too many disasters! And the heart was heavily involved there - whereas there are plenty of caravans out there!
0 -
If it is on the auction website it may give the year of manufacture or first sale. If not look up and make a note of typical dealer prices for years 2009/10/11/12, easy to research on caravan finder or caravan auto trader. Assuming it has the service paperwork damp and gas test docs it could be a bit of a bargain. Even if it doesn't reach reserve ( if it has one) there may still be a deal to be done after the auction ends. I have done that sometimes with cars which failed to reach reserve and I have done a deal after.
0 -
Thank you Flatcoat that helps a lot. I remember a few years ago someone said about horse auctions - Melton Mowbray in particular -"it's not what you know, but who you know that counts"! The auction site gives nothing away except that it's a Pastiche with 5 service thingies. It has clearly not had as much use as my own 2008 model. Pristine is how I would describe it before friends daughter started to use it. But I have dogs too so I think it is at least worth a trip to the auction some 34 miles from me!
1 -
I did it! Well below market price - in fact about half as far as I can see - definitely half what Jo was talking about selling it to me - and about 2 thirds less than she paid! Everything in the Auction came from the same Finance company and the cars at giveaway prices were amazing - of course no one knows about the mileage etc - but re-possessions have always been a good place to bag a bargain. I can't wait for tomorrow to pick it up tomorrow and get it organised!
Thank you everyone for the input - it was really helpful.
0 -
Well done, Pippah! At that sort of discount you can afford to correct anything you might find wrong. Happy vanning.
0 -
Bakers - yes I too am worried since the finance company can't have got their money back - they may come after her - as was suggested - but at least I bumped the price up a little at the auction! I did my best to buy it from her before it was reclaimed. Plus I also suggested she kept it for another month or so and sold it once winter is over to get the best price for it. There are some people who are very difficult to offer advice to I will be even more wary of offering in future! Then again I suppose even trying to avert disaster can leave me in the clear! I don't envy her the damaged credit rating - as that will almost certainly happen and seems to be very important these days. But I shall grit my teeth and enjoy all the same
0 -
As long as you bought off the finance company who were the owners if there was outstanding finance then you should have nothing to worry about.
The finance company will of course come after her for any difference in what she owes and what they got. But to be honest that isn't your problem. At the end of the day you got it for what is worth otherwise someone else would have bid more. That's how an auction works. The fact you would have paid more at a dealers or if you bought it privately is neither here nor there.
0 -
Congratulations on getting a bargain. You knew the caravan so knew it was a good buy, but trade buyers would not, so were not going to take a risk.
I would be wary of repossessions in general though as if people have been unable to pay the HP then they may have cut back on maintenance as well. You need them cheap to cover that risk.
0 -
My 'ex' was in new car sales and it is amazing what can be done with finance even with dodgy credit history. A lot of people do a 'walk away' which is defined in the credit agreement and quiet legal, or roll over the negative equity into a new finance deal. A walkaway is useful if you have bought a car on finance that has very high depreciation such that after a certain time (I think it is 50% of the agreement term) you find you owe more than the car is worth you can simply hand it back to the finance company without paying another penny and there is nowt they can do about it. I know someone who has done that more than once...(not me!).
However well done on the auction buy! It is relatively easy to check a cars history these days, lots of free and pay for 'apps' available and service history can often be checked by phoning a main dealer and giving the reg details. I would not be averse to buying a finance repo.
0 -
Well it's safely home - although I forgot to take the extending mirrors and the lights don't work! I should perhaps ask elsewhere but is it a daft question to ask if the caravan needs a battery for the road lights to work? I had thought they worked off the car connection - but there is no battery (removed yesterday as it wasn't included in the original purchase) possibly something got turned off at the same time - I clearly need to search round properly. The chap who helped me hitch up said all was ok - but I should have known better than trust him with the lights considering how little he knew about the hitching process. Jockey wheel not raised and he tried to lock the stabiliser when the hitch wasn't on! It is nice to have someone help but difficult when they haven't a clue what they are doing and I am female!
I also can't figure out how to release the window catch on the door - it is clearly supposed to open but I can't see how!
This van was bought from a dealer sometime in the Autumn - and serviced at the time - so not a problem there. As I said earlier - at auctions it is often "who" you know not what you know about the auction stuff. I don't think I shall be tempted to do it again though!
0 -
Hi Pippa,
What area are you from?
I'm sure someone will call round and give you some tips.
0
