20% deposit on Campervan?
Discussion
I've been looking at a new Crafter or TGE based campervan & have found a dealer with a speculative order that is along the lines of what I want, so all good.
I've asked for the deposit figure to secure the vehicle & they are looking for £17k, which is 20%. Maybe I'm out of touch but £17k to secure their speculative order 3 months before it arrives seems pretty astronomical, not to mention risky - any thoughts?
I've asked for the deposit figure to secure the vehicle & they are looking for £17k, which is 20%. Maybe I'm out of touch but £17k to secure their speculative order 3 months before it arrives seems pretty astronomical, not to mention risky - any thoughts?
Edited by Novexx on Wednesday 10th December 19:18
Thanks folk.
Yeah, that's pretty much in line what I was expecting, 5% or £5k, I've also spoken to another couple of dealers & they are 5%.
This level of deposit is a bit concerning & it's honestly got me wondering if it's to pay their wages or other outgoings / are they in trouble & in turn, will I ever see the campervan or the £17k back.
Its a reasonably large dealer, representing plenty of well known brands, with plenty of staff, but the fantasy deposit makes me want to walk away.
Yeah, that's pretty much in line what I was expecting, 5% or £5k, I've also spoken to another couple of dealers & they are 5%.
This level of deposit is a bit concerning & it's honestly got me wondering if it's to pay their wages or other outgoings / are they in trouble & in turn, will I ever see the campervan or the £17k back.
Its a reasonably large dealer, representing plenty of well known brands, with plenty of staff, but the fantasy deposit makes me want to walk away.
It's not mid covid years any more, waiting lists and premiums are all gone, tell him to call you in a couple of months (when he starts getting nervous).
When we bought our brand new Cali (earlier in the year) we had half a dozen to choose from, and ended up with around £4k off list.
We paid £200 deposit to secure it.
When we bought our brand new Cali (earlier in the year) we had half a dozen to choose from, and ended up with around £4k off list.
We paid £200 deposit to secure it.
Ed Boon II said:
I had to pay 75% up front for Van Haven to build my van, I wish I'd gone elsewhere, but hind sight and all that.
That's insane!Was it 'your van, their conversion', or were they supplying the van? What was the timing between payment and delivery?
Did you have any guarantees/escrow or anything like that?
One of the big 'off grid caravan' firms in Aus has gone bust. AUD$4M loss (despite massive uplifts in sales, and clearly reduced quality) to AUD$40M - and taking deposits on the morning the receivers arrived...
(Sorry for all the questions, I'm gearing up to release a 'semi bespoke' motorhome next year, and this stuff is something I think I can show a clear difference to rest of market, through smaller stage payments but controlled through escrow and with formal transfer of ownership at each stage.)
One of many, many issues I had with VH was originally they wanted a £1000 deposit to secure the van, it was the only lwb, 4-Motion, dsg van they had at the time, no problem at all I thought.
They then invoiced me £20k, not the £1000 we had agreed on, I paid the £20k as I wanted the van and I wanted them to start converting it asap as I wanted it for the beginning of May (it was a 6-8 week build I was told). Also my thinking is that you either pay £20k up front or you pay it at the end, you have to pay sooner or later.
A week after I paid the £20k, they then wanted a further £75k because it was such an ‘exciting and unique’ build with many bespoke parts.
At that point the sales rep had vanished so I couldn’t rip into him and when I got somebody to look over the sales contract I’d be risking the £21k deposit if I tried to pull out of the deal so they had me over a barrel. Either pay up or we can’t start the build until you’ve paid another £75k.
So at that point they had £96,000 and I had nothing to show for it, I wasn’t too concerned about them going pop, they sell many £100k+ Transporters, but of course this did leave me highly exposed.
They then wanted the £35k balance about two weeks before it was completed, at that point they were sending me almost daily updates and photo’s etc to show progress and I was very happy with how it looked, not quite so happy after delivery, but that’s another story.
This was a dream build to be built by the premier VW van conversion company, so it’s easy to get sucked into a glossy website, fancy premises, smarmy rep and seeing bespoke £100k+ vans rolling out of the door every week.
They then invoiced me £20k, not the £1000 we had agreed on, I paid the £20k as I wanted the van and I wanted them to start converting it asap as I wanted it for the beginning of May (it was a 6-8 week build I was told). Also my thinking is that you either pay £20k up front or you pay it at the end, you have to pay sooner or later.
A week after I paid the £20k, they then wanted a further £75k because it was such an ‘exciting and unique’ build with many bespoke parts.
At that point the sales rep had vanished so I couldn’t rip into him and when I got somebody to look over the sales contract I’d be risking the £21k deposit if I tried to pull out of the deal so they had me over a barrel. Either pay up or we can’t start the build until you’ve paid another £75k.
So at that point they had £96,000 and I had nothing to show for it, I wasn’t too concerned about them going pop, they sell many £100k+ Transporters, but of course this did leave me highly exposed.
They then wanted the £35k balance about two weeks before it was completed, at that point they were sending me almost daily updates and photo’s etc to show progress and I was very happy with how it looked, not quite so happy after delivery, but that’s another story.
This was a dream build to be built by the premier VW van conversion company, so it’s easy to get sucked into a glossy website, fancy premises, smarmy rep and seeing bespoke £100k+ vans rolling out of the door every week.
Good luck with the new business venture, I like the idea of using escrow and it would certainly alleviate people's concerns should the worst happen.
I've seen loads of caravan/motorhome dealers go to the wall over the last year or two, some big established companies too like Premier and Barnsdale.
I certainly had a few nervous weeks waiting for VH to hand my van over.
Not sure anyone would really find a build thread interesting, I can hear the comments now 'who pays that kind of money for an old diesel bus'
I've seen loads of caravan/motorhome dealers go to the wall over the last year or two, some big established companies too like Premier and Barnsdale.
I certainly had a few nervous weeks waiting for VH to hand my van over.
Not sure anyone would really find a build thread interesting, I can hear the comments now 'who pays that kind of money for an old diesel bus'
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