We have recently read a very interesting article published in Practical Caravan called ‘Should I buy at a show?’ and it raised some excellent points regarding part exchange deals. In fact, these points were so interesting we felt we needed to write about them here.

I’ve been offered an incredible part exchange price!

Every caravan dealer will boast about how good their part exchange deals are. You can go to a dealer or a show, find a caravan that you like, that meets your specifications, and is within your budget, speak with the sales person about your current caravan and how it is in excellent condition, and lo and behold he’ll identify an amount of money that seems like a phenomenally good part exchange. You’ll sign on the dotted line and that’ll be it, deal done, and a very good deal at that... or not.

Why not? What’s wrong with that?

Usually when something seems too good to be true, it is. Some of the time a caravan sales person may give you an incredible part exchange offer just to secure the deal, which is why it is so worrying when they identify an amount of money (sometimes a lot higher than other quotes) and run with it, without even seeing your caravan! At least with a car part exchange you get a price based on them seeing your car first so you know it’s genuine.

Well they gave me a price; they have to stick to it!

In theory, yes this is absolutely true. If you have told your sales person that your caravan is in excellent condition and it is, with no damage or marks whatsoever, then fair enough you’re right they have to stick to it. Unfortunately, when you bring your part exchange caravan to your dealer ready to pick up your brand new shiny caravan, some sales people will be like a sniffer dog, checking every inch of your caravan meticulously, looking for problems with it. As soon as they find one tiny scratch, one small dent, a chip on the alloy, a scratch on the window, that’s when they’ll start shaving money off your part exchange price.

But my caravan IS in excellent condition considering it’s X amount of years old!

Oh I’m sure it is! Every caravanner knows that it is near on impossible to keep your caravan scratch and mark free when you’re towing it near bushes and trees or on the odd gravel road. Unfortunately, a sales person may not see it like that, especially if he has over quoted on the original part exchange price, and you may end up with a conversation like this: “I’m very sorry to tell you this Mr Smith, but you said your caravan was in excellent condition, but as you can see from these (tiny and next to invisible) scratches on the windows, from these (small) stone chips on the nose, from this (teeny) thread that has been pulled on the upholstery, it is, in fact,  not in excellent condition!” Every tiny problem they find, they may start to knock off money. £50 here, £100 there, it all adds up, and if you originally thought you were getting £10,000 for your caravan you could end up with as little as £9,000 - £9,500 (probably closer to what you were originally quoted elsewhere). So, you’re left £500 - £1,000 out of pocket and they still have a sale.

Well they lied and I’ll tell them where to stick it!

Always an option, but they have your deposit.

I’ll take them to court then.

Also an option but unfortunately it is you who have technically broken the contract. Saying your caravan is in perfect condition is only true if it is in the exact same condition as when you first purchased it. Realistically it won’t be as it will have picked up minor marks and dings through use and life and an unscrupulous salesman will latch onto that.

So what do I need to do?

Well, firstly, don’t trust salesmen who just take a part exchange price out of thin air that seems far too good. It may end in the above happening, or, an even scarier scenario is they’re in trouble in this harsh economic climate and they’re giving out crazy deals to get more sales. If this is the case, you could sign the dotted line, and in the event they go bust, you could be seriously out of pocket. Unfortunately we are aware that this has happened quite recently.

Secondly, be realistic. If you have a 3 year old caravan that is in excellent condition considering it is 3 years old, say that. Go around your caravan and be ultra picky; look for every tiny mark, every scratch, every imperfection, and make sure you tell the sales person about them and don’t leave anything out. Obviously it is in every caravanners interest to get the best possible part exchange price they can, so shopping around to find that is natural. However, if you are not specific and realistic when describing your caravan (assuming you haven’t dragged your caravan with you to a dealer half way across the country so they can see it...) there is a high chance you will be quoted an unrealistic price when originally doing the deal and so be extremely surprised and disappointed come collection day of your new ‘van.

Thirdly, be aware that for an accurate part exchange price to be given you need to be honest with the sales person.  Wouldn’t you rather answer some questions to get a realistic part exchange price first time around? If you have a small dent on the exterior from a rogue branch or stone, then tell them! No one likes surprises when it could end up with you losing money, so make sure you cover yourself and minimise the chance of surprises down the line.

Or, you could buy a Dunster House Caravan.

Here at Dunster House Caravans we always ask the necessary questions to give you an accurate, realistic and competitive part exchange price first time round. In fact, we can very proudly say that we have NEVER lowered the original quote of a part exchange later down the line. The price you were given the day you placed the order is the price you get when you pick up your brand new caravan from us.

The reason for this is we want an honest relationship with our customers. No one likes a sales person that lies or shields the whole truth. We take a very simple approach of ‘We won’t pull wool over your eyes, and we ask you won’t pull it over ours’. We will give you a realistic part exchange price for the caravan you have described to us when answering our questions.

Be honest with us. We understand that a three year old caravan will have minor scratches on the windows and work surfaces. We know that the odd thread may have been pulled on the furnishings and a few stone chips on the nose are unavoidable. Naturally, we do not accept massive gashes on the exterior walls, doors missing, holes through the furniture or other damage of that scale, but we are very reasonable in that we know what to expect from a caravan that is say 3 years old and we know that these expectations will need to change for a 6 year old caravan. Let’s have an honest relationship.

We hope to build and maintain an honest working relationship with our customers. If you are honest with condition of your part exchange caravan, we will be honest and give you an extremely competitive part exchange price (that we KNOW is competitive because we mystery shop our competitors) that we will stick to.

So, beware of crazy part exchange deals and don’t be caught out by unscrupulous sales people.