Buying motorhome from Germany

PadraigL

Hi

Have posted this on another forum but just need as much advice as possible.

Just to qualify myself and my wife have no experience of Motorhomes or Caravans.

I have been looking at motorhomes for last 6 months mainly UK and Germany. We even went over to a show in Peterborough to get a feel for things.
We have picked the LHD Hymer B544 as number 1 followed by Frankia and Pilote. All same layout.
Anyway, I have picked out one in Germany. It's a 2005 Hymer B544. I have e-mailed and spoken to the garage owner and he was very helpful. Through work constraints on both of us I can only get to go see it next week, flying out and back in 2 days. The garage will store it until we get time to go collect it which will be August.

If I want to buy what deposit should I give as he will hold it for 2 months or will he expect the full asking price? Huge trust involved here.

He has said there is some slight hail damage (waiting on pictures) and its no issue as its quite common in southern Germany. Should this put me off?

Lastly, is there a company in Germany that could check out the van for me? How did other people on this forum, who have bought there, check the van out?

Appreciate any advice.
Thx

SeamusG97

PadraigL wrote: »

Hi

Have posted this on another forum but just need as much advice as possible.

Just to qualify myself and my wife have no experience of Motorhomes or Caravans.

I have been looking at motorhomes for last 6 months mainly UK and Germany. We even went over to a show in Peterborough to get a feel for things.
We have picked the LHD Hymer B544 as number 1 followed by Frankia and Pilote. All same layout.
Anyway, I have picked out one in Germany. It's a 2005 Hymer B544. I have e-mailed and spoken to the garage owner and he was very helpful. Through work constraints on both of us I can only get to go see it next week, flying out and back in 2 days. The garage will store it until we get time to go collect it which will be August.

If I want to buy what deposit should I give as he will hold it for 2 months or will he expect the full asking price? Huge trust involved here.

He has said there is some slight hail damage (waiting on pictures) and its no issue as its quite common in southern Germany. Should this put me off?

Lastly, is there a company in Germany that could check out the van for me? How did other people on this forum, who have bought there, check the van out?

Appreciate any advice.
Thx

We bought our first van in Germany a long time ago and before the present 13.5% VRT regime. (I had mistyped 31.5 and was almost going to leave it as was, based on the posts from others on this forum since then ). Ours was an Ex Hire van and was three years old at the time. It was seamless and problem free. We bought our second van new here in Ireland a few years later.

German Vans go through a very stringent annual road testing so it should be in a good state mechanically. At least as good as at home (!). If it is a reputable motorhome dealer then they would have their good name to uphold. I'd guess that being an A-Class van the bodywork would get the same scrutiny as the rest of the van and might provide some peace of mind regarding dampness, rot etc. I'm no expert on this though.

Deposit wise - Based on a few cars and motorbikes I've bought online abroad, that enough to show you're not a messer but little enough to walk away from usually works.

Hail can be severe on the continent and can wreak havoc on Aluminium skinned vans. But if you are told it is slight and can see photos then you can make up your own mind. The damage will be cosmetic in any case and you will be able to judge for yourself when you're out there. Maybe it's just the roof.

I don't have any ideas about getting someone to check it out - maybe someone else on here has.

In the end buying abroad involves a fair bit of trust and the willingness to trust your gut and judgement - you are effectively buying without a warranty as there's no going back. There was a time when it was a no-brainer to do so with effectively zero VRT. It's not so clearcut these days and the shortage of good vans on the market seems to be the best reason to do so. It can be difficult to take the emotion out of a purchase and walk away if it isn't right. But on the balance of probability it is going to be fine.

Some things that weren't in your post ( so you probably may know anyway)
1. VRT is likely to be a bit of a lottery when you return.

2. You'll need to organise a set of Temporary German plates to drive the vehicle home (Plates work the same as Tax and Insurance here). The process involves two offices and a lot of to-ing and fro-ing withdrawing money from ATMs, stamping of documents and stamping of sheet aluminium, drilling of same and screwing to the bumpers. Ask the seller to help you with this process. It could delay you by a day on your return if it gets messed up. We barely got ours done on the half-day early closing Wednesday back in 2006. You can insure it on the same reg. when you get home or on your new Irish plates.
3. Many German dealers sell routinely to UK/Ireland - Is your dealer one of these? If so, Good.

If it all works out, bring a good guide book/online resource and take your time and enjoy the trip home and get to know your van. Germany can be excellent for motorhoming and you'll remember it forever as your first and best holiday. Southern Germany suggests the Black Forest as a route home - I'm jealous already. If you have kids bring 'em along.
Best of luck with it.

PadraigL

@SeamusG97
Thank for the detailed post. You hit the nail on the head the way we are feeling about it.

The dealer will look after the export plates etc. He said for €300 but I am going to try and get that as part of the price seeing the warranty is pretty much useless. We had planned to stay around Germany for 10 days or so after collection in case anything goes wrong.

The vrt, I have budget for worst case but will query it if needed.

I have rang ADAC for extra insurance on way home, no issues there. They will also tow back to dealer or home.

Dealer has said he has sold to Ireland and especially UK.

I was thinking of deposit of 10-15%.

I have checked other dealers in Germany and some of their vans have slight hail damage also. One of them, Durrwang, was recommended in another forum.

So, I am just going to wait for the photos from dealer tomorrow and decide then.

Thx
P

PadraigL

Here is the photo of the hail damage.. Is it considered bad?

[img]Hope it comes out ok..... Edit: No it didn't. expecting picture in post.. ahh well..[/img]

SeamusG97

PadraigL wrote: »

Here is the photo of the hail damage.. Is it considered bad?

[img]Hope it comes out ok..... Edit: No it didn't. expecting picture in post.. ahh well..[/img]

It looks cosmetic to me ( caveat - don't take too much notice of random people like me on the internet) and on a place where nobody will see it. Once the goodies on the roof are ok ( solar panels, satellite - nice ) you should be fine. I'd doubt if any seals were damaged and easy to fix even if ( unlikely ) the case. Seems a nice clean van and a decent stock elsewhere in the showroom.

Techo

Is mobile.de the best site, or any there any other good ones to use to find a good camper? Or would it be better to google dealers? I'm in the market for a conversion but hard to find anything decent here. There doesn't seem to be much of a price difference though, but choice much better over there.

CJhaughey

Techo wrote: »

Is mobile.de the best site, or any there any other good ones to use to find a good camper? Or would it be better to google dealers? I'm in the market for a conversion but hard to find anything decent here. There doesn't seem to be much of a price difference though, but choice much better over there.

I was in the same boat, I couldn't find what I was looking for here, had to look to Germany for what I wanted, 4 berth fixed beds in a PVC.
If you don't mind the lottery of VRT and LHD then its an option.

SeamusG97

Techo wrote: »

Is mobile.de the best site, or any there any other good ones to use to find a good camper? Or would it be better to google dealers? I'm in the market for a conversion but hard to find anything decent here. There doesn't seem to be much of a price difference though, but choice much better over there.

I think you would find most dealers on mobile.de as a matter of course? You can filter to show dealer only vans if you need to. Not aware of anywhere more comprehensive than that site.

Nekarsulm

300 for the plates/road tX/insurance is a lot if the dealer is only sending a staff member with you to help with translation for two hours etc. It's ok if he is paying the charges. Go for the 4 week insurance rather than the 2 week option, it's not much of a price difference and it gives you "wiggle" room.
You cannot get longer than 4 weeks, by then you must be out of the country.

PadraigL

So just an update.

Went to Germany for a viewing. The owner of the garage was the person we dealt with at all times. We spent the morning checking out the van and creating a list. After dinner he bought us for a long test drive and went to see a Stellaplatz near to the town.

He was very patient through out. By the way he had luxury vans for up to €250k on the forecourt. Average price was about €70k and had a delivery the day we were there.

Sat down and talked about a deal. He gave us a 1 year multipart warranty. If any thing goes wrong we just ring and send a quote and he will pay or obviously bring it back to him.

The deal includes, new tyres, all lights changed to led, insurance with plates and a few other bits and pieces to be fixed inside van.

We also got some money off which we will use to kit out the van (gas,table and chairs etc.) as we are flying out to collect and spending 10 days around the area to make sure all is working.

So we agree to buy and gave a 10% deposit. 80% will be paid when I receive the van documents in my name or I am the register owner. The last 10% when we collect and all is ok. Said he will take about 3 hrs showing us everything on the day of collection and we can stay in van on forecourt if needs be.

The kicker for us at the moment was to wait later in the year to buy and maybe nothing available or buy now and get the dealer to store it for 11 weeks until we collect it. Some dealers I rang in Germany would not agree but luckily for us this dealer did agree. All the vans we were watching on mobile.de have now been sold, so time will tell if we done the right think buying now.

So that's the jist of it.

SeamusG97

PadraigL wrote: »

So just an update.

Went to Germany for a viewing. The owner of the garage was the person we dealt with at all times. We spent the morning checking out the van and creating a list. After dinner he bought us for a long test drive and went to see a Stellaplatz near to the town.

He was very patient through out. By the way he had luxury vans for up to €250k on the forecourt. Average price was about €70k and had a delivery the day we were there.

Sat down and talked about a deal. He gave us a 1 year multipart warranty. If any thing goes wrong we just ring and send a quote and he will pay or obviously bring it back to him.

The deal includes, new tyres, all lights changed to led, insurance with plates and a few other bits and pieces to be fixed inside van.

We also got some money off which we will use to kit out the van (gas,table and chairs etc.) as we are flying out to collect and spending 10 days around the area to make sure all is working.

So we agree to buy and gave a 10% deposit. 80% will be paid when I receive the van documents in my name or I am the register owner. The last 10% when we collect and all is ok. Said he will take about 3 hrs showing us everything on the day of collection and we can stay in van on forecourt if needs be.

The kicker for us at the moment was to wait later in the year to buy and maybe nothing available or buy now and get the dealer to store it for 11 weeks until we collect it. Some dealers I rang in Germany would not agree but luckily for us this dealer did agree. All the vans we were watching on mobile.de have now been sold, so time will tell if we done the right think buying now.

So that's the jist of it.

Best of luck with it and happy motorhoming.

SeamusG97

So how did you get on in the end?
Hope it all worked out well.

PadraigL

Recieved all the paperwork and paid the 80%. Due to collect on 22nd and spend 10 days bringing home so will give update after that.

PadraigL

[font=arial, sans-serif]So we went to collect the van end of last month. Flew to Frankfurt and took train south. Spent a full day at the garage checking it over and making some changes. [/font]
[font=arial, sans-serif] 
Owner drove to the nearest large town to get the export plates and insurance (30 and 150 euro) Very efficient job. Person in government office spoke English and came out to check the chassis number and just behind the main building was the company that sold insurance and made the plates. In all took a little over 1hr.

I had arranged for insurance from Dolmen based on the chassis number before I flew out. While I was in Germany I went to an ADAC office and signed up for membership plus which was easy and quick.

Selected 2 x chairs, a table, tarpaulin and 1 German cylinder of gas which was in the agreed deal.  I had brought over a food grade hose with all fittings, a hook up cable and some camping pots, pans, sleeping bags and items to get us home .
We then drove to a Stellaplatz about 10km from garage and stayed for 2 nights. Found the kitchen tap and the fresh water connection for pump to be leaking. Drove back to garage and they sorted these out.

Spent the next 10 day driving towards Roscoff. Using park4night app found plenty of places to choose from.

When we arrived home made an appointment for vrt inspection at the NCT center in Naas. Took about 35mins to complete. It took a week for them to get back with the vrt. Paid up and got the number plates.

It rained heavily for a couple of days when we arrived home and found that the main skylight was leaking. Funny thing is we had heavy rain on the drive home and no issues. Just one of those things I guess. Anyway one sunny Sunday morning I took out the skylight which was easy as the mastic was bad on one side and took about 3 hours to reseal the skylight.Took my time as I wanted to get it right.
I have also rewired the solar into the Electroblock as it was not registering the solar charge on the panel and was confusing the Ah reading. Also added some usb and cigarette sockets. Also n the process of getting an external screen cover.  

We love the van and have gone to campsites in Rosses Point and Strand Hill and plan to go to Kilkenny in coming weeks. 

Overall it was a positive experience for us. It's not for everyone and there is huge trust involved with the garage. [/font]

SeamusG97

Great to see that it worked out for you. The journey home must have been a bit of an adventure in itself and hopefully you had time to stop and smell the flowers along the way. Happy Motorhoming.

Queenie_Jet

Delighted to hear about your positive experience with your purchase, as this is something were thinking about for our second van, have just sold our first. Best of luck with it and happy travelling

Donadea lad

Trying to buy a motorhome in Lithuania next month. I'm Irish, my wife is Lithuanian. Should I register and insure over there or bring it home here and register and insure here. If I bring it home I will have to pay vat as it is only 4 months old.

Flipperdipper

Donadea lad wrote: »

Trying to buy a motorhome in Lithuania next month. I'm Irish, my wife is Lithuanian. Should I register and insure over there or bring it home here and register and insure here. If I bring it home I will have to pay vat as it is only 4 months old.

It's not as simple as just paying VAT. The revenue in Rosslare will put an Irish value on it, they won't tell you how they do this, and then charge you 13.5% of that magic number. Good luck.

dzer2

Flipperdipper wrote: »

It's not as simple as just paying VAT. The revenue in Rosslare will put an Irish value on it, they won't tell you how they do this, and then charge you 13.5% of that magic number. Good luck.

Only if he is driving it in, as the OH is Lithuanian she can drive it in.
As long as they take it to Europe yearly it can be insured and taxed over there. You see loads of Irish companies with imported trucks over here on the original plates.

Donadea lad

dzer2 wrote: »

Only if he is driving it in, as the OH is Lithuanian she can drive it in.
As long as they take it to Europe yearly it can be insured and taxed over there. You see loads of Irish companies with imported trucks over here on the original plates.

Thanks for that, we are half thinking if doing that. It mite be cheaper. We will be going to Europe at least once a year.

Del2005

dzer2 wrote: »

Only if he is driving it in, as the OH is Lithuanian she can drive it in.
As long as they take it to Europe yearly it can be insured and taxed over there. You see loads of Irish companies with imported trucks over here on the original plates.

She is resident here so she can't drive a foreign reg vehicle. Companies have different criteria for getting VRT exemptions on their vehicles, there are very few for private citizens.

contrary_devil

dzer2 wrote: »

Only if he is driving it in, as the OH is Lithuanian she can drive it in.
As long as they take it to Europe yearly it can be insured and taxed over there. You see loads of Irish companies with imported trucks over here on the original plates.

The "imported trucks" you refer to are not imported, they are registered to either a shell company or a legitimate transport company in the country of registration. They are insured, taxed(if applicable) and tested in said country and can only legally operate in another country under strict conditions. Most of the companies operating these vehicles would be mainly using them for continental haulage so would only be in Ireland to load and unload.