Motorhome from Germany

Hi all

My first question..
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 pick 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?

Appreciate any advice.

Thx
P

Thx for reply.

Due pictures tomorrow so will post. Is there a company in Germany like AA that can check out vehicle for me?

P

Personally I would not go for it ,Id go for something closer to home ,the distance would effectivly mean no warranty and the dreaded VRT on import

I am thinking of selling my 2002 Burstner 535a LHD. Has extremely comfortable overcab bed and 2 bunk beds, but dinette rather than side sofas.

As a rule german companies are pretty good with regulations and paperwork. Your dealer is probably part of a national network, similar to SIMI here in the motor trade. We looked at importing before we purchased in 2015, but we got lucky and found one here instead.
As far as I can remember, in Germany there is lots of auto engineers can be hired to survey vehicles independently of the dealers. This would address the issue of hail damage.
Under EU law the seller owns the product until the customer pays in full, so maybe 10/20% deposit and then final payment before collection. You need to look at your own bank and inquiry as to how long does an international money transfer take because I have heard of two weeks been taken in some cases. In fact some German farm machinery exporters will not touch an Irish money transfer due to their slow nature.
The vrt is paid on the Irish valuation not on the German price. I not sure about the vat situation.
You need to check insurance and their proposal forms as they can look for the dealer to stamp the form to verify that the vehicle is a proper motorhome, it happened when we purchased.
Just a few of my thoughts.

@hector2015
That's not the type of layout we are going for. Rear kitchen/bathroom with pull down double bed. Benches for relaxing rather than beds as it will be a our home for quite a while Best of luck with sale though.

I know it's not same but have bought cars in UK with same warranty problem.
I would think buying a van in UK would be same as Germany, getting it back to garage.

On to the bank and will use swift transfer which dealer knows all about.

I don't think vat is an issue (will double check) as it's on new vehicles only.

Thx
P

Thx Rapido12.
Will ring tomorrow.

P

@Rapido12
Contacted Pat Butler. Fantastic lady with great advice.

Looks great on the photos, even enlarged on the PC

But photos do tell lies.

I would advise caution. We bought our first Motorhome 2 years ago and like many know here had a run of plain and simple mishaps most due to never having had one before. In the initial months it was fantastic to have the dealer locally and indeed the support from other craicers here. Would've been a nightmare if we'd purchased abroad