# Help!



## Froggiefred (Feb 7, 2011)

We are new on here so please allow for our ignorance. We have been looking for a used motorhome and think we have been offered a 'bargain' We have seen a lunar champ a580 on a Fiat Ducato 2003 the dealer has agreed to accept £15,500 a reduction from 16,995 asking price IF we buy without seeing the vehicle. (its too far for us to go and look) We have seen lots of photos and asked what we hope are the right questions. It has a years MOT new tyres, new cambelt (done 33,000miles) comes with habitation check etc. We need to make a decision before tomorrow as he is asking for a holding deposit. Are we being foolish? Any advice would be gratefully received.


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## p-c (Oct 27, 2007)

Hi

It rings alarm bells for me. There was a post on here very recently about an ebay advert that is dodgy.

Please be careful.

p-c


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## mikeyv (May 23, 2007)

Who is the dealer?

If you post the name on here, there will almost certainly be people who can advise from personal experience.

Personally, I would make the trip if you're really keen, rather than risk a potentially expensive mistake.

Good luck with it.


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## brillopad (Mar 4, 2008)

The thing to do is ask on here if some one live close to where it is and can have a look for you, just to see if its as described, then make the trip yourself, i would not buy over the phone, as for asking for the deposit, if he's not sold it yet then a few days won't make any odds either way, but you must go and look for yourself.

Dennis

ps how far away is it?


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## p-c (Oct 27, 2007)

Hi
Re my earlier post please look at

http://www.motorhomefacts.com/ftopict-100734-dodgy.html+ebay+listing

p-c


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## Froggiefred (Feb 7, 2011)

Hi Everyone,

thank you all for your prompt replies. The dealer is STJ motors in Woking Surrey. We are in West Yorkshire so quite a trip!


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## erneboy (Feb 8, 2007)

The Lunar Champ at that time was a van with quite a few issues. Vmeldrew on here had one, many problems eventually after much hassle it was replaced by Lunar with a different model. When that van was new it would probably only a little more than £20,000 so I am not sure that it really is such a bargain, others may know.

Vmeldrew rarely comes on MHF these days but I have his email address if you would like to find out what he can tell you. PM me if you want it, Alan.


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## cabby (May 14, 2005)

sorry but that does not sound like a good deal to me, why would a dealer give a discount if you buy a vehicle unseen.anyone near to this dealer to see if he has a contract to supply to St.Dunstans.    

sorry I know they do a fabulous job and have seen them at work first hand at Ovingdean Sussex,blooming marvelous.but trying to make a point.

cabby.


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## mikeyv (May 23, 2007)

Put the dealer name in search box top left - here's a taster

CLICK HERE


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## tony50 (Oct 16, 2007)

Froggiefred said:


> Hi Everyone,
> 
> thank you all for your prompt replies. The dealer is STJ motors in Woking Surrey. We are in West Yorkshire so quite a trip!


I would personally go and see it , a night in a Travel lodge say £50 , fuel £ 150 = £200 , cheap when the potential is to lose £15500 , plus if you look at it make sure you do the checks ,such as do the address on the Registration document tie up with where you are ,photograph the seller etc. don't be rushed , it sounds to me it may be too good to be true ,which means it probaly is !!!!!!!!!!!!!

Tony A.


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## brillopad (Mar 4, 2008)

Not far from me i'll go and have a look if you like.

Dennis


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## rayc (Jun 3, 2008)

Froggiefred said:


> We are new on here so please allow for our ignorance. We have been looking for a used motorhome and think we have been offered a 'bargain' We have seen a lunar champ a580 on a Fiat Ducato 2003 the dealer has agreed to accept £15,500 a reduction from 16,995 asking price IF we buy without seeing the vehicle. (its too far for us to go and look) We have seen lots of photos and asked what we hope are the right questions. It has a years MOT new tyres, new cambelt (done 33,000miles) comes with habitation check etc. We need to make a decision before tomorrow as he is asking for a holding deposit. Are we being foolish? Any advice would be gratefully received.


The dealer has a good web site and I am sure they are legit but what is the hurry? There are loads of MH's for sale so there is no need to rush into anything. £17,000 for a 7 year old starter MH is not cheap so there will not be a queue trying to gazump you. My concern would be what warranty are you getting on it. Is it the dealers own or a 'insurance' type one? In either event any post sale needs will be hard to get with the distance involved. When the dealer is offering to sell it for £15,500 if you buy without seeing is he really saying you are buying it 'as seen' i.e. warts and all?
If I were you I would take up Dennis's offer to go and have a look - with his charm he may get it knocked down another £1000 or so.


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## Froggiefred (Feb 7, 2011)

*Thanks*

Hi Perhaps we are being a bit hasty. Denis if you are very near I would be really grateful if you could have a look for us. We are complete novices at this so would be an easy pushover.


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## b2tus (Sep 7, 2009)

Presume you are aware that the ad says LHD?


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## Froggiefred (Feb 7, 2011)

Yes we are looking for LHD as we own a house in France and want to keep the vehicle there for travelling around Europe. Our main criteria is that the vehicle is clean and reliable. That is why this seemed to fit the bill as it is fairly new with lowish mileage considering the price. Most vehicles we have seen around at this price are much older with lots more miles on the clock.


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## tonybvi (Jan 31, 2007)

As all others say you must really go to see it for yourself. I live near Aberdeen and it's not been unknown for me to take a cheap Easyjet flight to London just to check out a motorhome. I would rather spend £200 odd on a possibly wasted trip than waste £tens of thousands on a van which is not really what I want.
Tony


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## Sprinta (Sep 15, 2010)

There's a lot of sensible advice issued here, another thing to remember is there are loads of MHs for sale so you can afford to lose one. 

This is a purchase that will be up there as one of the most expensive purchases you will make, home, new car, second car etc. etc. 

would you buy any of them unseen? 

be careful


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## Froggiefred (Feb 7, 2011)

Great advice from everyone. We will go to bed and sleep on it!


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## brillopad (Mar 4, 2008)

Well i've been to see said mh, and to be honest it looks ok,small dent in bonnet small scrape on lower valance, small damage to rear right corner, being lhd i think that its spent some time in the sun as the blue upholstery looks to be faded,and the dealer has not cleaned the inside, or if he did then i'd sack the bloke that did it,

The sink in the bathroom had a crack in it by the plug hole, also the shower floor had a small star shaped crack, but low and behold it was all getting fixed tomorrow, nudge nudge,

So with Brenda casting woman's eye over the inside, me on the outside things were not to bad, no sign of damp ( forgot me damp meter)

All well and good so far, then i look as best i can on the roof, now as you look facing the mh from the front, top right i see that it looks like it has been hit by something like a low tree branch, and that some one has made a bad job of fixing it, theres black sealer running about 4 foot back from just over the cab, and this area is quite dented, i asked the dealer about this and he said he's not noticed this before ( yeah right) 

So there you have it, hope this is of some use to you i'll pm my phone no if you want to talk

Dennis


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## drcotts (Feb 23, 2006)

Hi and welcome
IMHO anyone who asks you to agree to a sale without seeing it shouldnt be considered. What are they playing at?

It seems a bit iffy to me. Theres plenty of used vans around for the price you want to pay.

dont let heart rule head. theres a reason they dont want you to see it. find out what that is at least

We had someone on here a couple of years ago who did this. they picked the van up on a service station and handed over cash. Needless to sat when things went wrong the dealer if thats what they were) couldnt be found.

Phill


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## Froggiefred (Feb 7, 2011)

*Thank You so Much*

A real big thank you to Dennis and Brenda for taking the time to look the van over for us. Taking everything into consideration and looking at other adverts we have decided to hold on to our money for a while longer. We will continue looking and hope that something comes up soon. (hopefully a bit nearer home)I am so pleased we found this site it has been invaluable already and I hope that one day we will be seasoned motorhome owners and help others out.


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## Sloany (May 15, 2010)

Fantastic!! I wish id met people like Dennis & Brenda when i was looking for my my first motorhome. I spent weeks driving up and down the country looking & maybee Frogiefred wouldn,t have spotted all those faults being new to the Job. Good Shout!


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