Is your California selling?

[Mr B]

I see a lot of Calis up for sale recently and I am thinking of listing mine soon - is the market ok at the moment?

The reason I'm asking is that I have an order for a 4motion coming in August and I want to sell my current van but the trade-in offered from the dealer on my current 2017 Ocean is so low I'm going to sell it privately.

I'm wondering however if the market has changed since the 0% VW offer recently, as it must of taken of lot of people with £40ish grand out of the market as they would more than likely put that towards a brand new van and take the offer.

I know it's very subjective and probably is really down to the price - but I'm still seeing a lot of vans in the classifieds on this site at prices I would consider very high (almost lockdown prices) but perhaps the Calis are still retaining their high value or maybe people are taking offers way below asking.

Anyway, insights if you have any would be interesting to hear.

 

[Jimmylondon07]

I think the VW offers have taken a lot of buyers out of the market at this present moment but now you can no longer order one it remains to be seen how prices will be affected over the next month or two.

I know a lot of dealers are overstocked at the moment (rejections haven’t helped) so P/Ex values are low but when I spoke to one dealer they were confident a reasonably priced Cali should have no problems selling privately.

 

[Barry Chuckle]

I advertised mine on Autotrader it was a 4 months old 204PS Ocean with about 8k in added spec and done 1200 miles for just over £67k (the new list with all options was £82k). It was the cheapest of it's type by about £2k and other than one timewaster I didn't have a single inquiry on it. I ended up selling it to a dealer for £100 over the trade I'd been offered. I was very disappointed but accept the market is awash with Calis presently. I know some are saying that the demand for Cali's will grow with production ceasing but personally I just don't buy this and certainly wasn't the case for me.

If you have the price tracker on Autotrader you'll see dozens sitting at dealers for over 6 months discounted at regular intervals and still not shifting. I'd say I'd lost around £9k in 4 months, which is nothing compared to what my Range Rover has lost over the same period as everyone is nicking them and can't get insurance

 

[Jimmylondon07]

I advertised mine on Autotrader it was a 4 months old 204PS Ocean with about 8k in added spec and done 1200 miles for just over £67k (the new list with all options was £82k). It was the cheapest of it's type by about £2k and other than one timewaster I didn't have a single inquiry on it. I ended up selling it to a dealer for £100 over the trade I'd been offered. I was very disappointed but accept the market is awash with Calis presently. I know some are saying that the demand for Cali's will grow with production ceasing but personally I just don't buy this and certainly wasn't the case for me.

If you have the price tracker on Autotrader you'll see dozens sitting at dealers for over 6 months discounted at regular intervals and still not shifting. I'd say I'd lost around £9k in 4 months, which is nothing compared to what my Range Rover has lost over the same period as everyone is nicking them and can't get insurance

Let’s hope you have better luck with your Sven Bazza

 

[Ch1pbutty]

I see a lot of Calis up for sale recently and I am thinking of listing mine soon - is the market ok at the moment?

The reason I'm asking is that I have an order for a 4motion coming in August and I want to sell my current van but the trade-in offered from the dealer on my current 2017 Ocean is so low I'm going to sell it privately.

I'm wondering however if the market has changed since the 0% VW offer recently, as it must of taken of lot of people with £40ish grand out of the market as they would more than likely put that towards a brand new van and take the offer.

I know it's very subjective and probably is really down to the price - but I'm still seeing a lot of vans in the classifieds on this site at prices I would consider very high (almost lockdown prices) but perhaps the Calis are still retaining their high value or maybe people are taking offers way below asking.

Anyway, insights if you have any would be interesting to hear.

Our 2012 Beach sold to first viewer on FB Marketplace within 3 hours of listing. This was a couple of months ago. Knocked £2k off the listing price, but we priced it very high. Sold for £4k more than we purchased it for 4years prior.

(Had it for a week on the club classifieds prior to above. One enquiry who turned out to be time waster.)

Market is always strong for well cared for vans. Cali or conversion.

 

[Barry Chuckle]

Let’s hope you have better luck with your Sven Bazza

Interestingly there's a 12m old Sven for sale on Autotrader for 84k which hasn't budged in over a month, so I'll have to adopt a buy and hold strategy this time. If not I'll be buying a second hand tent and not worrying about depreciation ever again!!!!!

 

[Corradobrit]

I think the VW offers have taken a lot of buyers out of the market at this present moment but now you can no longer order one it remains to be seen how prices will be affected over the next month or two.

I'm sure they can still be ordered new but not off the configurator. Only dealer placed factory orders would be available but maybe that ticks most boxes being high spec Oceans.

 

[Jimmylondon07]

I'm sure they can still be ordered new but not off the configurator. Only dealer placed factory orders would be available but maybe that ticks most boxes being high spec Oceans.

Yeah I imagine that’s also the reason P/Ex values are low, would think dealers have already ordered stock vehicles to bridge the gap until the Sharavan arrives. Plus all the rejected ones of course.

Will be curious to see how they price stock vehicles though, would you still get a DTD-equivalent discount on one for example? Not sure. If not then a nearly new one makes a lot more sense all of a sudden.

 

[Ch1pbutty]

Yeah I imagine that’s also the reason P/Ex values are low, would think dealers have already ordered stock vehicles to bridge the gap until the Sharavan arrives. Plus all the rejected ones of course.

Will be curious to see how they price stock vehicles though, would you still get a DTD-equivalent discount on one for example? Not sure. If not then a nearly new one makes a lot more sense all of a sudden.

PX values are always low versus selling privately.

 

[WelshGas]

Well if the market is loaded with stock that is not selling at this time of the year and Dealerships have end of line stock being delivered then there is going to have to be some serious discounting to prepare the market for the New California or realistic pricing of the New California to insert it into the market place.
But it is surprising that there are so many Californias unsold as we approach the holiday season. Unheard of over the past few years.

 

[Elmo3]

Anything will sell if priced correctly. To give you an idea of the market, call a few dealers for a bid. This will tell you all you need to know. The reason lots of stock is sitting for months is very simple, it’s overpriced.

Our old T5 Beach could have sold many times over, but it was a 20K Cali. All the interest (and sale) was from the autotrader ad, very few enquiries on here.

I posted this on another thread. Do you think they’d be remotely interested in more stock with 40+ new ones to sell?

 

[Jimmylondon07]

PX values are always low versus selling privately.

True but a friend of mine P/Exed his 11 month old Ocean with 5,000 miles on it last year and the dealer gave him all his money back. Things have shifted a lot since then it seems.

 

[Ch1pbutty]

True but a friend of mine P/Exed his 11 month old Ocean with 5,000 miles on it last year and the dealer gave him all his money back. Things have shifted a lot since then it seems.

Probably would have made a profit selling privately.

What was wrong with the one he gave back?

 

[Jimmylondon07]

Probably would have made a profit selling privately.

What was wrong with the one he gave back?

Yeah I’m not going to argue that you can’t get a higher price selling privately, my point is that not so long ago a dealer would gladly take it back off you for near enough what you’d paid, now you’re looking at a £5-10k hit at least when P/Exing.

He swapped it for a GC in the end (but bought it from a different dealer to the one he sold the Ocean to).

 

[Corradobrit]

VW have been flooding the market with T6.1's in the last 6 months. There is only so much market for these vehicles as I'm sure most are leisure and not primary vehicles. Deliveries in a matter of weeks, not months or years. That supply chain was further saturated with the 0% deals. Resale is going to be a tough sell for a good long time as a result. It will all depend how the market receives the new Sharavan. A rebound 6-12 months down the line could be envisaged if it bombs.

 

[Ch1pbutty]

Well if the market is loaded with stock that is not selling at this time of the year and Dealerships have end of line stock being delivered then there is going to have to be some serious discounting to prepare the market for the New California or realistic pricing of the New California to insert it into the market place.
But it is surprising that there are so many Californias unsold as we approach the holiday season. Unheard of over the past few years.

It is strange, delears stock could well be rejected vans. There are many owners who are not on the forum so think the issue is quite widespread.

In contrast Non Calis (club jokers / hymers etc) new / used stock all seems to be very limited with firm prices, so following the usual seasonal market.

 

[andyinluton]

You need the sun to come out for a weekend or two. I don’t remember the last time we had such a miserable spring. It feels like it’s been cold and wet forever.
Get a warm sunny spell or better still a heatwave and people will think about going camping & demand will lift.

 

[Mr B]

Interesting replies. Let see if demand picks up, I'm going to wait until July to list mine so will see.

 

[Barry Chuckle]

I left my ad on Autotrader for a fortnight after I sold it to the dealer, and apart from the usual clown who messaged with no real intention of buying I had nothing in 4 weeks. The ad only came off a few days ago so this is relatively recent experience. Interestingly dealers are selling the same model/age of mine for £10k more. I'm guessing that many people would rather buy nearly new from a dealer over a private sale.

I wasn't following RV's before covid, but is this how the market was before then or is it more subdued now?

 

[The Blue Merle]

It is strange, delears stock could well be rejected vans. There are many owners who are not on the forum so think the issue is quite widespread.

In contrast Non Calis (club jokers / hymers etc) new / used stock all seems to be very limited with firm prices, so following the usual seasonal market.

Westy dealer in Scotland has knocked £10k brand new joker 4motion and offering 3warranty so not that firm anymore.
Was on for nearly £105k.
Cheap money isn’t around anymore and everyone’s bills have gone up! Equity release deals will be awful so all the oap westy/cali get bought buy won’t anymore!

 

[This_one_goes_to_eleven]

Shouldn’t be too much of a surprise that nearly new used vans are not selling for 5% less than what folks paid for them given we are just out of 5yrs 0% finance and 10% discounts off list.

Anyone paying £67k for a van they could have picked up new for £72k with free finance would be a chump surely.

 

[Californication69]

I advertised mine on Autotrader it was a 4 months old 204PS Ocean with about 8k in added spec and done 1200 miles for just over £67k (the new list with all options was £82k). It was the cheapest of it's type by about £2k and other than one timewaster I didn't have a single inquiry on it. I ended up selling it to a dealer for £100 over the trade I'd been offered. I was very disappointed but accept the market is awash with Calis presently. I know some are saying that the demand for Cali's will grow with production ceasing but personally I just don't buy this and certainly wasn't the case for me.

If you have the price tracker on Autotrader you'll see dozens sitting at dealers for over 6 months discounted at regular intervals and still not shifting. I'd say I'd lost around £9k in 4 months, which is nothing compared to what my Range Rover has lost over the same period as everyone is nicking them and can't get insurance

Feel for you. But then I’ve lost around £15k in my 30’s on cars.
Now have 3 keepers where I’ll be paying them off once the PCP is finished.
Can’t see any other vehicles I’ll need.
California, convertible and defender.

 

[Corradobrit]

California, convertible and defender.

Pretty much covers all bases.

 

[CaliforniaSeb]

Well if the market is loaded with stock that is not selling at this time of the year and Dealerships have end of line stock being delivered then there is going to have to be some serious discounting to prepare the market for the New California or realistic pricing of the New California to insert it into the market place.
But it is surprising that there are so many Californias unsold as we approach the holiday season. Unheard of over the past few years.

Many potential buyers might be holding back to see if the multivan is s better option . If I was in the market for my first camper and had done my research, I would hold on.

 

[Agnes_Cali]

Can’t see any other vehicles I’ll need.
California, convertible and defender.

Looks like my future fleet if my California order is confirmed. In my case it's not Defender but Toyota 4x4 and convertible as daily driver.