Used cali's

[calikev]

No shortage of used Cali's we now have 35 for sale in the classifieds.

 

[Borris]

It's interesting that there are 31 SEs for sale but only 4 Beaches!

Is a Beach easier to sell than an SE/Ocean?

Do Beach owners hang onto their vehicles for longer?

 

[daveyboydanger]

It's interesting that there are 31 SEs for sale but only 4 Beaches!

Is a Beach easier to sell than an SE/Ocean?

Do Beach owners hang onto their vehicles for longer?

Or are there just less beaches?

 

[larrylamb]

No shortage of used Cali's we now have 35 for sale in the classifieds.

They don't seem to be shifting so fast considering it's spring. Have many sold recently?

 

[2into1]

The SEs have been available since 2006,so numbers outweigh beaches considerably.

The forum has grown so you'd expect to see more unsold than this time last year, but frankly some of the asking prices are crazy. If achieved, I suspect some some would be selling at a profit to the new price paid.

Spring is here and they should be moving quickly.

 

[GrannyJen]

Or are there just less beaches?

The places I drink at there are loads of beatches, excluding myself of course

 

[Stuart]

The weird thing with used Californias is that they often seem to be cheaper at VW dealers than private sales. It's almost like the private sellers don't really want to sell them! Compare this to a used car where dealers are significantly more expensive than private sales.

I initially planned to buy a used Beach but all the private sellers seemed to be holding out for silly money and any that cropped up at dealers disappeared almost instantly. So a new T6 it was then

 

[inthemidnighthour]

Does anyone know how to remove a cali from the adverts ?

 

[calikev]

Only admin and the seller can remove an add. The problem we have is sellers marking them as sold so some of the 35 may already be sold. Agree with the prices some people are trying to get more than they paid.

 

[hirsty]

The weird thing with used Californias is that they often seem to be cheaper at VW dealers than private sales. It's almost like the private sellers don't really want to sell them! Compare this to a used car where dealers are significantly more expensive than private sales.

I initially planned to buy a used Beach but all the private sellers seemed to be holding out for silly money and any that cropped up at dealers disappeared almost instantly. So a new T6 it was then

Too right - there are some absolutely bonkers asking prices out there, particularly private ads but also at VW dealers too.

I think it'll all calm down a bit when T6 supplies improve as sellers can currently overprice their (few) available T5s whilst wait times are so long.

Borderline exploitative asking T6 list price for a pre-registered T5.1! Supply & Demand is a funny old game ...

 

[Hotel California]

Can't speak on prices as i am not from the UK but ,
guess many private owners advertise theirs with a high price hoping one buying it and then switch to a T6 .
As dealers can sell it lower becose those are T5' s taking from T6 buyers and they got to get rid off them having the profit of the new sold Cali. A dealer does not want more 5's than 6's on the drive it would look strange.

If one payed a ridiculous high price for mine i would sell to....
But i'm not gonna advertise

Wait a year and T5 Cali's are gonne be trown at your head ....

 

[Borris]

Well the thing about supply and demand is that the prices will find their own level. If the owners and dealers don't get their high asking prices they have two choices:
1. Carry on waiting and hoping for someone to buy their van at it's high price.
or
2. Lower the price.
As the asking prices continue to remain high then I can only assume that either the owner/dealers aren't that bothered about selling or they are continuing to sell at or near these higher prices.

I also think that unlike most cars, people often dream about owning a VW camper van for many years. It's possible that many of those people, some of whom will not be aware of this forum, are more interested in how the bit behind the front seats will improve their current lifestyles instead of the latest chassis improvements. After all, the whole raison d'être of a camper van is the lifestyle it enables and what's underneath it is really of secondary importance. For some, once they have seen a Cali that fits their dreams they will want it whether it's a T5 or T6. In my view, it is entirely possible that the current asking prices are being realised.

But then again this is only the perspective from a silly old fart.

 

[Stuart]

Looking on autotrader I still recognise quite a few vans from when I started looking back in October last year, so I'm not convinced that the asking prices are being achieved. I guess a lot are people's second vehicles so there's little pressure to sell and instead they just advertise on the off-chance that someone is really keen.

 

[2into1]

I'm getting bored looking for the 'new additions' to the list of Cali's available on here.

The list is just getting longer and longer. The odd new addition arrives, but they seem to have prices researched only on the 35 others that haven't sold, rather than reality.

There is one trade seller who is shifting them, showing that those who are buying prefer the trade route (and who wouldn't when the privates are asking the same levels).

Thinking further than I planned (sorry), I'm now wondering if the (new) presence of trade ads in the list is contributing to the 'problem'?

 

[hirsty]

I think that's right - no disrespect to the private sellers aiming high, clearly everyone is looking to maximise their return on a high-end vehicle that they paid top dollar for themselves in the first place ... It's a bad time to be either selling or buying IMO:

- the new model is announced but not really / readily 'available' so in turn T5.1 prices haven't yet fallen as they will when trade-ins start to hit the market in reasonable numbers

- T5.1 sellers may as well ignore T6s, seeing as that's not a realistic alternative yet, and lots of people want to trade-up with as small a contribution as they can get away with

- many T5.1s are so new and/or low mileage that the perceived risk of a private sale is lower

- summer is coming, everyone is losing their minds!

 

[Borris]

I'm getting bored looking for the 'new additions' to the list of Cali's available on here.

The list is just getting longer and longer. The odd new addition arrives, but they seem to have prices researched only on the 35 others that haven't sold, rather than reality.

There is one trade seller who is shifting them, showing that those who are buying prefer the trade route (and who wouldn't when the privates are asking the same levels).

Thinking further than I planned (sorry), I'm now wondering if the (new) presence of trade ads in the list is contributing to the 'problem'?

Anyone selling a vehicle should naturally base their price on what similar examples are being advertised for and not just on those advertised on this forum. Unless they are desperate to sell quickly they would be daft doing anything else. If they are despareate then they could ask less than everyone else but would then risk undervaluing their pride and joy.

I suppose the question is, what is reality? There are so many variables at present.

 

[2into1]

I suppose the question is, what is reality?

Well we are past the traditional turning points of January and then Easter and the numbers are growing. As an antiques dealer I understand the term "motivated seller" and this doesn't appear to apply to many on our 'for sale' list.

I'm not blaming the sellers for trying. For £25 it may be worth seeing if you can get back all or more of your initial investment. If it sells, have a year in hotels or tents, then order a fresh T6 and go again. It it doesn't, just carry on with your existing plans. Almost the definition of an unmotivated seller.

 

[CaliforniaBen]

The problem with the adverts on this website is they are offering for sale until sold, the problem with this ( although good value for the seller) is you can just list a Cali and just try your luck and keep it up for sale for a year if need be. With other websites like Auto Trader etc.. you only get two weeks to sell it before you need to renew. Might be worth the site owners introducing something like this as we may then end up with people that really want to sell rather than just try and cash in.

 

[Seaview]

I phoned up a seller at the beginning of last week as we are looking to buy and he said that it was no longer available and that he'd emailed asking for his ad to be removed but I see it's still on here.

I think it would be a good idea if ads only ran for max 4-6 weeks with some mechanism for renewal at the end of that period only if vehicle confirmed still available.

 

[Martin]

I phoned up a seller at the beginning of last week as we are looking to buy and he said that it was no longer available and that he'd emailed asking for his ad to be removed but I see it's still on here.

I think it would be a good idea if ads only ran for max 4-6 weeks with some mechanism for renewal at the end of that period only if vehicle confirmed still available.

I am not sure why he would need to email us as sellers are in full control of their adverts, they can edit and remove at any time.

 

[Martin]

The problem with the adverts on this website is they are offering for sale until sold, the problem with this ( although good value for the seller) is you can just list a Cali and just try your luck and keep it up for sale for a year if need be. With other websites like Auto Trader etc.. you only get two weeks to sell it before you need to renew. Might be worth the site owners introducing something like this as we may then end up with people that really want to sell rather than just try and cash in.

This is something we have been talking about over the last few weeks, we are now planning to limit the duration of adverts to avoid this problem in the future, some adverts have been on the site for over six months!

 

[Seaview]

It was the 2012, low mileage Cali SE in Norwich, perhaps he doesn't know how to remove it.

 

[jamesC]

It's interesting that there are 31 SEs for sale but only 4 Beaches!

Is a Beach easier to sell than an SE/Ocean?

Do Beach owners hang onto their vehicles for longer?

I set a reasonable price for my Beach and it sold in a week.

Some may argue that my vehicle must have been offered too cheaply, but it lost only £7k in 3 years, with 35k on the clock and well in excess of 100 camping nights during my ownership!

Great value, and a great vehicle!!

 

[hirsty]

If I recognise your logo / avatar correctly James then yours was one of only two Beaches I've seen for sale "starting with a two" since I started looking seriously after advertising my own T5 conversion to upgrade.

I agree that Classifieds on this site should be time-limited, or at least have a 'first listed' date field added. For £20 everyone may as well keep a permanent ad running for their own van at list price 'just in case'.

Also a bit optimistic IMO to count on people remembering to delete their own Classified Ad after selling their van - out of sight, out of mind ...

 

[thesquirrelpatrol]

As with all things the advertised price is open to negotiation, the problem being that if you start low it only goes one way. I have mine advertised just now in the full knowledge that whomever wants to buy it will try to negotiate down, of course I would be open to negotiation to a limit. The same principal applies to new vans, the list price is a starting point, the dealers know everyone will negotiate down. I'd be surprised if anyone has ever actually paid list price on any car ever.

The reason we all spend so much money on these beautiful campers is that they do not depreciate the same as a normal car. Therefore when a van has a list price like mine of over £44k and I am listing it for £37k at less than 18 months old I don't think that's unreasonable at 16% off list as a starting point. If these vans depreciated any more than that surely no one would buy one!