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Topic: Importing a new caravan from Germany!

tectic

04/6/2017 at 8:15pm
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Hi
I am looking at purchasing a new t at B 400 caravan
I can see they are quite a bit cheaper to purchase from a German dealer.
Is there any reason why I could not buy a van and go pick it up and bring it back to the UK.

Anyone have real life experience buying on the continent and bringing a caravan back?

Grampian91

05/6/2017 at 7:03am
Location: Midlands
Outfit: Mondeo Avondale Gram

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No issues buying one and bringing it back yourself. Just check how you stand with any warranty work.

You dont want to be taking it back to Germany if it needs any work doing.

Some caravan sales tend to be a bit fussy when it comes to warranty work on vans they did not sell.

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blueexpo97

05/6/2017 at 7:47am
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Don't know if you've looked at these previous posts, or this post, there is a member, Kelper, on this post who done it probably most recently, 2015?

-------------
XVI yes?

As well is two words!
How does a sage know everything about everything? or does he? or does he just think he does?
Remember, if you buy something you bought it, not brought it.

Kelper

05/6/2017 at 11:45am
Location: Northern Ireland
Outfit: Sterckeman Alize Concept CP480

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Yes, we bought a Sterckeman Alizé Concept 480CP from a dealer in Hannover last year.

It had been used for four months holiday rental, was in first class order and condition, and saved a lot of money compared to a new one or to any comparable lay out/size obtainable in the UK.

The fridge turned out to be faulty (discovered within a couple of days) ... but we had it replaced under warranty at a French Sterckeman Agency near where we store the van (in France).

The biggest fuss was over the sale/registration process ... I had to obtain a german registered number plate, and have that on the van whilst we towed it out of Germany! Now it has the same plate as our car ... no problem with insurance etc. It took about three hours traipsing from office to office to get paperwork/forms/plate etc.

If you intend to use it on the continent a lot, then you can get it serviced over there (we get ours done near our storage depot, at a Sterckeman Dealership ... it's our first port of call each hol).

I would thoroughly recommend the process, if it's going to save you money. Of course, with the exchange rate being a lot less favourable now than when we did it ... there might be less incentive ... but ... do your sums. It certainly added to the fun of getting a new van!

teamkona

26/6/2017 at 11:38am
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Hi....do it ! We went over to the caravan salon in Düsseldorf in 2014 and bought a brand new Burstner 450 ts. Were were introduced to a dealer at the exhibition that spoke a decent amount of English, Sorted a price with what we wanted onboard and collected 5 months later in Monchengladbach.

The biggest problem we can across was the payment !! They don't take card like we do over in the U.K so could not pay for it like you would on a card at a car dealer. Had to arrange an emergency transfer but it went ok in the end. (Avoid a German caravan seller called Krings).

It's German so should not have anything major wrong. We found a dealer in Lincoln that's servicing (camper uk) and ticking the warranty boxes.

Never had a problem with it being german on a decent uk site either.

Love our German lightweight tourer, in fact Sitting in the Austrian Tirol as I type surrounded amazing mountains (zugspitze) in a 4 star caravan site.

Do it

David Klyne

26/6/2017 at 3:56pm
Location: Milton Keynes
Outfit: Bailey Alliance 66-2 Motorhome

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As has been said no issues about buying from Germany. Whether than changes post Brexit is another question so perhaps good timing on your part!!!

All caravans whether German or English are capable of having problems so I would check carefully the warranty and where things can be repaired. Also check out the spec is what you want as that is more than likely to be different to a UK speced van. Are you buying from Joeressen's? If so they seem to have a good reputation amongst British buyers. Somebody I once knew purchased a Hobby from the and he used to take it back every two years for service and TUV certificate. I think there is a campsite near to the dealer.

David

boff

26/6/2017 at 6:12pm
Location: N Wales
Outfit: Hymer Nova 590GL

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I agree with David all Caravans can have problems it's the nature of the beast. But with acknowledgement to George Orwell, all caravans are created equal it is just that some caravans are more equal than others.

By a complete coincidence we were behind a Hobby caravan with UK plate but the number plate surround announced it had come from Joeressen's. Whether it will still be straight forward to buy a caravan from Europe post Brexit is anyone's guess.

teamkona

26/6/2017 at 7:48pm
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We used Krings (avoid) in monchengladbach not joerensenns as we ended up falling for the spec and look of our burstner and have never looked back but wished we had used a friendlier dealer, But Joerensonns were very helpful and got us into the show for free and we went over to see a knaus they had.

Most of the issues you may get will involved individual parts such as heaters (Alde or truma) or fridge (thetford) which will all be covered under each of those company's warranties.

Our spec is perfect for us, minimal but very comfortable ! Our luxury add on was shower but it's not been on once in two years. We eat out or have one pot meals and lots of salads etc with the Caravan so need to tug around a heavy oven for no reason or a freeky food zapper such as a microwave. Currently sitting a campsite 1200m up in the alps and surrounded by caravans that will be here all winter in the snow and minus temps.

At the end of the day we said the massive saving we made at the time outways any repair costs (other then a damp van) so don't worry about it. 2 clean bills of health so far x. Current exchange rate makes this debatable as we got 1.40 back in 2014. But I would probably look at an Adria if forced to buy in U.K. Again.

Opensauce

27/6/2017 at 9:53am
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If you check prices at north Belgian dealers ie Dutch speaking area they are little different from Germany. Doable from Calais in a day trip and no issue with reg. Just bring your Uk numberplate & away you go. Easier than Germany & dealers all speak English.

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