🔴 Buying at a Motorhome Show? Don't Make THESE Expensive Mistakes

Is buying a motorhome at a show a good idea? I get asked this question constantly, and the annoying but honest answer is, it depends. Shows are absolutely fantastic for research. They are the best place to compare layouts side by side, but they are also, without a doubt, a very, very dangerous place to open your wallet if you're not prepared. Don't forget that shows are literally designed to showcase their vehicles— motorhomes, campervans, or RVs, whatever you happen to be looking at— in the best possible light. Literally, the lights, the flooring, the way everything is laid out, it's all very, very cleverly designed to make everything feel spacious and bright and attractive. And you end up in this situation, which I often hear called show fever, where you go to a show like the NEC Show not expecting to buy anything, and then suddenly you get Sucked in and you end up putting a deposit down on a vehicle that you haven't necessarily researched as much as you should have. So we're going to talk through some of the biggest mistakes that people make when they go to show and start buying vehicles at these shows and how you can avoid them. If you're new here, hi, welcome. My name is Kat and I run the channel Wandering Bird, which helps motorhome and campervan owners make the most of their time on the road, and that starts with getting the vehicle right. From the outset. Now, we are talking about the second most expensive purchase most people ever make in their lives after their house. The amount of money that goes into motorhomes and campervans is staggering, and yet it is so easy to make an impulse purchase on them, which is absolutely crazy. And yet loads of people do it all the time, myself included. So I want to walk through 5 of the biggest mistakes to avoid when you go to the shows. Before I dive in, I want to quickly draw your attention— if you are going to a show, whether it's the NEC show, one of the Warner shows, or any other type of show, or even a dealership, there is a free buying checklist that I want you to download before you go. The dealers all know when I've got Wandering Bird customers in because they've got their little checklist of what to look for when you're looking around, and then also when you actually go to buy and purchase, questions to ask and things Things to know. So I will leave the link for that in the show notes. Please make sure you download that before you go shopping, or certainly to a show, so that you can remember what it is that you need to be aware of. So mistake number 1 is the show price illusion, or as I like to call it, what you see is not what you get. So often you go around the shows or the big hall or the outdoor show, wherever you happen to be, and you see the vehicles, you go in the vehicles, you sit and lie on the bed and do all this great And it says a price on the outside. Now, often it's a from price or a base price or anything like that, but the vehicle that you are standing, sitting, and lying in is not the same spec as the base vehicle. I've even seen, although admittedly not for a while, so I don't know if this has now been legally stopped, but some of the base prices don't even include things like Tires. They don't include, like, basic, basic stuff that you wouldn't even expect to not be included. So the very first thing you need to be asking a salesperson is, what's the difference between this vehicle that you can see right now and this price that you're seeing on the board? How much is that? What actually is included? How much of the optional extras? How much are actually normal things that you're going to want in your vehicle? And get a picture of exactly what the costs are For the vehicle that you are so in love with. So mistake number 2 is the payload trap. If you don't know what payload is, I've done an entire video about it up here, but it's basically the difference between what the vehicle actually weighs whilst it's sitting there in your driveway and the maximum allowed weight that that vehicle is allowed to have on it. So for many motorhomes, it's 3.5 tonnes, although many of them are now going above that, but it's basically the amount of stuff that you can put in it or on it. And this is a trap a lot of people fall into because a lot of the manufacturers, they're trying to make their motorhomes or campervans stay under 3.5 tonnes because people like me can't drive them on our licences. And obviously, as we get older, we're getting to the point of retirement and everything else, and we can't drive these heavier vehicles. So they're trying to make them under 3.5 tonnes. But there's only so much you can do with a vehicle that is 6.5, 7 metres long as a complete van and all that kind of stuff. has to have all the seats and bathroom and bed and everything else in it. So they are very, very tight on this payload. And if you then want a vehicle that you can fit a tow bar to, you can fit an awning to, you can fit a bike rack or solar panels or anything else, or if you're going to live in it full-time or certainly go for long, like 3-month tours in it, you're going to put a lot of stuff in there. And often you look at the payload and it's like, 300 kilograms or 400 kilograms, sometimes even less than that. And if you think, okay, one person, let's be generous and call them 75, 80 kilos, you and your other half, all right, so if we say 75 each, that's 150 kilos before you've even blinked. Then you've got a dog or you've got grandkids, and then you've got all of your stuff without any extra kit on that base chassis at all. And it can mount up So, so quickly. So please, before you buy a vehicle, understand what the payload is, and then if you are getting any extras fitted when you purchase it, like bike racks and awnings and stuff, find out what the weight of those are, and then you can actually see what the payload is. But like I say, there is a whole video walking you through that payload in a lot more detail if you don't really understand what I'm saying. But make sure you don't fall into that trap because there's not a lot you can do about that other than paying a lot of money to then upplate the vehicle to Now, mistake number 3 that is made so, so commonly at shows is not wanting to be rude when you're checking out a vehicle that you are in love with. And I know how that feels. Yeah, you get into a vehicle and there's people all over the place, and there's people like trying to put their heads in and stuff, and it feels a little bit claustrophobic. And it also— you feel rude if you spend too long in there. You're about to drop a lot of money, whether it's £70,000, £100,000 more, Whatever amount of money that is on that vehicle, it's a lot of money. You want to make sure it's right for you. You want to make sure you can go into the bathroom and sit on the toilet and close the door. You'd be amazed how many vans you can't do this in. You want to make sure you can go in the shower and do the funky chicken. If you're new to the channel, that is literally my imitation of girls trying to wash their hair, is doing the funky chicken. If you can't do that, does that bug you? It would bug me, but that's one of my issues. If it doesn't bug you, maybe you're smaller than I am. Fine, but can you do that? Can you lie on the bed? I'm 5'11. There are a lot of beds that I am too long for, certainly lengthways beds. They're often not quite long enough for me to be comfortable when you've got pillows and everything else on there. If you've got drop-down beds, if you're tall, can you walk underneath them? Again, you would be amazed. And in the show, they're brilliant because they go up, right up to the ceiling, but when you've got a mattress or you've got bedding on them, they come down 2 or 3 inches, at which point you're going to whack your head every time you walk through them. This is so, so important to check. Like, if you are in the bed, if you've got a drop-down bed or you've got a bed that you make up every night, can you get to the door if there's a fire or an emergency? Again, you'd be amazed how difficult it can be in some of them. Can you get to the hob to make a brew? Can you open the fridge? Can you do things if there's more than one of you in this space? It is really important To sit there in the van, don't worry about everybody else, and check all of these different things. The other thing that I want you to do is sit in the van and imagine it's rainy and horrible like it is right now. It's a horrible rainy day here. I'm stuck in the van. If you're traveling on your own, it's not quite so bad, but if you're going to be sharing the space with other people, are there places to sit and relax? Are there places to watch a movie? Are there places to eat? You know, all of these things. If you're stuck in that vehicle for 2 days and you can't sit outside because the weather's really bad, Has that vehicle got enough space for you without you going absolutely stir-crazy? Really important. And do not feel pressured by other members of the public who are just looking because it's fun to look to move out quickly. It's fine. Take your time. If you do know that you are going to buy a particular vehicle, I highly recommend you get to the show as it opens and you go there first. You will get 10, maybe 15 minutes with only a few people in them. And obviously, as the day progresses, it gets busier and busier. And then right at the very, very end of the day, particularly the last hour of the big show, shows like the NEC, there's almost nobody going around in, in this kind of detail, so you'll have a lot more space and a lot more time to actually test things out and make sure that they're right for you. Mistake number 4, and this is a huge one, so please, please hear me on this. Mistake number 4 is the distance to the dealer trap. So you live in south of England, if you go somewhere like the NEC Show, you have got dealers coming from all over the place to the NEC in Birmingham. If you buy from a dealer in, say, Manchester, or Even worse, Scotland, because they are cheaper than the dealer down the road from you in Hampshire or wherever you are. That's a huge distance that you have then got to travel if anything goes wrong with your lovely shiny new vehicle when you get it. Now, they may say it's okay, we have approved people all over the country, but those approved people don't want to do the work that some other dealer has gone and sold and got all the money for. So they often prioritise their own customers and fit you in months down the road, which means that in order to get your vehicle fixed or sorted or updated or whatever it is in a timely manner, you have to go back to your original dealer, which could be the other end of the country. So it is so important that you pick a dealer within a driving range that you are happy with if anything goes wrong with that vehicle once it's delivered and it can be fixed under warranty. Next mistake is getting blinded by the excitement of the show. It kind of ties into the show fever, but it specifically relates to the reality check. So the first thing I want you to be aware of is the delivery date. So the delivery date, it will vary based on manufacturer and the model that you get and all that kind of stuff. But look at the delivery date and ask, is that an estimated date or is that set in stone? If your vehicle doesn't arrive by this date, Will there be some sort of rebate or whatever? What is the deal if that vehicle doesn't arrive, or could it be pushed 2, 3, 5, 12 months into the future? Like, what are the repercussions here? So that's something to be really, really careful and ask these blunt, very direct questions, and ideally get it in writing as well before you sign the contract. The second thing to be aware of are the finance options. So obviously every dealership has its own preferred financial institutions that it works with, and normally get some sort of cutback or something from recommending people to go down to motorhome finance with a particular company. At the shows, those finance options are generally a much higher APR, or they require much more than you might get in another setting at another time. So it is really important if you're going to buy your vehicle on finance, which most people do, no shame in that, but if you are going to use finance, make sure you do your own research on what kind of deals you can get, how quickly you can get them, repayment options, early repayment terms, all of that kind of stuff. You can even sit at the show and do your quotes online and take it back to the dealer and go, well, I found this. They might be able to match it with the finance option. You don't know, but make sure you do your own research. So those are 5 of the big mistakes to avoid when you are buying at a show. Sadly, there are many more mistakes to avoid when you're buying a motorhome or campervan, whether it's brand new or used. If you would like some more advice and some things avoid, things to look for, how the whole process works. I'm actually running another one of my Buyer Beware workshops. These have been really, really popular in the past, and I'm running it now in time for show season so that you can be as prepared as possible. If you'd like to come and join me on that workshop, all the information will be in the show notes for you. Also, don't forget to get that free download of the checklist and things to look for. That will also be in there as well. I hope you found this video useful. If you did, don't forget to follow for part 2, which will be coming up very very soon, and I will see you on the next video. Take care, bye!