Buying a Motorhome on eBay – Pros and Cons

Buying a motorhome or campervan is a major investment and it would be a pity to see your money disappear into the hands of a fraudster, by not taking enough care. Using eBay to buy a motorhome can save you a significant amount of money, but there are some pitfalls along the way.

Can I Buy a Motorhome or Campervan on eBay? Absolutely. At any time, there are hundreds of motorhomes for sale or auction on eBay, with some bargains to be had. There are also people out there aiming to sell you a stolen motorhome or take your money and you receive nothing.

However, it isn’t all doom and gloom by any means, and by using eBay in the right way you will be able to discover and buy the motorhome you want to own. Let’s look at some of the pros and cons when using eBay as a platform to buy a motorhome.

Using eBay to Find a Motorhome or Campervan

At the time of writing, there are over 3,000 motorhomes for sale on eBay. Most of them are perfectly legitimate sales from private owners and dealers, where there is nothing to fear.

Searching on eBay is straightforward, but there are a few tricks to help you find the ideal motorhome.

Start here on eBay.

If you know exactly what you are looking for in a motorhome or campervan by make or model, then using a search term such as – Hymer 614 SL – will today find one exact match, plus a dozen more which are close matches to the search term.

Widening the search term to – Hymer Motorhome – brings up over 150 results when tried just now, 27 of which are new vehicles.

On the screen, it is now time to start refining the search. Look for option attributes to tick such as the sleeping capacity, manual or automatic, new or used, the year, auction or fixed price, and a host more.

Taking the search now as – Hymer Motorhome – used – auction only – manual – right-hand drive – four-berth – brings the results down to a more manageable 20 results.

If you are undecided on the make, then use the search term – motorhome – and refine with the various attributes to help focus on your specific needs.

Some people are not very good at using eBay as sellers, so it may be worth scrolling down through a full set of results using the search term – motorhome or – campervan – if that is your choice. There are several results today, where the seller has used just those single words in the description, which other eBay users may not find.

Spotting the Dealers

There are many legitimate dealers selling motorhomes on eBay and they will clearly identify themselves by name and location. Dealers are legally bound to provide accurate information about any vehicle they sell.

However, some more unscrupulous dealers will try to masquerade as private sellers. These can often be identified by checking their feedback. Has this ‘private seller’ sold several vans or cars? Also, check what else the seller is listing on eBay – several cars – equals a dealer.

Before Inspecting the Motorhome

Before you visit the owner to inspect the vehicle, ask them for the registration number. Make all these requests via the eBay system, not in direct email, text, or phone.

When you have the registration number, you can go online and check several things. Firstly, a simple search on Google for the registration number could bring up a result showing the motorhome is stolen.

Check the DVLA system for the recent MoT history.

Check online to see if the vehicle has outstanding finance, is stolen, or has been written off. The AA provides this service for a fee. Before you buy the vehicle, you will need to see that the finance has been paid in full. If not, even if you have paid the owner, you can be liable for any debt on the vehicle, or it can be taken from you by a finance company.

Inspecting a Motorhome Found on eBay

Do not, under any circumstances, buy a motorhome from eBay unseen.

Visit the owner at their home, who you can contact only via the eBay system, to arrange a visit to see the motorhome in person.

Here is the first potential red flag. The owner says they can only bring the van to you and will make all sorts of excuses as to why you can’t go to them. They may suggest meeting you halfway at a service station to ‘save you too much travel’. There is a high likelihood here, that the vehicle is stolen, and the ‘owner’ doesn’t want you to know where they live.

OK, so you have arranged to visit the owner at their home. A vital thing to check now is the V5C document. Does it show the correct address? If not, why not? Don’t accept an excuse from the ‘owner’ that they haven’t got around to changing it when they moved there recently. That is against the law and another red flag.

If the V5C shows the correct address, ask the owner to show you their driving licence, to make sure that the name and address on the licence and V5C match. Does the picture on the licence look like the owner? No, mine doesn’t either!

A dealer posing as a private buyer, won’t be able to provide any of these proofs.

A final check is to make sure the number on the V5C matches the VIN number on the plate of the motorhome.

Now you are fairly confident that the owner actually owns the van, it’s time to inspect the motorhome carefully. Depending on your level of vehicle expertise, you may be quite happy with your level of knowledge. If not, then take a more knowledgeable friend with you. If you decide to buy the motorhome, you might want to make it condition of sale, that you arrange an AA or similar inspection, which would be at your cost. If the owner refuses a professional inspection, this could be another red flag – what is wrong with the motorhome that they are not telling you?

Going for a test drive is an important part of buying any vehicle. The owner may not allow you to drive the motorhome for the clear reason that you are not insured. If the owner declines to take you on a test drive because the vehicle is currently ‘not insured’, then this is another red flag.

Ask to inspect the documentation, including all recent MoT certificates. Do the mileages make sense between each test? Look at the service history and invoices from the garage. Most responsible motorhome owners will have a full set of documentation. If the motorhome is within a few weeks of the next MoT, you might ask for it to be tested early as a condition of purchase.

Check the conditions off the tyres, including the spare, and whether the seatbelts are correctly fitted or worn.

Ask the seller to demonstrate how the cooker and hob work, light the fridge, test the heating, run the water, and switch on all the lights inside and out. Check the gas cupboard – are the gas bottle connections good? Look at other outside lockers such as the toilet cassette and inside a garage if there is one.

Lay on the beds and check that any which must be set up is complete and working. Ask what items come with the motorhome, such as ramps or other loose fittings. These may be present when you view the van but are removed before you collect them

Yes, I’ll Buy the Motorhome from eBay

You are happy on all points from your personal inspection of the motorhome and agree to buy it.

The next move should be to buy it via eBay, clicking the ‘buy now’ button. If the seller refuses to let you do this or wants to move the sale to a different platform to ‘save fees and we’ll spit the difference’ – walk away.

Unless you follow the eBay rules to the letter, you will have no buyer protection of any sort. The complete transaction must be conducted on the eBay platform, which includes all email exchanges in their system. Decline to move to personal emails as it is ‘easier’. All parts of a transaction can be completed by using eBay, PayPal, or other payment systems and any attempt by a seller to take you off-platform should be viewed as suspicious.

PayPal is where it can be tricky. You may receive an email or two from PayPal asking you to click a link and pay an amount. Fraudsters are good at faking these emails and clicking a link can take you to a fake site where the fraudster gathers your email and password. You use the same password for your bank? . . . right, watch your money disappear. For any transaction with PayPal, log directly into your account with a browser and work from there.

Some sellers will ask you to do a bank transfer off eBay, which then negates any eBay protection. If a seller says that eBay offers an ‘escrow’ system via ‘this’ bank account number, you are being scammed.

That said, most eBay motorhome sellers are 100% genuine – we are just highlighting the more obvious scams.

Fraudulent Motorhomes on eBay

A percentage of the motorhomes on eBay, don’t exist. Or, if they do exist, the ‘owner’ is out to defraud you of cash or sell you a stolen van.

The adage, “if it looks too good to be true – it is too good to be true” – should be remembered. Beware of motorhomes priced at low levels to attract unsuspecting buyers. it is likely that either the motorhome is stolen or doesn’t exist in the first place.

One of the more common cons is to say that several people are interested and that to secure it before arranging an inspection visit, the ‘owner’ wants a deposit. They will take the deposit and run.

If you are unfortunate enough to buy a stolen motorhome, the police are likely to appear on your doorstep to remove it and you lose every penny. Worse, they may suspect you stole the van in the first place.

15 Red Flags When Buying a Motorhome:

The owner refuses to let you see the motorhome at their address
The owner will only bring the motorhome to you
The owner will only agree to meet you at a service station to ‘save you travel’
The owner is ‘out of the country’ but you can secure the motorhome with a deposit. You will never see your money again!
The vehicle is out of the country now, but you can secure it with a deposit
The owner address you visit doesn’t match the V5C, or they ‘can’t find it’
The owners driving licence name and address doesn’t match the V5C
The VIN number on the vehicle doesn’t match the V5C document
The owner is selling the motorhome for a friend, which means very little can be checked
The owner refuses to take you for a test drive, as the vehicle isn’t insured ‘at the moment’.
The owner refuses to allow you to buy the van via eBay
Missing MoT certificates
Several years of MoT certificates where the mileages between them look odd. Has the motorhome been ‘clocked?’
Beware of dealers posing as private sellers to avoid their legal responsibilities
The owner says the vehicle is in storage, but a deposit will secure it for you.

All That Said

We seem to have painted a bleak picture where there are conmen at every turn waiting to relieve you of your hard-earned cash. There are only a few, but they are very good at extracting money from unsuspecting buyers. By using sensible precautions, all should be well.

The caveat here as always is, ‘buyer beware’.

Enjoy your new motorhome.