The Motorhome Market in 2025 with We Buy Any Motorcaravan

[00:00:00] Keith Gooden: In today’s episode of the Motorhome Matt podcast.

[00:00:02] Matt Sims: We meet the man behind the brand. We Buy Any Motorcaravan.

[00:00:07] Keith Gooden: In the news, the Norfolk show is just around the corner and up a bit to the east of England.

[00:00:12] Matt Sims: A bit pixelated up there and we answer your questions on attaching a spare wheel externally, maximum motorhome values for insurance and why island beds are named incorrectly.

[00:00:32] Keith Gooden: Welcome to the Motorhome Matt podcast! I’m Keith Gooden.

[00:00:34] Matt Sims: And I’m Motorhome Matt.

[00:00:36] Keith Gooden: Industry insights and expert advice for the world of motorhomes, caravans and campervans. It’s brought to you by www.thatleisureshop.com and sponsored by Ripe.

[00:00:46] Matt Sims: Now remember, please do follow on your favourite podcast app or if you’re watching on YouTube, click subscribe and the little bell. If you’ve ever tried to sort mobile data before heading abroad, you’ll know the pain of trawling websites comparing SIM cards and trying to work out which one actually works in the countries you’re going to. It’s a minefield.

[00:01:07] Keith Gooden: And every provider promises Europe-wide coverage. That’s until you hit the small print.

[00:01:13] Matt Sims: Exactly. And that’s why we’ve partnered with Saily. It’s an eSIM app, so no plastic SIM cards, no shipping, and no faff. You just download it, choose your destination or a multi-country plan, and within minutes your phone’s ready to go. Data sorted.

[00:01:29] Keith Gooden: So no more second guessing which SIM will actually work when you need it.

[00:01:34] Matt Sims: None of that. It works in over 190 countries and you can top it up as you go. Plus, it includes web protection, which helps keep things secure when you’re on campsite Wi-Fi or public hotspots.

[00:01:46] Keith Gooden: All right, where do I get it?

[00:01:47] Matt Sims: Just go to www.saily.com/motorhomematt or search Saily, that’s Saily, in the App Store. Use the code MOTORHOMEMATT at the checkout for 15% off your first plan. And honestly, it takes all the guesswork out of staying connected abroad.

[00:02:06] Keith Gooden: Let’s talk about an upcoming show then, shall we? Matt. The Norfolk Motorhome and Campervan Show. When and where is it on?

[00:02:13] Matt Sims: It is the 18th to the 20th of July at the Norfolk Showground. Another of the Warners shows. Fantastic amount of dealers going to this. Hundreds of motorhomes and campervans for sale, new and used. And if this show is like any of the others, there’ll be some massive screen price discounts. So a great time to go and discover the layout that works for you and save thousands. I mean, some of the discounts have been 20 or 30 grand off brand new. It’s incredible. Lots of thousands and thousands off used as well.

[00:02:44] Keith Gooden: And if you’re travelling, make sure you put your RDS on your radio data system. A little story about that, about BBC Radio Norfolk. They had a new jingle package and it was BBC Radio Norfolk Travel. But the DS switches you between whatever BBC station you are listening to. Could be Radio 2 or Radio 1, Radio 3. But what happens is when a local radio station does travel and traffic, it will switch to that from your national station or even another local station. But because it was a new jingle package, they didn’t really time it right. And there’s a delay with the RDS switch. Okay, just a couple of seconds. So BBC Radio Norfolk travel was a couple of seconds wrong and came out something travel no no.

[00:03:30] Matt Sims: No nor.

[00:03:31] Keith Gooden: And that is a true story.

[00:03:34] Matt Sims: So I’ve also got a funny story about Norfolk. It was our pub quiz team name – Norfolk Enchants. Get it? Anyway… we’re keeping it clean. So also at the show, there are the hundreds of traders that you’re used to seeing, including That Leisure Shop will be there with a range of outdoor furniture and accessories. There are loads of traders that go to these shows and the Advice Centre, and there’s lots of new speakers at the Advice Centre at this show. I’m not there in person because it’s Mrs Motorhome Matt’s birthday, so we’re away on holiday. Yeah, but you will find lots of speakers that you haven’t seen in the Advice Centre before, lots of art and craft and painting advice, which is going to be one to go and see and one to watch. So the shows are great, great fun. Thousands of people go to them £85 for four nights camping. You can arrive from Thursday, go home Monday and the show is open Friday, Saturday, Sunday with entertainment every night, including the Thursday night live music. There was a comedian at the last show we were at who was super funny. The quality of the evening entertainment is superb, so they are great value and I can’t commend them to you as a great weekend away. Chance to meet up with new friends that you’ve not even met yet, and old friends that perhaps you’ve known for years.

[00:04:50] Keith Gooden: If you’re listening to the podcast. A few podcasts ago we did a lot on toilets and Matt, of course, is desperately trying to get booked up for the entertainment Matt Sims and his talking toilet. How’s it going? How’s the act going?

[00:05:01] Matt Sims: Terrible. I would use a different word. It means the same. Slightly, slightly less syllables. But you can find out about all the Warners shows. Just head to. Warners where there is a discount code for your day ticket price. So you can just go for the day at a lower cost as well.

[00:05:20] Keith Gooden: It’s the Motorhome Matt podcast with me Keith Gooden.

[00:05:22] Matt Sims: And me Motorhome Matt.

[00:05:23] Keith Gooden: And it’s brought to you with ThatLeisureShop.com and sponsored by Ripe. Now this week we’re going behind the scenes of the motorhome buying industry. Can you explain that?

[00:05:33] Matt Sims: Yeah, we met up with Shane Malpass. Shane came into the studio. Now Shane has owned a very established business for some time called We Buy Any Motorcaravan. And I’ve been trying to catch up with Shane for months. But like me, he’s a very busy guy, and I wanted to know more about his business and how it works and what you, the consumer, can do to maximise the chances of getting the most for your motorhome if you’re selling it. So Shane came in and we had a really, really good chat and a real insight into how his business works. Why is it not We Buy Any Motorhome?

[00:06:07] Shane Malpass: Because it wasn’t available. It was just the next best thing! It’s the official name for a motorhome.

[00:06:14] Matt Sims: Well, it is the DVLA term. You’re quite right. And it is motorhomes. You deal in.

[00:06:18] Shane Malpass: Yes.

[00:06:18] Matt Sims: Okay. You also own an auction business CMS Auctions. Yes. Caravan and Motorhome Sales. Auctions. Okay. We’ll talk about all this in a minute. I’m really excited to unpick some of this with you, but you’ve been in the motorhome industry since you were five.

[00:06:33] Shane Malpass: That’s right. Yes.

[00:06:34] Matt Sims: How’s that?

[00:06:34] Shane Malpass: So my dad used to work for a big company that was local. Basically. I just used to go into work with my dad when I was at that age. Okay. And every Saturday morning, at least on a Saturday morning, that’s where I spent all my youth. Really?

[00:06:45] Matt Sims: And your dad worked at Don Amott? I understand, that’s right.

[00:06:47] Shane Malpass: Yeah, yeah. Back in the day. Yeah.

[00:06:48] Matt Sims: So he used to go in giving out leaflets.

[00:06:50] Shane Malpass: I did, I went to the. Yeah. I mean, obviously apart from going into the dealership when I was younger, used to go to the shows to the NEC. I can always remember doing demos on beds, on new style beds in the motorhomes there, and even going to Earls Court, which is when did Earls Court finish?

[00:07:06] Matt Sims: Oh gosh, that was years ago. Yeah, long time ago. I can’t remember a long time ago and that was on for weeks as well, wasn’t it? That show?

[00:07:12] Shane Malpass: There were long shows. I don’t think people remember or realise that they were three or four weeks long, two or three weeks straight. It was.

[00:07:19] Matt Sims: Ridiculous. I mean, the shows now are long six days. So you’ve been around motorhomes for a long time? Yeah. You set up a motorhome business of your own.

[00:07:27] Shane Malpass: Yeah. So that was in 2007, end of 2007. So at the time it was just before obviously the recession hit. So fantastic timing at this time. Amotts were desperate for stock. My dad was sales manager there, so me and him went out on the road to basically buy stock. And that was that was how it started.

[00:07:45] Matt Sims: So this is how We Buy Any Motorcaravan works. So you go and buy people’s motorhomes from them off their drive. Yep. And then you sell them into the trade.

[00:07:53] Shane Malpass: Yes.

[00:07:54] Matt Sims: So I’m intrigued by this. You’ve basically got to manage two margins. You’ve got your margin where you then sell into the dealer who wants to make a margin as well. Yeah. In the trade don’t we call that stealing them maybe. Or nicking them. So buying them cheap. Yeah. And is it the case that then someone rings you and says Shane or one of your team? Yeah. We want to sell our motorhome. Will you give me a value? Well, they get a value on your website. Is it that classic? You turn up and. Oh, there’s a damage on that wing. Oh, the habitation door’s got a dent. There’s a scratch on the window. You’ve not got the spare key. Oh, we might have some damp in the rear corner. Yeah, that 30 grand is now 12. Is that your model?

[00:08:36] Shane Malpass: There’s a there’s a yes and a no to that answer. I think if anybody goes out and buys something, they expect it to be exactly how it’s described. Of course. So we put a lot of focus on with the customers like can you please tell us everything’s we will value it exactly how you describe it. Okay. But if we come out and it needs £1,000 new bumper or it needs x, x, x and x. Then we’re going to have to either walk away, which we’ll happily do right, or we might have to readjust. There’s no pressure either way.

[00:09:04] Matt Sims: So your advice to a seller is be honest 100%. But how do you work then when making two margins? I mean, I sell motorhomes here as a as a used motorhome sales dealer. And you know, often we do a lot of brokerage. So we say to the owner, look, give it to us, we’ll sell it. We’re going to return you a fixed price. We’re going to advertise it at a higher price. The difference is our margin. You want to do that twice. How are you pulling that off?

[00:09:29] Shane Malpass: I mean, what margin we’re going to end up making is a complete gamble because obviously it goes to a to a dealer auction as such. But the way that we do it, which differentiates us to anybody else, and you can see this in other entries in the auctions as well, is that we do a full walkaround video, we do full damage reports, checks, check the engine. We do all these little things. So when the dealer ends up buying it from us, they are very, very confident in what they’re buying, right?

[00:09:58] Matt Sims: Okay. So you’re selling them in auction? Yes. So a trade auction. Yeah. And you’re wrapping it up in cotton wool with reports and and some assurance for the dealer that’s buying it. So are you saying then the dealer is prepared to pay a bit more?

[00:10:11] Shane Malpass: Yes. So we compete. We still compete with dealer prices. Yeah. We still offer the same sort of price as dealers do. The only difference is you’ve got to imagine. I mean, you’ll probably appreciate this to get people out on the road every day collecting. People haven’t got the resources, especially the smaller companies. So we do that for them. Gotcha. And because of that, they’re willing to pay a bit more.

[00:10:32] Matt Sims: Right. Okay. So you’re adding value.

[00:10:34] Shane Malpass: Yes.

[00:10:35] Matt Sims: By taking away the hassle for the dealer. Yeah. So that doesn’t mean then that the seller is having to take a lower price. They’re actually probably going to get the same price as a dealer might offer them.

[00:10:44] Shane Malpass: Yeah. Yeah, exactly.

[00:10:45] Matt Sims: Interesting. Fascinating.

[00:10:47] Shane Malpass: And obviously with motorhomes there’s different dealers see things at different prices as well. So that’s where we’re we tend to come up strong because we have a dealer for everything.

[00:10:56] Matt Sims: Yes. Okay. It’s all about your network, isn’t it? Yeah. Which, of course, you’ve been building since you were five. Yes. And how many motorhomes do you sell a year, do you think? Do you know.

[00:11:06] Shane Malpass: It goes up every year to give you an idea and May just gone. We sold 113.

[00:11:11] Matt Sims: Just in May.

[00:11:11] Shane Malpass: Yes.

[00:11:12] Matt Sims: Wow. And you’re doing that consistently through the year?

[00:11:15] Shane Malpass: Yeah. May was our record month.

[00:11:17] Matt Sims: So over a thousand a year.

[00:11:19] Shane Malpass: Yeah. It will be about that this year.

[00:11:20] Matt Sims: Wow that’s impressive Shane. Very good. And so let’s talk about COVID. Let’s get that little segment of our lives out of the way. Because this period had a massive impact on our industry. And I don’t want to deep dive into that. We know what impact it had. Fundamentally, prices went through, the roof, availability went through the floor, demand went through the roof. What impact did it have on your business for us?

[00:11:43] Shane Malpass: And this is the same for everybody. But for us, it was the best thing that ever happened to us.

[00:11:47] Matt Sims: Okay.

[00:11:47] Shane Malpass: For multiple reasons. One, because the government-backed loan schemes. Yes, that came out, which meant we could get. I can’t remember the exact figure. We probably got 300,000, 400,000 in government-backed loans, which would never have been able to get before. And obviously in this business, motorhomes are tens of thousands. Yes. And you need that money in the bank to be able to go and buy them.

[00:12:08] Matt Sims: Well, that’s actually only ten motorhomes, isn’t it?

[00:12:10] Shane Malpass: Yeah, exactly. So we could all of a sudden at least double the stock carry. Yeah. And that was just huge for us. And then obviously the demand went through.

[00:12:18] Matt Sims: So you were then selling them really quickly. Yeah. And almost flipping them and going again. Yeah. Yeah. So suddenly it became very profitable I assume.

[00:12:26] Shane Malpass: Yes. It was just a different level. We could just buy and sell more. We always knew that if we had the money to be able to buy more, we could we could sell them out the other side. It was just getting that money in the first place. And obviously from there it snowballed.

[00:12:36] Matt Sims: So five years on then from 2020, yeah, post-pandemic, four and a half years later, where is your business now? It’s obviously grown and scaled, but are you finding the same demand?

[00:12:48] Shane Malpass: Yes. So I’m going to be honest. In December this just gone, which was obviously 24. I was rather concerned about the market going into this year because I don’t think the dealers had the best time last year. For the first five months, it rained for a start, which I think put a lot of people off. So yeah, come July, June, July, prices dropped. We found they dropped considerably, demand dropped. But then this year has been very, very good.

[00:13:14] Matt Sims: So 2025 has been a good year.

[00:13:16] Shane Malpass: Yes. That’s interesting. I spoke to somebody else this morning actually best year they’ve had.

[00:13:20] Matt Sims: So I constantly hear the rhetoric from dealers that we’re overstocked. We’ve got too much stock. I see dealers that are selling brand new marques. Yeah. So brands into non-franchised dealers who have then suddenly got brand new unregistered motorhomes. But they’re not a dealer for that marque, which then upsets the rest of the dealer network. But you’re saying you’re still busy, so dealers are obviously going out and buying motorhomes somewhere.

[00:13:44] Shane Malpass: Yeah, exactly. So I mean, there is a little caveat to that. So I guess the people, the used dealers are the ones that are having a good time, right? I’m not too sure on the new dealers because of the stock that they’ve got hanging over them. Yes, from a manufacturer’s point of view.

[00:13:58] Matt Sims: And is.

[00:13:58] Shane Malpass: There a.

[00:13:58] Matt Sims: sweet point on price that you, you see selling really well?

[00:14:03] Shane Malpass: 60 grand. Absolute top end, probably under 50.

[00:14:06] Matt Sims: Okay. And that buys you now a 13-year-old motorhome.

[00:14:10] Shane Malpass: Yeah.

[00:14:12] Matt Sims: Almost. Yeah. And that’s the big difference, isn’t it? Yeah. 40 grand doesn’t get you anything like it used to. I mean, it will buy you a lovely motorhome, but it’s going to be a few years older. Yeah. Than it would have been comparatively in 2018.

[00:14:25] Shane Malpass: Yeah. You’re probably buying the similar sort of motorhome age wise for a 2012. In 2019, you’d have been paying 40 grand. You’re probably still paying the same for that now.

[00:14:34] Matt Sims: Six years later.

[00:14:35] Shane Malpass: Yeah. Six years later.

[00:14:36] Matt Sims: It’s incredible, isn’t it? So on that then depreciation we know is back.

[00:14:40] Shane Malpass: Yes.

[00:14:41] Matt Sims: And this is a fact that many private owners that are looking to sell just don’t want to admit they don’t want to acknowledge it. And I’ve had so many conversations where I’ve been trying to value a motorhome for someone and they said, well, we paid 88 grand for it 18 months ago. And I said, well, you can buy that same motorhome now, brand new for 72. And that puts yours probably low 60s at best. They’re losing an awful lot of money. And they go, well we can’t afford to lose that. You know we want our money back. Yeah, well that’s not going to happen. Are you finding that your experience as well, how do you deal with that with trying to educate people on the true market value of their motorhome?

[00:15:23] Shane Malpass: Now, that sort of price range is probably our weak point at the moment. So we’re not buying that many of the early new ones. And when I say the early new ones, I mean like the last of the old Fiats and Peugeots now, which went out in October last year. You know, the new cabs came out, the new cabs are doing well and not being discounted massively, but it’s the old style.

[00:15:43] Matt Sims: 2024.

[00:15:44] Shane Malpass: Model which are being discounted heavily. And some of the.

[00:15:47] Matt Sims: And they’re lingering, aren’t they?

[00:15:49] Shane Malpass: Yeah, I saw a I think it was Bürstner [unclear model name], I forget which model it was. And I’m sure that was a 2022 on the forecourt not too long ago.

[00:15:57] Matt Sims: What? Brand new.

[00:15:58] Shane Malpass: Brand new. Unregistered.

[00:15:59] Matt Sims: Wow.

[00:16:00] Shane Malpass: So they’re still lingering around. But the new Fiats are doing well still.

[00:16:04] Matt Sims: But you’re not in that market.

[00:16:05] Shane Malpass: We are a little bit. But it’s got to be the right price. Because, as you know, if you’re buying a 2024 unregistered and they’ve got £20,000 off them, let’s say they’re starting at 60, they’re now 40. For argument’s sake, you’re not going to be able to retail one anywhere near that 40 grand because you might as well just go and buy a brand new one.

[00:16:22] Matt Sims: Exactly. And this is the challenge isn’t it, for two year old motorhomes right now? I’ve seen this at the shows. I’ve done some pieces with Peter Vaughan from out and About life, and we walk around looking at discounts on new. There’s massive discounts out there. It’s a brilliant time to buy a brand new motorhome and you can save a significant sum 15 or even 20k off the new screen price. If you’ve got a motorhome that’s a year or two old. It’s really difficult to sell at a reasonable market value because as you say, well, for the same money, I can get into a brand new one. Exactly. So what age, for people listening? What age is your sweet spot?

[00:16:57] Shane Malpass: Well, we probably do anything from around 2002 up to pretty much brand new. But at the moment, the two-year-old stuff is probably a little bit more of a struggle, which is completely understood because of what the customer’s got into for the reasons we’ve seen.

[00:17:11] Shane Malpass: Having said that, the values on the new are still going up. Okay, so it will still keep up a little bit.

[00:17:17] Matt Sims: So many years ago, some people might remember the book Glass’s Guide, and it was a book that we would all thumb through every three months. A new one came out, didn’t it? I had a drawer full of them.

[00:17:27] Shane Malpass: I’ve still got.

[00:17:28] Matt Sims: Them. Have you?

[00:17:28] Shane Malpass: Yeah, we still got. Great.

[00:17:30] Matt Sims: Why do we keep them?

[00:17:30] Shane Malpass: I don’t know. I’ve got I’ve got one set on my desk. I think it’s from late 80s. Maybe.

[00:17:36] Matt Sims: It would probably be quite funny to look at now and look at the. Wow. 18 grand. Brand new. Yeah, but they disappeared. And there’s a new price book come out recently, isn’t there for caravans? Yes, for the trade. But there isn’t really a motorhome price book anymore that I’m aware of.

[00:17:53] Shane Malpass: No, they’ve. I think the same people have done the caravan. One might have done a motorhome have they.

[00:17:58] Matt Sims: Right. Okay. I’ve not, I’ve not had a look at it.

[00:18:00] Shane Malpass: Don’t know how good it is.

[00:18:01] Matt Sims: But my point is how do you value a motorhome now given that there’s no price guidebook anymore for motorhomes to work?

[00:18:11] Shane Malpass: About half the reason that Glass’s Guide pulled out of the market, I believe, is because they just couldn’t track the prices quick enough. You know, during COVID when the price was going up and up and up. Yeah, they were too scared to put the prices up to match, which meant they were too far out of value of reality. Yeah, exactly. So you couldn’t rely on the book anyway.

[00:18:29] Matt Sims: I mean, all of us, every dealer in the country struggled to keep up with the prices during 2020. Yeah, it was insane.

[00:18:36] Shane Malpass: And I understand, you know, from Glass’s Guide, if you’re if you’re offering these prices, you need to give the, the, you know, the dealer confidence that those prices are right. And if you’re saying, okay, well, these have gone up another 15 grand this month or this quarter, because they tend to be quarterly. It shows how worthless they are. They’re not going to put it up because they’re too scared that they might

[00:18:53] Matt Sims: Not come back into the market. There’s some stability coming in slowly. I wonder if they’ll reappear. I don’t know.

[00:18:59] Shane Malpass: I don’t know if the motorhome, motorhome or the leisure industry is just not big enough for them. You know, when you’re considering that. And somebody told me last year that they were aiming for 2 million new car registrations last year. And how many motorhomes is there? 12,000.

[00:19:14] Matt Sims: Maybe 15,000.

[00:19:16] Shane Malpass: 15,000?

[00:19:16] Matt Sims: Sure. Yeah.

[00:19:17] Shane Malpass: You know what I mean? It’s not a different scale. It’s not really a different scale.

[00:19:21] Matt Sims: So how then, do you value a motorhome?

[00:19:23] Shane Malpass: Ours is a lot of the data of what we sold, because we know exactly what the last 2 or 3 that have just sold for, and obviously what they’re online for.

[00:19:30] Matt Sims: So what other people are advertising them for?

[00:19:32] Shane Malpass: Yeah, there’s a couple of good apps on that sit on AutoTrader now, which will obviously also tell you how long they’ve been on for.

[00:19:39] Matt Sims: And then it’s about educating the seller on the true value of the motorhome.

[00:19:42] Shane Malpass: Yes.

[00:19:43] Matt Sims: And how does that go.

[00:19:44] Shane Malpass: Well is that it’s all on that scenario. What’s driving them to sell at the end of the day? Yeah, because there’s so many different scenarios from, you know, unfortunately, they might be a bereavement or the we’ve had ones where they bought the dog doesn’t like it. Well they’re never going to go away in it. And that’s half the reason they bought it. So it depends what they want to do. And then if they want to try and sell it privately, if they’ve got the time or the patience or the confidence to do that, do they want another one. They’re going to part-exchange it. There’s just so many variables to it.

[00:20:11] Matt Sims: Yes. And your expertise when it comes to the fore isn’t it. In in giving a true value. And as you say, you’re prepared to walk away. Yeah. And are you finding people are being very unrealistic about their values at the moment?

[00:20:23] Shane Malpass: Yes. Can be. But it’s because if, you know, if they bought them last year, year before the prices were so high. Yeah. I mean, you know, there’s one that I looked at a few weeks ago. I think it was a Swift Escape of some sort. I think they paid £57,000 for it. They are now online at dealers forecourts for 44, 45 grand. Yeah. And you’re telling them we need to be in the 30s for this. And it’s a hard swallow to drop 20 grand off in. Yeah, in the space of a year. 18 months.

[00:20:47] Matt Sims: I’ve had lots of conversations where people say, oh, well, I’ll just keep it then, you know? I mean, we’ve got one here today. It’s an Adria Coral. You were here when the chap rang. And we haven’t sold it. We’ve had it for months. And I’ve said to him, look, it’s too expensive. It needs to be 4 or 5 grand lower than this. He said, well, it’s just I’d rather not sell it. I’d rather enjoy it again for another summer. So he’s picking it up this morning? Yeah. And having it back. Which is unfortunate for us. Unfortunate for him. But he’s. I get his viewpoint. You know, he probably paid too much for it when he bought it 18 months ago.

[00:21:19] Shane Malpass: And then there’s the viewpoint. It’s like, if you’ve probably gone down the route of trying to sell it, you’re probably not using it anyway. And then it’s working out. Yes. Let’s say it’s £40,000 that you bought it for and you and you’ve offered 35, for example. And you still want that 40. You’re going to lose more than that just by keeping it for the summer and potentially not using it. You know, by the time you’ve made it, you’ve habitation serviced it, you’ve done mechanical service potentially on storage, insurance. You know, you might be a couple of grand into it then. Plus depreciation. Well, that £35,000 bid might not have been that bad after all.

[00:21:51] Matt Sims: It might end up being 32 by the end of the year. And that’s something that listeners need to be aware of, isn’t it? Depreciation is back. It’s real and it’s very much here again. So you said earlier to me that we’re in this new normal. Just quickly on pricing, we’ve kind of got an insight into where we are with nearly new and new. Do you think prices are stabilising? Is the bubble still in play and going to burst? Are they going to go up again? What’s your view?

[00:22:20] Shane Malpass: It depends what you call a bubble. I mean obviously you had the COVID bubble where everything went up and I do believe they come back down again. I think this is the norm. You know, I think we said, touched on briefly before the show, that COVID did introduce so many more people into the market. Yeah. And I think they’re here to stay. So I think, you know, I think this is the norm. Obviously prices are going to go a bit, go down a bit towards the end of the year. Yeah. And then they tend to rise a little bit into the new year again.

[00:22:47] Matt Sims: Yes. I want to ask you as well, when is the best time to sell?

[00:22:51] Shane Malpass: It depends on circumstance. You know, if you don’t want it on the drive, if, you know you might have lost your partner, it could be anything like that. Then that’s now. If you are willing to sit on it, then probably spring into the summer. But again, you’ve still got those costs of servicing, MOT, insurance and everything like that. So you’re still spending a couple of grand just on keeping it, you know, maybe for another year just to be able to sell it.

[00:23:12] Matt Sims: And, and in terms of buying one, you’re going to buy one. If you buy one in October, you’ve bought it with someone else’s summer in it. Yeah. So it’s another year older really, isn’t it? Yeah. Is October a good time to buy or sell?

[00:23:24] Shane Malpass: October could be a good time to buy. It depends if you’re going to use it over the winter to sell it probably is because the prices are going to go down towards the end of the year. They’re going to come up again, but you’ve still got that extra year’s depreciation to it.

[00:23:36] Matt Sims: Yeah.

[00:23:37] Shane Malpass: Plus the cost of keeping it.

[00:23:38] Matt Sims: Yeah of course. Yeah there’s a lot to think about in there. So what’s your top tips then for people looking to sell a motorhome, what should they be doing to give it the best chance of getting your interest? I mean, you can see through fluffy cushions and pretty curtains. You don’t care about any of that stuff. Like me, you’re looking at the true value of motorhome underneath it. But what what tips would your best tips be to a seller looking to sell?

[00:24:02] Shane Malpass: I mean, whilst the fluffy cushions and everything do look good, I do think. I do think yes, I do love a fluffy cushion. I think there is a place for them still. You are walking into something that somebody has spent a lot of money on, so it needs to look right. And that goes down to the, you know, to the bodywork, to everything. You know, if the more you can get it right, the better, especially if it’s a private sale.

[00:24:21] Matt Sims: Yes.

[00:24:22] Shane Malpass: Because at the end of the day, it could be let’s say it’s £40,000. That could be someone that’s someone’s pension pot. That could be everything they’ve got. So it needs to look right. And then it’s just down to price at the end after that. Yeah. You know, it’s only as worth as much as someone is willing to pay.

[00:24:37] Matt Sims: Exactly. Yeah. And in that scenario, that’s you. So let’s talk about a demographic that were buying motorhomes during the pandemic. We saw the age, didn’t we drop where people were coming into the market who were much younger than the traditional audience that would buy a motorhome. Do you see that continuing?

[00:24:55] Shane Malpass: I think so. I mean, you may be able to speak more on this, but I don’t think there’s as many families buying motorhomes at the moment. I think they’re renting them, maybe or maybe not buying them so much. Yeah. But there are a few dealers that have spoken to us that have said that The age has dropped a little bit.

[00:25:11] Matt Sims: Why are families not buying them?

[00:25:12] Shane Malpass: You know, I can’t think of many people that I know that could afford. You know, if they’ve got, say, two kids, they could afford 50 grand on a motorhome. Yeah. On the leases or anything like that.

[00:25:21] Matt Sims: So what about finance? I mean, my experience of finance on a motorhomes is we hardly ever do it. No, we have resources available to us. You know, companies that can supply finance on a motorhome, but we hardly ever call upon them.

[00:25:35] Shane Malpass: No.

[00:25:36] Matt Sims: Is that your experience?

[00:25:37] Shane Malpass: Yeah. I mean, I can only talk at it from a from a purchasing point of view because we’re buying them at the end of the life, but I’d probably say there’s 1 in 15, that 1 in 20 that we buy. They’ve got finance on them. And bearing in mind motorhome finance tends to have a long repayment line. It tends to be ten years. Exactly. And nobody really keeps them ten years.

[00:25:56] Matt Sims: No, of course not. No. But that’s just about getting the monthly down, isn’t it? Given that the prices are going up, the demographic who’ve got that pension payout are disappearing. Properties are coming down in price, so people are not selling and making a fortune on the family home. And, and basically coming up with loads of cash. Do you think we’re going to see more finance in our marketplace?

[00:26:20] Shane Malpass: I think it’s becoming more of a norm in society generally, so I can’t see why it wouldn’t. But I’m still we’re still not seeing many that have got finance because we don’t.

[00:26:29] Matt Sims: See PCPs doing on a motorhomes. I mean, why is that?

[00:26:32] Shane Malpass: They’ve threatened them a few times but never had a go. Yeah. But I think the you know obviously with PCP you’re relying on what the value is going to be in X amount of years when it comes to the end of that agreement.

[00:26:44] Matt Sims: And of course, without a Glass’s Guide, it’s really hard for a finance house.

[00:26:48] Shane Malpass: Exactly.

[00:26:48] Matt Sims: But without our expertise and insight on the market to look at it and go, well, it’s going to be worth 30 grand in seven years time. So yeah, okay, we’ll underpin this and have a, you know, 34 grand bubble.

[00:26:59] Shane Malpass: Yeah. I mean if you bought something in say 2019 and let’s say it’s £50,000 and the finance company expected it to be 20, it was probably going to be 40. Yeah. So they’d have one in that circumstance. But going out of it the other end.

[00:27:10] Matt Sims: Now it’s risky isn’t it. Yeah. And finance companies do not like risk. No, no. So, Shane, just to wrap up because it’s been great to get your insight, it really has what do you think is our future for the next five years? Let’s go up to 2030. So we’ve got this electrification thing happening. Yeah. Which we it’s a huge topic in its own. And perhaps we can revisit that another time. But where do you think the motorhome industry is going over the next five years.

[00:27:39] Shane Malpass: I do think it’s going to continue as it is. My only thing from a dealer point of view that could ruin that is just if you have a bad start of the year, weather-wise, because that’s what happened last year. But generally, I think it’s good to go for a long time now. I’ve got a lot of confidence the way that this year has been for most dealers, obviously, apart from the ones that have got overstock on new, has been very, very good reports back.

[00:28:02] Matt Sims: So you think we’re still booming?

[00:28:03] Shane Malpass: Yes.

[00:28:03] Matt Sims: Despite the prices, despite the challenges.

[00:28:07] Shane Malpass: As long as as long as the motorhomes are in that price point I think you’re fine. Yeah. You know, it’s just going back to exactly what is it in 2019. You know, the dealers that did well, that had that sweet spot of, say, up to 55 grand-ish. They were the ones that were doing really well. And that’s the ones that continue to do well now.

[00:28:22] Matt Sims: Good stuff. So you’re in the market for a while longer.

[00:28:25] Matt Sims: Good for you. So where can people find out more about your business and maybe contact you if they’re thinking of selling?

[00:28:31] Shane Malpass: Yeah. So, I mean, our website is webuyanymotorcaravan.com. Nice and easy. Easy. It takes about five minutes to type it out, but you’ll get there eventually. And then on the, on the obviously on the other side is caravanmotorhomesales.co.uk for the auctions.

[00:28:44] Matt Sims: Yeah. So your value over the phone or on the website, and then you’ll send somebody to their house to come and look at it. Yeah. Wherever they are in the country. Yeah. And then how does the payment work?

[00:28:54] Shane Malpass: Faster payment. So it’s an instant payment.

[00:28:56] Matt Sims: Instant payment online secure.

[00:28:57] Shane Malpass: Yes. Secure there. As soon as the customers check that it’s there, that’s when we take it away. But we never take it away without that.

[00:29:04] Keith Gooden: That’s Shane Malpass, the managing director at We Buy Any Motorcaravan. So Matt, it’s another great insight behind the scenes. And is this the new normal?

[00:29:16] Matt Sims: Yeah, I think Shane and I both agree we are in a new normal. And like me, Shane has seen the ups and downs of our trading landscape for years and it was great to get his honest opinion. Thank you Shane. We do appreciate that. And thank you for making the effort to come down to the studio a fair old drive. And sharing his insights and thoughts with me.

[00:29:38] Keith Gooden: It’s the Motorhome Matt podcast with me Keith Gooden.

[00:29:40] Matt Sims: And me, Motorhome Matt.

[00:29:41] Keith Gooden: It’s brought to you with ThatLeisureShop.com and sponsored by Ripe. Now It’s our Q&A, our questions and answers. You asked the questions and Matt, the expert, as he does every week, will give you the answer. The thing is, though, if he doesn’t know and he knows most things, but if he doesn’t know, he’ll ask somebody who does. Stuart Tong got in touch.

[00:30:03] Stuart Tong: Hi guys, I really love the podcast very much. So I’ve got a question for Matt. Basically, we’ve got a new Mercedes Sprinter that’s been converted by Coachbuilt UK and they’ve done an amazing job. But what we haven’t got is we haven’t got a spare wheel. So I wanted one that could fit on the back of the van. And I was wondering, where do you think I could go for that? And what was the best way to fit one? Thanks both. Bye.

[00:30:32] Keith Gooden: Cheers, Stuart. Much appreciated. Thanks for the kind words about the podcast. So his spare wheel. He hasn’t got one. He wants one. Where does he fit it? Because I suppose the last thing you want is if you fit it yourself, is it coming off and bouncing down the motorway?

[00:30:44] Matt Sims: Oh, absolutely. And it’s heavy. So you’re right to ask the question. I would suggest getting a wheel bracket that mounts onto the door hinges rather than onto the door itself. Let me Google this and find them. [unclear brand name from transcript]. I’ve never bought from them, but they are a specialist in selling these hinged brackets. You open the bracket and that spins the wheel out, and then you can.

[00:31:06] Keith Gooden: Hinge and Bracket, hinge and bracket, remember?

[00:31:07] Keith Gooden: Yeah, I do remember them. Do you remember them?

[00:31:10] Matt Sims: That’s you and me.

[00:31:10] Keith Gooden: Apparently you’ve got to be under about 50.

[00:31:13] Matt Sims: Yeah. Maddy’s got no idea. She’s looking at me, shaking her head. What are you talking about? So that’s what I’d recommend. You’re looking at 200 to £400 and pretty simple to fit. I think they will fit them for you. If not, Kate and the team at Coachbuilt, I’m sure would put it on for you.

[00:31:31] Keith Gooden: Cheers, Stuart. Much appreciated. Thanks for the kind words about the podcast as well. Now we’ve had lots of feedback saying Ripe cover is great, but their maximum value is too low. They do sponsor the podcast and we thank them very much for that. Without them, we wouldn’t be here. But that is fair comment, isn’t it? Yeah, it is £100,000 is the ceiling. You know, if you’ve got something which is more money than that, you want to insure the difference don’t you.

[00:31:54] Matt Sims: Yeah. And it’s quite common for insurers to only cover up to £100,000.

[00:31:58] Keith Gooden: Yeah. Leanne Arnold got in touch with us and said, sadly, Ripe doesn’t insure motorhomes over 100,000, as did Peter Lethbridge.

[00:32:06] Matt Sims: Yeah, he said shame Ripe won’t insure vans over 100k, but we have some great news. Ripe have increased their maximum cover value from 100,000 to £120,000 for motorhomes and campervans.

[00:32:20] Keith Gooden: You say time and again, don’t you? Right. Listen to customer feedback and changes in the market and they’re continually adapting to make their offering even better. You guys told us what you want. You got in touch with the podcast. And we fed it back to Ripe. And it appears that they’ve listened.

[00:32:36] Matt Sims: They certainly have. And I take my hat off to Ripe. They’re constantly trying to improve their offer, and customer feedback is critical. And they do listen to you, and they do listen to me passing the comments back. And we are constantly doing this with them. So we have a really great open door for communication with them. And I take my hat off to them for listening and increasing this maximum value. We could still do with it being a bit higher. So Ripe. Keep up the pressure on your underwriter because it’s easy to spend 200k plus on a motorhome, but that 20 K increase is going to massively help lots of people. So remember, you can get 15% off your insurance premium by using the code Motorhome Matt over the phone, or simply click the link in the description.

[00:33:21] Keith Gooden: Nigel Bailey is in Kidsgrove. Hello chaps. Something that’s bugged him over the years is manufacturers referring to a double bed that has access on both sides in a motorhome as an island bed. He says when he was at school, when Nelson was also a lad, an island had water all the way around it like the Isle of Man. The bed they refer to should surely be a peninsula bed, like the Wirral Peninsula, fixed at one end. Or like Cornwall. That’s a peninsula, isn’t it? Yeah, he says. Sorry. It just bugs me.

[00:33:58] Matt Sims: I absolutely agree with you, Nigel. I have said this for about 20 years since the Island bed layout came out and became really popular. I say it’s not an island, it’s a peninsula. It’s attached at the back of the motorhome. So yeah, I’m with you. And I love this nerdy criticism of this description, but I guess probably island is easier to spell than peninsula bed. Yeah, okay.

[00:34:23] Keith Gooden: I’ve solved it. Don’t worry, Nigel, for you and for Matt, from now on, we’re going to call them sticky out beds.

[00:34:30] Matt Sims: You leave your sticky out bits out of this.

[00:34:33] Keith Gooden: Not bits. Bed.

[00:34:34] Matt Sims: Oh, sorry. Right. Okay. It’s an island bed. Let’s. Let’s stick with that.

[00:34:38] Keith Gooden: Okay. Then how do people get in touch?

[00:34:39] Matt Sims: We would love it if you did. Your question is probably shared by hundreds, if not more of people, so please do ask it. Head to mhmp.info/askmatt. If you record it, click the orange button. You can listen to it back before you send it. Please tell us where in the world you are, or you can fill in the form and we’ll read it for you.

[00:34:58] Keith Gooden: Or you can leave a review at mhmp.info/review. It’s Motorhome Matt podcast, you see. mhmp. And if people are YouTubing, what should they do?

[00:35:08] Matt Sims: Click subscribe. And the little bell. And if you’re following on a podcast app, make sure you click follow.

[00:35:16] Keith Gooden: Thanks for listening to the Motorhome Matt podcast. Remember to check back here for more episodes full of hints and tips and helpful advice. We’ll see you soon for another Motorhome Matt podcast brought to you with www.thatleisureshop.com.