Guide: Selling a financed motorhome

Around 50% of buyers take out a loan to purchase a motorhome, according to an industry study on financing purchases in the motorhome market. But what happens to the financing if personal circumstances change and the motorhome is no longer needed? In principle, it is possible to sell a financed motorhome early, even if the bank still formally owns the vehicle. However, early repayment of the loan is often subject to a prepayment penalty, which is usually no more than 1% of the remaining debt and is therefore very manageable.

When selling a financed motorhome, there are some special features to consider. As a rule, the vehicle is not fully paid off in the event of a premature sale and the credit institution, usually a bank, continues to own the motorhome. In order to complete the sale, the registration certificate part II ("KFZ-Brief") is required, which the lender will only hand over after the outstanding loan amount has been cleared. As a rule, this is not a problem, as you can pay off the remaining loan from the proceeds of the sale of your motorhome. It usually only becomes unpleasant if your motorhome is worth less than the remaining loan debt due to the loss in value at the time of sale. Then you have no choice but to pay the difference between the lower sales proceeds and the higher residual loan debt.

In principle, there are two sensible options for selling your motorhome or camper that is still financed, which we explain in more detail below.

You can easily pay off the outstanding loan amount yourself. This is how you proceed:

• Step 1: Contact the lender and inform them of your intention to cancel the loan. Ask for the repayment amount. As a rule, you will then receive a letter within a few days informing you of the exact redemption amount at a specific date by which the outstanding balance must be credited to the lender's account.
  
• Step 2: Pay the outstanding balance as soon as you receive the information in writing.
  
• Step 3: The lender will then send you the registration certificate part II ("KFZ-Brief") by post once payment has been received. Some lenders also allow you to collect the document in person. If this is possible on the part of the lender, we recommend collecting it in person instead of sending it by post.
  

Advantage: You are now in possession of the registration certificate part II and therefore the legal owner. You can now sell your motorhome.

Disadvantage: You do not know how quickly you will be able to sell your motorhome. The money you have spent on deleting the outstanding loan amount is tied up until you have actually sold your motorhome.

If you don't want to tie up your capital for too long, the more sensible option is to let the buyer pay off the remaining debt. Here you basically have the choice of selling privately or to a dealer. Our article 9 good reasons for selling your motorhome to a dealer explains why selling to a dealer can make sense and why you can achieve a good sales price.

If you opt for a self-organized private sale, there are a few things you should bear in mind. In order to reach as many potential buyers as possible, you should allow enough time to create an attractive advertisement. Since you as the seller are not in possession of the "vehicle registration document" at this stage, many buyers tend to be cautious. This is where a copy of the vehicle registration document can help to build trust.

For many motorhome owners, selling privately is rarely a pleasant and suitable option, which is why they look for a suitable dealer who will buy the motorhome in an uncomplicated manner and simply pay off the existing financing themselves. Motorhome dealers are usually experienced in buying financed motorhomes, so you don't have to worry about anything in this case.

Selling a financed motorhome or camper is particularly easy with caravanmarkt24. Here, the sale of motorhomes takes place in the form of a price-driving online bidding process, which is intended to promote competition for the object of sale compared to conventional sales methods. Professional specialist dealers from the industry are on the bidding side. The highlight: the entire sales process is shifted to the Internet. This saves phone calls and viewing appointments with interested parties as well as test drives and haggling on site. For sellers, caravanmarkt24 is free of charge; if successful, the buyer pays a commission to the portal. Get non-binding information now and sell your motorhome easily.