By William Coleman
Buying a leisure vehicle is both exciting and daunting, especially if you are looking at the pre-owned market. In some cases you could be buying a potential time bomb of a vehicle. More often than not I imagine you’ve wanted a fully qualified mechanic with you when you’re buying a new vehicle to ensure everything is tip top. With this new service all your fears will be washed away.
The Approved Workshop Scheme (AWS) have just launched their brand new service AWS Pre-Owned Pre-Purchase Inspections, or AWS POPPI for short.
The new service offers inspections for potential news buyers and provide a detailed report of the condition of a touring caravans or motorhomes. Something that will put a lot of new buyers, and existing, minds at ease prior the the commitment of purchasing.
The vehicle inspections will focus mainly on examining the safety-critical elements as well as assessing the visual and operational side of things.
AWS Manager Sarah Wigmore explains: “We believe this will be a great service for buyers, especially those new to caravanning. We already have nearly 100 of our workshops offering the inspection service and this is growing each week. The Approved Workshop Scheme is the benchmark for motorhome and touring caravan servicing and has the support of all the UK’s major manufacturers – so it is well placed to offer this type of service.
There are roughly 90,000 pre-owned touring homes in circulation with 45,000 motorhomes changing hands each year. A huge amount of these are private sales that may not have had the presale care a dealer may provide. “Having a third party assessment will enable people to purchase with greater confidence,” Sarah explains.
The Approved Workshop Scheme (AWS) is a joint enterprise between the NCC (National Caravan Council), The Caravan and Motorhome Club and The Camping and Caravanning Club. There are now over 470 workshops nationwide and those offering the POPPI service can be found at https://www.approvedworkshops.co.uk/find-approved-workshop
Personally I love the idea of this scheme, being a bit of a nervous vehicle buyer. So to have a service that checks all the things you would need looking at prior to purchasing would put my mind at ease and make me a lot more confident in handing over my hard earned cash.
