Selling a motorhome with no MFK, an expired gas check or water damage

There is a moment when a motorhome stops being a vehicle and becomes a problem in the driveway. The inspection report from the Strassenverkehrsamt lists more faults than you want to read. The gas installation was last checked years ago. Or you open the door after winter and the smell tells you, before you see the stain on the ceiling, that water has found its way in.

At that point the question is no longer what the motorhome is worth, but who will still take it, and how you get out of the responsibility without making a mistake that follows you around. This article covers the three findings that stop a private sale, why a buyer for export sees the vehicle differently, and what you should not do while it is still registered in your name.

The three findings that end a private sale

No valid MFK. The MFK is the periodic roadworthiness inspection carried out by the cantonal road traffic office (Strassenverkehrsamt). A private buyer who wants to register a second-hand motorhome in their own name has to expect the road traffic office to ask for an inspection first. If the last report lists structural rust, brakes, steering, emissions or lighting, the buyer is not looking at a motorhome, they are looking at a workshop bill of unknown size, and most will not take that on.

An expired gas check. The gas check (Gasprüfung) is an inspection of the liquid-gas installation in the living area: the bottle locker, regulator, hoses, shut-off valves and the appliances they feed, such as the hob, heater and fridge. A qualified inspector tests the system for leaks and confirms the result with a certificate and, in most cases, a sticker. An expired check does not mean the system is faulty. It means nobody can currently say that it is not, and with gas that is not a state a buyer wants to sleep in.

Damp in the body. This is the motorhome problem. Water gets in at the joints: roof lights, window frames, roof edges, the rear wall, awning brackets, the garage door. It travels into the wall and floor panels and stays there. The early signs are a musty smell, a soft patch in the floor, dark rings on the ceiling, bubbling wall covering and rusty screw heads. Dealers check for it with a moisture meter on the inside walls. A proper repair often means opening the wall, replacing the timber frame or sandwich panel and resealing. A private buyer cannot judge the extent from outside, so almost all of them walk away.

Why a private buyer cannot, and an export buyer can

The private buyer wants to register the vehicle, load it and leave. They have no workshop, no parts channel and no way to price the risk. Each of the three findings above is a reason to say no. If they buy anyway, it is at a price that hurts, or with a renegotiation on the doorstep when they finally see the vehicle.

A buyer who takes vehicles for export works with a different calculation. The motorhome leaves Switzerland, so whether it holds a Swiss inspection is irrelevant to them. It is collected on a transporter, not driven. Repairs are done in the country where the vehicle will be registered next, or the vehicle is broken down into what it contains: the base vehicle with engine, gearbox and chassis has value, and so do the heater, fridge, windows, furniture and body parts. The export buyer prices what is there and deducts what is missing. The result is their offer, and it is a real offer rather than a polite refusal.

What you must not do while the vehicle is still yours

• Do not drive it. A motorhome whose plates have been handed in, or that has a safety-relevant defect, does not belong on the road, not even for the last trip to the buyer's yard or to a workshop round the corner; after a failed MFK, check with the road traffic office what is still permitted. If something happens on that trip, the conversation is no longer about the value of the motorhome but about your insurance cover and your personal liability. A serious buyer collects the vehicle from your address with a transporter or a tow truck.
• Do not hand it over without deregistration. In Switzerland the registered keeper (Halter) remains responsible for a vehicle until it has been deregistered at the Strassenverkehrsamt or re-registered in a new keeper's name. If you hand over a motorhome with its plates and Fahrzeugausweis to someone you have met once, on the promise that the paperwork will follow, you remain the keeper of a vehicle you no longer control. Fines, parking charges, an accident abroad: all of it comes to the address in the registration document, which is yours.
• Do not cover things up. A freshly painted ceiling stain, an air freshener against the smell, a rug over the soft spot in the floor. An experienced buyer sees through it at collection, the offer no longer holds, and you are back where you started. Describe the condition as it is. An offer is only as good as the information it is based on.
• Do not spend on repairs that no longer pay. Before you put money into a re-inspection, a new gas certificate or a partial reseal, get an offer for the vehicle as it stands today. The difference between "repaired" and "as is" is often smaller than the repair itself.

What to have ready

• The Fahrzeugausweis, even if the plates have already been handed in
• The last MFK report with its list of defects, if you have it
• The last gas check certificate, even if it has expired
• Service book and recent invoices
• Photos: all round the outside, the interior, and honest close-ups of the trouble spots, the ceiling stain, the soft floor, the rust on the frame
• A short note: what was found and when, what has already been done, how long the vehicle has been standing

How we handle a vehicle like this

You describe the motorhome through the form, by WhatsApp or on the phone: make, model, body type, mileage, first registration and the condition, including the findings above. As a rule you receive a non-binding offer within 24 hours. If it suits you, we arrange collection at your home, anywhere in Switzerland and at no cost to you. How the vehicle is moved is agreed with you beforehand; you do not drive it anywhere yourself. We take care of the deregistration at the Strassenverkehrsamt, so that you are not left as the registered keeper of a vehicle that is no longer yours.

We are reachable Monday to Sunday from 08:00 to 22:00 on 076 226 46 46 (phone and WhatsApp) or by e-mail at kontakt@autoankaufschweizag.ch.