Prices of motorhomes and caravans in Poland higher than in Germany?

The pandemic reality has got us used to a completely new situation on the recreational vehicle market. The prices of even old caravans and motorhomes make you dizzy, the global shortage of raw materials and components also negatively affects the prices of new vehicles and gigantic deficits in terms of their availability.

Some observers openly describe what is happening as speculation. Some potential customers "take" what is available on the market agreeing to everything, while others wait for the situation to "normalize". Can we expect such "normalization" in the near term? It is difficult to judge whether the subsequent easing of restrictions will result in the full opening of the hotel infrastructure and some new caravanning adepts will put up vehicles for sale, considering that this is a hobby not for them.

Prices of motorhomes and caravans in Poland

There are signals to our editorial office that also among the dealers of the most famous brands, prices are unreasonably higher than those of our western neighbors. Is there anything to do? We decided to look at the situation at the peak of the motorhome season and compare the offers of similar vehicles in our country and in Germany.

When proceeding to the analysis of offers, of course, we must determine the fiscal burden from us (potentially buyers) independent - it will be 23% VAT with us vs. 19% for our western neighbors and excise tax on motor vehicles - 3.1% to 18.6%, respectively, depending on the capacity.

Enriched by the above knowledge, we proceed to analyze a few selected offers. On the so-called The "first fire" goes to the Hymer semi-integrated model - the Exsis-T 580 model in the limited Pure Edition version. After a while of searching, it is possible to locate exactly such a vehicle in the offer of a Polish dealer (Hymer Poznań) for a net price of PLN 294,000 (PLN 361,620 gross). In the cheapest offer of the German dealer Caravan Rossol GmbH, we find an identical vehicle for the price of EUR 55,508 net (approx. PLN 251,000). Taking into account the high excise tax rate (18.6% for a vehicle with a 2.2-liter engine with 165 HP), if we imported it from a dealer in Germany, we would have to take into account a net cost of approx. 297,000. The offer of the Polish dealer, despite the high additional costs, is therefore extremely attractive.

On the rising wave of popularity, the so-called blaszaków / campervans for the next comparison we chose the Slovenian Adria TwinSport 640 SGX version with a lifting roof. The authorized Polish representative of the brand valued the vehicle with a 160 HP engine and automatic gearbox at PLN 395,000 gross (about PLN 321,000 net). On the German market, we found several models from the model year with identical equipment for a price oscillating around EUR 70,000 gross (net EUR 58,800, i.e. about PLN 265,000). After adding the excise tax (18.6%), we get the amount of PLN 314,000, which, taking into account the service support and warranty provided by the Polish dealer, makes the difference marginal.

What about the price of new caravans?

The comparison of the Hobby 650UFf Prestige trailer available on the square of M-Camp from this year at the price of PLN 130,300 gross (PLN 106,000 net) with the offers of German dealers also shows no significant differences. From our western neighbors, this model can be purchased for approx. EUR 29,000 gross, i.e. approx. PLN 130,500 at a 19% VAT rate.

A few of the above examples are, of course, only a comparison that does not give a full picture of the market, but in principle they show that the differences reflected in prices are mainly fiscal, i.e. independent of us, as mentioned above.

Remember that even if we manage to find a cheaper offer for our dream vehicle at a German dealer, we often have to pay attention to additional costs that are naturally charged for sellers and customers in Germany, and which listing in the offer for the customer would be unthinkable.

Items such as the issue of documents or transport of the vehicle, and even preparation for release, often amount to at least several hundred to over 1000 EUR of additional costs, not provided for in the original offer.