Going to see a caravan
Compliance plate, water damage, price in writing.
One A4 sheet: the questions to ask on the phone, the checks at the van, and the deposit terms.
Read it here, or print it and take a pen.
Check the compliance plate against the specs you compared, look for water damage first, and settle the price in writing before any deposit.
- On the phone - is it on the lot, and is it the build you compared?
- At the van - compliance plate, water damage, then run every system yourself
- Before a deposit - what the money does, and the price in writing
Seeing a van in person is a different job from comparing vans on a screen. It is easy to spend an hour admiring the upholstery and drive home without the compliance plate's two numbers. Those are the tare and the ATM, the Aggregate Trailer Mass.
This sheet keeps the visit honest. One page, in order: the call that saves a wasted drive, the checks worth doing while you are standing at the van, and the questions to have answered before any money changes hands.
Before you drive out
Five minutes on the phone before you spend a Saturday.
- Is the van on the lot now, or is it on order?
- Is it the same build I compared, with matching layout, weights and features?
- Can I walk through it this week, and who will I be asking for?
- What is the drive-away price on this one?
- Pack a tape measure, a torch, your car's tow limits and the specs you compared.
At the van
The checks that catch the expensive problems.
- Compliance plate: do the tare and ATM match the specs you compared? Those are the legal numbers, not the brochure's.
- Take ATM minus tare. That difference is everything you will ever put in it, water and gas included.
- Water damage: push the walls around every window and hatch, walk the whole floor, and smell the cupboards.
- Run it yourself: lights, water pump, fridge, gas, and the brakes and hitch.
- Live in it for ten minutes. Sit on the bed, stand at the sink, open the shower door, get past each other in the aisle.
- Photograph the compliance plate, the price sign and anything you want to think about at home.
Before you leave a deposit
The money side, settled before it is urgent.
- What does this deposit do: hold the van, or start a contract?
- Is it refundable, in what circumstances, and by when? Ask for that in writing.
- Does the paperwork describe the van you walked through: model, layout, options, tare and ATM?
- Get the price in writing, drive-away, with every option and on-road cost itemised.
- Get the money sorted before the deposit, so you are never committed on a van that will not work out.
- Sleep on it. Nothing about this gets worse for a night at home with the quote in front of you.
Getting serious about this one? Take the full inspection too
The sheet above is the visit: the questions, the deal-breakers, the things you settle before money moves. Our pre-delivery inspection checklist is the thorough one, worked through system by system, and it is worth an hour on any van you are close to buying.
It was written for handover day, so some lines suit a brand-new van best. Nearly all of it applies just as well to a second look at a used one.
Open the inspection checklistSort the money side before the deposit conversation
Walking in with your budget already settled changes what the visit is about.
- You pick your own finance instead of deciding it at the yard, tired and excited.
- You can commit to the right van straight away, instead of losing it while finance gets sorted.
A quote is not a loan application.Free, no obligation, no credit check to get a quote, about 2 minutes.If you want to go further, Jade handles the next step.
Get a quote before you goJade Finance pays us a commission if you finance through them. About Jade
What comes next
If the van is second-hand, the used-caravan guide adds the PPSR check and how a private sale gets paid for safely. The PPSR check guide covers the search itself. Once it is yours, the travel checklists cover hitching up and the weighbridge.
Going to see a van
One sheet per van. Take a pen.
Before you drive out
- Is the van on the lot now, or is it on order?
- Is it the same build I compared, with matching layout, weights and features?
- Can I walk through it this week, and who will I be asking for?
- What is the drive-away price on this one?
- Pack a tape measure, a torch, your car's tow limits and the specs you compared.
At the van
- Compliance plate: do the tare and ATM match the specs you compared? Those are the legal numbers, not the brochure's.
- Take ATM minus tare. That difference is everything you will ever put in it, water and gas included.
- Water damage: push the walls around every window and hatch, walk the whole floor, and smell the cupboards.
- Run it yourself: lights, water pump, fridge, gas, and the brakes and hitch.
- Live in it for ten minutes. Sit on the bed, stand at the sink, open the shower door, get past each other in the aisle.
- Photograph the compliance plate, the price sign and anything you want to think about at home.
Before you leave a deposit
- What does this deposit do: hold the van, or start a contract?
- Is it refundable, in what circumstances, and by when? Ask for that in writing.
- Does the paperwork describe the van you walked through: model, layout, options, tare and ATM?
- Get the price in writing, drive-away, with every option and on-road cost itemised.
- Get the money sorted before the deposit, so you are never committed on a van that will not work out.
- Sleep on it. Nothing about this gets worse for a night at home with the quote in front of you.
Close to buying it? Work through the full inspection checklist, system by system: caravancompare.com.au/guides/pdi-checklist