How to keep yourself safe when buying a van.
So…. you like the idea of 'vanlife' and your finally at that stage where you’re looking to buy a new van. Well, I have some tips to stay safe when you’re dealing with sellers, and make sure that you’re getting the best van for you! I used to work in a role, where it was my job to advise people how to avoid becoming repeat victims of fraud, in my experience with this, a lot of people get scammed when purchasing large vehicles. As someone who has a lot of knowledge with fraud and how to prevent it, I can offer my tips, tricks and expertise in this area. I am a fellow van dweller myself and have gone through the excitement of looking and buying the perfect van. So, I will give you some of my best advice when hunting for your perfect van.
What are you looking for?
Pre-built and ready to hit the road? Or starting from fresh to add your own touches. The choice is yours, but there will be some big price differences between the two. If you’re like me and cannot comprehend the extortionate prices of pre-built vans with all the latest gadgets and luxuries, then follow along and look at my other pages and I can tell you, how much you can look to purchase at, the best vans for durability and longevity and the best bit, designing and building your van!
Scam alert!
When we purchased Yvie (Our Iveco Daily Van) We had seen a lot of vans. It takes time to find the one! In fact, we walked away from so many vans with that gut feeling of, just buy it, you’ll never find another deal like this. There are so many good deals if you know where to find them. The first van we saw was a Mercedes-Benz's Sprinter Long wheelbase. I had my heart set on it. I am so glad we didn't purchase. We travelled an hour out of the way to view the van and the guy was hard selling us, red flag number 1! The van will sell itself if its good enough, always remember that. The yard we went to had lots of vans that had major dents, parts missing and a whole array of other issues, he assured us he would fix her up like new! Red flag number 2. That’s the issue, externally yes, internally, not a chance!
It’s hard to walk away from a van that looks great externally, but you’ve probably found an amazing deal on the world wide web that is almost too good to be true. It’s an old van from 2008, only a few thousand pounds and has a fair amount of mileage. It’s most likely been treated like trash from the builders who used to own it. Yes, the new owner and current seller have polished that baby up so much, there doesn’t seem to be a thing wrong with it and they will tell you so too. Well, not on the outside anyways. There are always signs that do not go unnoticed. So, I’m going to make a list for you to follow and remember when you’re searching for your van. What to look out for, what to check and your due diligence before you part with your hard-earned cash!
Scam Checklist
- Always use websites that have done their checks to keep you safe. A good example of this is Auto-trader. You can use websites like eBay and Facebook if you are using PayPal (Goods and services), however they will not protect you from fraud.
- Look for vans under 150,000 miles. Vans start to need repairing more and run into a few problems at this stage. Look into how many miles the van can take before it comes to the end of its life.
- If you find a van that you like, order a full HPI check, if you’re on auto-trader, they usually have a partial one for free under the description of the van. The last thing you want is to be purchasing a stolen van or a van that has previously been written off. The HPI check will show if they are hiding anything.
- Look at reviews, the seller will always most likely have reviews. Especially if they are a company. You can expect a few bad reviews but look out for excessive bad reviews or anything that says the same thing or is along the same lines. Auto-trader will verify real reviews as well.
- The older the van, the more problems you’re more likely going to have. In my opinion always look for a van 2011 or younger.
- If you have found a van that is 2016 or younger, you can expect to pay between £11,000 and £20,000, depending on mileage and usage. If it’s a van older than 2016 than expect to pay between £4000 and £12,000. If the van is any lower in price, you must question its sturdiness.
- Vans need to be worn in, meaning it needs a good 30,000 miles on the clock just to make sure everything runs smoothly, and the engine is in good nick.
- NEVER put down a deposit until AFTER you have seen, done checks and test driven the van.
Transactions between you and the seller
Here are some things you’ll want to check out when you get there.
- It goes without saying, make sure it looks like the picture. Is the van in one piece.
- Is the seller hard selling you or are they being secretive about certain parts or over talking about how well it performs. Huge red flag, run as fast as your legs can take you.
- If you get that gut feeling that something is not right, even if you can’t place it, trust it. It is telling you somethings wrong.
- Do not be pressured into a buy, if the seller starts saying things like, we are both busy people, guess what? Red flag.
Checks before you buy
- Check there is no water in the oil and no oil in the water, you can see this by looking at the oil cap, it will be slimy and have a 'snot' like texture, and the stick will have a lot of residue on it. Get your hands in there, feel for oil in the water. Disgusting I know!
- Check the underneath of the van, and the top of the van. Is there any damage.
- Check the brake pedals, this is a tell-tale sign that a vehicle may have been driven a lot. If they are worn, then you know that the van has had its fair share of drivers. If the seller claims the van to be low mileage, then you know they’ve done something to the clocks.
- ALWAYS test drive the vehicle, do not put down a deposit until AFTER you have done this.
- Are there excessive amounts of rust, this is not a good sign. It will be expensive to repair if the door falls off.
- Do your checks, be thorough, even if the seller is looking at you like a crazy person. Be overboard with it. Check the inside of the van, is there damp or leaks?
If you have done all these checks and everything is good, you love the van, then put down a deposit to secure it. In my experience, it is not a good idea to make a bank transfer, so try and avoid it where you can. The only time I would consider making a bank transfer is if I am with the seller and the van at that moment. I would have completed all my checks and I know who owns the van and everything surrounding its history, who the seller is and if they are genuine. This applies to private sellers too. Just make sure everything adds up, have they got the paperwork to hand at that moment and ask for a receipt of purchase. Your bank will most likely have some sort of fraud checks in place. Answer the questions honestly and make sure the sellers name matches the bank details. PayPal have recently removed their protection when it comes to auto purchases, so a bank transfer is not ideal in this situation, but may be something you can do if you trust the seller, otherwise opt for cash.
This may seem overwhelming, but I hope this helps you and happy hunting!
Please note that this advice is to minimise the chances of you falling victim to fraud. Although I am sure that if you follow the advice I have given, you will find your next van without being scammed. Having worked in fraud prevention for a while, I know that there is no such thing as fraud proof. Stay vigilant, sometimes the best thing you can do is follow your gut. If your gut is telling you something isn't right, then it probably isn't. Don't be afraid to walk away. For more inforamtion on fraud prevention please visit Actionfraud.police.uk