Cost implications of uprating a vehicle
Long story short, my campervan converter lied about the weight of my van and to use it, i have had to go through the useful, but expensive process of uprating my van and getting my C1 license that i would have had automatically, had i committed to passing my test in my youth!
He refuses to take responsibility so i am having to take him to court. One thing i want to prove is the loss of value of entering a smaller market (My van is quite specifically for a family of three and makes the concessions on space required for that. Probably not something most C1 license holders want to sacrifice?!
Answers
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Your first step would be to contact the manufacturer if he has had the motorhome type approved to 4.5t and to ask what technical modifications this entails, including the administrative work involved in amending all documentation. If he can't help, then your only alternative is to go through the process with one of the specialists in that field, such as SVTech, but there are a few others.0
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You say the converter “lied” to you, but others would say you made a bad buy and should have rejected the vehicle as soon as you found it was above the advertised weight.
But consult the Club’s legal department to ask whether you have a case and whether you can prove “loss of value in a smaller market” before you pour good money after bad by employing expensive solicitors to take a case to court.
You may have to cut your losses and sell the van as best you can. Hard advice. Sorry.1 -
I am new to this forum, so not sure how it works. I was simply hoping for advice on how the weight of the van might impact the cost. I was not asking for legal advice.
Perhaps i could have left out the legal aspect, I was just explaining (briefly) why I was asking as a request without background is a bit blunt. I have taken legal advice and the builder is in breach of the consumer act and also for misrepresentation. To be clear, he gave me a false weight with a paper trail. He told me that the van was 3420kg with two people, two full tanks of (waste and clean) water and half a tank of diesel. This was his assurance as a professional. The actual van was 3425kg with nothing in it at all and a plated MAM of 3500kg (with a vehicle designed for 3 people and of grid capability for 3 days).
I only found this out recently when the engine failed and the mechanic felt the weight was off so weighed it. Since then, I have been in dispute with the builder
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With regards to cost, I would think it near impossible to arrive at even a wild estimate. MH second hand prices can vary widely over time as we saw during the pandemic when they rose and then, later, when the bubble burst they fell. Currently new prices are up due to several manufacturing reasons and that will have a knock on effect on second hand values.
In addition, there are the arguable points of, on the one hand, a bigger payload (uprated) van can be worth more to some people while, on the other hand, the market for <3500kg vans is always popular which could put those vans at a premium.
I think to arrive at a usable figure you would need a statement from a respected industry expert….if you can find one. The only thing you can be sure of is that our vans are never worth as much as we think they are.
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There is certainly something wrong if the motorhome weighs 3425kg when empty and it has a GVW of only 3500kg. That would mean it would already be overweight with 2 occupants and no other payload. Anyway, I still think your first port of call if you want to know what technical modifications an up-plate to 4.5t entails would be the manufacturer. As we don't even know on what chassis basis the motorhome was built, it's impossible for anyone here to arrive at an educated guess as to the cost. Only an expert would be able to do that, probably even with the need for visual inspection first.0
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Thanks Lutz, as stated, I have uprated the vehicle to 4.5 tonnes through Sv tech. I am painfully aware that 75kg leaves me little leeway. This is not the problem or the ask.
I think my message could have been clearer: I am interested in finding out if anyone has any experience of the cost impact on resale value from a van that is now in the C1 license category versus a similar one that is not. It is fiendeshly difficult to find any information on line other than it will negatively affect the price.
I have contacted dealers, looked online, looked for articles and so far come up blank. This is a speculative ask for anyone with any actual knowledge or data on percentage reduction in price by inference or experience. Not sure how the chassis basis is useful, but here it is with spec: The van is a peugeout boxer L4H3, fixed double bed and single bed at rear, kitchen, shower, seated area, heater, solar panels, batteries.0 -
Well, I tried and gave you the best I could come up with!
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Tinwheeler, your support was very useful! Sorry if it seemed I had suggested you hadn't been.
Just wanted to clarify as I think I hadn't been clear enough to others on the thread as the advice was tipping more into the legal bits, which is probably best left to the lawyers. That whole side is awful really0 -
I honestly think the monetary side of your question is outside the scope of us amateurs here.
Can you imagine the response from a judge if you say "a bloke on a caravanning forum said…"
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if I have understood correctly you have a bespoke panel van. So the issue is not just resale value comparisons between 3500 vans and heavier vans but add in the bespoke nature. From what I understand most dealers are extremely reluctant to take bespoke vans even in partx . So you are left with private sales and presumably organisations like We Buy Any Motorhome. Obviously a smaller market for a bespoke van. If you explore a forum like Motorhome Fun you will find many have heavier vans and the posher vans tend to be heavier. Lots of people have their vans updated. Because you won’t be able to easily find a comparable van for a price comparison on sites like Autotrader you are very much in the realms of it is worth what someone will pay.
I agree with Tinwheeler there are so many variables that coming up with price differences because of weight will be near impossible.0
