Used Campervan Inspection Checklist NZ: How to Check a Van Before Buying

The Night Before: Homework From the Hostel

Twenty minutes on your phone, thousands protected

Most disasters are visible online before you've spent a dollar on gas. Do this from your bunk, the evening before the viewing.

1. Plate into CarJam — The history report shows the ownership count, odometer readings over time, and the WOF pass/fail record. A van that failed its last WOF and went up for sale right after deserves pointed questions.
2. VIN into the PPSR — Three dollars at ppsr.govt.nz tells you whether a lender still has a claim on the vehicle. Finance debt travels with the van — not with the seller.
3. Sanity-check the price — Line the van up against comparable listings: same model, similar year, kms and certification. A price sitting far under the market is a question to answer, not a win to grab.
4. Send two messages — 'Could you send photos of the service records?' and 'Please don't start the engine before I arrive.' The answers — and the tone of them — tell you plenty before you've even met.
5. Book daylight and dry weather — Rain flatters paint and hides oil spots on the driveway. A morning slot also makes a genuine cold start much more likely.

Print the pocket version of this checklist (free, nothing to sign up for) →

First Five Minutes On Site

Before you touch anything, stand back

Vans talk, if you give them a few metres of distance and thirty seconds of silence.

1. Look at how it sits — A van leaning toward one corner is telling you about tired springs or suspension before you've opened a door.
2. Compare the four tyres — Four different brands, or fresh fronts over bald rears, describe a van that gets maintained one emergency at a time.
3. Open the door and breathe in — Damp has a smell you can't unsmell. Mould behind wall panels announces itself here first — before your nose adjusts to it.
4. Ask how long they've owned it — Casually. Later, match the answer against the CarJam ownership dates. Honest sellers tell consistent stories without trying.

The Walk-Around: Body and Rust

1. Panel gaps and paint tone — Uneven gaps between panels, or one door in a slightly different shade, point to accident repairs that nobody volunteered.
2. The fridge-magnet trick — Wrap a magnet in a tea towel and glide it along the sills and wheel arches. Where it stops sticking, someone has smoothed body filler over rust.
3. Get underneath with your torch — Chassis rails, floor pans, sills. Flaking brown crust on anything structural is a walk-away; a light surface bloom on flat panels is a negotiation.
4. Window rubbers and roof seams — NZ vans live outside, often near salt air. Paint bubbling around the glass is rust working from the inside out — the expensive direction.
5. Lift whatever lifts — Carpet corners, floor mats, the boot liner. Floors rot quietly in the dark, and a two-second peek costs nothing.

Bonnet Up, Then the Test Drive

1. Confirm the cold start is cold — Touch the bonnet before anyone turns a key — it should be stone cold. Long cranking, a lumpy idle, or smoke that keeps coming are engine conversations, not details.
2. Cap, dipstick, coolant — Creamy residue under the oil cap points to head-gasket trouble — on an old van, that repair often costs more than the van is worth. Oil should be dark but clean; coolant its proper colour and never oily.
3. Ask the cambelt question — On high-km Japanese vans, ask when the timing belt was last replaced and get it in writing if possible. If that belt lets go mid-trip, it can wreck the engine — no receipt means you price the job into your offer.
4. Drive it like New Zealand drives — Motorway up to 100 km/h (no shake through the wheel), a real hill if you can find one (temperature needle steady, power holding), a slow speed bump (no clunks), and one firm, straight brake.
5. Radio off, window half down — You're listening for whines, knocks and grinding — a soundtrack is the cheapest way to hide all three.
6. Every gear, twice — Reverse included. Hesitation or crunching between shifts is gearbox money you'd be volunteering to spend.

📝 Good to know
Above roughly $5,000, a professional pre-purchase inspection ($150–180 at a garage, AA or VTNZ) buys you a hoist, trained eyes and a written report you can negotiate with. Cheap insurance on a big decision.

The Camper Kit: Test, Don't Admire

A pretty build sells vans; a working build keeps trips alive

Fairy lights are lovely. Water pressure, cold beer and charged phones are lovelier. Test the systems like you already live in it.

1. Certificate in hand, not in the ad — For self-containment, see the actual document: expiry date, and that it matches THIS vehicle. Adverts say 'self-contained'; only certificates prove it.
2. Water in, water out — Run the tap, watch the drain flow, then open the cupboard under the sink and press the wood. Soft timber remembers every past leak.
3. Plug your phone into every socket — The fastest audit of a 12V system ever invented. Bring your own cable.
4. Run the fridge and lights on the battery — Engine off, ten minutes. A healthy leisure battery shrugs this off; a dying one sags visibly. Ask its age — past three or four years, budget for a replacement.
5. Make 'it has solar' mean something — Ask for the panel wattage and the controller brand. Without numbers, 'solar' can mean a trickle charger and an optimistic sticker.
6. Sniff the gas locker — Any gas smell — or a cooker with no compliance certificate — is a safety problem before it's a paperwork one.
7. Lift the mattress — Brown rings on the plywood underneath are the honest autobiography of every roof leak the van has ever had.

Money and Paperwork: The Last Fifteen Minutes

1. Re-read the two windscreen labels — WOF and REGO: both current, and ideally months from expiry. Anything about to lapse is a cost you're inheriting — say so, politely, with a number.
2. Diesel? Read the RUC label — The distance purchased should cover the odometer reading. Any shortfall becomes your bill at the NZTA counter.
3. Write the receipt before money moves — Price, date, both names and passport numbers, plate, VIN, the words 'sold as seen'. Two copies, both signed. Five minutes that settle every future argument.
4. Transfer ownership together, on the spot — Ten minutes online at nzta.govt.nz, about $9, done side by side. 'We'll sort it tomorrow' is how travellers end up owning a stranger's speeding tickets — or not owning the van at all.
5. Insure it before you turn the key — Third-party cover takes twenty minutes online and accepts foreign licences. The drive back to the hostel is already a drive.

Reasons to Walk Away

None of these are negotiation openers

They're exits. The NZ van market always has another one for sale — this week, at a fair price, from someone straightforward.

🚩 If you meet one of these, leave

• ✅ You're not allowed to arrange an independent inspection — whatever the excuse
• ✅ The timeline is doing the selling ('two other buyers are coming at four')
• ✅ The seller's story doesn't line up with the CarJam ownership dates
• ✅ 'My mechanic mate already checked it' is offered instead of documents
• ✅ A special discount appears only if you pay cash today
• ✅ The VINs on the windscreen, door pillar and papers don't all match

📝 Good to know
On Kiwi Van Market, WOF, REGO and self-contained status sit on every listing, with a CarJam button when the plate is provided — the boring checks are done from your bunk, before you've spent a dollar on gas.

Browse campervans with the paperwork visible upfront →

FAQ

Should I bring someone to a van viewing?

If you can, yes. A second person watches the seller's reactions while you watch the van — and pressure tactics deflate fast in front of an audience. Solo? Phone a friend during the viewing and think out loud.

Is a cheap OBD2 scanner worth buying?

For about $30, absolutely. Plugged in under the dash, it reads stored engine fault codes in minutes and catches the classic trick of clearing a warning light the morning of a sale. It doesn't replace a mechanic — it decides whether you need one.

How long should I allow for a proper viewing?

Ninety minutes minimum: fifteen standing back and walking around, thirty on systems and paperwork, thirty on the road, and buffer to think without pressure. Anyone rushing you through it is answering a question you didn't ask.

Is it normal to leave a deposit?

Only after an inspection you're satisfied with, only with a written receipt stating the amount and the conditions, and never to 'reserve' a van you haven't seen in person. For the balance, an in-person bank transfer beats cash — it writes its own receipt.