Parents buying a camper van

[OrangeWarrior]

Hi guys

Long time lurker and occasional poster. Helping my parents find a VW camper (California) at the moment - thought we’d spotted a decent van but the car vertical report has £9,000 of ‘past repair cost estimate’ listed under the damage section. Other reports (vcheck) show no issues.

I’ve had a search on here and it seems car vertical can pick up weird info at times. But should I be concerned and tell them to steer clear?

It’s a 2023 VW California from a small independent dealer

Thanks a lot

[ZX10R NIN]

Sounds like it got run into, by the time you factor in parts/labour/paint & materials it may not be as big a hit as you think.

Go & view it inspect it thoroughly, if it checks out & your parents want to buy it.

Then inform them about the damage showing up on the vehicle report & see if they're willing to negotiate.

[South tdf]

Car Vertical showed my old company car that I purchased as having £15,000 worth of damage. It had actually had a new bumper and headlight.

[Wilmslowboy]

A hard crack on the back, could dislodge the cupboards, water tanks, water filler, cause creaking, leaking etc.
Worth taking it for along test drive and listen out for issues.


There are plenty for sale, and values have shifted a lot (we sold out one year old one for £20k below new lis price).
There are some amazing PCP deals on brand new ones ?

[DaveyBoyWonder]

Has it actually got a CAT marker against it?

[OrangeWarrior]

ZX10R NIN said:

Sounds like it got run into, by the time you factor in parts/labour/paint & materials it may not be as big a hit as you think.

Go & view it inspect it thoroughly, if it checks out & your parents want to buy it.

Then inform them about the damage showing up on the vehicle report & see if they're willing to negotiate.

That’s a good shout - they viewed it today and (with picture evidence) report back that it is in excellent condition all round

[OrangeWarrior]

South tdf said:

Car Vertical showed my old company car that I purchased as having £15,000 worth of damage. It had actually had a new bumper and headlight.

That’s what I thought might be the case. Minor dent repair with a huge quote attached to it giving a false view on condition

[OrangeWarrior]

Wilmslowboy said:

A hard crack on the back, could dislodge the cupboards, water tanks, water filler, cause creaking, leaking etc.
Worth taking it for along test drive and listen out for issues.


There are plenty for sale, and values have shifted a lot (we sold out one year old one for £20k below new lis price).
There are some amazing PCP deals on brand new ones ?

Thanks for this mate - good point. They reported that one of the cupboards was sticking in the back, could be linked? They like the look of the 6.1s as opposite to brand new model. But the one they like is 61k which feels overpriced for a 2023 plate

[OrangeWarrior]

DaveyBoyWonder said:

Has it actually got a CAT marker against it?

No, no category marked on the report

[stevemcs]

Thorney motorsport did something on car vertical reports a few weeks ago. Personally I’d be ignoring car vertical and going on what the car actually looked like, then again I wouldn’t be buying a vw, make sure it’s not leaking oil around the timing belt area.

[Davie]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

It's becoming a bit of a thing, more so with Car Vertical being pushed at every opportunity and whilst a good tool, it can also portray a bit of a unrealistic picture of it lists estimates and the like as more and more are now using it as a red flag... much like when the MOT history went public thus Gary says he'll "Give it a miss" as there was an advisory for a couple of tyres back in 2021.

I'd always buy on condition, more so given there are many many vehicles out there that have had damage repaired with no record as such. Again surprising how many people proclaim "should be in the register" when unrecorded damage is mentioned and have little concept of how the game works. But yes, issue is you may have the sense to buy on condition and not bad caught up with stuff from 15 years ago, but others won't so that's where it becomes a bit of a minefield.

[Wilmslowboy]

OrangeWarrior said:

Wilmslowboy said:

A hard crack on the back, could dislodge the cupboards, water tanks, water filler, cause creaking, leaking etc.
Worth taking it for along test drive and listen out for issues.


There are plenty for sale, and values have shifted a lot (we sold out one year old one for £20k below new lis price).
There are some amazing PCP deals on brand new ones ?

Thanks for this mate - good point. They reported that one of the cupboards was sticking in the back, could be linked? They like the look of the 6.1s as opposite to brand new model. But the one they like is 61k which feels overpriced for a 2023 plate

Yes over priced (we sold our 2025, with sub 5k miles for £63k)

Join the facebook pages, this caught my eye (all be it a sad story about the owner)
a T6 not T6.1

[paul_c123]

Davie said:

It's becoming a bit of a thing, more so with Car Vertical being pushed at every opportunity and whilst a good tool, it can also portray a bit of a unrealistic picture of it lists estimates and the like as more and more are now using it as a red flag... much like when the MOT history went public thus Gary says he'll "Give it a miss" as there was an advisory for a couple of tyres back in 2021.

I'd always buy on condition, more so given there are many many vehicles out there that have had damage repaired with no record as such. Again surprising how many people proclaim "should be in the register" when unrecorded damage is mentioned and have little concept of how the game works. But yes, issue is you may have the sense to buy on condition and not bad caught up with stuff from 15 years ago, but others won't so that's where it becomes a bit of a minefield.

My view differs. I agree the data needs an amount of interpretation, especially low-amount damage which doesn't make it a Cat vehicle, but I also feel its very important to take into account future saleability of a vehicle.

MoT advisories are different than bodywork because if (in your example) a tyre was flagged as an advisory, then didn't reappear again, it is most likely it were replaced. Sam advisories year after year indicates "budget maintenance" though.

Also, and I have no doubt others will disagree, there isn't really "scarcity of supply" in vehicles in general. You should never be pressured into thinking that by passing on a particular car, none like that will appear again. There are tons of cars out there for sale (and campers...and vans....etc) so it should not be a factor and not an area to compromise. (Obviously, rare classics or weird engine/trim/spec combinations don't count).

[stevemcs]

paul_c123 said:

My view differs. I agree the data needs an amount of interpretation, especially low-amount damage which doesn't make it a Cat vehicle, but I also feel its very important to take into account future saleability of a vehicle.

MoT advisories are different than bodywork because if (in your example) a tyre was flagged as an advisory, then didn't reappear again, it is most likely it were replaced. Sam advisories year after year indicates "budget maintenance" though.

Also, and I have no doubt others will disagree, there isn't really "scarcity of supply" in vehicles in general. You should never be pressured into thinking that by passing on a particular car, none like that will appear again. There are tons of cars out there for sale (and campers...and vans....etc) so it should not be a factor and not an area to compromise. (Obviously, rare classics or weird engine/trim/spec combinations don't count).

I know my car has had paint prior to me owning it and it didn’t put me off, it’s also had the bumper painted and a new tailgate as part of an insurance claim that was no doubt inflated, realistically neither should affect the cars value if repaired and painted correctly. However if the car vertical reports start getting used to lower prices and start putting people off buying then I see that as a bad thing. They a potentially putting people off because buyers seem to have this weird idea that a 6 year old used car should be as new.

It would be interesting if the likes of Matt at high peak who pushes these reports was to check all of his stock and then disclose any findings to prospective buyers

Now I have had my little moan

The 204 diesel is awful, if you buy budget on replacing the engine

[DaveyBoyWonder]

OrangeWarrior said:

No, no category marked on the report

How does car vertical know its had a bump then? Insurance claim?

[paul_c123]

stevemcs said:

It would be interesting if the likes of Matt at high peak who pushes these reports was to check all of his stock and then disclose any findings to prospective buyers

He probably gets to do unlimited checks for free as part of promoting them - so he probably checks everything before he buys it and avoids crash-damaged ones.

[Davie]

DaveyBoyWonder said:

How does car vertical know its had a bump then? Insurance claim?

I've wondered this too and given it says it can log mechanical estimates too, it must be scraping certain dealer or approved body shop systems like Audatex or OneLink or whatever is in use these days.

[Frankychops]

stevemcs said:

Thorney motorsport did something on car vertical reports a few weeks ago. Personally I d be ignoring car vertical and going on what the car actually looked like, then again I wouldn t be buying a vw, make sure it s not leaking oil around the timing belt area.

I’d be ignoring anything thorney say

[_Rodders_]

DaveyBoyWonder said:

Has it actually got a CAT marker against it?

It wouldn't be written off for a repair costing 16% of the value.

[_Rodders_]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

That screams scam.