Few manufacturers made a custom-designed campervan when the growing trend for them began to take off. While a few now do offer excellent campervans that are – usually – conversions of their own models of panel van, these can be expensive and it can be cheaper – and more fun to do the conversion yourself. Let’s take a look at eight places to source campervan conversion parts, both formal and informal.
Image credit: Unsplash
Gumtree
This informal selling place is a great online site where you can find just about everything you need or want. However, you should be aware that because of the fairly free and easy rules of use, it is possible for scam artists and conmen to take advantage of people by offering deals that are seemingly too good to be true. By all means, reach out to the people who have excellent deals on their conversion parts, but take care: choose a public meeting place, take someone with you, especially if you are carrying cash (which is really not recommended) and let people know where you have been and what time you expect to be home.
eBay
eBay is a more regulated site than Gumtree, and you are less likely to come across malicious operators, and yet still caution should be exercised. Make sure that conversion parts meet all the specifications of your van, and don’t be shy about asking as many questions as you need to in order to be sure that you are buying what you are hoping for.
Facebook, and other social media sites, often have pages or sections dedicated to location-based swaps or sales, and these can be a good way to find niche conversion spares that you might have been looking for with no luck in more traditional sources.
Auto Sales Companies
Many car sales companies deal only in operational vehicles, but some smaller operators also break down old or damaged cars into viable spares and sell them as a kind of side business. These are likely to be reliable spares, but you should check each piece carefully as it is likely to be sold ‘as is’, which means that if you later find a hidden fault you are unlikely to have any recourse to getting your money back.
Online sites
Like small auto traders, the Internet is full of people looking to make a little money, breaking down scrapped cars for the parts. As always, with anyone online, make sure you check and do your due diligence and ask as many questions as you need to be sure that you are getting what you need, not a pig in a poke!
Third-party car dealers
Companies that buy old models and part exchange them for newer ones often have a surplus supply of old, obsolete and not-worth-repairing cars. They are usually very happy to sell non-working models to customers who are happy to pay a small fee for the privilege. These companies are usually quite reliable and may even offer warranties on their spare parts.
Scrap yards
Cutting out the middleman, you can visit any scrapyards in your area, asking the operators if they have any parts that will work well for your conversion. Keeping scrapyard contacts sweet is an excellent way to be tipped off when a good set of spares comes available. Don’t forget to insure your vehicle, before, during and after the process of conversion: compare campervan conversion insurance quotes here.
Conversion Spares Specialists
Finally, why not consult the people who know all about campervan conversions? These businesses have large stocks of everything you will need for your conversion, and will provide them to you at a fraction of the cost of having them do the work for you. The main benefit of this, apart from the cost saving, is that your new campervan will be all but indistinguishable from a custom-built campervan and is sure to be the envy of your friends!
