Buying From Conversion Companies

Malcyb

Member
Hi,
We’re off to visit a couple of the conversion companies at the top of our list over the next few days. Maybe with a bit of luck we’ll find what we want at the right price, though we plan to hire a Campervan for a few days before parting with any cash.
One question I couldn’t see mentioned here. I’m used to negotiating with car dealers and never paying the list price on a new car. But what have people done with Campervan conversion companies? Have you found there’s scope for negotiation?
 
i think you'll find that if they are booked up months in advance like a lot are there will be little room to haggle, but with a bit of negotiation you might get the odd freebie
 
The better companies are better for a reason and from my experiece they know their worth. That said there's always a deal to be had if one times it right.
For sure not all converters are the same so pick well :)
 
I know that the best companies have a waiting list for a good reason, and that doesn’t scare me off. I just don’t know how this market operates; I’d accept the long waiting list on a new VW car, but the dealer would still have a margin you could negotiate with. Is it not the same with converters?
 
I know that the best companies have a waiting list for a good reason, and that doesn’t scare me off. I just don’t know how this market operates; I’d accept the long waiting list on a new VW car, but the dealer would still have a margin you could negotiate with. Is it not the same with converters?
I tried in my best tight-fisted Yorkshireman way to get a discount, no way. The converter had a 6months wait & the show season was coming up. I managed to wriggle some odds & ends in, but nothing significant. The thing with going to a VW dealer & negotiating a price, is that there is a VW dealer on every street corner all selling exactly the same vehicle. Conversion companies are selling a bespoke product, the quality of which varies vastly. I’d be very wary of a converter that offered short lead times & discounts.
 
The big conversion companies know exactly how much it costs them to do one of their standard conversions and what their mark up will be so not a lot of room for movement when they have overflowing order books. As above, one way you can save a bit with them is via getting them to include extras such as bike racks, tow bars, solar panels, etc., which they may be willing to do at cost and/or include free fitting.

The biggest saving you will get from the big boys is via the links they have for purchasing new and/or factory order vans - chances are their starting point is a lot lower than you would be able to negotiate yourself. Might be worth looking at the ticket price of a converted van you like, identifying what the base van spec is and then looking at VW prices to get a feel for the cost of the conversion - you may be surprised at what you are getting for the money on top of what it would cost you to source your own van and getting someone to convert.
 
Thanks, confirming what I thought. Yes I’d realised that some converters can get good prices on the base van, I’d vaguely investigated the alternative of getting a nearly new one myself but didn’t really seem to be worth it.
 
I don't know how much your thiking of spending with a coversion company but you would have more chance getting a discount on a Cali
 
I got a much better discount on my new base vehicle via referral from my conversion company than I would have been able to achieve myself. Makes the cost of a quality conversion more palatable. I suspect the converters have tighter margins and less wriggle room than the commercial dealers.
 
As said before source your own base vehicle then sort out a decent converter that will do what YOU want
not we only do this
When I got mine done the converter reckoned the same camper if he had supplied the same van would have been 8k more
 
As said before source your own base vehicle then sort out a decent converter that will do what YOU want
not we only do this
When I got mine done the converter reckoned the same camper if he had supplied the same van would have been 8k more
I guess that depends on the size of the conversion company and the links they have into VW and/or dealers; there is no way I could have sourced the van myself from VW and had such a quality conversion with high end components (RIB, SCA, Waeco, Eberspacher, etc.) for the all in price I paid to Hillside.
 
From what I saw with most converters is the vehicle is a startline 84 or 102
Yes they can get you better spec vans from them but that starts bumping the price up
Most converters I looked at And I did a lot of research I would have paid 50k
For what I have and to be honest I never had 50k
So had to punt around to get the best deal I could
So I could have the base van I wanted
The conversion was no deals to be had
The only thing I found was any extras they didn't seem to charge a fortune for them in fact very reasonable
 
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