The Aussie Mechanic Get the book · $39

A country mechanic's caravan buying guide

Buy the right van. Tow it legal.

Most utes "rated to 3,500 kg" can't legally tow a full 3,500 kg van once you're in them. Here's how to check yours, what a used van is really worth now, and how to keep your deposit safe.

  • The GCM sum nobody does at the dealer, worked through on real utes
  • What a used van is really worth now the boom's over
  • How to protect your deposit when builders keep going broke
  • A 20-minute inspection and weigh sheet to take to every van
Get the book · $39

Instant PDF download · 7-day money-back guarantee

The Aussie Caravan Buyer's Bible cover: a white caravan and a dark ute on a red-gravel outback road at golden hour

Why I wrote it

The van isn't the problem. The buy is.

I'm Greg. I'm fifty-three and I've run a country workshop for thirty-two years. A lot of what comes through my door now has a caravan hitched to it: cooked wheel bearings, flattened springs, utes sagging under a van they were never rated to tow.

The boom's turned. Builders have gone broke with customers' deposits, boom-years vans are on Marketplace at boom-years prices, and police weigh days keep finding rigs over their limits. For a careful buyer it's the best market in years. For everyone else it's a minefield.

So I wrote down everything I'd tell a mate before he hands over his money: the weights, the money, and what to look at underneath. Every law and figure is checked against the government and regulator sources and dated.

— Greg

Who it's for

Three kinds of people buy this book

You're buying

New or used, dealer or private. Know what your car can legally tow, what the van's worth, and what to check before any money changes hands.

You already own one

Go and weigh it. Chapter 4 shows you how in half an hour, and Chapter 3 tells you which of the six limits you're most likely over.

You're selling

Price it for today's market, not 2022's, sell it faster with the right paperwork, and spot the two scams that target sellers.

The 20-minute inspection and weigh sheet from Chapter 1

Chapter 1 · Start here

Twenty minutes, a torch and a pencil

Print it, take it to every van you look at, and fill it in before anybody talks about price.

  • The plate: tare, ATM and GTM, and the payload sum you do yourself.
  • Your car: the numbers from your owner's manual, and how much room is left for people and gear.
  • Underneath: the A-frame, springs, bearings and brakes, in the order I check them.
  • Before you pay: the $2 PPSR check, the recall check, and a deposit rule that keeps your money safe.

From the workshop

Things buyers are told that cost them money

"Your ute's rated to 3,500, you'll be right."

Not once the ute's loaded. Take a full 3,500 kg van off a HiLux SR5's combined limit and about 240 kg is left for everyone and everything in the car.

"Heaps of payload in this one."

The tare is weighed with the water tanks empty, and every accessory the dealer "throws in" comes out of the payload.

"Pay half now to lock in your build slot."

There's no deposit protection for caravans in any state. If the builder goes under, you're an unsecured creditor.

"There's five years' warranty left on it."

Plenty of builders' warranties don't transfer to a second owner. Chapter 7 shows what does protect you.

"You're only entitled to a repair."

Not under the Australian Consumer Law. A major failure gets you a refund or replacement, and the right can outlast the warranty.

The numbers

What's in the book

Every figure comes from a government, regulator, court or published source, named in the book.

Left for people and gear in a HiLux SR5 towing a full 3,500 kg van (published specs)240 kg
Queensland Transport's typical set of tow-car extras and family586 kg
Rigs over the van's ATM at one NSW Police weigh day (2023)17 of 44
Customer deposits caught in one builder's collapse (2026, reported)$2,250,000
Full refund a tribunal ordered on a motorhome that leaked from day one$94,990
The PPSR check that tells you if money's owing on a van$2

One bad buy costs more than this book a thousand times over. The book shows you how to check your own van and your own car.

What's inside

Fifteen short chapters and a weigh sheet

  1. 1Start here: the 20-minute inspection and weigh sheet
  2. 2The plate: five numbers that decide everything
  3. 3Can your car legally tow it? The 3,500 kg tow lie
  4. 4The weighbridge: what the police keep finding
  5. 5What a used van is really worth now
  6. 6Deposits, and when the builder goes broke
  7. 7Your rights when it's faulty, and the warranty that stays behind
  8. 8Underneath: chassis, suspension, bearings, brakes
  9. 9Water: the leak that kills a van
  10. 10Buying one that's been sitting, and the dealer's back row
  11. 11What it really costs you a year
  12. 12Finance, and owing more than it's worth
  13. 13Selling one in a slump
  14. 14Make the calls: phone script and comparison sheet
  15. 15A word from the workshop

The Aussie Caravan Buyer's Bible

Buy it right. Tow it legal.

$39

AUD · one payment · instant PDF download

  • The full guide, 33 printable pages
  • The 20-minute inspection and weigh sheet
  • The GCM sum worked through on real utes
  • Phone script and three-van comparison sheet
  • Free updated editions when laws or figures change
  • 7-day money-back guarantee

Get the book — $39

Checkout and download are handled securely by Gumroad. Not for you? Reply to your receipt within 7 days for a full refund.

Questions

Is it a printed book?

It's a PDF you download straight after paying. Read it on your phone or tablet, or print it at home. The inspection and weigh sheets are made to be filled in by hand.

Does it apply where I live?

It's written for Australia. Towing and weight rules are national; registration, speed limits and licences vary by state, and the book says where.

Is it for motorhomes too?

It's written for caravans and the car that tows them. For motorhomes and campervans, my Van Buyer's Bible covers the chassis side.

Is this legal or financial advice?

No. It's general information from the national vehicle standards, state transport departments, the ACCC, ASIC's Moneysmart, tribunal decisions and published figures, each named in the book.

What if it isn't for me?

You're covered by a 7-day money-back guarantee. Reply to your receipt email within 7 days and you'll get a full refund.

What happens when the rules or prices change?

When they do, you get the corrected edition at no extra charge.

Who is Greg?

Greg is the presenter of The Aussie Mechanic YouTube channel. His workshop stories are composites, and every rule, price and figure in the book comes from the public sources named in it, so you can check them yourself.