What Van? Britain's biggest and best van buyers' guide

The marketplace for light commercial vehicle conversions underwent a change when the European Community Whole Vehicle Type Approval regulations arrived in 2013.

This made life difficult for some of the smaller, independent bodybuilders who found they could not comply with the exacting standards and saw the major manufacturers muscle in on the action.

Customers can increasingly take their pick from factory-fitted conversions or approved conversions carried out by independent experts such as VFS and Ingimex, which often come with a manufacturer-backed warranty.

Mainstream conversions like tippers, dropsides and Lutons are often available on the forecourt and can be serviced through the manufacturer’s dealership.

A van conversion can cover myriad changes to a base vehicle – from simple racking to adding a bespoke body or load area. As a result, as many as four out of five vans on the roads have undergone some sort of conversion. A lot of these will not be registered as converted because some simple modifications such as racking or extra storage will have been fitted by the owner or operator.

When it comes to the larger jobs, however, manufacturers have welcomed the move to Type Approval. Most were already offering factory-converted vans but now work more closely with their approved converters.

Each conversion is examined and approved by the Vehicle Certification Agency (VCA) and the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA).

Low-volume and niche conversions are subject to National Small Series Type Approval or Individual Vehicle Approval (IVA).

So how does this vast array of conversions fare at remarketing time?

Well, despite the large number of converted LCVs on the road, BCA’s LCV operations director Duncan Ward says: “The remarketing sector is dominated by panel vans and car-derived vans, many from the corporate sector – in fact,  only around 15% of the marketplace is not a traditional van, so anything different is likely to generate interest with buyers. Lutons, dropsides and tippers always attract a lot of interest.”

Ward says demand for more specialist vehicles, such as temperature-controlled vans, is not so strong, but that they can attract interest from cash and carry, independent food retailers, or even market traders, providing they have a good combination of age, mileage, specification and payload.

But he adds that a large percentage of ex-supermarket delivery vans have little attraction for the general used sector as they have been over-specialised.

On the other hand, Ward says demand for cherry pickers and hi-abs tends to be healthy from a specialised audience because such vehicles do not reach the market very often.

“Condition is important and buyers like to be assured the additional equipment has been properly maintained and serviced,” says Ward.

Condition, as ever, is the key – Ward says Lutons are particularly desirable if fitted with a tail-lift, but warns: “Any obvious damage can seriously dent resale values – GRP bodies are difficult to repair and tend to require patching, which can look unsightly.  Sellers should also ensure the tail-lift is regularly serviced and any relevant paperwork is supplied at the time of sale.”

Andy Brown, CD Auctions’ boss agrees that core conversions are the most sought after, but says: “There is a market for all types of conversion – you just need to research potential buyers and market to the right audience.”

Brown adds that Ford, Vauxhall and Volkswagen conversions are the most popular at CD Auction sales.

BCA’s Ward says the growth in civic building projects over the past couple of years has sustained demand for the perennially popular dropsides and tippers, but cautions that damage in the load area can temper enthusiasm.

crew cabs fare less well and are seen by sole traders as too niche, according to Ward. The extra three seats are usually not required, and if they have been removed and converted into a tool locker this is simply seen as dead space, he adds.