Ensuring you are making the correct decision is even more critical when you are purchasing a caravan through a private seller. There have been some unfortunate incidents of late where consumers have unknowingly purchased illegal re-birthed caravans through private sellers.
Rebirthing involves removing or changing identifying information of a stolen or written-off vehicle (including trailers) to hide its identity, and disguise it as a different vehicle.
There are significant risks associated with buying a stolen or rebirthed caravan. You may not be able to register or use it and you may not be able to recover any costs spent on purchasing it.
These risks also apply to camper trailers, tent trailers, and other light trailers such as box trailers, boat trailers, and horse trailers.
There are a number of steps you can take to protect yourself in order to make an informed decision prior to purchasing a caravan. The first thing to do is to look for signs that indicate that a caravan has been tampered with.
Manufacturers must affix a trailer plate to their products. The plate is commonly attached to the draw bar or A-frame, or inside the front boot or storage compartment. The plate must be made from durable, non-corrosive metal and must be physically affixed to the trailer, not by glue or adhesive, and in a position that is easily accessible and clearly visible. All of this information must be clearly legible, using characters no less than 2.5mm in height and either embossed, indented, etched or engraved onto the trailer plate. It is a requirement for the plate to display a minimum level of information, including:
Make sure the information engraved on the trailer plate matches the information recorded on the registration papers. Pay special attention to the following items:
There are various rules relating to when identifiers must be stamped or welded into a caravan chassis. What to look out for may depend on whether the caravan is registered or not.
For caravans manufactured in Queensland, it is compulsory for the manufacturer to stamp or weld the VIN number into the A-frame of the chassis.
For caravans manufactured outside of Queensland, this is not always a requirement. Most major manufacturers still weld the chassis number or VIN number into the A-frame or drawbar of the caravan as good practice.
Regardless of where a caravan is manufactured, in Queensland it is a requirement that the chassis or VIN number must be stamped into a substantial part of the trailer before it can be registered.
In cases of theft or rebirthing, these numbers will often be removed to hide the vehicle’s identity. Look for the following:
Most caravans should have the manufacturer’s name and model name of that particular caravan affixed to the outside of the caravan. It could be suspicious if the manufacturer and model name have been removed and the caravan is completely void of any branding at all.
If the price seems too good to be true, it probably is. Sellers who are looking to move a stolen or rebirthed caravan will generally be trying to sell it quickly, so the price will be considerably lower than what it is worth. Visit popular vehicle or caravan sale web sites to check prices and compare the market to get an idea of prices.
If you are still unsure then there are further checks available to help confirm that you are not purchasing a stolen or re-birthed caravan.
Before purchasing a caravan, you can request a Personal Property Securities Register search, to help in determining whether it is encumbered, written-off, stolen or registered in any other state or territory in Australia. This search is a quick, easy and inexpensive way to get important information about any security interest over a caravan, or to see if it has been written off or stolen.
If you’ve completed any of these steps and you still have questions about a particular caravan you should seek advice from an industry expert. Caravanning Queensland is the peak industry body for caravanning in Queensland, with members located from the Gold Coast through to Cairns. To arrange a caravan inspection or a pre-purchase inspection, click here to locate and contact a Caravanning Queensland member business near you.
If an inspection identifies that a caravan has been stolen or rebirthed, the matter may be escalated to the Queensland Police Service for further investigation.
For peace of mind when buying a second hand caravan or other recreational vehicle type, we always recommend purchasing through a licenced Caravanning Queensland Dealer.
Purchasers of any recreational vehicle should always buy from a licenced dealer. Why? Because this is the only way to guarantee clear title on the unit you are buying.
Licenced dealers conduct many exhaustive checks to ensure that the units they are selling are in fact not stolen, re-birthed (and often re-identified) or encumbered (ie. they don’t have any money owing on them).
In the unlikely, but not unheard of, occurrence that somewhere down the track the caravan does turn out to be stolen, then the purchaser does not lose their money but through the state government’s indemnity fund applicable to all licensed dealers, a claim can be made for compensation.
All retailer member dealers of the Caravan Trade & Industries Association of Queensland Ltd. (CTIAQ) are licensed and offer you this protection. Our full list of members and their services are located under Products & Services.
The Caravan Trade & Industries Association of Queensland may be able to assist if you have your caravan, motorhome or camper trailer stolen.
Complete as much detail as you can on the Stolen RV Report Form and email it to us. We will advise all of our members, all members of the Caravan Parks Association of Queensland, each of our affiliated interstate associations and any relevant Government Departments to assist in the possible location and recovery of any stolen units.
We will also list it as stolen on our website until you advise of its recovery.