# Camper Van and Sprinter Owners On a converted van the build is frequently worth more than the chassis, and a valuation database sees only the chassis. Van owners also carry driver assistance systems that need recalibration after a structural repair, which is the line most commonly missing from an estimate. ## The build is worth more than the van A Sprinter, Transit or ProMaster conversion is two assets sharing a registration. The chassis has a market value that any database can find. The build has a value that exists only in receipts, photographs and labour, and a cargo van in a valuation lookup is a cargo van whatever is inside it. Custom build out on a van runs $5,000 to $80,000 or more, which is the number a total loss valuation will miss entirely if the build was never declared. Owners of self converted vans are the most exposed, because much of the value is unpaid labour and the receipts are for plywood, insulation and wire rather than for a finished vehicle. The fix is a document created before anything happens. Photographs in daylight, dated, wide and close. Receipts in one place. A one page description of what was installed, by whom and when. Then a conversation with the agent at renewal rather than with the claims line after a loss, because coverage for a build is an underwriting matter and it cannot be arranged retroactively. ## Parking structures, height, and the damage they do The single most common van damage pattern this shop sees is a high roof meeting something that was not high enough. Parking structure entries, drive throughs, low branches, service station canopies. The damage runs along the roof edge and the upper body line, which is exactly where a roof rack, a solar array, a fan or an air conditioner is mounted. That makes a simple looking strike expensive. A roof panel repair, a resealed penetration, a replacement fan, a solar panel and its mount, and a paint blend along a long flat surface that shows every ripple. Van collision repair and refinish runs $1,500 to $40,000 or more, and roof reinforcement with a solar rack install runs $750 to $6,500 when the mounting structure itself moved. The second pattern is the sliding door, which on a working or converted van cycles constantly. Track wear, roller failure, latch misalignment, and on power doors an actuator that has been fighting a track that was already out of true. Sliding door repair runs $400 to $3,500, and a door that has begun to bind is a door worth attending to before it stops closing against its seal. The third is the rear barn doors, particularly where a hinge has been loaded by a swing out carrier or a tire rack. Rear barn door service and latch repair runs $300 to $2,500. ## Driver assistance, and why a van is not a trailer A late model van chassis carries radar, forward cameras, lane keeping and automatic braking, and every one of those is aimed. A front hit moves brackets, mounts and the windscreen. A repair that returns the panel to shape without recalibrating the systems returns a vehicle that is looking at where the road used to be. That line is missing from estimates constantly, and the reason is structural rather than sinister. Calibration lines are chassis specific, they sit in a part of the estimating system many adjusters rarely open, and on a converted van the chassis and the build are habitually thought of as separate vehicles. It falls into the seam between them. We scan before and after, calibrate where the chassis requires it, and the scan report goes in the file. Where calibration is needed and absent from the estimate, that report is the supplement. ADAS scan and recalibration runs $275 to $1,800, and it is the one omission on a van repair with a safety consequence rather than a cosmetic one. ## Dealer, converter or independent shop Van owners get pulled three ways after a loss, and each option is genuinely good at something. A chassis dealer knows the chassis and has parts access, and generally has no interest in the build behind the bulkhead. The original converter knows the build and frequently has a queue measured in months. An independent shop has to prove it can do both. The question worth asking is which side of the vehicle the damage is on. A pure chassis repair with no build involvement is straightforward anywhere competent. A repair that requires removing a galley, an electrical distribution panel and a water system to reach a structural member is a different job, and the disassembly record becomes the reassembly instruction because a one off build has no diagram. In California the vehicle owner chooses the repair facility, and on a converted van that choice matters more than on a car, because the wrong choice is not a worse repair, it is a vehicle handed back with the build reassembled by somebody guessing. Solar installation runs $1,500 to $12,000, auxiliary battery and inverter systems run $750 to $7,500, and both live behind panels that a body shop with no conversion experience will remove without photographing. --- Source: https://ocrv.guru/we-work-with/private-owners/sprinter-and-van-owners/ OCRV Center, 23281 La Palma Ave, Yorba Linda, CA 92887. (949) 799-3387. Serving Laguna Niguel, California. All work performed in shop. No mobile or roadside service. Licences: California Bureau of Automotive Repair ARD00288521; EPA CAL000367879. Published ranges are ranges, not quotes. Every figure traces to https://ocrv.guru/prices/.