Information about the Auckland Car Fair for VanPackers

What is the Auckland Car Fair?

Auckland Car Fair is a weekly in-person marketplace event for sellers and buyers to negotiate vehicle transactions. It is hosted in a car park on the fringe of the CBD. Hundreds of people attend each weekend. Often departing VanPackers looking to sell campervans and arriving VanPackers looking for campervans will congregate here.

It can be a fiercely competitive market for selling at the end of summer (April), so prices tend to be lowest then. The opposite trend exists at the start of spring (September), when it becomes a fiercely competitive market for buyers. Stocks often dry up and VanPackers are left to stay in expensive accommodation for far longer than expected, they pay too much for a campervan, and/or they purchase a campervan that will require repairs on the road.

Auckland Car Fair provides different risks and benefits. We outline these below.

When and where is the Auckland Car Fair?

Auckland Car Fair is every Sunday from 8am to 1pm at 70 The Strand, Parnel, Auckland. It is in a car park with limited space, so sellers are advised to arrive on time to get a spot. It is forty dollars entry to sell a vehicle.

Benefits

• Walking distance to the Auckland CBD

• On-site independent vehicle inspectors (watch for conflicts of interest here)

• VanPacker-to-VanPacker

• Low prices for buyers in early winter

• High prices for sellers in early spring

Risks

• Accommodation costs while searching for the appropriate vehicle can be expensive

• It can take a long time to find the campervan you desire

• Campervans are purchased in a private sale, so consumer guarantees are difficult to enforce

• Campervans have been driven by VanPackers for long trips stressing the engines

• The car fair is a weekly event, it can be multiple weeks before the desired campervan shows up

• Low prices for sellers in early winter

• High prices for buyers in early spring