Finished the big lap? Selling your tow vehicle

To sell your tow vehicle after a caravan trip, treat the car and the van as two separate sales, clear any open recalls, and have the paperwork for your towing gear ready before you ask for offers. A late-model 4WD or ute with a rated tow bar, a working brake controller and a full service record is what many touring buyers look for, and you can sell it from wherever the trip ended.

Model and recall details below were checked in October 2026 against manufacturers, motoring press and the government’s recall site.

Will anyone want a 4WD that has just towed a van around Australia?

Yes. Japanese 4x4s and utes are widely reported to hold their value best in Australia, and the LandCruiser, HiLux, Ranger and Prado are named again and again.

The rated braked towing capacity is usually the first number a towing buyer checks. For popular touring vehicles:

Isuzu’s fine print ties its 3.5-tonne figure to the optional genuine Isuzu UTE tow bar or tow tongue kit and an electronic brake controller, so a buyer may ask whether your tow bar is genuine. The MU-X has been rated at 3,500 kg braked since the new generation arrived in August 2021. If you own a 150 Series Prado, its lower rating means it suits buyers whose van sits within 3,000 kg.

Our page on selling a ute or 4WD explains how we buy them, and our guides to selling a used Prado and a LandCruiser 300 go model by model.

Should the tow bar, brake controller and touring gear stay on?

The towing gear usually should, and the bulky camping gear is your call. General resale guidance says tow bars, tub liners and quality canopies tend to hold or add value on utes and 4WDs. Suspension lifts, aftermarket wheels, engine tunes and heavy or non-compliant changes tend to shrink the pool of buyers.

A caravan with electric brakes needs a brake controller to work them, and most are wired into the tow vehicle, so a buyer who tows sees a neat installation as one less job.

Decide before you take an offer, because an offer is for the car as described. If the controller or the drawers come out afterwards, the car at inspection isn’t the car that was priced.

Everything bolted on also comes off the payload. Our guide to accessories, modifications and resale value goes item by item.

Is your car on a towing or touring recall?

Check before you sell. Buyers and dealers look for open recalls, and recall work is free at the brand’s dealer. Search your VIN at vehiclerecalls.gov.au and book any outstanding work at a dealer on your route home. Two recalls are tied directly to touring.

The Prado brake-controller recall

Recall REC-006302, from March 2025, covers 524 Prados from 2024 (model code GDJ251R) fitted with the optional electric brake controller accessory. The lower driver’s airbag may have been refitted at the wrong torque. If your Prado has that controller, ask a Toyota dealer to confirm the work has been done and keep the job card with the service book.

The HiLux corrugation recall

Recall REC-005004, from November 2021, covers 156,838 HiLux utes built from 2015 to 2021. The rear number-plate bracket can crack on corrugated roads. It’s why buyers look hard at brackets and mounts after a lot of gravel. If your HiLux was built in that window, including a 2021 build, check the work has been done.

Other recalls worth a VIN search

What do the kilometres and corrugations do to your offer?

Kilometres are one of the main things that move a car’s value, and a lap adds a lot of them quickly. We buy vehicles from 2021 or newer with 100,000 km or less. If the trip pushed yours over, send it through anyway and we’ll tell you straight away if we can help. Our guide to selling a car over 100,000 km explains your options.

A buyer can’t see how the kilometres were done, so the records have to show it. Keep the invoice for every service done on the road and make sure each one is in the logbook. Check whether your owner’s manual has a separate schedule for towing or dusty conditions.

What a buyer checks after a big trip

Expect a buyer or inspector to look closely at:

• The tow bar and rear end. Wear on the tongue and hitch, scrapes on the rear bar, and whether the trailer plug and every light work.
• The brake controller. That it powers up and the wiring is tidy, not hanging under the dash.
• The rear suspension. Sag from months of ball weight and a loaded tub.
• Tyres. Even wear, and cuts or chips from gravel, including on the spare.
• Glass and paint. Windscreen chips and cracks, and gravel rash along the lower doors.
• Underneath. Dents in the bash plates, exhaust damage and fresh leaks.
• Dust. Bulldust in the cabin, door seals, tailgate and air filter.
• Loose brackets. Anything corrugations may have shaken loose: the number-plate bracket, canopy mounts and roof-rack feet.

None of this is unusual on a touring vehicle. What worries a buyer is the unknown, so get the car washed underneath, fix the cheap things, and write down what you know about the rest.

Should you sell the car and the caravan together or separately?

Separately, in most cases. A buyer for the whole rig has to want that exact car and that exact van at the same time, which is a much smaller group than the buyers for either one.

The van is its own registered vehicle with its own paperwork, and it may have its own loan. Its sale is recorded separately under your state’s rules. In Victoria, for example, the VicRoads notice of disposal covers trailers as well as cars. If either is financed, ask each lender for a payout figure.

We buy cars, utes, SUVs and 4WDs, so our offer covers the tow vehicle. The van can go through a caravan dealer, on consignment or as a private sale. If you sell it privately, Scamwatch’s warnings apply: buyers who won’t inspect in person, overpayments with a request to refund the difference, and payments split across several PayIDs.

The harder question is which to sell first:

You don’t have to hand the car over the day you accept an offer. When you sell to us, the inspection is at a time and place that suits you, which leaves room to line the car’s sale up with the van’s.

Can you sell the car from where the trip ended?

Yes. The sale is recorded under the rules of the state where the car is registered, not the state you happen to be in. We collect anywhere in Australia and arrange the transport, once you confirm the funds have cleared. Tell us where the car will be, such as a caravan park or a friend’s place, and check the park’s rules on access for the pickup. Key drop-off can be arranged if you can’t be there. Our guide to car collection and key drop-off explains how it works.

Your notice of disposal follows your car’s rego. Here’s what each state asks of the seller, and how to do it from the road:

Selling to us, a NSW business, is an interstate sale, which can change the steps. In WA, the licence (WA’s word for rego) usually can’t move with the car to an interstate buyer. Whichever state your car is registered in, we’ll explain the steps before pickup and make sure your notice of disposal is done correctly.

When you sell to a licensed dealer, a private-sale roadworthy or safety certificate usually isn’t needed. Rules differ by state, and we confirm what applies to your car on the call.

How do you get a firm offer while you’re still on the road?

Call from wherever you have signal. The offer comes by phone from a licensed dealer, not an online estimate, so have these to hand:

• The rego, VIN and current odometer reading
• Service invoices from the trip and any recall job cards
• A plain list of the touring gear that stays with the car
• Your lender’s details if there’s a loan
• Where the car will be, and from when

Describe the car the way a buyer would want to hear it. A made-up example: “2023 HiLux SR5 dual-cab, 82,000 km, genuine tow bar and brake controller with invoices, canopy included, serviced on schedule, no open recalls.”

A simple timeline for selling from the road:

1. Two weeks before the trip ends. Search your VIN for recalls and gather your service invoices.
2. Once you know where you’ll finish. Get your offer and tell us where the car will be.
3. The day you accept. A deposit is often paid the same day.
4. When it suits you. The inspection, then the balance paid into your bank account, with no fees taken out of the offer.
5. After the funds clear. You confirm, we collect, and you lodge your notice of disposal under your state’s rules.

If there’s finance on the car, we deal with your lender directly to pay out the loan, then pay you any equity. That usually takes 2 to 3 business days to settle. If you owe more than the offer, the difference has to be covered before settlement.

Keep it for the next trip, or sell it now?

If another big trip is a year or two away, a proven tow vehicle that’s already set up can be worth keeping. If the van is going, or you’re coming home to a quieter routine, remember the kilometres only go up from here. A late-model 4WD or ute with its towing gear and records in order is easier to sell now than after another season of touring.

If you’d like a firm figure to weigh up, we’ll make you a genuine offer by phone. It’s free, there’s no obligation, and you can call us on 1800 73 55 73 from wherever the trip has taken you.