Caravan Service Cost Calculator

Understanding caravan service costs in Australia

What a caravan service costs in 2026

A caravan service is not a single job, it is a bundle of chassis, running gear, gas, electrical and appliance work, and the price reflects how much of that bundle you buy. As a 2026 Australian benchmark, a basic annual service on a single axle van covering bearings, brakes, a general safety inspection and a report typically costs $350 to $550. A tandem axle van costs more simply because there are twice as many wheel ends, generally $500 to $800. A comprehensive service adding gas certification, a 240 volt electrical test, appliance servicing and a full seal inspection commonly lands between $800 and $1,400. Large offroad vans, fifth wheelers and motorhomes sit above that again. Workshop labour rates for caravan specialists run roughly $120 to $180 an hour across metro Australia, and mobile technicians who come to you typically add a callout of $80 to $150.

Service intervals and what actually needs doing

The common manufacturer specification is twelve months or 10,000 kilometres, whichever comes first, and the twelve month trigger matters more than people expect. A van that sits in storage for a year is not in a benign state: grease in the bearings separates and drains, tyres develop flat spots and age out regardless of tread, seals dry and shrink in the sun, brake drums surface rust, and batteries sulphate. Time based degradation is why a van that has covered barely any kilometres still needs the annual visit. Wheel bearings are the headline item, since a bearing failure at highway speed on a loaded van is genuinely dangerous and can destroy the stub axle, turning a $200 repack into a $1,500 repair. Electric brake magnets wear silently and are usually assessed at the same time the hubs come off, which is why bearings and brakes are almost always quoted together.

The gas certificate and the electrical test

Two items on a caravan service are not really servicing at all, they are compliance. A gas compliance certificate must be issued by a licensed gas fitter after testing the system for leaks and verifying appliance operation, ventilation and regulator function, and it is a legal document separate from the service invoice. It commonly costs $150 to $300 and the usual expectation for a van in regular use is annual renewal. Many caravan parks and insurers ask to see a current certificate, and after any gas work a new certificate is required. The 240 volt electrical test is the equivalent for the mains side: an inspection and test of the RCD, the leads and the fixed wiring, typically $150 to $250, performed by a licensed electrician. Neither of these is optional in any meaningful sense if you use powered sites, and neither can be performed by an unlicensed technician regardless of how competent they are with the rest of the van.

Water ingress, seals and the expensive failure

The most expensive thing that goes wrong with a caravan is water. Most Australian vans use a timber or composite frame behind the cladding, and once water gets past a roof joint, a window seal, a hatch or a service door, it soaks into the frame and delaminates the walls from the inside. By the time a soft spot is visible from the inside, the repair often means removing cladding and replacing framing, which routinely runs $5,000 to $15,000 and can write off an older van entirely. A seal inspection with a moisture meter costs a few hundred dollars and is the single highest value item on a caravan service. Resealing roof joints, windows and hatches as a preventive measure typically costs $400 to $900 depending on van size. If a technician finds elevated moisture readings, get a proper investigation rather than accepting silicone over the top, because sealing water inside a wall accelerates the damage rather than stopping it.

Appliances, suspension and the extras

Appliance servicing is charged per unit and adds up quickly. A three way fridge service including burner cleaning and flue check, a hot water service anode inspection and flush, a cooktop and grill service, a space heater service and an air conditioner clean and gas check each typically run $80 to $150. On the running gear side, independent suspension needs bush and shock inspection while leaf spring setups need shackle and bush checks, and offroad vans with load sharing suspension carry more inspection points than a basic single axle. Tyres deserve separate attention because caravan tyres almost always age out before they wear out, and the industry guidance is to replace them at around five to seven years regardless of tread depth. Check the date code on the sidewall rather than the tread, since a van with plenty of tread on ten year old tyres is carrying a real blowout risk.

Choosing a workshop and controlling the cost

Look for a workshop that carries gas and electrical licences in house rather than subcontracting, because subcontracting adds a callout to each item and stretches the turnaround. Ask whether the service report is written and itemised, since a proper report with photographs is what you use to hold the workshop to account and what supports a warranty claim later. Confirm whether the shop is approved under your manufacturer's structural or water ingress warranty if you are still inside it, because using an unapproved shop can invalidate cover. And book outside the September to December and pre Easter peaks, when capital city workshops routinely run four to six week waits and have little reason to discount.

Next steps

Use the estimate above as a starting bracket, then ask two workshops for a fixed inspection fee plus a quoted repair list, with gas and electrical certification priced as separate lines. Compare what each includes on seals and bearings specifically, because those two items are where the difference between a cheap service and a thorough one actually shows up years later.