Campervan for 3 month trip around Europe... (1 Viewer)

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Coobster

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Hi, I'm new here, and just as new to the whole campervan thang so was hoping for some advice and starting points!

I am wanting to travel around Europe with my girlfriend in a campervan for 3 months or so. I have had already travelled around Europe in a car and a tent, but now with a bit extra money I don't want to sleep in a tent for that long, so a campervan is the way I want to go!

I'm not sure how much I want to spend on the camper, as the important thing is to not lose too much value on the camper as I will sell it after the trip. The reason for this being that I will then travel the rest of the world by plane etc, so will have no need for it. I am thinking maybe £5,000 - £10,000. I realise this won't get me anything fancy, but that's not what the trip is about!

So my main questions are - what sort of camper should I be looking for? Doesn't need to be big as there's only 2 of us. And something that will last the 10 - 15,000 miles we'll do. How much money should I expect to lose once re-selling it a few months later (assuming it is in the same condition with just extra mileage and wear and tear). The other question I have is will any campers have air con for the price i'm looking at - i'm not bothered about the camper being cool when it's stood still at the campsite, but for when we're driving in the heat of some of the European countries...

Thanks for taking the time to read this and any starting points to look at would be greatly appreciated!!

Marc
 
May 22, 2008
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Hi welcome to the site, for the price you want to pay I would suggest you look for a good panel van with cab air con, have a window or two put in the side, get a porta potty toilet and fit a bunk across the van at the rear with a good matress , fit it high so you have storage under it. you can get good cheap gas cookers at camping shops and also a fridge, a portable fridge is available, gas powered and 12volt and mains if you buy a mains supply gismo also available from camping shops, water containers and pumps are also available, all you need , off you go and have a fabulous time. :thumb::thumb:
 
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Jul 28, 2008
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Hi
Take a peek at our Do Your Dream! Ryan & Mels European Campervan Adventure site - we've just done 6 months in a panel van - gives you some idea of costs etc.

Also - look at adam & sophies blog - Adam and Sophie - Europe 2008 they did similar - bought, travelled, and sold.

Also see Erik on tour: 1 Motorhome, 2 Lads, 1 massive trip

All I'd add - is 3 months is nothing.... after 24 weeks away we consider we move on fairly rapidly - but we've only touched the tip of the iceburg! Many many more months to go.

HTH

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Wildman

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welcome to the site, looks like you have an adventure in front of you. Have you had a look at fleabay no matter what you pay you are only one bid above someone else so a good chance of getting your money back, why not buy one with Short MOT, get it serviced, new MOT, three months away then sell it with 9 months MOT left on it, may even get more than you payed for it.
 
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Bulletguy

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I am wanting to travel around Europe with my girlfriend in a campervan for 3 months or so. I am thinking maybe £5,000 - £10,000. I realise this won't get me anything fancy, but that's not what the trip is about!

So my main questions are - what sort of camper should I be looking for?
Marc

I'm a bit baffled as to why anyone would spend £5-£10k on a campervan to use it for just three months, travel 10,000 miles or so, and then sell up. Hiring is not cheap....but it's an option worth looking at in your case.

If you do buy, then from personal experience i'd recommend you go for a Ford Transit camper (the Duetto would suit you fine as a 2 person camper). The reason is simple.

Spares are plentiful, easily available, very cheap, and most important of all......available throughout most european countries. You will never be more than a few miles away from a Ford dealer. And that is a very important point you should bear in mind when buying. Availability of parts and cost.

Don't buy a petrol engine....go for diesel. A non-turbo (direct injection) 2.5 Transit is capable of returning as much as 35-40mpg and will easily cruise all day long at 70mph (still get around 33-35mpg at that speed). A turbo 2.5 diesel returns around 30mpg.

My Transit is an old 'un (1993), but unlike most others, is in regular daily use, and have toured the Outer Hebrides, France, Germany, Czech, Poland, and this year am off on another european tour through Slovakia, Slovenia, Hungary, and possibly down into Romania and Bulgaria.

Regular use is a strong selling point which you need to look out for as many motorhomes and campervans spend a major part of their life sitting on a driveway doing nothing and get used just a couple of weeks or so each year. That's not good for any vehicle.

Looking on eBay can find you a bargain.....if you are prepared to search daily. AutoTrader prices tend to be a bit higher. Best time really to start searching is from October up to Jan or February. Summer months is when people decide they want one!
 
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C

Coobster

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Thanks for the replies everyone, i'm suprised at how quick the responses have been!

activecampers - those links are great, and what Adam and Sophie are doing is pretty much what we have in mind.

Bulletguy - in response as to why I would spend £5-£10k on a campervan and then sell it is simply that the cost of the campervan isn't important (so long as I have the funds to buy it) the important thing is how much money I will lose once I sell it upon my return. The cost of hiring is, I think from the research completed to date, going to be maybe as much as double as the loss on buying and selling. Taking Adam and Sophie's trip to mind they lost £1500 on the camper, so they essentially 'hired' it for £1,500.

I didn't realise i'd be able to get as much as 35-40mpg from the a camper, and one the things I was thinking about was the availabilty of spare parts, so getting something like a Ford is a good idea.

We are thinking of starting this trip in August 2010, so plenty of time for us to complete our research, and to hopefully buy a camper in the cheaper time of this coming Winter.

Not really knowing anything about campers, I don't think I'd be confident enough to try a conversion myself, but if I did is it easier or more difficult to sell once finished? I can imagine what is perfect for me would be hideous to someone else!!

Wildman - thanks for the tip, the less money we lose on the camper the more we'll have for the rest of the world trip we do after!

Thanks very much for all the posts, it's giving me a direction to look into. Please hit me with anything more! :thumb::thumb:

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Stephen & Jeannie

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Beware !!!!:ROFLMAO:

Once you have bought the panel van and got it up to the spec that you desire and toured around wherever you wish to go you will find that you DON'T want to sell it on because you have had such a great time that you will want to do it again !!!!....:cry: :cry: :ROFLMAO:
 
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Bulletguy

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Bulletguy - in response as to why I would spend £5-£10k on a campervan and then sell it is simply that the cost of the campervan isn't important (so long as I have the funds to buy it) the important thing is how much money I will lose once I sell it upon my return.
Nothing at best.....very little at worst. But that would also depend on how much your initial purchase price was. Campervans tend to hold their price pretty well compared with cars.


I didn't realise i'd be able to get as much as 35-40mpg from the a camper, and one the things I was thinking about was the availabilty of spare parts, so getting something like a Ford is a good idea.
The figures i gave are for the Ford Transit diesel. I cant speak for any other engine. 40mpg is possible with the 2.5di engine if driven carefully, but you will get an easy 35mpg.

Spare parts availability is of paramount importance, especially travelling in europe. Ford dealers are all over the place in europe.

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gazznsam

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hiya Sam here,

i'm not sure on the prices of campervans, but i have been to europe many times, spending upto 9 months in one trip, :roflmto:

so i can give you a rough idea of what its like touring over there,

we have got an iveco coachbuilt motorhome, we started building it in 2004, and we still find bits todo to it even now. lol

(it's called The KampenWagen :winky:

in 2004/early 2005, we went around middle & southern england & wales to test it out, as it were.. picking up our fab dog along the way. :)

ours is 7 meters long, 2 meters wide & 3 meters tall, but you'd prob want something alittle smaller if your going to be selling it afterwards.

if your looking to spend 5K - 10K on a camper, get something to suit your own needs for the time you'll be using it for.

gas can be brought over in europe (pumped gas) as we have a gas tank under the van. which makes it cheaper in the long run, as gas is cheaper or was, in europe. (2005-2007 we spent touring around) each year, not all in one go. lol

I know that you wont need to pay £18 a night to stay on a campsite :whatthe: over in europe.

In france there are loads of Aire's ranging from free to acouple of euros a night, you pay alittle for water, or sometimes thats free too.
what we did is, drove around looking for a tap.. then filled up. :)

before we headed to europe, we caught the early moring ferry from Dover to Dunkirk,
as that was alot cheaper than using the mid-day ferrys.
( we always went with Norfolk Line, as they were the cheapest back then)

at around 4am we'd make our way over from the motorhome parking places along the sea front..(in Dover) to the port.

on the, get a quote page, it gives you a selection of motorhome hights, under Vehicle type.
Link Removed

then we'd spend acouple of hours wandering about on board, or find our way to a Tv in the kiddies area, and prob fall asleep in the soft play area.. lol
then arrive in Dunkirk.

where we'd head towards the casino, as past there is an area for motorhomes to park up :winky:, right next to the beach.. where the WW2 war memorial is.
the motorhome parking place is in Dunkerque,
just off Rue Marcel Sailly, right next to the lovely beach :)

here are the directions, thanks to google.. as i was trying to remember how to get there. phew!
(hope this works, and sorry for the long bit)

Dover to Dunkirk, Port in Dunkirk: ZI du Port O
1.Head southeast on ZI du Port O0.2 km
2.Turn left toward Route du Petit Dena0.3 km
3.Turn right at Route du Petit Dena73 m
4.Continue on Rue du Petit Denna Go through 1 roundabout
0.9 km
5.Continue on Route de la Maison Blanche1.3 km
6.At the roundabout, take the 2nd exit and stay on Route de la Maison Blanche heading to A16/A250.9 km
7.At the roundabout, take the 5th exit onto D601 heading to Dunkerque/Grande-Synthe/N1 Go through 1 roundabout
9.7 km
8.At the roundabout, take the 4th exit onto D625/Route du Fossé Continue to follow D625
1.6 km
9.Continue on Chaussée des Darses/N353 Continue to follow N353
3.7 km
10.At Rond-Point Maurice Schumann, take the 3rd exit onto Avenue Maurice Schumann0.4 km
11.Continue on Avenue de l'Université0.6 km
12.At the roundabout, take the 2nd exit0.3 km
13.Continue straight onto Rue de la Cartoucherie0.3 km
14.Slight left at Rue du Contre-Torpilleur Triomphant0.2 km
15.Turn left at Rue des Chantiers de France0.3 km
16.Turn right at Rue Militaire49 m
17.Turn left toward Rue Marcel Sailly95 m
18.Turn left at Rue Marcel Sailly Destination will be on the right
0.1 km

icon_greenB.png
Rue Marcel Sailly



Look for a large gravel/sandy car park next to the beach front, war memorial.
parking is free, and theres a water tap near by.
you should see a good number of motorhome parked up, its a safe location.. even tho on another forum they say, dont park there as its a bad area..

thats nonsence, we've stayed there many times over night, or the last time a couple of days, its a lovely area withs lots to see and do. :)
theres also phone boxes down the little road running down the sea front, down one of the side roads.. near a resturante.

here's the link so you can have a proper look at it.
Link Removed
zooming in will show you where other motorhomes are parked. on google maps.

moving onto your other questions, :)

down in southern france you'll prob need some kind of air con, as in 2007 while we were down there it got pretty hot.. and so did spain. cor!
we had No air con, it was fine while driving...as we had both windows open & the little fan over the kitchen on full blast. (fan in the roof) you'll need one of those. as having no fans will be warm.

we took a little 12volt plug in fan with us too, as it was warm.
having a good fridge too will help, our old gas fridge stopped working down in southern france due to it being too hot, so we had to get a compressor fridge, and that worked alot better.
( gazz knows all the technical stuff, lol i dont sorry.)

along with heat will be cold winters, in germany it snows pretty deep, as we found out in 2007, if only the pictures were working on our website, you could have looked at them :RollEyes:
the only thing that works on our website, is the text, but hovering over where the buttons once were should tell you whats where.
aka our Euro Tours Blogs filled with lots of info on where to stay in europe, build diary and so on.
Home << the kampenwagens own site, lol

seems i've put too much on one of these again, hope thats helped alittle bit?

shops are simlar to the ones over here, Lidi, Aldi, Achen's are good too.
 
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Peter JohnsCross MH

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I have a couple of P/x's in stock. 1994 Eldiss Eclipse 4 berth Diesel which would suit your budget.

Renault Traffic 2500cc Diesel ManualLength: 17' 4" (5.28m)Layout: End LoungeHeight: 9' 1" (2.76m)Berths: Four BerthMileage: 35500Specification: Hot water - Gas, Cassette toilet - manual, Shower, On board water and waste tanks, Oven, Fridge, Mains electric, Blinds & flyscreens and a Gas fire. This Elddis Eclipse is built on the Renault chassis


ext_DSCN1244.JPG


 
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