Campervans?? (1 Viewer)

[tonyony]

I retire in 12 months and beginning to research the possibility of buying a campervan. I'm looking to spend around £15k in total.

Could anyone advise me of the following?

I've been focussing on buying a used Mercedes Vito or similar and having it converted, is this wise and is it expensive as opposed to buying an already converted van?

I'd ideally like a cassette loo and some sort of shower arrangement so it can be used "wild" if necessary, is this possible?

So that we can access supermarkets car parks etc is the idea of a "pop-up" roof a good one? Are they a relatively inexpensive addition bearing in my mind our budget?

Any advice at this stage would be very welcome and we can start the journey towards owning our own,
many thanks in anticipation.:thumb:

 

[hilldweller]

Any advice at this stage would be very welcome and we can start the journey towards owning our own,
many thanks in anticipation.:thumb:

My personal view is save yourself a load of bother - £15K will get you a decent van, you can see exactly what you are buying and just drive away.

But in true forum tradition, soon 23986 messages will say "Old fool, we built our dream palace for 2s 6d and have done 2000000 miles in it" and 45678 messages saying "if I were going there I wouldn't start from here", 1 will say "You posted in the wrong place" and will be jumped on by 56789 for being rude, we don't do rude in here, allegedly.

 

[madbluemad]

Breaking the habit of a lifetime here, I agree with Brian

£15K is a fair amount of wonga for what you want. Think about buying a ready made one, tried and tested.

Jim

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[Dodgey]

My personal view is save yourself a load of bother - £15K will get you a decent van, you can see exactly what you are buying and just drive away.

.

That would be my thought exactly. Care required with age but there are loads of nice vans about, check out the ever present ebay, not so much for finding one, but you never know, but it gives a good feel for what's out there as well as dealers/dealer web sites, shows etc. Even if you look outside your price bracket it may give pointers to layout and then look backwards, if that makes sence, and above all ask about in here:thumb:

PS Welcome to the mad house:thumb:

 

[Chris]

You have posted in the wrong place.

 

[Terry]

Hi Tony, & WELCOME :thumb:Firstly you need to do a lot of homework if you are on about converting or having a van converted for you A Vito while being small enough for everyday use is not really big as to fit a usable shower / loo inside so you are looking at a tranny size van which will give you more scope :thumb:15k will buy a good s/h van but you must go to a few dealers / shows :thumb: to see what you fancy.Have a look at mine ( just under my name on left ) to see what you can get if you look around :thumb: Any more qs just ask
terry
Go look in the fun garage,again on the left - most viewed van

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[JJ]

My personal view is save yourself a load of bother - £15K will get you a decent van, you can see exactly what you are buying and just drive away.

But in true forum tradition, soon 23986 messages will say "Old fool, we built our dream palace for 2s 6d and have done 2000000 miles in it"

Brian you young(er than me) fool... I only paid 1s 11p for my van and it has been around the world 17 times and I haven't even changed a cambelt yet...
JJ

Seriously though... if you have £15000 to spend and you spend it all on a converted van IMVHO you do not get a vehicle as mechanically sound as you would if you spent some on the van and some on converting it...

 

[hilldweller]

Seriously though... if you have £15000 to spend and you spend it all on a converted van IMVHO you do not get a vehicle as mechanically sound as you would if you spent some on the van and some on converting it...

I think you may be wrong JJ you pay conversion costs on today's full price. Second hand you pay the costs of years ago and a load of depreciation. So the choice is a little brand new or a lot used but cared for. He's after a second hand vehicle either way, my take is a second hand van is driven by white van man but a second hand MH is driven by old ladies who only go to the beach on Sundays.

Generally people cherish their vans, even old ones can be nearly as good as new and in fact far better than some flashy new ones, again in my humble opinion.

I'll leave *very* humble to JJ, he's so good at it.

 

[JJ]

I think you may be wrong JJ you pay conversion costs on today's full price. Second hand you pay the costs of years ago and a load of depreciation. So the choice is a little brand new or a lot used but cared for. He's after a second hand vehicle either way, my take is a second hand van is driven by white van man but a second hand MH is driven by old ladies who only go to the beach on Sundays.

Generally people cherish their vans, even old ones can be nearly as good as new and in fact far better than some flashy new ones, again in my humble opinion.

I'll leave *very* humble to JJ, he's so good at it.

JJ

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[JJ]

... van with 55000 genuine miles on clock €4500 (with full Iveco main dealer service history)

Smev oven, grill, 4 rings approx £500

Compressor fridge... approx £500

Solar panels and reg... approx £1000

Loo approx £250

Malaga 3E water heater approx £400

Space heater from Truma (unknown price as I was given it)

wires, pipes, roof lights, screws, glue etc etc ??? around £1000???

built by me with no skill what so ever!!!

If you want a smart, professional van check out Mick's van... like a dealer van on a 1 year old Crafter with leather upholstery and all the facilities... well less than £15000... (I will look for a photo...)

JJ

 

[Terry]

My total build cost was £10,500 inc the van :thumb:Genuine 7k on the clock only got 22 k now You can buy it for 14 k :thumb: Then I will do another
terry

 

[JJ]

My total build cost was £10,500 inc the van :thumb:Genuine 7k on the clock only got 22 k now You can buy it for 14 k :thumb: Then I will do another
terry

And a beautiful looking job you have done on it too Terry...

JJ

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[movan]

Hi Tony, I agree with Brian's first post also unless you are well up on doing the jobs yourself. It costs me a fortune paying the workmen's fees for just smallest jobs....

Whatever you decide, you will get some brilliant advice on this forum...

Joy who isn't rude, but neither is she a little old lady who goes to the beach on Sundays.....:thumb:

 

[tonyony]

many thanks for the responses so far.

Terry, if I had the money now I'd but it, but that's not an option yet.

Keep the ideas coming, ta.

 

[JeanLuc]

I would look for a good second-hand Hymer (but I would say that). They are well-made and last for years. Have a look at the site link below for an idea of what's about. (Peter Hambilton is probably the foremost private Hymer specialist in the UK.) Have a look at Motorhome Sales, and Private (commission) Sales in the links on the left hand navigation bar of his website. You will see that a decent old A-class can be purchased within your budget.

You could also look at Deepcar in Sheffield - another Hymer specialist (lower link).

Philip

Link Removed

http://www.dmiuk.com/sale_stock.php

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[hilldweller]

My total build cost was £10,500 inc the van :thumb:Genuine 7k on the clock only got 22 k now You can buy it for 14 k :thumb: Then I will do another
terry

Pretty impressive you two.

But I had in mind the poor woman from Scotland who has shelled out a load of money and got nothing but grief for it.

So if anyone does commiseration a build then check, double check and triple check the potential builder.

Then think long term, what will it's value be when it's time to part with it.

 

[Terry]

Pretty impressive you two.

But I had in mind the poor woman from Scotland who has shelled out a load of money and got nothing but grief for it.

So if anyone does commiseration a build then check, double check and triple check the potential builder.

Then think long term, what will it's value be when it's time to part with it.

Got to agree :thumb: you have to check the build / converter :thumb:
Personally IF THE VAN LOOKS RIGHT FOR CONVERTING then I make sure all the underpinnings are good :thumb: only then would I convert the van. No use getting a good conversion done / doing one for your chosen van to give you grief oh:If like me you spend 7k plus for things to put into the van then you want a good van to put it all in :thumb:Remember the 7 k is going into the van whether it be a 1k scraper or a 20k new van
terry

 

[NIGELB]

best get someone who knows .

i would buy a van proffesionally built if your new to motorhomes unless you have time and equipment and know how.i found out the hard way luckily i saved on the labour and i have renovated houses from shells,I bought mine not knowing about motorhomes thinking i would just have to refit the interior,my wife said look past the mess as it was lived in by lads working away.I suppose its like buying a car with fsh a motor home with the same will be ready to roll not like me spending cold nights outside swearing when things went wrong and looking for parts and rumnning up and down the country.im pleased with mine now but if i add my labour i could have gone and bought half descent hymer older maybe,more experienced funsters should guide you like brian,:thumb::thumb:look in my garage,

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[Nigel-ph]

Went through this recently when getting back into MHing after a break, with a £15k budget for a 2 berther under 6m length. Couldn’t find an already converted van with the layout/spec/budget/size I had in mind. Couldn’t find a converter to make me one within my budget (at least double!). Couldn’t even see how to buy a decent low mileage van (ideally a Peugeot Pro L3H2 Minibus) and do a diy conversion within budget. Ended up not being a fan of converted vans, especially those diy conversions with high miles, no DVLA motorcaravan classification and in some cases no bathroom. Even less of a fan of the older diesel grinders having test driven some deafeners. I eventually went for a 2001 Autosleeper with a 5 cylinder VW petrol/lpg engine. Beautifully made, well cared for and just about perfect inside and underneath, 49k miles, silky smooth to drive and nothing to do but kit out and enjoy. Worth looking for… now for the flack no doubt!

 

[cmcardle75]

Went through this recently when getting back into MHing after a break, with a £15k budget for a 2 berther under 6m length. Couldn’t find an already converted van with the layout/spec/budget/size I had in mind. Couldn’t find a converter to make me one within my budget (at least double!). Couldn’t even see how to buy a decent low mileage van (ideally a Peugeot Pro L3H2 Minibus) and do a diy conversion within budget. Ended up not being a fan of converted vans, especially those diy conversions with high miles, no DVLA motorcaravan classification and in some cases no bathroom. Even less of a fan of the older diesel grinders having test driven some deafeners. I eventually went for a 2001 Autosleeper with a 5 cylinder VW petrol/lpg engine. Beautifully made, well cared for and just about perfect inside and underneath, 49k miles, silky smooth to drive and nothing to do but kit out and enjoy. Worth looking for… now for the flack no doubt!

I agree. You can just about do such a conversion yourself for 15K (I just have), but it'll be months of work and it won't be a modern low mileage Euro 6. 15K would just about get you the base vehicle for that.

 

[pagey]

This thread is 12 years old

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[Nigel-ph]

One last point, it’s unlikely that a diy conversion of a Vito with pop-up roof would get DVLA type approval as motorcaravan. Maybe professional converters get away with it somehow, but the rules are quite clear. It’s no doubt a moot point for some, but there are advantages over ‘window van’ or ‘panel van’ classification especially regarding insurance (“has it been modified in any way sir?”)

Converting a vehicle into a motor caravan (motor home)

www.gov.uk

 

[cmcardle75]

This thread is 12 years old

Yep, but from the word "recently" used by the effectively new OP, I don't think it was an accident!

 

[Nigel-ph]

This thread is 12 years old

Didn’t spot that… amazing how little your money gets you 12 years on!

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[pagey]

For sure