Found our new van! I think .... (1 Viewer)

[jezport]

He has scrimped on a lot of stuff that would normally be as standard in a motorhome. What has he scrimped on below the surface? Cheap insulation that holds water like rockwool instead of a more expensive option?

 

[Nirvanauk]

Just sold my Timberland pvc for £24k it was the same size and had heating, solar, toilet, shower, onboard water tanks, onboard lpg tank, etc. So the van you are looking at seems a bit expensive in my opinion.

 

[Southdowners]

Thanks everyone. Its making me feel better about it by the minute and to be honest steps up to the bed isnt a good idea for Martin with Parkinson's.
Maybe you could all.keep an eye out for a sub £30,000 high top.pvc (2.05 width) with a rear bedroom and winterization
At least i know what we want now!
Cheers again comrades . God - the stress!

I would make a list - put things you absolutely need... no steps up to the bed, on board water, winterisation, heating, etc, etc. Then things that aren't an absolute requirement... solar perhaps. Then don't even look at vans with less than the items on your 'absolutely need' list.

 

[Ralph-n-Bev]

Certainly looks the part from the outside, but then I’m biased !
When I saw the price I thought , that’s good .
On a 15 plate too !
Considering how much it cost us for Ralph to convert Pug. I thought you’d got a bargain.
On looking at the interior a couple of things made me concerned. Firstly the wet room. If it has a shower , I wouldn’t think it was very waterproofed. As Terry said . Is that the same furniture board on the walls in there ?
Then no hot water, waste or any tanks ?
The beds also bothered me. Obviously you must think you’d be comfortable sleeping on them . Or you wouldn’t be considering a purchase. The one at the front looks like a bumpy hot potch of various cushions and seat bases.
The one at the back , certainly wouldn’t be long enough to sleep on for me, or Ralph . Can you sit up in the space ? The older you get will make getting up there harder.
The insulation we put in , took up a lot of space , each side and we wouldn’t have been able to stretch out widthways. Hence us doing our beds the opposite way , length ways.
As for Webasto , the new models are not noisy . Don’t let anyone put you off. We have it it’s brilliant.
If anyone fancies coming to listen to ours when we’re on a rally feel free. But fixing it after ? I’m sure it could be done , but thinking of the piping and where you site it. Surely it would be better fitted during the build rather than after.

I know there’s a lot of smelly sheds out there , and this first impression, this must have certainly stood out as a good looking van.
But I’d also be worried about the vapour barriers . The insulation, how much is in the floor , doors ceilings . What type he’s used .
Has he got pictures of the build.
Little things like when cutting out windows , leaving the metal slivers around . I remember Holding the vac for Ralph to catch them . If you don’t get rid of them they rust and cause what ever they’re touching to rust.
Best thing about it , is you’ve posted on here.
I’m sure you’ll find something.
But id think hot and cold running water and a shower would be a must for anyone contemplating full timing in a van. I may be wrong ( probably am ) but weren’t you planning on doing so ?
Good luck in your continued search.

 

[busby]

What a shame you can,t have try before you buy.
To get a proper winterized van you have to start out with that intention in mind before building.
Resale will be low but you said your keeping it. Not many people will buy it without hot water, waste tank, proper fresh etc.
Its a cracking layout though.
Here's something to ask.
Could you get him to remove one of the panels from the rear doors to see what's behind, they look easily removable.
See what insulation is actually in there. If you are using in cold weather, which the current owner never has, then if not properly insulated you will get condensation, insulation gets wet, sinks down, rust on interior walls etc. You don't,t want cheap loft insulation in there, which is what some self builds use.

Many manufacturers used loft insulation a few years ago and as you say it sinks down,,BUSBY,,

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

 

[Wissel]

Not sure if this will help @Jac Sprat , but I just threw a quick costing together for a self-build.

I used a new van (L3H2, coloured, Peugeot Boxer from eBay) and fitted it out with very high quality parts. These were all parts I knew the rough prices of.

I've probably missed a few bits, was just a quick costing. Just thought it might give a good idea. The van includes under-slung water and gas tanks, good elec system (with solar), all appliances (I think), great bathroom, etc. Damn, I forgot the mattresses (probably forgot a few other bits). My mattresses were about £400 and and memory foam, custom made (including the covers).

I included a labour cost of £4k. I know it would take me about 4 weeks to build a van like this to the highest standard I could, so think this is accurate.

Anyway, it might help

 

[busby]

Agree with many,,looks nice but about £10000 overpriced,,too much equipment missing,,,You will find something else,,,its out there somewhere,,BUSBY,,

 

[Lenny HB]

Nice van Jackie but I already new about it as I said in a pm underslung tanks easy to fit. Price doesn't appear to bad when I compared to to what my neighbour recently bought a 5yr old Autosleeper for 38k not a good example of a PVC, very poor contruction and insulation, how they get away with charging £56k new for them is beyond belief.

Having now read others comments on price I think they could be right, probably OK in the UK but for the same money or a few k more you could buy a brand new Adria, Globecar or Possl in Germany. You can get a well speced one for between €42k - €50k. Even with the poor exchange rate by the time you got a discount of around 12-15% you will be in your price bracket.

 

[Jac Sprat]

@Ralph-n-Bev yes we do fulltime but because i had so.many roughing it, hippy years i think.i.can do with less comfort now.

 

[Jac Sprat]

@Wissel this is so kind of you! Are you offering to make it for us in a month? Id be well.interested if so.

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

 

[busby]

Nice van Jackie but I already new about it as I said in a pm underslung tanks easy to fit. Price doesn't appear to bad when I compared to to what my neighbour recently bought a 5yr old Autosleeper for 38k not a good example of a PVC, very poor contruction and insulation, how they get away with charging £56k new for them is beyond belief.

Having now read others comments on price I think they could be right, probably OK in the UK but for the same money or a few k more you could buy a brand new Adria, Globecar or Possl in Germany. You can get a well speced one for between €42k - €50k. Even with the poor exchange rate by the time you got a discount of around 12-15% you will be in your price bracket.

Autosleeper will not depreciate much though,,BUSBY,,

 

[Southdowners]

Jac, why don't you do a trawl through vans for sale and post any that you like here on the forum? That way folk here can comment on them before you go to see them. At least then you can be fairly sure the spec is good and is correctly priced. Doing that would ensure that you're less likely to be swayed into thinking that the van is good value and what you need.

 

[Wissel]

@Wissel this is so kind of you! Are you offering to make it for us in a month? Id be well.interested if so.

lol, was just to give you an idea. A month should be ample for a pro-tradesman though

 

[Lenny HB]

Autosleeper will not depreciate much though,,BUSBY,,

Maybe not but I can't understand why anyone would buy one in the first place.

 

[jezport]

For a few K more

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

 

[Lenny HB]

For a few K more

For that or less you can buy a brand new one in Germany.

 

[Northernraider]

For that or less you can buy a brand new one in Germany.

If that is the case then if I were @Jac Sprat I think that's what id be doing.

 

[Lenny HB]

If that is the case then if I were @Jac Sprat I think that's what id be doing.

Bought all 3 of our Hymers in Belgium can't afford UK prices.

 

[Jac Sprat]

How would i go about buying one from Belgium or Germany ? This would suit us as we'd like LHD and German winterisation would of course be fab.
Should i use Bundesvan? Cant traipse to Germany

 

[Ralph-n-Bev]

B

lol, was just to give you an idea. A month should be ample for a pro-tradesman though

But wouldn’t that pro tradesman want a profit as well as a very basic weekly wage ?
I know Ralph would in his trade as a brickie.

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

 

[Lenny HB]

How would i go about buying one from Belgium or Germany ? This would suit us as we'd like LHD and German winterisation would of course be fab.
Should i use Bundesvan? Cant traipse to Germany

I'll give you info in a pm.

 

[gerry mcg]

our brand new UK spec fully loaded 150hp comformatic Globecar 600L revolution, bought in Germany and self imported, was £44k (all in / landed in UK/ vat paid and UK registered) against a £55K dealer price
here are a selection of used 600L in GErmany (LHD tho) Broken Link Removed

and a wider range of both Poosl and globecar
Broken Link Removed

 

[Janine]

Total numpty question but would that be classed as an import and have implications on insurance?

 

[Wissel]

B

But wouldn’t that pro tradesman want a profit as well as a very basic weekly wage ?
I know Ralph would in his trade as a brickie.

Yes, but it's easy enough to open trade accounts to buy the parts (I've done this just to do my own van).

 

[Lenny HB]

Total numpty question but would that be classed as an import and have implications on insurance?

Doesn't make any odds on Motorhomes apart from AIB who double the premium for self imports, no loading with any other insurers. All our vans have been personal imports.

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

 

[jezport]

For that or less you can buy a brand new one in Germany.

No you cant. When you take account of the extras and the VAT this model would cost over 50K to import.
I priced it up when I bought one last year.

 

[gerry mcg]

Total numpty question but would that be classed as an import and have implications on insurance?

I'd argue it our van is as much an 'import ' as a UK dealer supplied van.
It is from the same (European factory) UK spec and first registered in the UK.
Plus as @Lenny HB said, I don't the the mainstream IMHO insurers care. safeguard were aware it was self imported as they insured it on the VIN until it was UK registered.

 

[Chris51]

Well if you've decided that this is ideal for you then that's brilliant.
Tbf, there are many things I couldn't live without that aren't included except the space.
Personally I'd have to have excellent insulation, heating, hot and cold running water and a good supply, especially for Aires and wild camping and grey and black water holding.
Possibly me, but I did read about Webasto heating but what about gas? A must for me now would be refillable.
However sounds like a lovely conversation and I hope you get many good times away.

+1 for insulation

 

[Stonemags76]

Can’t remember your budget, but have you seen this one?

 

[Rob Hammond]

our brand new UK spec fully loaded 150hp comformatic Globecar 600L revolution, bought in Germany and self imported, was £44k (all in / landed in UK/ vat paid and UK registered) against a £55K dealer price
here are a selection of used 600L in GErmany (LHD tho) Broken Link Removed

and a wider range of both Poosl and globecar
Broken Link Removed

That’s a good saving,was it a lot of hassle,with all the paper work etc?

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