Evening
Thinking of getting a campervan just for mooching about at a weekend with the good lady wife.
Was thinking of the van conversion type rather than a motorhome for ease of driving for the wife and easier parking.
So what ya got as any recommendations of van conversion would be great, over all initial cost to running costs and general comfort from any of you would be great and maybe some pics
Enjoy
ive been building them as a hobby for 40 years.
dont get anything bigger than a lwb transit or a mwb sprinter.
your welcome to pm me if you want to know where to get the materiels or furniture ect?
il send you pics and info if you wish,
pay more and and get a minibus then you dont need to cutout the sides and buy windows,plus the roof is already lined .
yoo can pay a fortune and itl look like a bag of crap unless youve an idea of what your doing.
i buy plenty of half built vans as once the easy bit is done it turns into a ballbuster for lots of folk.
ex ambulances make great campers,but absolutely no street cred and worthless for the time and effort,plus theyre full of ghosts.
ive the template for the dvla campervan letter thats bulletproof so they have to accept and approve your application also. 
Hello Gas man
You have 2 choices Convert your own as dieseldog suggests or buy a quality conversion. Firstly where are you going to go, With all the restrictions on what engine you have restricts where you can drive. Example roughly inside the M25 with the wrong engine it could cost you £100 a time.
So many towns/citys are regulating emissions, so unless you have say a EURO 6 engine your stuffed, as the lower the EURO engine fitted the less places you can go.
We wanted a camper for years and visited many dealers, with the budget we had we could only buy someones run to death crap. So we increased the budget we could get a better motor but still not quite what we wanted, Now motorhome/camper salesmen talk a whole lot of s–t even worse than car dealers. They treat you like idiots thinking know one has ever driven anything as big as a motorhome, Then when you ask a question example fuel consumption, all of a sudden this fiat ducato will do 40/45 to the gallon, Working in gallons shows my age. they try to convince its the best camper at the price. Buy private do a HPI and your better off. Dealers trade in or buying in values are horrific hence private sellers who get a couple of grand more from a private buyer are more than happy to sell.
You can buy real bargains from private sellers online, I bought my 1st one on Ebay, Private sale Autotrail Apache 2 former owners 19000 miles full service plus all bills, £17000 cash, Dealer price was from £22500 TO £25000.
We kept it for a year did 4000 miles went all over the UK brilliant, Now remember the emissions thingy, We thought of going European, maybe to Italy ect, this is a problem now with Engines lower than Euro 4, then you still need emission certificates for some visiting countries.
We bought a EURO 6 Autosleeper last year brilliant, What ever you decide to do remember if your licence does not have if I recall C1 entitlement do not buy a motor over 3500kg as you will not be able to drive it after your 70.
happy camping.
Sorry missed your question, rewf what to get.
Autosleeper, Autotrail, Autocruise are the better brands, in a van conversion its about space, rear bed, dinette bed and so on, there are 100s of layouts
From the 16th to 21st of October at the NEC is the Motorhome show, we go every year, Brilliant exhibition, lots of toys and goodies on the trade stands, dealers flogging new & 2nd hand campers ect ect.
Treat yourself, if you book tickets online its cheaper then on the day.
Enjoy
I have a VW LT35 mwb that I brought as a non runner and mostly converted. It now runs and I just need to finish the conversation. Picked it as its a high top and I can stand up in it. I would have liked a transporter but they were way to much money and I couldn’t stand up.
I saw in a magazine a couple of weeks ago the Ququq box. Not cheap but it goes in the back of a normal van with everything you need and minimal effort. The van would obviously need lining though
dieseldog999:
ive been building them as a hobby for 40 years.
dont get anything bigger than a lwb transit or a mwb sprinter.
your welcome to pm me if you want to know where to get the materiels or furniture ect?
il send you pics and info if you wish,
pay more and and get a minibus then you dont need to cutout the sides and buy windows,plus the roof is already lined .
yoo can pay a fortune and itl look like a bag of crap unless youve an idea of what your doing.
i buy plenty of half built vans as once the easy bit is done it turns into a ballbuster for lots of folk.
ex ambulances make great campers,but absolutely no street cred and worthless for the time and effort,plus theyre full of ghosts.
ive the template for the dvla campervan letter thats bulletproof so they have to accept and approve your application also.
Hi I have sent a pm with a question if you don’t mind. Thanks
PASTTRUCKING:
Hello Gas manYou have 2 choices Convert your own as dieseldog suggests or buy a quality conversion. Firstly where are you going to go, With all the restrictions on what engine you have restricts where you can drive. Example roughly inside the M25 with the wrong engine it could cost you £100 a time.
So many towns/citys are regulating emissions, so unless you have say a EURO 6 engine your stuffed, as the lower the EURO engine fitted the less places you can go.
We wanted a camper for years and visited many dealers, with the budget we had we could only buy someones run to death crap. So we increased the budget we could get a better motor but still not quite what we wanted, Now motorhome/camper salesmen talk a whole lot of s–t even worse than car dealers. They treat you like idiots thinking know one has ever driven anything as big as a motorhome, Then when you ask a question example fuel consumption, all of a sudden this fiat ducato will do 40/45 to the gallon, Working in gallons shows my age. they try to convince its the best camper at the price. Buy private do a HPI and your better off. Dealers trade in or buying in values are horrific hence private sellers who get a couple of grand more from a private buyer are more than happy to sell.
You can buy real bargains from private sellers online, I bought my 1st one on Ebay, Private sale Autotrail Apache 2 former owners 19000 miles full service plus all bills, £17000 cash, Dealer price was from £22500 TO £25000.
We kept it for a year did 4000 miles went all over the UK brilliant, Now remember the emissions thingy, We thought of going European, maybe to Italy ect, this is a problem now with Engines lower than Euro 4, then you still need emission certificates for some visiting countries.
We bought a EURO 6 Autosleeper last year brilliant, What ever you decide to do remember if your licence does not have if I recall C1 entitlement do not buy a motor over 3500kg as you will not be able to drive it after your 70.
happy camping.
Not sure about about your emissions facts ,I’ve been all over Europe in my euro 3 merc camper never a problem ,don’t forget light commercials are a level behind lorries on emissions ,also I have a euro 3 merc sprinter on my fleet the driver goes in to London every week , although unless you live there wtf would want to go there anyway ?
I started out with a merc T1 310 autotrail it was £13,500 it seamed the easy option at age 25 with 2 kids , it was quite sluggish so after yr I sold it on loosing £500 , then bought this 313 ,4 cylinder sprinter it was a 6 speed tip tronic with 4.1:1 diff a short wheelbase ( 1 centre bearing ) ( went everywhere broadside ) an ideal combination ,Rimer an Italian made body ,a bit plasticy though ,it was £16,000 I had 5 yrs and sold for same price.
Then I moved on to an autotrail 316 ,5 cylinder ,6 speed tip tronic again but far too high geared at 3.7:1 long wheelbase ( 2 centre bearings ) uses no more fuel than the 4 pot ,but a far superior body at £22,000 it’s been worth it ,had it 3 and a half yrs now
kcrussell25:
dieseldog999:
ive been building them as a hobby for 40 years.
dont get anything bigger than a lwb transit or a mwb sprinter.
your welcome to pm me if you want to know where to get the materiels or furniture ect?
il send you pics and info if you wish,
pay more and and get a minibus then you dont need to cutout the sides and buy windows,plus the roof is already lined .
yoo can pay a fortune and itl look like a bag of crap unless youve an idea of what your doing.
i buy plenty of half built vans as once the easy bit is done it turns into a ballbuster for lots of folk.
ex ambulances make great campers,but absolutely no street cred and worthless for the time and effort,plus theyre full of ghosts.
ive the template for the dvla campervan letter thats bulletproof so they have to accept and approve your application also.Hi I have sent a pm with a question if you don’t mind. Thanks
^^^^^^
just get back to me as ive replied…cheers
Punchy Dan:
PASTTRUCKING:
Hello Gas manYou have 2 choices Convert your own as dieseldog suggests or buy a quality conversion. Firstly where are you going to go, With all the restrictions on what engine you have restricts where you can drive. Example roughly inside the M25 with the wrong engine it could cost you £100 a time.
So many towns/citys are regulating emissions, so unless you have say a EURO 6 engine your stuffed, as the lower the EURO engine fitted the less places you can go.
We wanted a camper for years and visited many dealers, with the budget we had we could only buy someones run to death crap. So we increased the budget we could get a better motor but still not quite what we wanted, Now motorhome/camper salesmen talk a whole lot of s–t even worse than car dealers. They treat you like idiots thinking know one has ever driven anything as big as a motorhome, Then when you ask a question example fuel consumption, all of a sudden this fiat ducato will do 40/45 to the gallon, Working in gallons shows my age. they try to convince its the best camper at the price. Buy private do a HPI and your better off. Dealers trade in or buying in values are horrific hence private sellers who get a couple of grand more from a private buyer are more than happy to sell.
You can buy real bargains from private sellers online, I bought my 1st one on Ebay, Private sale Autotrail Apache 2 former owners 19000 miles full service plus all bills, £17000 cash, Dealer price was from £22500 TO £25000.
We kept it for a year did 4000 miles went all over the UK brilliant, Now remember the emissions thingy, We thought of going European, maybe to Italy ect, this is a problem now with Engines lower than Euro 4, then you still need emission certificates for some visiting countries.
We bought a EURO 6 Autosleeper last year brilliant, What ever you decide to do remember if your licence does not have if I recall C1 entitlement do not buy a motor over 3500kg as you will not be able to drive it after your 70.
happy camping.
Not sure about about your emissions facts ,I’ve been all over Europe in my euro 3 merc camper never a problem ,don’t forget light commercials are a level behind lorries on emissions ,also I have a euro 3 merc sprinter on my fleet the driver goes in to London every week , although unless you live there wtf would want to go there anyway ?
Have you got a Crit’Air: The Air Quality Certificate. From what I understand if not got sticker in windscreen the on the spot fines in France is up to 2000 Euro,
Yes got the sticker ,and the fine is little over €100 .
Punchy Dan:
Yes got the sticker ,and the fine is little over €100 .
Apologies, Genuine mistake, Just read up on the fine,