To get advice on campervans !!! Have no clue

[looondonn]

So my dream of all time is to own one

For 3 adults a baby and dogs if possible

Have no idea where to start
Some I have seen are so old - what about engine trouble??

Anyone know the best sites to look up or for a decent mid size one what I can realistically expect to pay??

Thanks for help if anyone can please please 

Warning - always look at a van in person & if you like it pay a small deposit. Suggest take someone who knows about vehicles to inspect it with you. Secondly, suggest hire one & go on holiday, so try, before you buy
You will also need breakdown cover

Forgot to say I know someone who didn't look at an advertised van, paid the full money. Went to collect and it was a scam, so was reported to the police

You'll be a bit of a squeeze in a campervan. Tho people do.

A VW California can seat up to 7 if you get the Beach version. You need deep pockets tho.

What's your budget?

There is a really good forum called Motorhome Fun. Try them.

Good luck.

Have you had a holiday in a camper van? Our California trip, in great weather with nice camp sites, told us that it was not for us. Friends only lasted two nights before taking their rented van back in the U.K. it’s not for everyone.

Three things to check for on a 2nd hand campervan. Damp, damp and damp. Make sure you check for damp. get a professional inspection with a damp metre.

Best place for advice is male MN, Pistonheads. Their forum has a section for caravans and motorhomes.

I don't have specific personal experience with camper vans but it's definitely worth working out the depreciation and upkeep costs. A colleague at work bought one, despite both partners working full time and it worked out that they could comfortably have stayed in extremely nice hotels for their holidays for the money that thing sucked up.

I have a VW camper van. I love it but it has cost me a fortune to get the bodywork sorted. VWs are small, though — three adults would definitely be too much. It’s just me and little DD, so loads of room for us.

Definitely rent one first to see if you like it, and find someone who knows about cars/vans to help you.

We run a VW T4 conversion as a family car, and use it for camping. It's 19 yrs old and keeping it on the road is luckily one of DPs things. We have 4 under 10s and take a canvas bell tent with us to fit all the family in. We love it but most people I come across think we are mad.. like others say hire one see how you go. Anything old is going to need constant tlc but for us it's a lifestyle thing.

Ours is our daily drive and is pretty new. I organised buying and getting it converted, so I did a tonne of research.

There's lots of FB groups, Camper Chicks is pretty friendly. Avoid the very "what, you let your wife drive your van" forums.

The California forum is very good, tho I've had a bit of a flounce as they changed the title of a thread I posted...

What are you looking for? A bay window or even split? Both will set you back a huge amount! I sold my bay window for £8k ten years ago. It’s probably worth £15k nowadays.
A T3 T4 is much more affordable and water cooled so more reliable. The T5 is lovely and more spacious but costly. A brand new VW camper with pop top and kitchen will set you back about £50k

I don’t have campervans but i do have ban type horseboxes which are similar.

I have found the worst thing about them is that they hate standing. They seize up very easily and I have to constantly worry about starting and running them or they just won’t start. I have to use mine weekly to keep it happy.

I’ve had two recently. One was 1994 and mechanically perfect, barely anything to go wrong however rust is a major issue in a van this old.

The second is younger however mechanically has cost £2000 in repairs this year alone. There’s also the cost of tax/insurance/mot so it’s by no means a cheap option.

Just as an aside, do you have the necessary classification on your licence to drive one? I’ll freely admit I’m no expert on the matter. I mention it because a woman I used to work with hired one to go on holiday, and then discovered with days to go that neither herself or her husband had the correct classification to drive it legally. In the end she paid someone from the hire company to drive it to their destination and then collect it at the end.

Just a thought. Good luck with your travels.

A brand new VW Camper is now north of £50k by a fairly long way. They don't depreciate that much tho, so even very secondhand they are costly. You can get 10 year lease deals for them!

Get a van and get a private conversion. Although 3 adults is a squeeze I would say. Maybe look for a long wheelbase one.

If you are mechanically minded then get something old.

Just as an aside, do you have the necessary classification on your licence to drive one? I’ll freely admit I’m no expert on the matter.

If you passed your car test before 1997, you don't have to worry, as you can drive anything up to 7.5 tonnes. If you passed in 1997 or later, you're restricted to 3.5 tonnes, unless you take an additional test, so you just need to check your chosen van doesn't have a gross vehicle weight in excess of that.

Think about where your going to park it at home. A hymer is a good make lots of room, very reliable and you can pick one up quite cheaply, aluminium so no rust, have a look on ebay to give you an idea

We had a motor home for a holiday once and it drove me mad that you can't go anywhere once you've set up! You have to unhook to go out for the day. Or to the shops. It may be different with an actual VW thing though if you're camping with it.

Thank you guys so so much

Have not really got much of a clue shamefully

Will research it for a year or so
Drove one on east coast of Oz
And by god it was damp :(

These tips are fab thank you
Will also hire one or two out for short trips

Many thanks

You'd need a big van for 3 adults and a baby who won't be a baby for much longer. Would you have room to keep a van say 6+ metres long and 2 metres wide?

We have a 4-berth van for 2 of us and a small dog. Two of the berths are a double bed over the cab, we use that space for storage, eg somewhere to put the bedding during the day, the table and chairs we use outside etc.

Would you be touring or going to a site and staying there? If the latter, I'd say you'd be better off with a caravan. If you camp on sites with a motorhome/camper, you have to pack everything away every time you go somewhere, and caravans are much cheaper to run and maintain.

You'd also need to consider how the dog and baby would travel. Our van only has side-facing seats, so no seatbelts in the back. We can't take children or secure the dog with a harness. Luckily, we don't want to take children away with us, and the dog's cage fits under the table!

Some people selling vans have "habitation checks" done, that cover things like damp, heating, hot water, gas safety etc. It's worth looking our for one with a habitation certificate.

Things that I would gladly pay a bit extra for are a Gaslow system (you fill up with LPG at petrol stations, rather than faffing about with gas bottles) and a diesel space heater system.

The forum at ukcampsite.co.uk has a motorhome section, there are some very knowledgeable people on there. It might be worth joining.

If you do get one, I'd recommend joining Britstops - places you can stop overnight for free. We've stayed at some fab places and never use sites now.

We had a motor home for a holiday once and it drove me mad that you can't go anywhere once you've set up! You have to unhook to go out for the day.

We've never used hook-up in the 4 years we've had ours. We find that the driving we do keeps the leisure battery fully charged and just using the lights and the van radio uses very little power. We use a solar power pack for charging our phones, but wouldn't need that if we could get the lighter socket to work!

Thank you all!!! Super tips here

lakie We are definitely better caravanners. Set up and bog off out. Its a very different experience, isn't it? I like a base camp.

I wouldn't bother with a VW, they're so overpriced. We have a Bongo at the moment, after selling our VW T25.

We were total beginners - bought one for 10k for an experiment. It had a double above the drivers and another in the main cab, with a shower and loo, fridge and cooker. The most important tip I picked up was not to buy one with side seat belts as they’re dangerous, make sure all passengers have over the shoulder ones. We did one trip from London up to Scotland in a big circle and the next year down to Cornwall and back. Kids were about 10 & 8. Bloody loved it but didn’t use it enough throughout the year. Sold it the next year for same price though! Oh and you never have to worry about traffic jams as you always have a kettle and a loo!!