To wonder if a camper van is worth it? Have campervan envy!

[malificent7]

I am in a campsite in a tent with campervan envy.
They are so lovely but very ecpensive and i am on a budget. If i did get one it would be 2nd hand. Any advice / recommendations about owning a van without breaking the bank?
It is the mechanics that worries me most after hearing some horror stories.

I used to have a motorhome. It was swanky too, just everything you could ever need. It sat doing nothing for all but 3 weeks of the year. It was a lot of money to just sit there most of the year.
It also meant it was the only holiday we had to keep justifying its existence. Maybe if I retired and wanted to use it most of the year I would have another.

We're saving for a day van. It will mostly be used for longer day trips and overnights on long journeys. It needs to fit in a regular parking space too. Can't wait to have a great winter walk then getting into the day van to heat up some soup and warm up before we set off home. Every time we go out we are on the lookout for parking spaces with views for when we have the day van.

Unless you plan on using it most weekends from May to September and a bit outside of that you need to question if it's worth it. Rent one at first and see if you even like it. For most people once the novelty wears off it's simply clogging up the drive

I love campervans but we have 3 boys so have always plumped for caravans instead. Our boys have grown up caravanning and the 17 year old still comes with us. We're in it ATM all cosy as the rain hammers down. There's more room for a family, they're much cheaper and you don't have to ditch your car so can drive offsite very easily.

Interestingly my friends who have a camper van, after the initial 6 months, now still use it a lot. But they seem to mainly go to sites at the weekend no more than an hours drive away. I can't see the point when you can simply drive there for the day and come back to my actual bed.

I would highly recommend it. We got ours when the boys were little and have soent endless weekends and holidays in it. This has included travelling all around europe, as far as switzerland, n spain. Brilliant memories and family time. No doubt that we've saved money and had great experiences. It hasn't cost much in maintenance and we've had it around 12 years. We do have a big drive so no issues with that.

I've been gazing wistfully at ads for second hand Romahomes this morning. Just the two of us now, so wouldn't be bothered about much space, and there wouldn't be any problem driving/parking it. We've an old frame canvas tent which I still love, but can't deal with sleeping in it any more - in our 60s now. I have dreams of loading it into the back of a Romahome and playing daytime/evening wendy houses whilst making use of the cooker/fridge and then getting a bit of a better bed for the night in the van. Can see them for around 16k, but that's not money we have spare. I doubt we'd get enough use of it anyway - can't just "up and off" as we have cats to sort care for. Ah, well.........

I also find it incredibly relaxing. Dh and I both have stressful jobs and it is a complete break from the grind.

We've recently bought an inexpensive camper can. It's called a Mazda Bongo ... (you need to google them ...) ... as much van as the equivalent VW for a fraction of the price. Currently using it as a day van, but kitting it out to camp in too ... drive away awning being the first thing, to increase space.

I understand your "van envy". It's not for everyone but great fun if you can adapt to the van lifestyle. Also a very good social scene/FB group attached to van ownership and often inexpensive vehicles offered for sale there, so that might be place to start.

Better to get a cheap light weight tourer
My daughter let her perfectly good one go for £250
It was 5 berth as well

After 30 years of caravanning with dc we decided to get rid of the caravan and convert our people carrier into a small camper, just for the two of us and it converted back to a seven seater when needed. It was a lot of fun so we decided to invest in a small autosleeper as we are now in our 60s and needed room to stand up!
My brief was that it would fit on the drive, could be used around town, had toilet, shower and oven and cost between 10 and 15k and less than 25 years old. It took a long time to find the right one but we have had it for just coming up for a year and have had so much fun!
We had a long 3 week holiday last summer but generally use it for day trips or 2 night weekends within 2 hours driving distance. I get home from work on a Friday afternoon and it takes about half an hour to pack an overnight bag, dog's stuff and a few items of food. On arrival, set up is 10 minutes. Love it so much and as someone up thread said, you can decide on the day to go, provided you can get booked in somewhere.
Definitely look into it but bear in mind that it's not necessarily a cheap option if you like hotel comforts, just a different way of rest and relaxation away from the pressures of home etc.

We have a converted transit which we use as a second car.

It's very expensive, with site fees and going away to different places and paying to eat out. We could do it cheaper and could do britstops etc but with 2 very young children I like being on a site so we can chuck them out to play in the morning safely.

I love it. It's my favourite way to spend the weekend. Compared to caravans I like the flexibility to stop anywhere as often when me and my partner have a night without kids we'll go out somewhere and sleep in a pub car park in the van. The advantage over a tent is speed, if we don't put up the awning we literally just park up and we're ready to go. I'd find a full motor home too big and makes it difficult to access some car parks etc.

It's an expensive hobby but it gives me 20 ish weekends away a year and we don't have the issue of what to do when the kids are asleep like we would in a b&b, we put the awning up or sit outside with a fire and bottle of red.

We had a Chevy Astro day van for years. Slept in the van (2 of us plus baby) and had drive away awning for cooking and storage. If just overnight we didn’t bother with the awning. We would still have it but we left the UK and couldn’t register it here. It was our only car, reliable and comfy. Only downside was being left hand drive but we got used to it. You definitely don’t need to spend big money (avoid VW) and it can be great fun! We camped at pubs mostly before baby turned up!!

We bought a second hand oldish one for about 15,000 about 5 years ago. It's big with a bathroom and one fixed over can bed and a big bed which of make up from the seating.
It is expensive running three vehicles and we talk about it a lot.
We don't use it as much as we should as dh works a lot of weekends BUT.
We have a long 3-4 weeks summer holiday in it each year in France or Spain on lovely sites with pools and entertainment etc.
All for about half the cost of a two week package holiday.
We have been to Disney Paris twice and slept in the car park for a nominal fee and just paid entry.
We go to at least two festivals every year and having the van is an absolute joy then. No smelly portalos and damp noisy tents.
We have several weekends away as a family each year and best of all I can take dd's away on my own when dh is working and I have a couple of mates who have dd the same age and we have fab weekends away.
In a couple of weeks we I am going to a site with my mate and her dd for 45 quid (halved) for two nights and it has an outdoor pool, beach, play area and a massive entertainment complex.
We will sit outside and relax while the kids play and ride their bikes or go to the pool and chill and then sit in the bar while the kids have a dance at the disco.
It would cost me more than that to entertain them for a whole weekend.
I keep mine well stocked as well. It's bit like having an adult Wendy house 😅

I've thought about a caravan but I love the luxury and convenience of it being on the drive so I can pack it up etc.

When we sold our camper van we replaced it with a new tent. So we could still do the trips to Europe with the campsites as described by Ledkr but we had the flexibility of the car when we got there. We honestly found it better in the £1000 tent rather than the £40k camper van. The only downside is you don’t look as cool in a tent!

I've rented them a couple of times and driven across Australia twice which was brilliant fun. Certainly wouldn't want to rule out any other future holiday options by owning one though.

If you're looking for a good starter Campervan that isn't too large and expensive, im selling a VW caddy campervan which is layed out exactly like the bigger ones only in a much neater, cheaper and easier to drive package. It only has 9000 miles on the clock too so no worries about reliability or replacing things yet.

We bought our VW camper at the end of last season. It's 3 years old. We've been away several weekends and now on our first week. There's 4 of us, me, DH and a 5 and 3 year old. We have a drive away awning, so unpack the van and set everything up in there, so we can easily use van during day for visiting places. It's had fridge, hob and small oven/grill although we haven't used it as we cool outside on a gas camping stove and BBQ (less mess). We also eat outside whenever possible. There's huge amounts of storage space, we've not struggled at all, and have a bike rack for 4 bikes mounted on the tow ball. The kids love it...they sleep really well on the RIB bed and DH sleep in the top. It complete suits our lifestyle. Warm air heating which run offs the diesel is a nice too as is hot water. We haven't struggled with parking yet either, it goes in standard parking spaces. So for us, whilst the kids are young it's a great investment.

That looks great, needsahouseboy. I’m hoping to get a Peugeot Partner within the next few months and that looks like a perfect adaptation. I like the idea of having a tent for sleeping in and the freedom of leaving it and driving the van out for days away. If I got a decent, easy to put up tent, I could squeeze a tiny fridge in somewhere behind the front seats and take a couple of dogs with me.

We have a van and LOVE it. It's an old police riot van, a mercedes sprinter, that we did up ourselves. We use it loads and have never looked back.
I definitely agree with try before you buy though. We were absolutely sure we wanted an old retro hymer bus - even bidding on eBay for one - until we tried it out and didn't like it. It felt too flimsy and too big to park up anywhere. The riot van feels solid and easy to manoeuvre.
We did him (Old Bill!!) up ourselves and could never go back to camping.
In case you are interested in hiring, we hire ours out through Quirky Campers. They have vans all over the country and you could get a good sense of what you like.
Good luck!

frumpety they lie flat and the bed folds out.

I had a vw campervan, a T25 so a 1980s one. It was expensive to keep on the road, not just tax, insurance, crazy bad mpg but it always needed something doing. It was cramped inside.

I think if you have visions of travelling on a road trip style holiday they're good. If you prefer to stay in one place get a caravan. Cheaper to maintain and loads more space, better bathroom facilities, bigger fridge, comfier bed.

Which model do you have @alittleprivacy sounds like lots squeezed in. A loo sounds very appealing

S1naidSucks. I have a small drive away side awning which is great plus a tail gate awning that I sometimes use if I know the weather is going to be good.

We use it a fair bit and it’s been well worth the money. My friend, who got one first, uses gets an awful lot. The ability to have a normal car and camper is fabulous