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 agree with cismyfatarse though.... I've seen lots of van campers behaving irresponsibly. Parking in passing spaces, leaving litter and waste, starting fires etc. I saw a van load of people having a fire in some woodland by a car park on Skye last May.... the ground was bone dry and there had been wildfires recently, but they gave no thought to the potential impact.

We make a point of shopping locally and eating out in local pubs etc when we go away. We also stay in campsites quite often, and are careful where we park if not at a campsite. There's no excuse for some of the thoughtless behaviour that you see.

Manic - I can't believe how awful you make it sound! All those things happen the first time you venture out, then you adapt e.g. park next to the drive away awning and use it like a stand alone tent if the detaching annoys you. Visit sites that are walking distance to town/beach etc to save having to use the van every time. Tie everything down or cram it into the toilet if the rattling gets you down while travelling. Look up car parks in the towns you want to visit. Buy a van small enough to fit on your drive etc etc. Give it another go, you'll love it!

So, we bought a motorhome for less than £6k, insurance was around £300 and it flew through its MOT despite being 25 years old. I am member of a few motorhome pages and the general consensus is that the older motorhome were a better quality build.
We owned our auto trail scout 6 for just over a year when we had to sell to afford to move house. I would thoroughly recommend one as a great way to test the waters. It was a fab layout having a rear u/shaped lounge, bathroom in the middle and diner/kitchen towards the front. It meant that our two children went to sleep on the double diner bed and we could still play card games/watch Telly etc at the back in the lounge. I would also recommend having an awning.

The only downside to having an older van was the absence of three point seatbelts (we had special car seats - up to age 4 - that fitted with lap belts). Other than that it was fab!!!

If you’re serious about buying one I’d definitely recommend a)hiring one to check that you do like it and b) biding your time until a good priced one comes along - we actually made a small profit on ours as we bought in the winter and sold in the spring.

But. Beware of the scammers - if it seems REALLY too good to be true it probably is....

We had a vw T5 and loved it for day trips to the beach or one night away but more than that is hard work. It is like an ever revolving jigsaw puzzle. You have to put the bed away and everything else before you can go anywhere for the day, at night you have to find somewhere to store the kids car seats because the seat becomes the bed, drive away awnings are great because you really need the extra space but upon returning to the site you have to park in EXACTLY the same spot in order to reconnect the awning to the van. Yes they are dry and you do feel a bit smug when you park up, pop the pop top and you're set but for a longer holiday you would still need the tent. Also our van wasn't old old but was the age where every trip to the garage cost about 1k. We have a caravan now. Definitely not cool, a hassle to tow but warm and comfy. I love it!

The up side of both a camper van or a caravan is that the holiday season is massively extended because you have somewhere warm to sleep. We go away for a lot of weekends not far from home but somewhere different. We wouldn't do that in a tent.

My friend had one. She loved it but only got away maximum 3 times a year and it cost a lot in petrol and maintenance. She sold it and used to hire one instead.

Cis is absolutely correct. I live in rural Scotland and have had campervans parked in my gateway - blocking all access to our house, even though there is a house name sign on the gate and a big roadside postbox. I've had to pick up rubbish - everything from fag ends and chocolate wrappers to dirty disposable nappies - from the same gateway. And people empty campervan sewage canisters on the local beach. The same sort of vans crawl along local roads, being driven by people who can't manoevre them safely, and holding up the ambulance, the GP/district nurse on their rounds, the school bus, local tradesmen on their way to work and much, much more. The other day, on the local bus, there was a campervan parked in a passing/ overtaking space on the brow of a very steep hill with very limited visibility. Incredibly dangerous - there was (justifiably) steam coming out of the bus-driver's ears.

On the Isle of Mull - not where I live - the local council have tried very politely and good-humouredly to encourage camper van drivers to behave responsibly. For example, as well as blocking local roads campervan people have been emptying toilet canisters into local public loos; the chemicals cause enormous problems for the local sewage treatment system. www.isle-of-mull.net/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Mull-Campervan-Leaflet-2019.pdf But they have often been ignored. Look at this document from Mull Community Council: - Mull Community Council

It's also true what Cis says about campervan owners not using (fragile) local businesses. This is just one minor example, but the other day, I saw a huge campervan parked in a narrow village street - blocking access for other shoppers, as well as the view for local residents and visitors - outside a very nice cafe run by a hard-working local couple who are trying to build and maintain a business during the very few months of the tourist season. What were these camper-van owners doing? Drinking coffee and eating lunch made in their own van. That's their choice, of course, but their choice of location could not have been more insensitive.

loubielou31 We have a caravan now. Definitely not cool, a hassle to tow but warm and comfy. I love it!
We have a caravan and it is so easy, for 8 or 9 months of the year we put up an awning and use that to sit in and eat in so the bed stays up in the caravan. In the really cold winter months we find it too cold to sit under the awning so use inside the caravan a lot more.
People have said about the problem with a motor home of having to pack up to go out for a day. In the past 7 years of caravaning we have used the car once to go out after we have sited the caravan. (that was to take my DW to hospital as she had a few post surgery problems). We use busses or walk.
I don't find it hard to tow.

I haven’t read any of the previous replies but a lot depends on your circumstances. Partner? Children? How many? How old?

We had a Campervan as a couple and it was the best thing ever for us. So many adventures and freedom we would not have had otherwise. With kids it’s totally different. I used it loads before she was walking and with one child it works ok. Any more than two kids would be a nightmare. The other thing is do you need that freedom with kids? It is a lot of work moving around. We have one of those drove away awnings but it is still hard work. We would stay somewhere a longer time now - so tent/caravan does the same job. The benefit of tent/caravan is you can easily drive away without packing everything up.

I have loved Campervan life but with a 4 year old and another on the way we will probably sell it as it just feels like a lot of hard work and not very relaxing.

Rats! The Mull consultation document link did not work. I'll try again:
- Mull Community Council

We are getting a Toyota Alphard. It’s a grey import but they are really high spec. It’s the same size as most 7 seaters, just a bit taller. There are loads of places you can get it converted, but in the meantime we are going to get a few bit together and see if we like it first without spending too much money.

Tbh, I probably wouldn’t take our van around most of the roads on Mull. I know them semi-well, after 4 or 5 holidays there, but some were tricky enough by car. I’d take the bikes round (even up some of the steep ones in the north!)

Have you considered a caravan rather than a camper van? At least with a caravan you can pitch up and go exploring for the day in your car/bikes etc. We feel sorry for motorhome/camper van owners who have to pack up every time they need to go out. Or worse still, come back to your pitch and find someone else is in it.... we bought a 2nd hand caravan for 10K and it has its own shower, sink & toilet. Well worth the money. We’ve had amazing weekends away & have been to France & Holland in it. We’ve defo saved money by getting it.

Depends really on the costs of having one and where will you store it(someone locally has one and although it's small it blocks the light from their front window) versus how often you will use it. It might just be cheaper to rent one if it's not often.

We ADORE ours, so much so we are going to live in it and travel for a few years.. we’ve both worked since we were 14 so now is a good a time as any. We have a fiat ducato van conversion and have many friends with converted vans too so would recommend those over coach built (big motorhomes). Ours has hot and cold water, heating, fridge/freezer, oven and hob, a fixed bed, a toilet and shower and tons of storage all in a van less than 6m long. Once you buy the van (go to auctions and look at used transport ambulances too) you fit it out how you need it.. use Park4night, Britstops and wildcamping.co.uk and always go by the Campervan code - leave no trace..!! We pick up litter when we leave places so it looks nicer than when we got there.. I say do it..! You won’t regret it..

Forgot to say we’ve had caravans for 20 years and started resenting having to go back to it every day after exploring and sight seeing when we’d have found some brilliant sites or other places we could have stayed at. You get used to putting everything back where you got it from which means you’re almost ready to leave if you need to too

We have a VW T2 early bay and love owning a camper van. She is over 40 years old and works very hard as we use her as our second car. She has done everything from the school run, tip run and helped us move house. Yes she wasn’t cheap to buy but really inexpensive to run. She’s car tax empt, doesn’t need an MOT due to her age, but we do regular service her. Classic campervan insurance is cheap too. She needs regular upkeep but my husband keeps on top of it and for bigger jobs we go to a specialist local garage. As it’s our second car we use her to commute, days out and always go camping in her at least one a year. Next year we are planning a trip abroad. She only does 50 mph tops so you have to take a slower pace. We are very tall so can no-longer all fit in her to sleep but we pitch a tent up so don’t have the hassle of packing your bed up if you run out of milk. If you want an immaculate speedy vehicle a classic VW is not for you. But we love it, whether it’s nipping to the shops, day out at the beach or an epic trip to Dorset. It’s always an adventure!

Forgot to say - plus our VW bay is going up in value! That’s a bonus too!

My dd and family (her dh and 2ds’s aged 10 and 12) have two camper vans. One is a vintage VW and the other is a Ford converted Transit which they us as the family car. They love the vans and have several short breaks and an extended holiday every year. They are just back from the Welsh coast. They have also been to France. If they are going further afield they fly. They have had some wonderful times and never miss a car at all.

We have a 67 Splitscreen which is beautiful, but only really feasible because we have no kids, a garage and my husband does the maintenance. We go away in it pretty much every sunny weekend between May and October, plus a few festivals and one longer trip - last year we did the Pembrokeshire coast, this year will probably be Suffolk. Love it.

These people make an hybrid (petrol / electric) or even tribrid (petrol / electric / lpg) version of the Toyota Alphard ecocampers and they've got some great design fixes too - including induction hobs, so no gas canister to carry / store

I agree about the idiots who misuse the countryside. I live by the coast in Scotland and we had a big problem with mahoosive vans parking in a car park by the harbour, emptying grey water tanks onto the ground or in normal drains, and emptying toilet cassettes in the public toilets.

Our local council put up a height restriction bar - with a big notice which made it clear why they had to do it. For while campervans were parking on the prom next to houses but the local seafront association put up notices and no-one parks there now. There were a lot of 'disgusted' or 'angry' posters on a grim car park wild camping forum but now people have moved on, hopefully to sites they are paying for. Ironically the people with inexpensive vans seem to pay to be on a site while those who have spend £60K on a mini-home think that the world belongs to them! Yesterday someone parked right in front of the 'no overnight parking sign'. I pointed it out to them, in case they'd missed it

But campervans ARE a part of the economy for rural areas. When we didn't have a van our holidays would involve flights to exotic destinations (no money spent in UK and not good for the environment) with a UK weekend break maybe once a year. Now we travel in the UK frequently, and to places we wouldn't otherwise have gone - Wales, Norfolk. Yorkshire. Also this week I am going to Skye to work - the are NO B&Bs that I can stay in for 2 consecutive nights, but all booked into a lovely campsite with our van.

My parents were recently looking at getting a campervan and settled on a caravan instead. Also consider that with a campervan unless you are taking a towing car you’d have to continue to pack up and use it it’s your main mode of transport!

“There were a lot of 'disgusted' or 'angry' posters on a grim car park wild camping forum but now people have moved on, hopefully to sites they are paying for. Ironically the people with inexpensive vans seem to pay to be on a site while those who have spend £60K on a mini-home think that the world belongs to them!‘

I think I’m a member of the same group. I joined for tips on remote spots to unobtrusively park a campervan near mountain trails for an early start in the morning. I ended up on a forum full of soft buggers who enjoy sleeping in car parks in their droves and going to the pub. They refer to this as ‘wild camping’.

We hired a motor home and would love one of our own but can’t afford one. It’s not the same holiday as a B and B with a car. We’ve done that kind of things loads and also camped in tents but now I want a bit more home comforts.

We stayed on sites, pulled over in passing places, spent money at attractions, in pubs and restaurants and supermarkets (co-ops, I can’t imagine storing a “big Tesco shop” in a motorhome kitchen), parked properly, and would never dream of disposing of toilet or grey water waste in anything but a designated facility.