Talk me out of a camper van.

[KangarooKenny]

Sorry if this is in the wrong place !
Since I was a kid I’ve wanted a camper van, I’ve even been and looked around some. But I’m not sure it would be right for me. I’m aware of insurance, MOT and servicing, but what other financial things are there ?
Now I’m approaching retirement I’d love to be able to explore all corners of the country.

Love our campervan, just upgraded to a caravan so we can keep travelling as my kid gets bigger and still loves it

What are the fuel costs like? I was looking longingly at one being advertised today, and then remembered how much it costs to fill up even my tiny car now

Our friends, who are retired, have just got one and are having the time of their lives. They go off midweek at quite short notice with their little dog and I am very envious. They said the only thing they have found difficult sometimes is finding somewhere to park the camper van as it takes up two spaces in public car parks which means having to pay for two parking spaces or they get a ticket. This means they always check before they go off somewhere that it has a good bus service (so they can use their bus passes) or they are able to walk everywhere so they leave the camper van at the site.

Need to distinguish between motorhome and camper van as the camper will not usually have a toilet which obviously limits where you can stay.

In ours, we went to Edinburgh on our last trip. Via North East which was great. We got there and it started raining. After 2 days we thought we'd drive back down South and when it stopped raining would find the nearest campsite and book there. We drove, and drove, and drove, past the Lake District, past the Peak District and towards home, and it stopped a mile from our house.

So we sold it.

It had broken down more times than i care to remember, once on the way back to Calais, at 9am at a traffic lights in Belgium with loads of honking cars behind. We only just made it to the ferry in time. Once whilst driving past his ex wife's house and I hd to literally sit in the camper van outside her place [it was on the way to where I was going] for 3 hours until Green Flag arrived.

So we sold it to someone who was going to live in it. Never again.

Hiring first is a great idea. I wasn't sure about having one, DH persuaded me and I love it! We're just off for 3 weeks in Europe. Some of that will be in an an apartment and hotel though!

I have a VW transporter. It's small enough to be my daily drive which makes a big difference - I never feel it's wasted because it's my normal transport as well. Mine is under 2m high so will go under height barriers.

It's easy to book campsites if you're not travelling at peak times, or book well in advance if you are. With an electric hookup you can put a small oil filled radiator in the van and have winter breaks too, often city breaks.

Downsides? It's cramped of course, but a decent driveway awning extends the room and/or a pop top. We don't have a pop top but I'm a shortarse and we sit on a foldaway stool to cook in the van.

Buy one that's mechanically sound, check the service history carefully and ask for a new MoT if second hand. Check the gas and electrics work properly. There's a Facebook group called Women with Campervans for more advice.

Good luck!

In answer to @SilverPeacock we have a portable loo in ours. Strictly for emergencies and it goes in the awning when we arrive on site. I've disguised it with a cover so it looks like a seat.

@Iheartmysmart I have an Outwell outhouse for solo trips and can mainly put it up myself using a foldaway stool to attach to the van.

There's always someone on a campsite who'll help.

Go for it!

We bought a second hand VW California Ocean a few months ago and love it. We have a drive away air awning for it which gives us extra space for putting table, chairs and other bits and bobs in without cluttering up your van.

Have a look at getting the Britstops book and app which allows you to stay overnight at pubs if you have a meal there.

We have a VW Transporter bought on a whim last summer having never camped or driven one before. We'd had a shit couple of years, had a bit of a windfall and thought sod it. Kids are adults, it's now time for us. We've done a few camping trips, use it for beach days (we live near the coast), moved DD a couple of times and DH uses it for his daily drive. It's fully converted, no pop top though, and we have an Outdoor Revolution drive away awning. Do it OP!

@KangarooKenny Friends of ours are selling a VW transporter which came from the same dealer as ours and it's in great condition with a pop top. It's a long wheelbase though, might not be what you want you're after. Pm me if you do want details.

We’ve recently upgraded from a T4 to T6, and there is a big difference in terms of maintenance - the T4 cost us a fortune but the T6 so far has only cost us for routine servicing and a faulty sensor somewhere <touches lots of wood>.
It is our second car, it fits in a normal parking space but not in all multistories due to the roof rack - and you’d be even more restricted if you got a high top, ours is a poptop. We custom designed the second one after buying the first one already converted because I got to know what worked and didn’t for our needs.
We use a tent and sun awning rather than a drive away awning because it’s a real faff lining the van and awning back up after every trip.
Diesel prices mean that we only use it for actually camping or for beach trips when we need to take boards, or when I’ve got the car and dh needs to go out because we have an electric car as our main vehicle - it costs over £100 to fill at the moment and we expect that to get worse so bear that in mind.

Clue in my username.

I'd love one. But downsides would include - as others have said - fuel costs. (there are electric ones out there being built..?)

Where to park it. At home you would at least need a driveway.

I'm not sure about the law on this - you can't sleep in certain places - I've been told it is illegal to just park anywhere overnight.

Re: maintenance - depreciating costs/renovations needed.

On the plus side - in many rural places - I've heard you can go for a pub meal - ask the landlord if it is okay for you to stay overnight in their car park - tumble in to bed and roll out for breakfast in the morning? Solves the site problem...

A lot of Long Wheel Base camper vans have a toilet now. Ours does (based on LWB Fiat Ducato) although we only stay on proper sites and just use our own toilet at night. Motorhome refers to the method of construction i.e, coach built rather than whether it has a toilet.

Standard wheel base fiat Ducato and we have a toilet too

Re parking up

In England we tend to only go campsites ( some can be cheap ) or park where lorries might if we are travelling / moving on

Arrive late leave early move on and you tend to be fine. Set up pitch on Clayton sea front and expect bother

In Scotland there are fewer restrictions- although loads more post COVID when I think things went mental

I won't talk you out of it, camper life is just the best!

We borrow my partners parents. It's a trigano tribute.
Make sure you know whether you want a fixed rear bed or not.
Basically you have to make your bed every night if you don't have a fixed bed.
Also, steer away from home conversions unless you know it's history, my partner is a Mercedes call out mechanic and he's shown me some terrible chassis rust on bad conversions which ended up leaking.

We got back from a 3 day stay at Pinewoods in Wells Next The Sea. Check it out if you're hiring a van and over that way, it's a brilliant example of a well organised caravan park.

Me, him and our Boston Terrier love the van life, we don't own one because we can't fit it on the driveway.

I'd scratch the itch if you want one after hiring one! You only regret the places you didn't visit in life
x

I love mine,
It's new ish Vw and I had it converted to how I wanted it. Didn't like the vw ocean as it only had 2 seats at the back. Great fridges though!

I bought a service package £300 for 3 services with Vw, and mot is the same as my car.
Road tax is £22 pm, it has a euro 6 engine so no ulez to pay

I leave all our pots, pans chairs in plastic boxes on campsites and never had a problem. I don't like drive away awning as I hate putting tents up 🤣
I have a wind out awning instead.

It's worth more than I paid for it in 2017 😀

Do it. Freedom awaits.

Love ours. A converted VW T6. 2 adults and 2 dogs. I always book campsites. Beautiful to drivb, have had no problem ever parking it. Have a drive away awning which gives us space to put out stuff in. Have a kayak and bikes which go on the bike rack. Have had many fabulous trips away, on our own or meeting family who all have campers. Have a portable loo for the rare occasions when campsite has no facilities.

It's new so reliable.

Love it, love it, love it.

We are in the camping and caravanning club - the club sites are generally cheap and small, many are attached to pubs, and they are usually good quality (apart from one in Devon once where they tried to tell me our pitch was a parking space next to the toilet block, I refused to stay and drove home, they are no longer listed funnily enough)

We have nearly finished converting a Transit van to a camper. Can't wait to try it out.

I hate them. Caravans make so much more sense. You can have a full size bed, a toilet, a kitchen. Dark curtains. Insulation so it's not roasting or freezing. Heating. You can stand up in it. You can lock it and drive away. You can get parking assistance things to reverse it. Storage. The environmental impact of the costs running a camper van are shocking. I hate people driving bloody VW campers everywhere, especially when they can't reverse or park properly. They stick out over parking spots. People think they can park anywhere and drive away leaving a pile of rubbish. Our local beaches are cluttered with them, all parked overnight in carparks or on the side of the roads. Human waste and toilet paper all over the sand dunes. They park in passing places so when you meet another VW camper on a skinny road, you have to reverse for miles as the camper driver is incapable of reversing. Its all "lifestyle" types around here and people who have a baby and suddenly need a camper for a normal pushchair. I think they should have huge car tax on them, it's the type of people who used to drive 4x4s. Its so inconsiderate when they park in beautiful areas, blocking views for everyone and whinge "it's wild camping". They won't use campsites so no help to the local economy. They seem to be a statement about how wealthy you are and used for SM photos. I despise them.

Well rubbish comes from people not campervans (many of which have loos and heating and storage )

The rubbish comes from people in tents , day trippers , people in cars with a caravan somewhere as well as people in campervans

Indeed a friend of mine was volunteer rubbish picking today and it was a family sized tent he cleared away

And insulation and black out blinds :-)