VW campers - old or new?

[letrangere]

We're trying to buy a campervan and have settled on a VW T2. We've looked at a brand new one and it was lovely but blooming pricey, and to a novice like me looked exactly like the older ones (but new of course!). I mean, the exactly the same design inside and out but without the rust.

This is, of course, the charm of them, but we came away thinking an old one would be just as good and a whole lot cheaper. The salesman said that reliability in old VW campers is a real problem (but then he would). We do need it to work well and not be too much hassle as it's likely to replace our car for a while and we're not big on mechanics.

I've found a place in Wales that sells old vans and remodels them to your requirements (as in adding seatbelts and beds and things) which sounds good, but I am worried we might make a false economy by spending less on an old van rather than splashing out on a new one. Anyone have any thoughts?

We own a VW 1972 Type 2 - and my father and brother also have them. My husband is mechanical - which I would have said is a major plus - as although they are fun they do have a habit of going wrong. If you've got a good mechanic you should be ok. We love it and go to France every summer - we are going for a month this year - Husband a teacher and I will be on maternity leave. We are taking our 2 year old and new baby ( due any moment). We bought our van for a £1000 - 8 years ago - it is now worth £16,000 - but we have spent in the region of £10,000- re doing its paint, panels, engine and inside. If you are willing to embrace the world of VW's - the you'll love it as will the kids. I have a love hate relationship with our van - it's like having another child - my husband would be lost with out it.

my DH is not mechanical at all, and nor am I! which is why we were leaning towards new, but it's sooooo pricey. Did you do all that work yourselves? can't really see dh 'tinkering' with the vw as a hobby ...

I love the actual holiday/ flexibility/ spontaneous staying over night bit - we're big on camping and we've rented motorhomes before, but bigger ones and they were all spanking new and not ours to worry about so it's not the same thing. This will probably be our main car for a little while too.

good luck with little one - ours is due about now too!

I used to have a 1972 VW type 2 - beautiful bay window Devon conversion. However, after some years I sold it as it was costing so much to keep on the road and my mechanic wasn't super reliable, meaning repairs took ages leaving me carless.

There is no doubt they go wrong - A LOT. You have to have a good mechanic who is quick at getting parts. You also have to have a very good breakdown cover, as it will happen.

The other thing I've noticed is the cost of VWs have sky rocketed in the last 10 years, meaning to buy a fully renovated one often means spending more than £10k - wow. They do however seem to hold their resale value and I know I recouped all the repair & renovation costs when I sold mine.

They are great fun. I'd love to have one now I've got small kids. If you have enough to buy a new one, I can see why you might. The old ones do have a certain charm, but I'd book yourselves on to a motor maintainence course now!

that bad? oh dear ... I don't know if I could be bothered with it breaking down all the time! we'll be doing a lot of long journeys in it so maybe new(er) is better.

We are on VW Type 2 number 5 (I think, I lose track sometimes).

My husband is quite mechanical and can do the odd bit of bodywork as well. He has renovated a few and kept all of ours on the road fine before we had the dcs. He just doesn't have the time anymore and we have a friendly, reliable mechanic that specialises in them who does all the bigger jobs these days.

They also take a lot of regular care and maintenance (servicing etc) and you do need to know what you're doing with them, although the actual mechanics are really simple and once you get your head round them they are simple to work on.

As cjn said, the prices have shot up and you certainly don't get as much for your money these days. Its also easy to buy a van that looks lovely but is a real nail if you don't know what to look for.

I would recommend them for fun and freedom factor, but counter that with it probably not being a good idea to have one as your only vehicle if neither of you are mechanically minded enough to keep it on the road.

We tend not to use ours too much over the winter (just the odd dog walk and indoor picnic complete with hot chocolate) and then make the most of it during the spring and summer. Its great for long day trips as you can take everything you need for the day with you easily without having to cram it all in and it saves us a fortune on eating out, as the dcs would always rather eat in the VW. We also go on a longer holiday in it every year, either camping somewhere in Wales or the UK or over to Ireland usually. We have 3 dcs aged nearly 8, nearly 6 and 13 months and have an awning as ours doesn't have a push up roof.

The new T2s have a very poor reputation. I believe they're made in Brazil. I've heard they start rusting in a horrific way, the grade of metal in the bodywork ain't much good.

I'd be lying if I said that reliability was as good in the old ones. My van is 25 years old but it does have a fairly new (VW Passat) engine in it. A lot do have new engines so thats one less thing to worry about.

Bloke who had it before me had it 14 years and swears he never broke down in it. I've had it nearly a year and have broken down twice. Once I needed new glowplugs and the second time we think it was some sludge in the tank that got sucked through. So neither of them big or hard jobs to sort out. Cost me £100 for new glowplugs to be fitted and the AA got me started the other time.

AA membership is a must. In fairness it has got me to France ok and Cornwall. If you buy an older one get a water cooled not an air cooled. Also late bays are meant to be more reliable than early bays.

But I have to support T25s/T3s again - more reliable than a T2 and bigger and cheaper.

thanks so much, that's really interesting about the rust on the new ones - I hadn't heard that.

I was thinking we could replace the engine etc, and even though it would cost a fair amount it would be nothing compared with the price of a new one.

DH is now talking about doing a basic mechanics course .

Will take another look at the t25s and t3s - it's just they're not quite as pretty!

I know what you mean about them not looking as pretty, but an extra 5k+ for a "pretty" van......I couldn't bring myself to do it.

When I got mine I'd wanted a Bay, went to look at one. It was 9k for aN oz import, it was at a specialist VW place and they were going to do a full body restoration. But NOT sort out the interior which probably wanted another 2k spending on it. Plus I realised when I saw it that once the bed was pulled out there wouldn't be enough room for the dog to sleep on the floor.

Apparantly T25s are appreciating in value as well as they are now been seen as a classic in their own right and becoming sort after. So it will be an investment.

you're totally right about the price - I was just having a look. I hadn't really looked into other models massively because I had just pictured a classic combi, really. Like the idea of it being an investment ... could easily justify it that way! I've just seen a few for around £6k, which is a fraction of what the T2s cost.

Any tips on where to buy?

hi we have a few different vw campers dh is mad on them at the moment i am driving a t3 every day and i love it, the bay (t2) looks lovely and every one smiles and waves when we drive it but the t3 has so much more space in it when camping. There are a few good forums which also have a for sale section, VZi and club 80-90 but just remember rust can hide under a new paint job for a few months before it comes through

There are quite a few forums that have "for sale" sections.

forum.club8090.co.uk/index.php

www.justkampers.com/marketplace-classifieds-vehicles-and-parts-for-sale

www.volkszone.com/VZi/

I'm in Club 80-90 which is the top link, people there were very helpful to me when I was buying, giving me tips. There is a also a Wiki on there which has a buying guide section.

I looked at quite a few vans on ebay, but when I went to see them wasn't impressed with them. I actually got mine off GumTree in the end. I think if you get one from a forum, especially if its an established forum member then they are less likely to rip you off. Some of the ebay ones I saw were truely shocking! You may find someone local to you on Club 80-90 who would be willing to look at a van with you as well. I've seen people do that before. Bodywork is the most important thing. You can have engine problems sorted out cheaply, whereas if its had a recent respray and looks nice but 6 months later all the rust comes through it could cost 5k+ to sort out.

brilliant - i'll take a look. I did look at the 80-90 site last night. I'll have a look at the others. Yes, the bodywork thing is tricky to spot I guess.

They're prone to going rusty in the seams, uner wheel arches, around the windscreen and also the filler neck (look under the van by the filler cap). Taking a magnet is often a good way of seeing if its metal or filler under the paint. I saw one van that I could hardly get the magnet to stick on it. It was a cowboy dealer on ebay who reckoned the bodywork was in good nick. I told him it wasn't and he started argueing so I put my thumb through the wheel arch to prove a point.

I second the magnet idea. Dh always takes a magnet with him to look at potential vans. He's also found a fair few where he couldn't find any metal for the magnet to stick to. Its amazing what filler, paint and even underseal can disguise.

Oi!, less of the passe please! Actually, we were looking at the T25s ourselves recently, mainly due to the increased amount of camping space, as having a twin sliding tin-top, 3 dcs and 3 dogs we are very cramped these days. I really liked some of them and found myself strangely attracted to the ones with square headlamps and bumpers (Caravelles?) (I say strangely as I always thought it was the round headlamps that gave T2s their cute facelike appearance and appeal.)

I really liked the Blue Star Multivans as well, but we would have to sell our current van to afford one and the dcs were having none of that! (The do tend to become part of the family.)

If you can wait its a good idea to go to Vanfest at the beginning of September as they have a big vans for sale section and you can crawl all over them all and ask lots of questions.

Its also useful to google for your local VW Club and either join up or send a few emails. Most people love talking about their vans and the clubs usually have at least one or two people who are able to offer sound advice to people looking for their first van. Also VW Type 2 Owners Club and Club8090 and the Just Kampers Forum that Stripey linked to are all valuable sources of info.

We went through this when we bought our van. You get what you pay for on older vans and if they look a bargain it's probably for a reason although if you are mechanically savvy or know someone who is you might get lucky. I was quite surprised at how much a 10-15 year old van cost. Plus they tended to smell damp, have high mileage and look quite tatty

So we bought a low mileage 3 year old ex- motability T4 van at an auction (unlikley to be ragged), got it converted at Leisuredrive who are based near Bolton to our spec. This total cost including the van was around £15k, to buy a van like that from a dealer would have cost maybe £18k. We have now had the van four years and it has been on many adventures and has never let us down.

Admittedly the T4s don't have the good looks and cachet of the older T2/T3/T25s but the engines are great, more modern and they are just like driving a car.

If you do decide to get a van converted then I would recommend choosing some one close to where you live so settling in niggles are easy to resolve.

we just got given a VW LT! love it but it needs a totally new interior, i was just wondering if anyone had any links to pics of the interior of vw's as we are going to be doing it ourselves, would love to know where's best to 'put' things and how things like beds work tia

sorry to hijack your thread op i can't help as i know nothing!

Susie, try having a mooch around on some of the links in earlier posts. There are usually lots of pictures of peoples renovation projects, including interiors, on those sites.

There's an LT interior project here lots of interior links here and interior of a LT Westfalia Florida here.

We've got lots of ideas for interiors over the years by having a look through the vans for sale ads online, as people tend to put a lot of photos in their adverts.

thanks moosemama

Nice sounding van advertised her in the last hour.

forum.club8090.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=18&t=65838

Suspect it will go quite quickly.

thanks - will take a look