Anyway ever downgraded to a van?

Jono

Jono

Jono

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I have a reasonably comfortable car. It's only a mazda 6 estate but it's not a bad place to be. It's enough power to get past most things when I need to, and has plenty of load space, lengthways/with the seats down.

However a friend at work has a VW Transporter van and I'm slightly envious of it. He's not done much to it, just carpeted it in the back, and when he wants to go off somewhere "camping" he just throws things in the back, then puts down a double airbed which fits perfectly, widthways... and whatever else was in the back..e.g. bikes gets locked up outside.

Never had a problem.

No mincing around putting a tent up in the rain...

So, I want a van, but I can't afford a van AND a car...

I'd probably get a fair amount of use out of it, but having never owned a van and only hired one for doing moving of big things around the country... mostly transits, which I didn't like...

Is it a truly stupid idea, or are there any vans at least transporter size that are quite carlike places to be? I.e. have or can have nice seats/ICE etc?

I wouldn't convert it properly to "camper van" status... that seems like a major ballache to do properly.
 
Often toyed with doing something similar. Never really got off the ground as I need 3 seats or sleeping for 3 if kids are with me. Maybe once kids have grown up I might reconsider.
Had looked at small campers like the NIssan NV 200 etc but price then got a bit too high for me.
 
You can get some very comfortable Vans but Be aware that Vans have different speed limit restrictions to cars on NSL/DC roads.

(Utterly Bizarrely, "Camper" vans do not!:confused: )

People do get caught out by this!
 
I went from a car to a T4, it sucked!

Crap on the motorway and not really a nice daily driver IMO

T5 might be better with a better engine etc but I wouldn't want one as my daily still

Personal preference at the end of the day though, it depends what you're happy driving
 
My first car was a van. :D

A Bedford 17cwt.

It was great for all of the above, carrying motorbikes, a mattress for sleepovers or just for getting from A to B.
 
I used to know a lad who had a facelift 8P S3 which was the most most recent model at the time

He sold it and bought a Transit Connect for his own personal car, when I asked why he said, car costs money, van makes money.

Always stuck in my mind for some reason. Not that its of any real relevance, cool story bro though
 
FVI van policies do NOT allow anyone to sleep in the vehicle overnight. Camper policies, yes of course, but that is a pleasure vehicle and will have camper insurance, but a normal van policy (light commercial) excludes sleeping overnight in the van.
 
I have had a van for the past 8 years and I could never be without one again, so handy for my MTB and various other things!
 
You need to be careful about what you went for, it would have to be a Vetoo or T5 everything else is either too big, too small or too awful.
 
As a driver of a Nissan NV200 van for work i can safely say do not get one as your actual means of transport. They're fine 'as a van' but it'd drive you mental to have one all the time, the noise inside the cabin is enough to make you want to hurt people.

I was seriously toying with getting a van as i do mountain bike and a van would be very handy quite a bit of the time, so i got a big estate car instead which is about 8000x better to drive around in than a van and only a small bit less practical.
 
sovietspybob said:
They're fine 'as a van' but it'd drive you mental to have one all the time, the noise inside the cabin is enough to make you want to hurt people.
Click to expand...

This. I recently spent a few days running around in a 64 plate new Transit custom, which although looked like a Mondeo inside, and drove largely like a big car rather than a van - did my head in with the noise on the motorway. I could happily live with it for a few days given I was using it for 'van stuff' whereas every day compared to even the Smart car I used to daily would drive me crazy!

Also it is certainly more tiring to drive around town etc. as you have reduced visibility and awareness compared to a car with glass surrounding you.
 
The transit is nothing like a mondeo inside! It's a bit like a stripped down focus if anything. It's definitely not a nice place to spend time, it's functional but that's about it
 
sovietspybob said:
As a driver of a Nissan NV200 van for work i can safely say do not get one as your actual means of transport. They're fine 'as a van' but it'd drive you mental to have one all the time, the noise inside the cabin is enough to make you want to hurt people.

I was seriously toying with getting a van as i do mountain bike and a van would be very handy quite a bit of the time, so i got a big estate car instead which is about 8000x better to drive around in than a van and only a small bit less practical.
Click to expand...

I drove one of those for about a week and I didn't think it was too bad actually. It's a small, cheap van, and didn't feel any worse to drive than a small, cheap car.
 
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