Hmm... Going from a Fiesta & Motorbike to.. a van?

NooBish AbbZ

NooBish AbbZ

NooBish AbbZ

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So, I've sold my motorbike recently as I wasn't using it and I've been doing much more cycling. I'm also looking to change my current car (£5-£6kFiesta ST Mk 7 2014, 86k miles) and the front runner is a (£17-£20k 0% Credit card Fiesta ST Mk 8(2019-2021 or so)

I've looked at but for different reasons discounted: Civic Type R, BMW M140i, Hyundai i30N, Audi S3, Golf R, Merc Amg A35/45, Renault Megane RS, Focus ST

Most of them for the price/running costs (I find it hilarious how cheap the fiestas are to run <3) or a lack of important feature, such as heated seats.

Now, I've had the thought a few times (before I bought the Fiesta in 2020) of buying a van and converting it to a camper. Back then I was thinking a high-roof/long wheelbase sprinter/Transit but I decided I couldn't live with it on a daily basis (would be my one vehicle)
I've had this same thought recently as I'm changing the car, but instead, looking at something around a (£6k-£10k?)Mercedes Vito LWB sorta size which I could still fit a bed (and importantly, a road bike in) but would be manageable for standard daily driving (which I don't do a lot of)
Also I do multiple trips to watch 24 hour motorsport each year and this would obviously be a decent thing to take to carry all of our camping gear etc.

Part of this is I love the idea of driving to somewhere such as Scotland, or France/Holland/Germany, maybe as far down as Italy and going cycling for a few days at a time.

There has also been another thought in that during my time off shift I could (on a basis of when I want to), cover Man&Van jobs in the area. If I set up some kind of business I could maybe treat fuel/servicing as business expenses (very early thoughts at the moment, not done a huge amount of research)

So, essentially.... what do we think?
I could keep the old fiesta and buy a Vito and give it a try
I could sell my old Fiesta and buy either a newer Fiesta or a Vito and have lots of cash left over.

A point to note at the moment is I haven't ever cycled abroad for a few days; I'm planning to fly somewhere and try it later on this year or early next year and see if I enjoy cycling for 4/5 days in a row or not.
 
I bloody love big vans and I've had a LWB-high roof Movano, Master, and a Sprinter over the last 20 years which were all purchased from new. I can't buy another though as their prices have doubled now and they're IRO of £40k and the unique base models have disappeared but I would advise not buying one 2nd hand/used as they have all been hammered by couriers or driven by lots of different people in businesses who didn't really care about them. I don't know if this info helps you but it's stuff for you to think about if you're going to buy a used van.
 
Agree with HC1 in respect to used vans being a potential minefield... one of our work vans, 21 plate, is on its 3rd steering rack and not a fault of the van :s and tracking is well out since the last one was put in. People just don't take care of them as they aren't their own vehicle even if they take care of their own.

Not to put you off the idea though, vans can be a good option.
 
Older vans can be a complete money pit, and prices went through the roof in the pandemic. As someone who does a lot of camping I'd love one but it's a minefield.
 
I recommend investigating the insurance side of things. While the van is a van, as in a light commercial vehicle, most insurers don't allow someone to sleep in it. So whacking a mattress in the back and putting up a few cupboards is probably a no no.

If you do a full camper conversion, would you need to get the van reregistered as a leisure vehicle? I'm not sure, but if that were the case you might not be able to get business insurance for man with van activities.

Other people more knowledgeable than me will be able to clarify this. Of course I'm sure there are people out there sleeping in vans and using campers as commercial vehicles, but it's worth investigating.
 
I went from a lwb doblo toa fiesta st. So the opposite.

I miss the van, used to use it for mtb races etc. It was also super useful for trips to the skip, or helping someone move a washing machine etc.

Have you considered a smaller van? They do come with sacrifices, but it's a lot easier day to day. Mine was a 2015 doblo, cost me £5k and I built a basic bed and leccie for probably about £300.

If I was doing it again, and only having myself in it. I'd keep it as a day van and put in hammock mounts somehow.
 
It's definitely doable but if you were to get a 2nd hand van I would expect to have massive costs replacing most of the the perishables like bushes, brakes etc. and the possibility of an engine rebuild.

There's plenty of companies who currently convert normal vans to campers so I would just ask one of those what you would need to provide the DVLA with to and see what kind of costs are usually associated with conversion
 
Lots of useful replies in here, thanks all.

Good points on the having to potentially re-register and/or not being 'allowed' to sleep in it as a goods vehicle but. Also the hammock mount sounds a brilliant idea; I like that a lot.

I did consider it a few years ago but at that point I was looking at the High roof and long wheel base sprinters/Transits so I've already moved 'down' a class size-wise to what I'm looking at now (Vito/Vivaro size)

I am also aware that pretty much every second hand van is going to have been abused on the road which sucks; I've no interest in buying a brand new van (they cost like £40k?!? How??)
 
If you are keen, join the Facebook groups for the Vivaro and Vito, both are good communities. In there you'll get a ton of info but also some good private sales of privately owned vans. Sounds like a LWB version of those would suit you.

You shouldnt have issues with a camper conversion registration wise, its super common to just leave it as a van. Many "campers" cant be registered now and have to stay as a van as the DVLA changed the rules. It can benefit insurance and speed limits but otherwise dont worry. Insurance wasnt any more expensive for me, I still used Admiral for my vans.

I think assuming you need an engine rebuild and all bushes replaced is a bit much. Ive had 3 or 4 older cheaper vans before buying new and never had any major issues, in fact, all were pretty well cared for. I converted 2 of them.

dlockers above has a great point, a JDM people carrier is smaller than the Vito/Vivaro but they can be had for decent prices, reliable etc. Space could be the issue but its a top shout.
 
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NooBish AbbZ said:
I've no interest in buying a brand new van (they cost like £40k?!? How??)
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I don't know why they started taking the mickey with the prices but I suspect it was due to the fact the dealers knew most buyers were using the vans for business reasons so they cashed in on the opportunity to take money away from the self employed. There's slightly less risk buying the smaller vans as they don't have the space to be used as serious courier workhorses but in your shoes I would still be asking a lot of questions about what the van was used for/service history/how many previous owners, and looking closely at the mileage against the year of 1st registration to figure out if it had been used for business or leisure/commuting. The repair bills soon mount up if you're in and out of garages every few months having "niggles" diagnosed and fixed on ex-work vans. Over 100k miles on the clock usually means you're heading quickly towards swapping the clutch and gearbox too if it wasn't motorway miles (i.e stop/start miles locally) and that's a hefty repair bill that will make your eyes water. Good Luck !
 
Looking at the various FB groups it seems quite difficult to get redesignated with the DVLA, with a a lot of conversions coming back as 'van with windows' on the registration doc after conversion.
 
Uther said:
Looking at the various FB groups it seems quite difficult to get redesignated with the DVLA, with a a lot of conversions coming back as 'van with windows' on the registration doc after conversion.
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They changed the rules - pop top is the deciding feature IIRC.
 
dlockers said:
They changed the rules - pop top is the deciding feature IIRC.
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Naaa, its actually the opposite. A pop top doesnt fulfill it anymore, they actually want a fixed "high roof" regardless of pop top now. Bit mad.

Graphics needs to be there as well as an awning, both at least not that expensive. Needs fixed cooking appliances now too. Permanent seating and table.

From what I can tell, if using a van, you have to start with a high-top version to have a chance of it being reclassified.
 
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