Campervans

kinger8938

kinger8938

kinger8938

Soldato
Joined
23 Mar 2011
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I kind of like the idea of something like this.

How are they to live with, real world. Costs, insurance, tax, MOT, servicing, storage etc?

We are a family of 4, kids 8 and 4

Part of me likes the idea of getting home on a Friday and buggering off for the weekend.

We have a caravan sales/storage place on my road at work so that would be convenient. (No actual drive way at home, just a space and garage to the rear)

Who does it, can a good camper be had used for say 20-30k, and what are the better models/brands to look for?

Any additional costs to think about?

(If this topic is better suited elsewhere, please point me in the right direction :D)
 
There are loads of brands. Probably the best thing is to decide how big a motorhome you would want. The bigger it is, the fewer places you can easily take it. You need to decide on body shape, whether you want something like a high top transit, or a dedicated coach built motorhome. Servicing costs will be related to which vehicle brand and engine type you choose. Transits are reliable and relatively cheap, but other brands include VW, Mercedes, Fiat, Peugeot and Citroen.
 
The in-laws have one.
By all accounts, it's ******* expensive and needs a surprising amount of maintenance every year. Despite the high purchase price, many are still built to a budget and fall apart if not given a thorough going over.
Even standard vehicle maintenance is more costly, as things like tyres, suspension, etc all need to be of spec suitable for load-bearing and the like.

Unless you have one of the small models, you're pretty much stuck at whatever Caravan Club site you rock up at, as driving off down the winding Lake District or Cornish roads, with a half-mile tailback behind you is quite a headache.
 
Campervans are different to motorhomes. It’s worth having a bit of a serious think before you decide what you want to go for. I have an old VW T4 campervan. You can stand up in it as it’s got a pop top roof, but it’s small, cramped has no toilet and is really just that - van to make camping a bit more convenient/dry. You have to be very neat and tidy with your bits and bobs as it’s can get messy very quickly. It works best if you pack light.

If you decide to start looking at motorhomes - coach built things on larger van chassis that you can stand up and walk around in, with separate toilets and fixed main beds at the back, you’re very quickly looking at many tens of thousands of pounds. But they’re a very different type of vehicle. Much more luxury. If you can call having a holiday in a box on wheels in a field luxury…(?!)

My van cost me less than £8k, including purchase price of the base vehicle, and I converted it myself. The pop top roof - which really makes the van work - was another £3k on top of that. We’ve had six years holidays out of it so far (and counting) and have been all over England, Wales and Scotland in it. I absolutely love it!
 
Adrian Flux is the insurance company most people use

Campervans can be quite complex depending on the specific mods

And caravan parks are hit or miss, can be quite boring at times. Especially if it rains
 
If you want to do it cheaply and are good at DIY then you can always do the conversion yourself. The benefit of this is you get exactly what you want. There are loads of van build videos on YouTube.
 
It's a really difficult one as on one hand you want a nice big one with fixed beds and a toilet and space for your stuff but then it's a massive pain to drive it anywhere once you're on holiday as you don't fit in normal parking spaces and small car parks at attractions and you have to be very confident to take it down small lanes etc, god help you if you go to the lake district for example!

On the other side a regular van is great as you can park it in normal parking spaces and drive down lanes without issues but you're really cramped inside, having to dismantled the whole interior and turn it into beds each night etc.

A friend of mine bought a really lovely T6 with a pop top but the novelty wore of fairly quickly as it was just far too compromised for him, to big to drive every day and not big enough for him, his wife and 5 year old daughter when they went away for anything more than 1 night. He sold it within about 18 months.
 
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