Camper Van?

needmoney

Do you have/would you buy a camper van. Are they more trouble than they're worth more expensive than they seem to use?

So many questions, we are thinking of getting a really cheap one:o and would be glad of any advice, tips etc.

Thanks in advance.

johnnytee

Think carefully before you take the plunge! I had a 1971 VW Camper For about three years. I reckon I was spending between £300-500 a year in maintenance just trying to keep the thing on the road. If you have your own welding kit believe me, you will get a lot of practise! I have had many friends who have owned campers, and the concensus is that on the whole they are pretty unreliable. However, it has to be said they are also great fun!

JT

needmoney

Thanks johnytee, take your point because we'd only be able to aford an oldie, but we were thinking we'd have a few cheap breaks and it would be a step up from a tent when it's cold,:D

needmoney

Hope you all don't mind if I bump this up, ther must be more Camper Van fans out there.:D

lsimmons_2

Hi! We have had a 1982 VW camper van for a couple of years now. Reckon we spend about £300 a year on maintenance etc, but that's pretty cheap if you average out all the weekends away and longer hols we have in it.

We aim to go away about every third weekend from Easter onwards to around Sep/Oct. These aren't necessarily long distance trips, but just going to a different environment for 1 or 2 nights makes the weekends feel much longer. And the kids and their friends also LOVE it.

We also tend to do 2-3 longer breaks of 1 week+. So given the running costs are about £300 and campsite costs from £5-12 night, swe get lots of cheap hols and have a huge amount of fun!

Do think it is a lifestyle choice though. We have friends with campers who only stay in it for 1-2 weeks a year, so guess you have to decide whether you really will be able to get away in it often? It is a bit of hassle packing up and unpacking, but after a few trips you will have it off to a fine art!

Only other thing to mention is the older campers are NOT like modern cars... They are slow to drive and do not have efficient heating, etc etc so will be a bit of roughing it involved! Personally, we don't mind that, when we are in the camper we are in a different mode. We are relaxing!

needmoney

Thanks isimmons that sounds good to me.

Please more replies from a camper fans.

h4zel

We had a C reg Mitsubishi L300 Campervan.. looks a lot like a VW Camper but MUCH more reliable.. sadly we only kept it for 1 year because we needed the money for a house move.. but that 12 months was the most exciting 12 of my life!!!!! :j

We had many weekends away to the coast and the coutryside and spent 3 weeks touring round devon and somerset in July.. did about 2000 miles in total and the only maintenance we had to do was £70 for the MOT when we sold her :T

My thoughts....... GO GET ONE.. you'll have SOOOOOOOOO much fun!!

ps... as soon as I can afford another one I'll be buying ASAFP!

needmoney

h4zel wrote:

:T

My thoughts....... GO GET ONE.. you'll have SOOOOOOOOO much fun!!

ps... as soon as I can afford another one I'll be buying ASAFP!

Thanks h4zel fully intend to as soon as we find one we can afford:o

alanalea

My partner and i have had several campers and would never be without one!! All of ours have been converted vans - Renault traffic, Mercedes, Sherpa etc. We don't go abroad so all of our holidays are in our trusty wagons. They've been to festivals and Solstices for ages. It's just so convenient having a wagon. If we find a place that we like we just park up for the night- layby's, carparks etc. Also you can just wake up, say its a great day, pack a tin of beans/bog roll/quilt and off you go!!

Even handy if you go to a birthday party, have to much to drink and can't get home.... Just make sure you make the bed before you get plastered because its very uncomfortable trying to sleep 2 adults on a single seat bed

GET ONE!!

BTW we tax the camper for the 6 summer months and have a cheap runabout car. It can be expensive using the camper as a general car on petrol etc and getting in some carparks can be a problem

BungleGirl

Hi all,

We have a 1974 VW campervan and absolutely love it! There are more modern and reliable campers but NOTHING beats an old VW! It is a lifestyle choice - you feel like you are going on holiday even when you are just going to pick the kids up from school!

Ours (very fortunately) has a new engine which unlike the old one is 100% reliable. We have also fitted an Empi gearshift (£55ish) which has made gear changes much easier.

In the last year it cost £100 to get through the MOT and £15 for oil change. I would recommend finding your local VW club and popping to a meeting to have a chat with some owners, have a look at their van etc. This is a great way of finding mechanically minded people who will usually help out if you have a problem. The VW community is HUGE (lots of totally mental people and a couple of normal people) and very good fun.

I know that our van is better than average and don't want to give the impression that all are as reliable. The important thing is to keep on top of it and inspect underneath regularly...the anti corrosion warranty will have run out several decades ago!!

We have taken our van from Lowestoft to Cornwall, spent three weeks touring Scotland, gone to south of Paris as well as many trips closer to home. It also gets used as the vegetable wagon for the food coop I work on and for taking loads of band stuff to gigs. They are also small enough to use as a 'daily drive' ie fits into normal parkng spaces etc. (Don't fit in most garages though so if you have a garage andplan to keep it in there check the height - ours is 2.1m high).

It is verymuch part of our family, my daughter LOVES going away in it - we even had a 30th birthday party for it two years ago with 40 people, champagne and a birthday cake!

The other bonus is that if you look after it there is a good chance it will appreciatein value (they certainly are at the moment). Classic car insurance is cheap (£140ish for two named drivers) - make sure that you get agreed value (doesn't usually cost more but well worth it).

They are rather thirsty approx. 20mpg. They are slow - you won't be overtaking much. People start smiling when they see you drivng down the road. They are no more or less reliable than any vehicle of that age.

I can't think of what else to put - ask away if you want to know anything specific.

needmoney

alanalea wrote:

If we find a place that we like we just park up for the night- layby's, carparks etc. Also you can just wake up, say its a great day, pack a tin of beans/bog roll/quilt and off you go!!

alanalea that's the bit I really fancy, the freedom of it all I hate hotels and am, not too fusssy about abroad.

I wasn't sure if it was legal to park in layby's thought you had to stay at a 'site' but if not I would love that, far from the madding crowds and all that, thanks:D