Small campervan / conversion for everyday use

Yorky1

Hi all,

I'm looking for a small campervan as an everyday main vehicle and weekend camping , ideally a VW Caddy for fuel economy for 1 / 2 people max.

Can anyone give any advice on where to buy / what to look and conversion kits?

Finally, does anyone know of another specific forum for this topic?

Thanks in advance

SailorSam

http://www.vwcamperforum.com/

http://www.campervanlife.com/

http://www.motorhomefacts.com/forums.html

frugalmike

Yorky1 wrote: »

Hi all,

I'm looking for a small campervan as an everyday main vehicle and weekend camping , ideally a VW Caddy for fuel economy for 1 / 2 people max.

Can anyone give any advice on where to buy / what to look and conversion kits?

Finally, does anyone know of another specific forum for this topic?

Thanks in advance

http://sbmcc.co.uk/forum/index.php?act=idx has loads of info

colino

Just remember that all campers, big or small, are terrible compromises. The smallest are impaired as road cars by permanently carrying the load of the camper conversion and economy goes out of the window. The biggest are really just small detached homes that have the ability to manoeuvre (badly!) from place to place.
If you really fancy a small one, I'd go for a quirky, older (simpler to fix) one like a Marina. Biggest enemy will be rust, but if it's still around now, someone has already looked after it.

tamzing

Hi
Look at the Small Motorhome Forum which is specifically for those with small motorhomes, and quite a few with micro/solo vans. There is a wealth of information there, and it is just about the friendliest camper van forum I know of. (Sorry, can't post a link because the MSE site won't let me!)

I have a very small campervan, based on a Citroen Nemo. It is a Romahome R10 Solo, and as the name implies, is strictly a one person van. It fits everywhere, is very inconspicuous, and I love it. Colino's comment above about losing economy for small vans is not bourne out by the actual figures in real world usage. Mine did an average of just over 50mpg on a 350 mile round trip last weekend. The limitation depends on what you want to carry in it. I do plan to upsize mine at some stage just because I'd like a little more room inside it. That said, my tiny vehicle accommodates a 6'4" long bed, 2 burner hob, sink with pumped fresh water, & porta loo (which some are scornful of but I can tell you it is a great bonus when you're camping in a car park and wake up at 3am...). I have used it to support my interest in veteran aircraft, to enable my photography, for lunches out, and to support activities such as doing bell maintenance work in a small village church as well as just for going to nice places because I feel like it.

I would be careful what you buy, because there are a lot of cobbled together conversions with dubious safety credentials, and some shocking 'diy' projects, so do some research and look around carefully before you make any decisions.

Good luck!

iolanthe07

and some shocking 'diy' projects,

You may find some diy conversions difficult to insure without a full engineer's report.

Jamie_Carter

Something the size of a Caddy could be very cramped, especially when stuck inside it due to the typical British weather. Have you considered something the size of a Transporter? They drive like a car, but give you far more space.


There are many conversion companies about like this one, who will do the conversion for you, or supply you with the parts needed: http://www.planetvdub.co.uk

burlington6

Forget the VW's. They're just too overpriced.

SailorSam

Link for Tamzing suggestion
http://smallmotorhome.co.uk/forum/