Converting a van into a motorhome? Is it viable/worthwhile?

AdrianC

Aubrey_Thicket wrote: »

Some great information here, thanks guys.
So, maybe I am getting confused with terminology here...
What we would love is one of these...
http://www.justgo.uk.com/images/motorhomes/Discovery/discovery.jpg
but we simply cannot afford one. So, we sort of wanted to get the best of that and end up with one of these
https://www.autohausvw.co.uk/wp-content/gallery/autohaus-kingston-citroen-relay-campervan/autohaus-kingston-citroen-relay-campervan-02.jpg

I'd call both of them motorhomes. One's a coachbuilt, the other's a van conversion. They both have full kitchen areas, both have bathroom space.

Now, I believe if one was to select a long & high top van you can cram in enough sleeping room for 4 adults along with a Toilet, Shower, Fridge, stove etc.

Yep. There may be a bit more compromise on space in a van conversion, but you'll tick all the same basic boxes.

With regards to camping again, my terminology may have been misleading. The idea I have in mind is us booking a Campsite in a beautiful part of the UK (Say Cornwall for example) and us driving there on Friday morning. Spend one night there and move to another (pre-booked) campsite the day after and so on.

So do you really want to be showering in a plastic telephone box, having to tuck your bogroll out of the way of the water which you've had to pour into the van and have to pour out? Or will you just wander into the campsite shower block...?

Likewise when you need a poo. Do you want to use that same telephone box, then take it for a walk and pour it into a drain - or do you want to walk a hundred yards and use the campsite loo block?

Does that give any clearer indication of what we're after?

Yup!

Herzlos

Aubrey_Thicket wrote: »

The idea I have in mind is us booking a Campsite in a beautiful part of the UK (Say Cornwall for example) and us driving there on Friday morning. Spend one night there and move to another (pre-booked) campsite the day after and so on.

If you're always going to be on campsites, then you don't need to worry about the shower and toilet (except for something for the middle of the night), as all campsites will have a shower/toilet block that provide much better facilities.

Aubrey_Thicket

I totally understand where you're coming from with the Toilet etc but even taking into account the issue of the shower being tiny and the toilet too I would prefer to have a Toilet if not for anything else than the wife or kids not having to trundle to the camp site toilets at 2 am. On the subject of Toilet activities...I personally wouldn't mind emptying a cassette at every site if it meant that the kids or wife didn't have to leave the Caravan in the night. With regard to the shower, I'm thinking that even a Tiny shower (Phonebox, lol) would suffice when it was needed.

Aubrey_Thicket

That site of deepredmotorhome was brilliant and very informative.


I think I have come to a conclusion, that being that I should really get myself to at least 1 or 2 motorhome shows...would you agree?

walwyn1978

Aubrey_Thicket wrote: »

That site of deepredmotorhome was brilliant and very informative.


I think I have come to a conclusion, that being that I should really get myself to at least 1 or 2 motorhome shows...would you agree?

Yes, good idea, although obviously the shiny new stuff you see won't be what you end up with on your budget. Where it will help is looking at internal layouts, size of chassis etc etc.

Herzlos

Very much worth visiting. There's usually a few conversion companies there as well so might give you a pretty good idea of what you can do.

Though £12k will get you quite a lot of new caravan.

BeenThroughItAll

Aubrey_Thicket wrote: »

Some great information here, thanks guys.
So, maybe I am getting confused with terminology here...
What we would love is one of these...
http://www.justgo.uk.com/images/motorhomes/Discovery/discovery.jpg
but we simply cannot afford one. So, we sort of wanted to get the best of that and end up with one of these
https://www.autohausvw.co.uk/wp-content/gallery/autohaus-kingston-citroen-relay-campervan/autohaus-kingston-citroen-relay-campervan-02.jpg


Now, I believe if one was to select a long & high top van you can cram in enough sleeping room for 4 adults along with a Toilet, Shower, Fridge, stove etc.


With regards to camping again, my terminology may have been misleading. The idea I have in mind is us booking a Campsite in a beautiful part of the UK (Say Cornwall for example) and us driving there on Friday morning. Spend one night there and move to another (pre-booked) campsite the day after and so on.


Does that give any clearer indication of what we're after?

If your budget is 12-15K, say, you absolutely can get a well-looked after, perfectly reliable full-sized, comfortable, fully equipped coachbuilt motorhome.


Last September, I bought a 13yo A-Class Niesmann and Bischoff Arto for only 17K.


As with most of the discussions on this board, the limiting factor may be your appetite for buying something 'old'.


Old doesn't mean knackered, particularly with a coachbuilt. They're mostly bought by responsible, older people with plenty of disposable income, so they are typically very well mechanically serviced, more often than not at the dealership the vehicle was purchased from, as well as being lightly used - many owners typically will do only a couple of thousand miles a year.


My experience (gained from 20+ years of family and friends motorhome/camper/caravan experience as well as personal ownership) is that you will get an older, lower mileage, but better condition coachbuilt for your 12-15K than you will get from a van conversion. That's because van conversions are often owned by people who firstly use them as everyday or more regular transport, so do more miles, and often by people who are less financially secure so will tend to spend a bit less on servicing and maintenance.


As always, buy on condition, nothing more - but my advice would be to ignore the number plate on the front and concentrate on getting the vehicle you want. Visit dealerships, shows and the like to get a feel for what's out there; but remember these things are built on commercial vehicles designed to cover high mileage and stand up to abuse - exactly the opposite of what happens when they're bought by Dennis and Doris to travel to Rhyl for a fortnight every August.

fred246

If you have an Insignia it should make a reasonable towcar. I assume you will keep that anyway.
So if you bought a caravan it would cost you the price of the caravan. I service my own and don't insure it so annual costs are virtually nil. If I paid for a service it would be about £100. I used to pay £75 a year insurance but I don't bother anymore.
When we go away we go straight to pre-booked site and set up the caravan. Just takes a few minutes connecting services etc. You then have your car free to live a normal life. You have beds, cooker, fridge, toilet, hot & cold water the same as a motorhome.
If you buy a motorhome you pay a small fortune for it and depreciation is going to be much higher than a caravan. Annual costs include insurance (our friends pay over a £1000 as they have poor driving records). Then they pay MOT, road tax, vehicle service and habitation service. They quote £3K a year running costs. If you want to leave the site with a motorhome you then have to put everything away. You have to mark your pitch to stop someone else taking it. A motorhome is longer than a normal parking space and wider than a normal parking space so realistically on a normal car park you need 4 empty spaces together to park.
Our friends paid over 8 times our original purchase price, they pay at least 30 times more annual running costs. We go on the same holidays. There is no difference in accommodation when we get there but we have a car to jump into and go anywhere, anytime and they don't.
I am just interested Aubrey why you seem obsessed with a motorhome rather than a caravan.

Richard53

I'd recommend having a look at a book by John Wickersham:


https://www.amazon.co.uk/Build-Your-Own-Motorcaravan-2nd/dp/0857332813/ref=sr_1_5?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1469153833&sr=1-5&keywords=john+wickersham


which goes into some detail about the approach to converting a van, and has useful stuff about how and where to get things done that you can't do for yourself. It will show you how much DIY skill you need, and it's quite a lot.


I have plans to convert a van when I retire. It will be bog-basic, with somewhere comfy to sleep, a sink to wash in, a porta-potti, a gas burner and a fridge. Finding a decent, non-abused van will be the main challenge. I like our oldish caravan and we've had some great holidays in it, but I think I would like a van conversion even more, if I could ever persuade my wife to sell the caravan. Which will never happen.

Aubrey_Thicket

Fred248

You just killed my dream, but taking into account the figures you quoted I'm really glad. This is just one of those things in life when you just need somebody to tell you how it is.
Thanks to everybody who commented on this. I think this will now be put in the box titled 'Ideas & dreams that I never actually thought about properly' at the back of my brain. However, in true moneysaving style... I just saved myself a packet.
Thank you all once again.