Buying a campervan \ mobile home for the holidays?

EvilMonkey

My wife, 8 year old daughter and I are planning to spend the entire summer holidays next year traveling round france. We've several relatives around the place, but are also planning to spend a fair time camping.

Although we're no strangers to tents, a friend has suggested we should also consider buying a campervan for the trip, using it then selling it upon our return.

Has anyone here ever done this? Any idea of "hidden" costs? Any positives or negatives for this?

I'd guess if it was a big thing that a lot of people did then campervan prices would rise in may and fall in september \ october? Is this the case?

Any tips would be good!

Thanks

E.M.

alanrowell

You'd have to buy & sell privately otherwise you'll pay more and get less.

Prices for vans will rise as you approach the summer and drop afterwards - so even if you didn't go anywhere you'd still lose money

You'd have to be careful buying as you won't have time to fix things if they need replacing

Check ferry costs as prices will be higher for vans

France is LHD

EvilMonkey

Good tip on the ferry cost...

As mentioned I've a couple of relatives over there (some of them native rather than relocated if you get my meaning...) Do you think it might be worth exploring the option of THEM buying the van in france for us? (possibly get a eurostar over there to pick it up?)

I'm not sure we could pursuade them but it might be worth it???

E.M.

BungleGirl

When you say campervan do you mean 70's style VW?

If so:-

They are not as cheap as they used to be have a look at the forums on www.volkszone.co.uk to get an idea of what they are going for.

You won't lose money on it as long as you don't pay over the odds when you buy it.

I wouldn't recommend it if you don't have basic mechanical knowledge of aircooled flat4 engines.

I would recommend it if you do because they are great fun!

Classic car insurance is cheap and european breakdown cover is about £40 if you take it out at the same time as the insurance - it is very difficult to get european breakdown cover for vehicles over 10 years old if you don't do it with the insurance.

They fall within the 'large vehicle' size limits on SpeedFerries so the crossing should be cheap if you do Dover- Boulogne.

Whaterver kind of camper you are thinking of:-

Not sure about this (someone correct me if this is wrong) I think you need a green card from your insurance company to drive abroad and i have a feeling there in a maximum duration for this of a month or 30 daysor something.

Breakdown cover may have a maximum duration for overseas cover.

If you bought one in France you would need to work out how to insure it in your name over there and arrange breakdown cover for it.

Consider getting something with an elctric hook-up so that you can keep a coolbox running whilst you are away.

I hope that all doesn't sound too negative! I have a 30 year old VW campervan and have taken it over to france an just returned from three weeks touring Scotland in it. We had a fantastic time!

The campervan 'Bungle' is part of the family and I feel you should be aware that if you do get an old VW you may find it very difficult to part with when you get back.

Why not buy one and keep it - they make holidays so cheap and are great for last minute weekends away the rest of the year.

I hope that this has in some way helped!

EvilMonkey

Thanks BG, We've some friends who've just bought and restored one, so we may ask them for tips \ their experiences. I'd not had a VW in mind specifically, more the v boring modern boxes on wheels style (less pleasing to the eye, but I'd imagine slightly more comfy inside?)

andygodwin

so this is what we've done

as a true money saver, my one vehicle has to double up as family car, holiday home, taking old kitchen down to the dump, bringing various goodies back from the dump.. etc etc.

i find the purpose build campervan too restrictive for my means, i drive a toyota hiace super custom, its a 7 seat people carrier, i've taken the middle 3 seats out which allows lots of space for a removable bed we use for camping. plus there is amble space for ikea kitchen, work sufaces and 7ft windsurfer. bikes can also be stowed inside the van..

as an aside i'd like to point out some research that taking your bikes on a roofrack or rear mounted rack on a long driving holiday burns up so much extra fuel becasue of additional wind resistance that you might as weel have left them at home and bought some new bikes at your destination.

also i would agree with the above that if you buy an old VW you must remember that this is a vintage car, you must be good at mechanics, they dont have power steering... ect and a 3 hour motorway drive is a real workout for your neck and shoulders. my toyota is a diesel, aircon, fully loaded van that does 35 MPG.

you can cut down on having a hookup by buying an electric coolbox and spare battery on ebay or at the MSE's favourite LIDL.

if you want to go down the purpose build van route checkout
http://www.wellhouseleisure.com/
that imports and converts toyotas.

carry on
andy

ManAtHome

I've really just started researching all this - planning to 'go walkabout' sometime in the next couple of years so can only really help with the research bit. Heaps of info on this site http://www.motorcaravanning.co.uk/ Good stuff already from the regular campers - there's always a difference between theory and practice!

General opinion seems to be that Germany and Holland are the cheapest places to buy vans - get an idea of prices here http://www.mobile.de/cgi-bin/searchPublic.pl?new=1&bereich=womo&category=1400&sprache=2

EvilMonkey

Thanks guys, there's some food for thought here...

I still LOVE the idea of "have home will travel" just need to get my head down and do the research now!

E.M.

Nobjocki

I don't know how close to London you live but there are lots of giveaway newspapers aimed at the Australian and New Zealanders living in London and they tend to have lots of adverts for second hand camper vans.
I've a feeling there's also a certain time in the month when a lot of people trying to sell their vans park up on London's South Bank where you can have a look over them.
Both of these ideas originate from the fact that many Aussies spending a year or two over here do exactly the same thing as you're planning to do so there's a fairly vibrant second-hand market amongst them.
And hopefully of course when we stuff 'em in the final game of the Ashes a lot of them will get fed up and head off home !

hmarriott

We have just returned from an long trip with our Bongo Mazda campervan. See here

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=4573071258&rd=1&sspagename=STRK%3AMESE%3AIT&rd=1



great seven seater plus sleeps 4. reliable and huge versatile space. downside 28-30 miles to gallon and too high for some car parks. we have now got a permanent house in france so are selling this, but i would genuine recommend something similar. also see bongofury website. https://www.bongofury.co.uk

hope this helps

h

EvilMonkey

NJ, This is a brilliant idea, I did something similar in Sydney many years ago, so I guess its only fair there's something setup like that here. I'll definitely look into it. HM, Nt sure about a bongo looks more like a people carrier, the bongofury website makes them look a bit like a modern VW camper, so worth adding to the list to research...