Mungler Posted June 18, 2018 Report Share Posted June 18, 2018 It must be my age but I keep find myself browsing camper vans / motor homes. So then, can you get anything half tidy and reliable for sub £10k? The prices seem crazy - get a very uninteresting Fiat / Peugeot / Ford diesel, throw in a sort of bunk bed, a sink from a dolls house and a cassette toilet for a dwarf and hey presto it’s worth more than four time more than the base van equivalent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnphilip Posted June 18, 2018 Report Share Posted June 18, 2018 They are making silly money now . I had my first one about 25 years ago . Now a 20 year old one will be worth more than when it was new. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
islandgun Posted June 18, 2018 Report Share Posted June 18, 2018 (edited) Most of the camper vans on Harris at the moment dont seem able to get out of third gear, or have rear view mirrors Edited June 18, 2018 by islandgun Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
team tractor Posted June 18, 2018 Report Share Posted June 18, 2018 I’m only 36 and want a caravan . camper van is a no no for me. Insurance, mot, tax and it’s expensive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guzzicat Posted June 18, 2018 Report Share Posted June 18, 2018 Still need these for a tow vehicle for your caravan ( unless you are a traveller) 27 minutes ago, Mungler said: It must be my age but I keep find myself browsing camper vans / motor homes. So then, can you get anything half tidy and reliable for sub £10k? The prices seem crazy - get a very uninteresting Fiat / Peugeot / Ford diesel, throw in a sort of bunk bed, a sink from a dolls house and a cassette toilet for a dwarf and hey presto it’s worth more than four time more than the base van equivalent. Must admit to a sneaky fancy for an A type Hymer, so ugly they are gorgeous. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
team tractor Posted June 18, 2018 Report Share Posted June 18, 2018 2 minutes ago, guzzicat said: Still need these for a tow vehicle for your caravan ( unless you are a traveller) Must admit to a sneaky fancy for an A type Hymer, so ugly they are gorgeous. It’s already paid for if your using your every day car Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
islandgun Posted June 18, 2018 Report Share Posted June 18, 2018 6 minutes ago, team tractor said: I’m only 36 and want a caravan . camper van is a no no for me. Insurance, mot, tax and it’s expensive. agreed, at least you park up a caravan and use your vehicle to go down the shop, camper vans seem to be driven like dinner is on the table, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vince Green Posted June 18, 2018 Report Share Posted June 18, 2018 Camper vans are a PIA wont park in an ordinary parking bay, can't go in most car parks and cost a fortune, depreciate like mad and cant be serviced by most ordinary garages.. Then when you get to where you are going you are stuck in the campsite in it with no transport to get around. Trying to use them for everyday transport is impractical. buy a caravan and something to tow it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gordon R Posted June 18, 2018 Report Share Posted June 18, 2018 Mungler - don't do it. Get a caravan if you must. Camper vans at that price will be rust buckets. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ferguson_tom Posted June 18, 2018 Report Share Posted June 18, 2018 If you spend a bit more around 17-20k you can get something in good nick around 10 years old. There are plenty that have hardly been used and the easiest way to tell online is by the mileage. Have a few years with it and sell it on again for pretty much what you paid for it. If it's big enough to be comfortable it will be too big for use as transport when on holiday. My grandparents have had them for years but mainly use public transport when away. Personally I find the van conversion things far too small. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lloyd90 Posted June 18, 2018 Report Share Posted June 18, 2018 My mates dad has a very nice one but cost around £40k! They tour all over Europe and cycle everywhere once they’ve parked up. If your any good at mechanics then buy a van and kit it out yourself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnphilip Posted June 18, 2018 Report Share Posted June 18, 2018 I built a camper van about 8 years ago. Got a Pts ambulance and a water damaged caravan , stripped out everything , spent two months building it . Had some great holidays Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
getthegat Posted June 19, 2018 Report Share Posted June 19, 2018 We service, repair and modify VW campers and they have gone through the roof. Anything under 15 - 20 K will want work (these are the 1970 - 1980s models) they are slow and thirsty. The 50s and 60s models make 20, 30, 40, 50 grand regularly and it's not difficult to get above those numbers. We had one in recently that the guy had done 130K on it, not with us unfortunately. So much as I love them and they can totally change your life, unless you win the lottery, stay clear of the VW market. Sorry but I have no knowledge of any other makes, but lack of use is often an issue, parts start seizing up and corrosion creeps in. Fiat's I would imagine are like any Fiat, thin tin and cheaply put together. American stuff may be better, but as mentioned before, size could create problems. If you shop around and take someone who knows what they are looking at, you may get an 80s or 90s VW type 25 for your budget, but this time of year is the wrong time to buy. If you're anywhere near Southend and find something, I may be able to take a look for you. Best of luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scully Posted June 19, 2018 Report Share Posted June 19, 2018 Neighbour has a Fiat Arapaho for sale at £21k. It’s an 04 plate and has 10k on the clock. Must admit I’m tempted but would have to sell 110 to fund it so doubt it’s gonna happen. Another mate has a Hymer he’ll be selling as soon as NZ open their doors again. He’s been all over Europe in it and had a whale of a time. He says the only downside is that unless you strap your motorbike to the back it’s a case of having to stash everything away each time you want to do a bit of sight seeing. Still tempted though. Think it’s an age thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vince Green Posted June 19, 2018 Report Share Posted June 19, 2018 8 hours ago, Lloyd90 said: If your any good at mechanics then buy a van and kit it out yourself. There are real problems with doing that these days apparently. Two reasons, if its not a commercial conversion its hard to get it insured, when you declare it as modified it goes into silly mode. Secondly re-registering a commercial vehicle as a motorhome is apparently near on impossible, DVLA are very uncooperative. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
figgy Posted June 19, 2018 Report Share Posted June 19, 2018 I have had cravans in the past and relatives a Motorhome i have dirven on occasion and the modern ones are quite nice to drive. Plus point for a motorhome is you can park up anywhere and no site fees. Others have stated some of the downsides. One of which is you can buy a car and caravan for less than the cost of a motohome. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
krugerandsmith Posted June 19, 2018 Report Share Posted June 19, 2018 47 minutes ago, Scully said: Neighbour has a Fiat Arapaho for sale at £21k. It’s an 04 plate and has 10k on the clock. Must admit I’m tempted but would have to sell 110 to fund it so doubt it’s gonna happen. Another mate has a Hymer he’ll be selling as soon as NZ open their doors again. He’s been all over Europe in it and had a whale of a time. He says the only downside is that unless you strap your motorbike to the back it’s a case of having to stash everything away each time you want to do a bit of sight seeing. Still tempted though. Think it’s an age thing. I remember back in the 80s seeing a Helicopter being towed behind a motor home in Florida. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ph5172 Posted June 19, 2018 Report Share Posted June 19, 2018 I must admit i have toyed with idea. We used to do 3 weeks Surfing in Newquay every year, when we first started a Static caravan could be hired for around £350 a week, when it hit £500 we decided on the camper or caravan route. I had a look around but as said unless you want to bob £20k up you dont really get a lot for your money and end up with the associated rust and mechanical problems, we opted for a £1500 caravan and its paid for itself in 2 trips (its about £500 for 3 weeks on a site) compared to hiring a static. If you get a site near where you ant to be a camper shouldn't be a problem but we have had people pop over asking to borrow tins, washing powder, milk and the like as packing up to make a quick trip to the shop isn't feasible (all the borrowd items were replaced i have to say) Depending on your use you would probably be better off hiring one for a week at at time from a company rather than buy and have it sat around whilst having to insure and tax it. The only exception i would make (and will do when its time for a new car) would be to buy a VW pre converted ex demo with the isofix seat bed, they can be had for about £30k ex demo with the pop roof and can double up as a capable family waggon whilst still (just) being able to get into car parks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mungler Posted June 19, 2018 Author Report Share Posted June 19, 2018 My cousin has just emigrated to Denver. I’ve asked him to have a look as the Yank version of RV Autotrader and see what’s about - they’ve been far deeper and for far longer into the RV thing and I wouldn’t mind buying one next year, having a mince about the States for a few weeks and then getting it shipped. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
walshie Posted June 19, 2018 Report Share Posted June 19, 2018 We've just driven from Surrey to Le Mans in convoy including a brand new Ducato motorhome. It did 18mpg, and could only muster 65mph at best - more like 50mph on the teeniest bit of uphill gradient. It was nice inside admittedly, but not worth that kind of aggro or expense. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thunderbird Posted June 19, 2018 Report Share Posted June 19, 2018 Here's the wisdom, if you can call it that, which I've gleaned from doing a bit of research on it myself. VW vans are seen as the 'coolest' and hold their value best due to endless people getting into the surfer lifestyle, whether as an actual surfer or a wannabe. 'Coach built' vans are always going to be roomier but the trade-off for more space is less movement/flexibility. If you don't want to learn how to repair it yourself by the roadside on a regular basis it seems to me that you're going well north of £20k. Given they do hold their value and the decent ones seem to get snapped up, a savvy purchase could cost little more in real terms than the running costs. One make I like the look of is these. View it like moving savings about? I reckon a lot depends on your actual mode of use. What I mean is, if you're only going to use it for 'proper' holidays, where you are going to do a fair bit of visiting other places, a caravan might be best, or even a large motorhome with bikes or even a small moped to go do the shopping/mugging. However, if it's frequent weekends away and short-notice trips where you aren't bothered about moving much once you've arrived where you're going, or a bit of wild camping, then with a bit of organisation you can keep the van more or less ready to go at not much notice pop off somewhere whenever you feel like it. If I do end up getting one I'll hire a few first and see how it goes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vince Green Posted June 19, 2018 Report Share Posted June 19, 2018 Its a lot of money sitting idle most of the year, that's my view. If you are retired and plan trips away for months at a time then I would say yes but I still think a Santa Fe and a £10k van gives you more choices. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stumfelter Posted June 19, 2018 Report Share Posted June 19, 2018 I recently sold my bay window camper to make way for a caravan as we decided we'd sooner have a base camp and drive to places in the car rather than having to upsticks every time you want to go anywhere. Had ten years of holidays and been to the four corners of the UK but as you get older you like a bit of comfort! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpringDon Posted June 20, 2018 Report Share Posted June 20, 2018 Get a tent. Big poofs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rimfire4969 Posted June 20, 2018 Report Share Posted June 20, 2018 Rent a camper for a week and see how you get on before throwing a pile of money at one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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