PhilR Posted June 20, 2018 Report Share Posted June 20, 2018 Mungler, I've had several caravans and currently a coachbuilt motorhome which I'm in the throes of selling (taken deposit). I'm in France at the moment but will be home tomorrow 21/06. If you message me your number I'll give you a bell. Phil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ips Posted June 20, 2018 Report Share Posted June 20, 2018 I have had MH and caravans, MH are pretty useless in UK. You cannot legaly wild camp, when you run out of anything on a site you have to pack it all away to go out, there is ****** all room in any MH less than 7m and even then the space is nowhere near as much or as comfortable as a caravan. Caravan is by far the best choice. Or of course you could get a nice MPV or even a van and kit that out as a sort of day van and get yourself a nice tent,. There are some great tents and associated equipment these days, even electric hook up ? oh and all types of MH are ludicrously over priced. PS Don't even get me started on MH towing a small car, what the hell is the poibt in that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lakeside1000 Posted June 20, 2018 Report Share Posted June 20, 2018 (edited) I started with my first camper in Spain 1997,I swapped a Ford Orion left hand drive for it, a 1992 VW combi diesel with just a bed and sink, we had such fantastic trips all over Spain and France fishing lakes and rivers, We were hooked, excuse the pun, so we bought a 3 year old 1998 pilot 7 berth for 22,000 euros in France, thinking the family would like to join us for trips, no chance, so after just 18 months we traded it in for a brand new 2003 Adria Duet 2 berth based on a Fiat Ducato van, it was 23,000 euros brand new straight off the lorry from the factory, it was the best thing I ever bought, It has now done 280,000 kilometres all driven by me, still on the original Engine, gearbox, clutch and exhaust, The interior is now getting a little tired, some small areas of rust blisters along the sills, but it starts first time , drives like a dream and has been all over Europe on extended fishing trips, I cannot imagine life without it. We can decide today to take a trip, by tonight its packed and in less than a few hours we are on the tunnel train into Europe, no booking, no hotels total freedom.It has also been our main vehicle since purchase, used for every conceivable job carrying building supplies, house move contents, car boot loads, and family outings ( legal to carry up to 6 for great days out ), Its been off road as my shooting vehicle up until I dropped it into a muddy ditch last year, when my wife agreed to buy me a 4x4 to avoid any further embarrassment, Insurance and road tax are bearable, fuel economy is amazing , it has the 2.8 JTD engine with a performance chip which I installed over 10 years ago, I get around 30 mpg on a run and it still climbs long motorway hills in 5th gear. I can recommend camper vans to anyone who likes the freedom to just go, just don't buy a huge american one unless you are prepared for high fuel bills and almost every overnight stop to be on some camp site , we usually do 3 nights wild camping then one in a site to refill water and empty the loo, I would love to trade up to a much newer one but now retired I don't have the money, especially as they are now around 45,000 pounds here in the UK, much better deals available in Belgium or France but mainly left hand drive only, as I used mine initially in Europe the left hand drive was ideal, I am so used to it now I don't even notice the difference when I drive around the UK . Wild camping in Europe is perfectly legal and as long as you are careful about the area you should be ok, here in the uk we have never been moved on or bothered, we often park along the coast , port areas are great and we always enjoy a bit of fishing in the evenings off the rocks, wild camping throughout the uk is not illegal but you have to respect peoples private land and do not cause an obstruction , as our camper is a van conversion we can also use almost any car park where there is no height restriction, the only real difference between the rest of Europe and the UK is the motorway rest areas, in Europe you can stay as long as you like and use all the facilities for free, here in the UK they will charge you for overnight stays, but if you need to stop for some rest whats a few quid and you get to use all the facilities as well. Edited June 20, 2018 by lakeside1000 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobt Posted June 20, 2018 Report Share Posted June 20, 2018 (edited) we had caravans for years, I hate campsites with feral kids etc, bought an ex mil landrover ambulance and a damaged caravan, stripped the caravan and sold the shell for £100 less than I paid, £150 insurance plus roadtax. we have been away 7 of the last 8 weekends, we did the west coast of ireland a couple of years back, and scottish 500 last year,a group of us are going to the arctic circle this year, its great for a weekends shooting far from home, as you can sleep "on the spot" Oh and the value has doubled over the last 3 years due to defenders ending. Edited June 20, 2018 by bobt photo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobt Posted June 20, 2018 Report Share Posted June 20, 2018 and yes we camped on the beach, top end of scotland for free. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ricko Posted June 20, 2018 Report Share Posted June 20, 2018 I've converted a number of vehicles into motorhomes/campers over the years. I built a stealth camper a couple of years ago and love heading further up north in it with nothing but a stack of paperbacks and some packets of pasta! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blackpowder Posted June 21, 2018 Report Share Posted June 21, 2018 This morning aw the ideal solution in an American style Camper on the back of a pickup truck. It looked as if you could jack up the Camper part and drive away in the pickup. Blackpowder Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mel b3 Posted June 22, 2018 Report Share Posted June 22, 2018 13 hours ago, Blackpowder said: This morning aw the ideal solution in an American style Camper on the back of a pickup truck. It looked as if you could jack up the Camper part and drive away in the pickup. Blackpowder Funny you should say that ., on Thursday morning I saw an old Ford Sierra with one of those conversions on the back. It looked like a snail with a huge shell on its back . It looked totally unsafe and monstrously ugly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TIGHTCHOKE Posted June 22, 2018 Report Share Posted June 22, 2018 That they should become so desirable and command a premium makes no sense! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blackpowder Posted June 22, 2018 Report Share Posted June 22, 2018 Mel this one looked no worse than some camper vans with a caravan body stuck on. Blackpowder Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Badgerpig Posted June 23, 2018 Report Share Posted June 23, 2018 (edited) We converted a VWT4 few years back paid 4500 for the van (clean 1998 with only 48k miles we were lucky to find there's a lot of pigs) spent just short of 5k on a conversion by a company in Preston, got a kayam awning, missus used it every day, weekends away and summer holidays for 8 years, sold it a year ago for 8 and half grand, many happy times, only sold it because the family got too big, if I bought another I'd definitely do the same conversion again you just need a clean van with low mileage for the base thats not been hammered. Edited June 23, 2018 by Badgerpig Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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