The Campervan Thread

[Adam4868]

The Berlingo was a great choice for us...its my partners everyday car and then clip the rear seats out and it becomes a van for lumping art stuff about,bikes in the back without dismantling or camper with the removable boot jump stuck in it.
Not bad to drive and economical enough to be a decent enough run around.Was a bit apprehensive at first but love it for a couple of days away now.

 

[derrick]

Peugeot Partner for us, converted myself, with boot jump aswel, can still be used as a van by taking boot jump out, wich has come in handy lately. fold down rear seats, it's a crew cab so a bit longer than the standard van, 50+ mpg.

 

[Amanda P]

My Suntrekker demountable, somewhere in the Pyrenees a couple of years ago.
It's now on its fourth truck - the first was a Ford P100, back in the late 1990s, then two 2WD Hiluxes, now a 4WD Hilux.
It takes me on weekend trips, longer holidays and all over Europe for work; I often work on farmland, where it provides accommodation, goes anywhere I need it to, and can act as a mobile production office.
It won't go in multi-storey car parks or under most height barriers, but it's small enough (the footprint of a big car) to drive into towns and cities and park when I need to, and it's just big enough to live in for a few weeks at a time (even in poor weather and in winter) and carry a fair amount of kit.
I've had it since 1995 and I'm not planning on getting rid of it any time soon!

 

[fossyant]

Having been to the Camper show at the NEC, MrsF has now seen what coach built are like. I'm a little bothered by size, and some planning needed when parking by the coast due to height. Still prefer my Pug Traveller idea with a fold out bed system in the boot.

Added benefit is that the ones we liked were compact with a spacious interior. The Chausson Flash 610 (used) looks like a good van, with a large accessible garage that will take full bikes, paddle board and stuff.

Tell me a van is a better idea. PS We don't need an additional daily. We do have parking and can add an additional stone area on the side garden to get a small car off the road.

The Van I'm looking at is 5.5m, a motor home 6.5ish

 

[derrick]

Having been to the Camper show at the NEC, MrsF has now seen what coach built are like. I'm a little bothered by size, and some planning needed when parking by the coast due to height. Still prefer my Pug Traveller idea with a fold out bed system in the boot.

Added benefit is that the ones we liked were compact with a spacious interior. The Chausson Flash 610 (used) looks like a good van, with a large accessible garage that will take full bikes, paddle board and stuff.

Tell me a van is a better idea. PS We don't need an additional daily. We do have parking and can add an additional stone area on the side garden to get a small car off the road.

The Van I'm looking at is 5.5m, a motor home 6.5ish

WE have a peugeot van, would like something bigger, but not a motorhome, Mercedes vito with a bed in the pop top will do, Lack of parking for anything bigger, plus increased running cost, we get 50+mpg out of the peugeot, am guessing a vito would be around 40 mpg. don't know the consumtions on the bigger motorhomes.

 

[Drago]

It get 44 mpg across a tank from my pop top equipped VW T6.1.

Many get less, but I drive fairly sympathetically and to the speed limit and don't seem to be holding anyone up as I go.

@fossyant if you don't need it as a daily there are LWB versions of the VW T6 and Trannysit at about 5.4 metres. I agonised over this because a extra 40cm inside is worth having, but while mine isn't a 'daily' it still gets used once or twice a week for normal motoring chores and the ability to park in any regular space was high on the list so I grudgingly went the SWB route. If you don't need the daily use out of it the extra inches are very satisfying.

 

[fossyant]

Looking at a Pug Traveller (and equiv) in a long - 5.5m. It's also significantly cheaper than a motorhome. Won't be a full time camper, but the intention is a fold out (home made) bed system which sits above the folded (or removed) seats. You can also get mini clip in pods for a tiny kitchen. MrsF is sold on a motorhome due to space inside, especially if the weather is bad. I've done 28 nights under canvas this year, but we've been really lucky with the weather.

 

[Drago]

We had a modest Eldiss motorhome but it just wasn't getting used.

We're finding with the camper it's an excellent base for days out,whereas the motorhome was a bit cumbersome for that sort of thing. Last weekend we went to Dunstable Downs with Bruce and had a good walk. As the weather closed in we retreated to the camper for a very comfortable lunch, as and the weather eased we struck out a few miles in the other direction. When we returned we relaxed with a coffee before hitting the road. While the motorhome is more spacious for full on camping the camper is more versatile and essentially as inexpensive to run as a car and it's getting a lot moremuse as a result.

 

[Drago]

While we're on the subject, mine is going in on Saturday to be fitted with a Fiamma awning and some more engine power.

 

[Time Waster]

Well we are selling up. TIme to go back to car from our professionally converted poptop roofed, nearly complete campervan. Kind of a day van cross camper that you have to use a camping stove with. Not sure where or how to sell it but it is going. It is a van that started the conversion just before the Covid pandemic hit and was finished after it by a good local converter. We got what we could afford done and decided that we didn't actually need or want anything else added. The intention was to put in a kitchen and full set of electrics until use made us realise it was not us.

So it does not fit into day van territory or full campervan territory. I think I see day vans at £16k and full campers in the £20-30k+ range for a Vivaro van from about 2016 ish age. Does that mean I should offer at £16k or higher? I once saw on Quirky Campers sales page a partially converted vivaro from 2014 base van for £17,999!!! It was not even fully lined out, no LED, battery, bed or anything. It is not on QC site now. I really do not understand used camper pricing.

 

[fossyant]

While we're on the subject, mine is going in on Saturday to be fitted with a Fiamma awning and some more engine power.

Bit weedy quite a few of the T6's. 102 bhp

 

[Drago]

Mines a 110 and it's quite a bit gruntier than the 102, but could still do with a little more flexibility in 3rd and 4th. The stage 1 Revo map gives 150 ponies and more torques and is approved by the company that did the conversion on mine, so it's them doing it. Word is it gives a welcome economy improvement too if driven sensibly.

 

[middle of the road]

We see quite a few very old Campervans on French roads in the summer. Mostly Renault, Talbot or Citroen based models.

A friend has one dating from the 80's, she hardly uses it as it has a top speed of about 45mph and without power steering it's very hard for her to steer. She's reluctant to part with it as her and her late husband had many happy holidays in it. She is faced with spending far more than it's worth getting through the french equivalent of an MOT so I suspect it will get scrapped.
Does anyone on here run a really old Campervan?

 

[Richard A Thackeray]

Saturday 26th

Saw this as l went through one of the car-parks at work
I used to have a Rascal
Horrible things on a wet roundabout & scary as hell on m/ways
When l had mine, coaches could still legally do 70MPH on m/ways
The slip-stream almost took it off the road!

 

[ebikeerwidnes]

I currently have a 3 year old who would wake up the whole campsite when she is told she can't watch Peppa Pig at 5am. But this is a long term plan for me so I will watch this thread and look forward to a couple of years time when I plan to do a conversion.

That is what tablets and 4G coverage are for!