Buying a camper / live-in van

[cyberfairy]

Just to mention that my traveller mates bought a spotless looking old bt van, kept it dead clean looking on the outside (it was nirvana on the inside!_ as it meant no hassle from police etc. A bt van in a bypass looks innocent, a bt van anywhere looks normal-so far, no hassle

 

[JWH]

Does anyone know where you get the railway vans from with the little table already installed in the back?

 

[tidytom]

BR Vans

Does anyone know where you get the railway vans from with the little table already installed in the back?

I don't think the railway companies have these anymore - do you mean the Leyland 400 vans (sort of transit sized) or the big 7.5 tonne mobile canteen things? The latter are good for conversions as they already have a cooker, sink etc in them and are part-insulated.

 

[tidytom]

Guide

Did someone say further back in this thread there's a guide to buying live-in vans knocking about? Where can I find it? Cheers,

 

[timebomb]

I've heard the Iveco Daily vans have quite good reliability. Certainly they are popular with intercity courier fleet companies like Parcelforce.

Since I have just bought an ex-Parcelforce Iveco Daily van myself, and since there are no forums dedicated to them that I can find, I have started one myself. Please help get it off the ground! It is at www.ivecodailyforum.co.uk

Good luck to all of you who are buying/building campervans, motorhomes, etc. Hopefully I'll see some of you on the circuit when I get mine converted too! (Might be a while )

I love driving them, they are the finest panel van on the market from that point of view.

However they do break.....one van I used to drive had a fuel tank leak, gearbox failure and a complete engine failure after dumping all it's oil one day. It was less than 18 months old and had had 6 weekly safety inspections from new. I think the new engine cost £5,000!

 

[han]

The fact that there are no forums dedicated to it is a good sign IMO - it means that people have had no reason to set one up, nothing's going wrong etc.

There are TONS of air-cooled vw forums out there! I wonder why?

Timebomb - bad luck matie! Everything ok now?

 

[ddraig]

Does anyone know where you get the railway vans from with the little table already installed in the back?

surrey somewhere, possibly weybridge, good luck

 

[timebomb]

Timebomb - bad luck matie! Everything ok now?

It's ok it wasn't a camper and it wasn't mine either, it was a delivery van I used to drive for a job.

 

[Waterpistol]

The fact that there are no forums dedicated to it is a good sign IMO - it means that people have had no reason to set one up, nothing's going wrong etc.

There are TONS of air-cooled vw forums out there! I wonder why?

Timebomb - bad luck matie! Everything ok now?

Maybe because people love the character and style ...

This is mine and it's been the most reliable thing ever ...

Clicky

 

[moose]

Bloody hippies with their bloody vans!













(here's mine)
Never let us down in 8 years

 

[fat hamster]

Did you get a van in the end?

Not yet. I got a ginormous Volvo estate instead, which is technically big enough to sleep in though I haven't actually done so yet.

I'll get a van one day though - maybe like Rowan, I'll get around to it when my kids have grown and flown.

 

[Waterpistol]

Bloody hippies with their bloody vans!













(here's mine)
Never let us down in 8 years

That is very shiny

 

[rowan]

I'll get a van one day though - maybe like Rowan, I'll get around to it when my kids have grown and flown.

Both my boys were still at home when I got my first one, but they were old enough to be left at home while I escaped for a few days. It's a great way of getting time to yourself

And the boys loved it cos it meant they could have lots of parties

 

[Ground Elder]

We finally admitted defeat with our 1979 Transit motorhome last June By the end the body work consisted almost entirely of tin foil held together with gaffa tape. We've given it a dignified retirement as a teenager's bedroom on a Traveller site.

It was sorely missed over the summer. Once you've experienced the luxury of a van there's no going back to tents. At festivals we used our Iveco Daily play bus, (7 months old - no problems yet ), but it wasn't the same. I like to be able to shut the door on a festival, put the kettle on and hide for a bit.

We haven't the cash for a new van, so it may have to be a trailer for next spring. Then again the rear axle on the LDV 200 we'd pull it with is about to go

 

[Velouria]

Maybe because people love the character and style ...

This is mine and it's been the most reliable thing ever ...

Clicky

Nice

Ooo I like that gallery thingy ... can we have that here?

oooh go on please pretty please... ?

 

[brigitkalitara]

another iveco owner

well reading this thread did give me a wry smile and laugh ,
having owned a couple of vans previously , (VW LT31 and DODGE50 crew cab/luton)
i now own an ex parcelforce IVECO 35-10 turbodaily ,
bought it from manheim motor auctions in colchester 18 months ago ,
and personally i love it , so far it's been a good runner , no problems at all ,
converted the interior with lots of pine cladding tongue and groove ,
wood burner ,futons .... really cosy .....

i would recomend buying from an auction if you fancy trying your
luck , i got a great deal on the iveco ,the engine had only done 17k miles ,
straight from the Post office , the body work had been scraped a little ,
and the side door needed a little fixing but eveything else works sweet ,
power steering makes it fairly easy to drive ,
and the engine is turbo diesal so if you go easy on the gas pedal
and don't floor it ,you get pretty reasonable MPG , maybe around 25 ???

oh jeez i must sound like a right anorak , as you can tell i like this van ..... ........ Brigit X

 

[Rosco]

Once you've experienced the luxury of a van there's no going back to tents. At festivals we used our Iveco Daily play bus, (7 months old - no problems yet ), but it wasn't the same. I like to be able to shut the door on a festival, put the kettle on and hide for a bit.

You are so right, I know exactly what you mean . Somewhere to rest those weary drunken legs after they've dragged your drunken body through the mud for 18 hours! A nice hot cup of tea (in a mug!), rest your head down on the clean, comfy, dry pillow and drift off to sleep to the distant rumblings and occasional hysterical scream of another glorious festival.

I love festivals and my transit

 

[han]

Maybe because people love the character and style ...

This is mine and it's been the most reliable thing ever ...

Clicky

I'm not against VW aircooled - I think they're gorgeous!!!

I'm just bitter cos I got one that was f*cked right from the start

Yep vans are ace Couldn't go back to camping at festies again, it's lovely to have a proper bed and a place to have a cuppa and cook.

Am investigating getting a veg oil conversion (to run pure vegetable oil, not biodiesel) - the smell of hot chips is much nicer than fossil fuels!

 

[William of Walworth]

Just PMed the link to Stig. Just seen it for the first time ...

No time to read all this properly and in detail right now, but expect lots of contributions from us soon

GE -- thanks for the tip that the thread is an old one bumped!!

And for all the other info, GE, grassy, moose , and all!

 

[han]

If you're buying in a camper/live in vehicle, I'd say just one thing:

get a diesel. More reliable, less to go wrong, more lugging power, can be converted to run on biodiesel or veg oil.

Sounds like a tractor too. Which is nice.

Oooh, and power steering. Makes driving/parking a large vehicle easypeasy.

I definitely want me next vehicle to be a horsebox. With loads of nice wood all over it. With a wood burning stove...<dreams on>

Or one of them huge long old boxy Mercs (304d or something)?
\

 

[Stig]

Don't worry, I would definitely get a diesel. That's my main criteria!

but Shhhhhhh William, I haven't even passed my bloody driving test yet! Another one coming up soonish, fingers crossed etc.

I want something diesel I can run on crisp&dry, which is enormous but yet uncannily just under 3.5 tons, with windows already in it, and which you can stand up in, also where the driving seat is not sealed off unsociably from the rest. With a shiny engine which will run for years!

Apart from that any old thing will do.

 

[tobyjug]

I want something diesel I can run on crisp&dry, which is enormous but yet uncannily just under 3.5 tons,

That 3.5 tonne upper limit for campervans on new(ish) car licences is under review at the moment and may well be, (or may well have been by now) upped.

 

[Stig]

Brilliant! cheers, I didn't know about that. I'll do some research later when I get home.

We've been saving up, and will end up with up to 4,000 to spend, with some left over for paperwork and bits. So I'm not asking way too much with my strict criteria hopefully.

 

[han]

That 3.5 tonne upper limit for campervans on new(ish) car licences is under review at the moment and may well be, (or may well have been by now) upped.

Is there a weight limit for trucks/horseboxes/buses/large panel vans etc that have been turned into live-in vehicles as well?

 

[han]

Or is this limit for campervans so that you can still call it a 'campervan' for insurance purposes (thus paying a lower premium).

 

[Stig]

it's a limit on all vehicles, no-one with a newish licence can drive anything at all above 3.5 tons without taking a further test. it used to be 7.5 tons.

 

[moose]

...although Han's point is a valid one, because it's tricky insuring big Mercs which have been converted, for example. (you will remember Dave and Gill's, stig)
If they're down as commercial vehicles on the log book, it's a bugger to get proper campervan insurance, especially if you have a stove.

 

[AnnO'Neemus]

Can I ask a daft question?

What do you do about going to the loo? Do you just use a bucket? Or do you have a chemical portaloo like in caravans and on barges?

 

[moose]

Tree/shrub/layby. I've bared my arse on so many dark A-roads I don't know the meaning of shame any more

 

[tobyjug]

Is there a weight limit for trucks/horseboxes/buses/large panel vans etc that have been turned into live-in vehicles as well?

Yes, it is quite complex as it depends when you passed your car test.
As I stated in an earlier message there is a proposal to raise this limit for camper vans only.
Info here:-
http://www.practicalmotorhome.com/features/law.html
http://www.ukmotorhomes.net/archive.shtml#EUproposal