What touring van/truck with 4WD and can sleep in ?
Discussion
Keep thinking about a vehicle for extended touring.
Wouldn't want a full on expedition ex-Camel Land Rover bla bla bla - too expensive and purpose built for off-roading.
Would want something that is fairly civilised on the road for longer mileage trips, preferably 4wd to get out of any bother if I go off road to camp for the night. Could sleep in the back and take some camping gear and some spares.
I know most people are going to say VW or Land Rover but I think the older VW vans are very expensive, bloody noisey and won't be comfortable on long drives - plus I don't like them, the air cooled ones would drive me mad being so bloody slow - imagine driving up some mountain passes ?
Land Rovers - again can be very expensive and when asked most people will say 'they're the best cos they can get fixed everywhere by anybody'. They don't say that they are very reliable just that they can get fixed - in fact when doing some research they don't seem to be that reliable but can be fixed by most amateur mechanics. I believe they are not that comfortable on the road or long journeys and very noisey ?
Any real life experiences of these most welcome - I currently have none.
I keep thinking about something like a Mitsubishi Delica despite its silly name.
Example only -
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1998-Mitsubishi-Delica-S...
It appears to have the under pinnings of the Shogun - 2.8/3ltr turbo diesel, 4wd, reliable and robust. Probably comfortable on a long run and the grunt to pull you up alpine passes. Throw away some rear seats and theres space in the back for a bed and some storage. Seem to have loads of extras too on some of them inculding some nice glass panoramic roofs so you could count the stars at night.
It appears now that where as once the Land Rover was king in all sorts of places its now been taken over by the Japanese stuff - Mitsubishis/Nissans, etc. So they can still be fixed in all sorts of places.
For some reason these keep catching my eye too - Chevrolet Astrovans
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Chevrolet-Astrovan-Dayva...
Seem to be well regarded by some as good touring vans, quite economical being a big V6 engine, good space, lots of extras, and some with 4wd. I know they are not going to be great off roaders by any stretch of the imagination but maybe a good everyday van to live with ? Just worries me about spares and getting repaired when the time comes ?
So anybody with any experience of touring vans/trucks/camping all round vehicles ? Wouldn't want to spend more than 5-6K on one and doesn't have to be a dedicated off road or camping style vehicle - more a touring vehicle which I could use to sleep in and camp with if needed and 4wd so I could drive to those rocky river beds or down gravel tracks to get away from the roads.
Wouldn't want a full on expedition ex-Camel Land Rover bla bla bla - too expensive and purpose built for off-roading.
Would want something that is fairly civilised on the road for longer mileage trips, preferably 4wd to get out of any bother if I go off road to camp for the night. Could sleep in the back and take some camping gear and some spares.
I know most people are going to say VW or Land Rover but I think the older VW vans are very expensive, bloody noisey and won't be comfortable on long drives - plus I don't like them, the air cooled ones would drive me mad being so bloody slow - imagine driving up some mountain passes ?
Land Rovers - again can be very expensive and when asked most people will say 'they're the best cos they can get fixed everywhere by anybody'. They don't say that they are very reliable just that they can get fixed - in fact when doing some research they don't seem to be that reliable but can be fixed by most amateur mechanics. I believe they are not that comfortable on the road or long journeys and very noisey ?
Any real life experiences of these most welcome - I currently have none.
I keep thinking about something like a Mitsubishi Delica despite its silly name.
Example only -
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1998-Mitsubishi-Delica-S...
It appears to have the under pinnings of the Shogun - 2.8/3ltr turbo diesel, 4wd, reliable and robust. Probably comfortable on a long run and the grunt to pull you up alpine passes. Throw away some rear seats and theres space in the back for a bed and some storage. Seem to have loads of extras too on some of them inculding some nice glass panoramic roofs so you could count the stars at night.
It appears now that where as once the Land Rover was king in all sorts of places its now been taken over by the Japanese stuff - Mitsubishis/Nissans, etc. So they can still be fixed in all sorts of places.
For some reason these keep catching my eye too - Chevrolet Astrovans
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Chevrolet-Astrovan-Dayva...
Seem to be well regarded by some as good touring vans, quite economical being a big V6 engine, good space, lots of extras, and some with 4wd. I know they are not going to be great off roaders by any stretch of the imagination but maybe a good everyday van to live with ? Just worries me about spares and getting repaired when the time comes ?
So anybody with any experience of touring vans/trucks/camping all round vehicles ? Wouldn't want to spend more than 5-6K on one and doesn't have to be a dedicated off road or camping style vehicle - more a touring vehicle which I could use to sleep in and camp with if needed and 4wd so I could drive to those rocky river beds or down gravel tracks to get away from the roads.
Yes thanks !! They've all turned up in my searches apart from that Bongo.
I'm going from one extreme to the other in my mind. From going from 'F*ck it, lets just buy a fast sporty estate car and rough it a bit camping' to ' maybe the expensive VW vans are actually worth it'.
Think I might just end up with something that leaps out at me all of a sudden !!
I'm going from one extreme to the other in my mind. From going from 'F*ck it, lets just buy a fast sporty estate car and rough it a bit camping' to ' maybe the expensive VW vans are actually worth it'.
Think I might just end up with something that leaps out at me all of a sudden !!
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