Where to source 'cheaper' campervan?
Discussion
I have started looking for a campervan.
So far we have had a nice couple of hours at a dealer working out what size and layout of van we need - not coach built, LWB and permanent high roof we think, probably mid-lounge if we can.
I know van prices are high, and I know we are looking during the time of high demand, but blimey the combination of price and quality is rather off...
Locally:
A couple of private sale £18-22k Trigano Tribute's - MOT history is as rusty as a rusty thing, with a total fail a few weeks ago, then suddenly a fresh full MOT and the owner has 'not done any rust work mate, it is just fine' or similar.
Local dealer with Autosleeper Eton (I know, coach built, but worth a comparison) - feels like the 19 year old machine it is, and seriously rusty (as all Transits seem to be) and yet is £34500. The dealer suggested it was just 'normal' to have to spend a lot on rust repair and welding with such old vans.
Anything T5 with a permanent high roof seems to start with a £30 or £40, no matter what age.
Anything mid 1990's seems to be either 'if I put fairy lights on it, you won't notice the rot or rust' or "We have owned this for a decade, we promise it is ill health which forces sale, not the recent MOT failure on rot and rust'.
A bazillion home converted and shonky 'Insta wagons' with half bodged this and that and a hope that a few stickers on the outside make it all better.
Even at the two dealers we looked at there are £30-50k vans with a lot of wear and starting to look rusty underneath...
So....
What, if any, chassis are galvanised or less susceptible to rust?
Where to look for a £20-30k van which won't be asking for £2k of welding come MOT time.
(Yes, I am jaded by it all, but it has been a disappointing couple of weeks - particularly as £20-30k doesn't feel like a small budget...)
So far we have had a nice couple of hours at a dealer working out what size and layout of van we need - not coach built, LWB and permanent high roof we think, probably mid-lounge if we can.
I know van prices are high, and I know we are looking during the time of high demand, but blimey the combination of price and quality is rather off...
Locally:
A couple of private sale £18-22k Trigano Tribute's - MOT history is as rusty as a rusty thing, with a total fail a few weeks ago, then suddenly a fresh full MOT and the owner has 'not done any rust work mate, it is just fine' or similar.
Local dealer with Autosleeper Eton (I know, coach built, but worth a comparison) - feels like the 19 year old machine it is, and seriously rusty (as all Transits seem to be) and yet is £34500. The dealer suggested it was just 'normal' to have to spend a lot on rust repair and welding with such old vans.
Anything T5 with a permanent high roof seems to start with a £30 or £40, no matter what age.
Anything mid 1990's seems to be either 'if I put fairy lights on it, you won't notice the rot or rust' or "We have owned this for a decade, we promise it is ill health which forces sale, not the recent MOT failure on rot and rust'.
A bazillion home converted and shonky 'Insta wagons' with half bodged this and that and a hope that a few stickers on the outside make it all better.
Even at the two dealers we looked at there are £30-50k vans with a lot of wear and starting to look rusty underneath...
So....
What, if any, chassis are galvanised or less susceptible to rust?
Where to look for a £20-30k van which won't be asking for £2k of welding come MOT time.
(Yes, I am jaded by it all, but it has been a disappointing couple of weeks - particularly as £20-30k doesn't feel like a small budget...)
Last year I was looking for a van with similar requirements to you. After looking for months and months I bought a Devon Monaco. 6m rear fixed bed and mid lounge, 2008 lwb, high roof Renault Master based.
It was well within your price range but was unusually cheap as the owner was emigrating and needed it to be sold quickly. I got to it the same day it was advertised and the seller had loads of interest.
I found it on Autotrader. I would say keep looking as reasonably priced vans do crop up from private sellers but not often as most are aware of the current high demand. I saw a couple of others which were reasonably priced whilst looking but they sold quickly so you need to be quick to snap up the cheaper ones.
ETA: we are now at the start of the season so vans will be even more in demand.
It was well within your price range but was unusually cheap as the owner was emigrating and needed it to be sold quickly. I got to it the same day it was advertised and the seller had loads of interest.
I found it on Autotrader. I would say keep looking as reasonably priced vans do crop up from private sellers but not often as most are aware of the current high demand. I saw a couple of others which were reasonably priced whilst looking but they sold quickly so you need to be quick to snap up the cheaper ones.
ETA: we are now at the start of the season so vans will be even more in demand.
Edited by Scrump on Tuesday 2nd May 10:01
Scrump said:
Last year I was looking for a van with similar requirements to you. After looking for months and months I bought a Devon Monaco. 6m rear fixed bed and mid lounge, 2008 lwb, high roof Renault Master based.
It was well within your price range but was unusually cheap as the owner was emigrating and needed it to be sold quickly. I got to it the same day it was advertised and the seller had loads of interest.
I found it on Autotrader. I would say keep looking as reasonably priced vans do crop up from private sellers but not often as most are aware of the current high demand. I saw a couple of others which were reasonably priced whilst looking but they sold quickly so you need to be quick to snap up the cheaper ones.
ETA: we are now at the start of the season so vans will be even more in demand.
Jeez thats a HUGE bed.It was well within your price range but was unusually cheap as the owner was emigrating and needed it to be sold quickly. I got to it the same day it was advertised and the seller had loads of interest.
I found it on Autotrader. I would say keep looking as reasonably priced vans do crop up from private sellers but not often as most are aware of the current high demand. I saw a couple of others which were reasonably priced whilst looking but they sold quickly so you need to be quick to snap up the cheaper ones.
ETA: we are now at the start of the season so vans will be even more in demand.
Edited by Scrump on Tuesday 2nd May 10:01
POIDH said:
Slyjoe said:
We are looking also, a dealer told us he was expecting the prices to fall off a cliff edge at the end of the year, and that's factored into today's prices.
What was his reasoning for that?I have a mate who builds VW campers for a living, he hasn't seen any let up in demand yet and has about half a dozen new Transporters on order from VW at any one point given the demand.
VW like everyone bumped their prices up not that long ago, somewhere in the region of around 9K from what I recall, so unless everyone stops buying them I don't see how the prices will go off a cliff if the demand is still as high post Covid.
VW like everyone bumped their prices up not that long ago, somewhere in the region of around 9K from what I recall, so unless everyone stops buying them I don't see how the prices will go off a cliff if the demand is still as high post Covid.
I run a very large motorhome dealership.
Prices aren't going to fall off a cliff at the end of the year.
What is sticking are middle aged cameprvans particularly VW with average aftermarket conversions .
Newer ones sell, brand name conversions like Hillside, Camperking, Bilbo etc sell.
Endless people bought toilet free pop top Campers in the last few years and are now finding them too hard work and looking for full size high top van conversion with toilets and showers.
In the used market , just this year we have started to give up on retailing anything 06 or previous unless it's a van we have had before as they are almost all hiding serious rust.
07 on , so what we still call the new shape Fiat/Peugeot cab we rarely suffer from structural corrosion, vans like the Autosleeper Symbol, Trigano 550 and 650 all good news front lounge end kitchen vans.
The Renault master based Devon, Timberland and IH like Scrumps offer better value than the new shape fiat, don't seem to rust and are a much better drive than the old can 06 fiat tho not quite as good as the 07 on fiat/pug and are harder to sell though always go well if priced right, never seem to throw up any issues.
Older coachbuilt are risky , we trade out of at least 50% due to damp issues, van cinversion rarely suffer from this.
So in my opinion, take yiur time, keep hurting the dealers, leave your name and number and if they are any good they will have a list of people and vans to out together , go new cab fiat or Renault with a known ,named, from new conversion and you will have a decent investment.
Check for flakey paint on the fiat clone cab they cab suffer badly and check on the roof as painting it is a nightmare!
Prices aren't going to fall off a cliff at the end of the year.
What is sticking are middle aged cameprvans particularly VW with average aftermarket conversions .
Newer ones sell, brand name conversions like Hillside, Camperking, Bilbo etc sell.
Endless people bought toilet free pop top Campers in the last few years and are now finding them too hard work and looking for full size high top van conversion with toilets and showers.
In the used market , just this year we have started to give up on retailing anything 06 or previous unless it's a van we have had before as they are almost all hiding serious rust.
07 on , so what we still call the new shape Fiat/Peugeot cab we rarely suffer from structural corrosion, vans like the Autosleeper Symbol, Trigano 550 and 650 all good news front lounge end kitchen vans.
The Renault master based Devon, Timberland and IH like Scrumps offer better value than the new shape fiat, don't seem to rust and are a much better drive than the old can 06 fiat tho not quite as good as the 07 on fiat/pug and are harder to sell though always go well if priced right, never seem to throw up any issues.
Older coachbuilt are risky , we trade out of at least 50% due to damp issues, van cinversion rarely suffer from this.
So in my opinion, take yiur time, keep hurting the dealers, leave your name and number and if they are any good they will have a list of people and vans to out together , go new cab fiat or Renault with a known ,named, from new conversion and you will have a decent investment.
Check for flakey paint on the fiat clone cab they cab suffer badly and check on the roof as painting it is a nightmare!
POIDH said:
That is a possibility. I'm ok with DIY, I would happily use a 'furniture pack' to make it a good fit.
That could well be the way to go fella, have a look at online kits for various vans, there are loads available, and the renault master, vauxhall movano and nissan nv400 are a very good base van, no "scene tax" galvanised and big enough for an across the van bed.I built my own SWB NV400 and all in its cost me £10500 inc the van at £6800 for a 2015 van with 112k miles and very good bodywork, with hot and cold water, indoor loo, lots of battery power etc.
POIDH said:
I would consider a conversion - but having helped my son with a more basic 'adventure van', i know how much effort it takes...
I converted a van a few years back with a sink, hob and bed in the back plus a split charge system. The most time consuming part was prepping / insulating the van, but even that didn't take that long. If you start with a clean van and use kits for the various components it's really simple.
smn159 said:
ATG said:
Alternative strategy: blindly buy a half-knackered T25 off your mother's god daughter for not very much and see if you can repair it faster than it rusts. So far the race is neck and neck.
Get a thread going!
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