VW Campers - are they all "conversions" of some description?

[Gee Whizz]

Hi all,

There really is a section for everything on Pistonheads! I'm at the very early stages of looking at campervans and note that there's quite a large gulf in price between some conversions. On reading some of the descriptions I see that some start out life as vans/commerical vehicles and hence are a bit cheaper. On the other hand there are more expensive version of what essentially looks like the same thing to the untrained eye but are more expensive. Is this because they started off life as a passenger vehicle and were then converted!?

I'm just trying to understand if it's worth spending extra on the non van van conversions or indeed if there is any benefit in doing so. Any advice on the subject would be appreciated and for info it's probably the T5 or T6 that we would be looking at.

Camping is very new to us with the only real experience to date being the below (this is PH so I had to get a car shot in there right?). With a little one now with us we're thinking tenting might not be such a good idea these days!

[Gee Whizz]

Thanks very much for all the input folks. Very interesting that you mention the rear doors...I hadn't even noticed the difference previously!!

I totally understand that you can pay buttons and get a poor conversion and likewise you can spend 10's of thousands on getting something that is extremely well screwed together with great materials. The conversions that have caught my eye in terms of value for money and being backed by a company that has been around for a while are Teahupoo ones. This in particular appears to be quite a good deal amongst the others that are for sale at the moment https://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/...

I don't suppose anybody has any experience with this company at all?

Trevor555 said:

I'd say go for it, sell that Alpina Z4 to me as you wont be needing it anymore.

I'm going to hold onto it for as long as I can. It's only used as a summer toy but I do appreciate that 3 into 2 is going to be a bit tricky!

[Gee Whizz]

Jonboy_t said:

I’ve no personal experience with Teahupoo but I’ve heard of them as a good company.

Go and have a proper lay down on a 3/4 width bed like that one though, they can be very ‘cosy’!! Unless you’re sleeping upstairs, which will be roomy! Captains chairs are great too, open up a huge amount of room that is essentially useless normally.

Good shout on trying the bed out. I did notice that some were wider than others. Hopefully I'll manage to go see a few or get myself to a show soon to see what is available. I'll also need to see if the seats are isofix compliant. It's probably an ask too far...

[Gee Whizz]

gordmac said:

Can I suggest not limiting yourself to VW? Pug Boxer has far more room and seems the main choice of a lot of motorhome makers. If you can find one a demountable is worth considering.

Only reason for going down the VW route is resale. I understand there is a reasonable following so hopefully that would be reflected if and when it came to sale time. I also quite like the fairly compact nature of them.

[Gee Whizz]

Kneetrembler said:

I have a T6 Kombi, but didn’t want the cupboards all down one side and narrow the width of the bed.
So I have a slide out kitchen in the rear but have a full width full size bed and a po up roof with another bed above, plus the obvious extra height for walking around.
My VW has a lift up tailgate which I have a ‘Packashack’ tent which goes over the tailgate and takes me literally 5 minutes to put up.
I also have a drive away attachment which fits in the rail on the side.

There are many many variations on beds, units,kitchens, roofs etc etc

I don't suppose you would mind posting some pics? I yet to see one with a layout like yours. As you say most have the kitchen down one side.

[Gee Whizz]

task said:

a day spent at Camper Jam or another large show can really open your eyes to the varying level of quality available

This could be a good shout. There is the possibility that we will be going to Goodwood FOS this year during one of the quieter days and with wee one in tow. We could possibly pass Camper Jam on the way back up the road! Their website is terrible though (or my eyes are). I can't seem to find the section to buy a day pass over a weekend camping one. I guess paying at the door is an option though.

Have you been to Camper Jam before? Do you get many dealers demonstrating their conversions?