Dipping my toe in to Campervan life with a Westfalia Nugget

[LincolnLovin]

I've never been a massive fan of camping, driving somewhere to build your own home to sleep in has never really appealed. However with a growing family and a deep desire for "simple/low stress holidays" (we'll see if that is the case), has begun to change my mind.

So in typical PH fashion I've gone in at the deep end and bought a 2002 Westfalia Nugget 2 liter diesel, the logic for the purchase (such that it is) of a high top camper is that pop tops have a fixed shelf life if you have two growing children. This means the downsides (height restrictions) are out done by the positives (space and capability to have 4 adults in the camper).

It was one owner with 50k miles in good condition, albeit with some things I want sorted before I collect it, so hopefully it will be ready by the end of July.

I hope that this will be a good idea, time will tell....

[LincolnLovin]

So a week or on the market is looking even crazier (my metric is the sudden glut of van back seats on Facebook market place).

My target date for collection is likely the 16th, hopefully it will be a little earlier.

[LincolnLovin]

andburg said:

this one?

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/384159947563?hash=item5...

T125 will really help, my 68bhp T4 is rather stately and struggles a bit on bigger hills

Yes that be the sexy beast.

[LincolnLovin]

TBH we don't use drive throughs all that much, even in standard cars - so that had not even crossed my mind.

[LincolnLovin]

With a young family we'd have to use the facilities anyway.

As for first trips it depends on when I pick it up, I may have to take a half day off work and get there in the late afternoon. This means I could try and do a night halt experiment on the way back from Portsmouth to Essex.

If I manage to get back same day I'll do an overnight on the driveway 2020 lockdown style, then we'll pop to a local campervan club site as an dry run. If all passes muster its on to Somerset for a festival wedding!

[LincolnLovin]

CallMeLegend said:

We've been looking at possible replacements for "Charlie" our T5 that we have had for 5 years. Prices are quite frankly daft at the moment, we have been offered just £5k less than he cost us 5 years ago!!!!!

Edited by CallMeLegend on Tuesday 29th June 13:15

Edited by CallMeLegend on Tuesday 29th June 13:15

The market is bananas, there are so many poorly converted vans flooding the market at the moment. Its my hope that going for the Nugget is a better 5 year plan than a smaller vehicle. I have no doubt that in saner times this vehicle would be 5-10k cheaper, but we are where we are.

[LincolnLovin]

Lets hope the rest of the ford bits are as well made

From my look through the service history, it had a new turbo in 2014 but it came with quite a large folder that I will look forward to going through after I collect it.

[LincolnLovin]

Thats a good shout, I am already a member (as of yesterday )

[LincolnLovin]

As mentioned there are a few, items that are being sorted before collection:

Replace - Cracked heated windscreen
Replace - Non functional Diesel space heater
Replace - Refrigerator non functional (compressor not switching on)
Repair - Rust at sill area
Repair - Slight rust at tailgate hinge area
Replace - Noisy Wheel bearing
Replace - Damaged Fly net
Replace - Leisure battery unable to power electrics
Refurbish - Bumper plastics
Refurbish - Wheels
Investigate - Small damp mark on headlining
Investigate - Water and gas was not able to be tested

It will come with gas & habitation certs as well.

Which is quite a list, in retrospect!

[LincolnLovin]

I’ve seen the vehicle in the flesh, which is why I picked up the issues. It hasn’t been rented as far as I can tell.

Ive asked for photos of the repair work to confirm the bits get done properly. If they can’t supply them I’ll walk away.

The pics just added in some stock photos whilst they were awaiting arrival afaik.

Edited by LincolnLovin on Tuesday 29th June 14:58

[LincolnLovin]

So goes the hope!

In-spite of those issue it seemed like a good van, those issues are not that difficult to resolve beyond the sill repair and it should easily get sorted within a week or so.

[LincolnLovin]

The previous owners were an older couple that had owned it since new, the a4 ring binder of service work (in plastic protectors in some cases) shows that for most of its life it was well maintained. The husband died and so the van wasn’t used that much/the wife didn’t do much upkeep which explains some of the items not being repaired.

[LincolnLovin]

That's the plan, as its an official westfalia it will have better build quality than the glut of side/rear converted campers on the market today.

[LincolnLovin]

Everything has gone up in price, by about £5-10k depending. I’d think one of these in 2019 wild probably be around £13-19k depending on condition.

So the decision becomes wait till next year or spend on something that will retain some value (with the theory being that shonky conversion will fall back to pre covid levels).

[LincolnLovin]

andburg said:

LincolnLovin said:

Everything has gone up in price, by about £5-10k depending. I’d think one of these in 2019 wild probably be around £13-19k depending on condition.

So the decision becomes wait till next year or spend on something that will retain some value (with the theory being that shonky conversion will fall back to pre covid levels).

Exactly, prices are mental but you'll only take a bath financially if you sell it when prices plummet

A coach built home will retain value better and stand the test of time better. People need to understand these are not financial investments they're lifestyle choices. You could quite easily spend £5k+ on a family holiday and at the end that that money is gone, if you lose the same after a years use of the camper/motorhome how is that any different?

Yup, a planned family holiday to Greece next year is coming in at that price - its not cheap!

Also buying a camper within the depreciation curve of a new Ford Nugget appeals as well, especially as the feature set is the same from the camper side (granted the van side is much newer).

[LincolnLovin]

Rhodes I think.

Called the dealer on Friday, wheels and bumpers are sorted and it’s going in this week for the mechanical items, it’s also had its habitation assessment.

[LincolnLovin]

Quandary appears!

Sill repair is done, as is a fresh MOT (which no longer mentions the rust), but photos were not taken. I have expressed my unhappiness with this, I am awaiting the invoice from the body shop to see what work was done, I'll also be calling them to verify.

We'll have to see if I go ahead with the purchase, as everything else is on schedule but it's added in an unnecessary doubt.

[LincolnLovin]

Yeah if it was a flush/smooth job that would raise more flags, lets see how the week progresses. I'll know by Wednesday if the van will be ready for Friday (only missing item is the heater which is on order with a month for delivery, so will need to travel back down to get it fitted).

[LincolnLovin]

Unclear, that question will be asked once I see the paperwork from the repair.

[LincolnLovin]

gman88667733 said:

Rust is a horrible thing. My van that I bought to convert to a camper had a few crusty areas, but once I properly got under it and looked, I ended up having to spend near enough £700 on welding alone.

I've found that once one area needs welding, chances are, more will need doing in the near future. On an older, cheaper vehicle, it isn't the end of the world as you can get away with unsightly, but strong repairs.

But on a vehicle that is quite expensive, i'm just not sure I'd be paying that much for a welded up van. (Especially if you can't see the true extent of it)

If you do, budget for potential welding every year as it'll probably end up at that.

Edit - remember what you said a couple of pages back... If you can't get photos of what has been done, you'd walk away. Maybe i'm just cynical, but i'd be wondering why they haven't got photos...

Edited by gman88667733 on Monday 12th July 12:13

100%, plan is to review invoice, speak with body shop and see if it passes the sniff test. If it doesn't, walk away - if it does I will spend a goodly long time on collection looking at the area to see what has been done.