Hello to all you readers. I now have nearly three hundred followers (stalkers), which is brilliant. I haven’t bee able to look at all of your blogs because the connection whilst I am here in Germany is not the fastest and online time is limited, mainly by my Facebook obsessed sister!
Please leave a commnent and I will check out your blog as well.
In our brilliant little stellplatz there are many, many campervans. A lot of them are coachbuilt wagons that are incredibly expensive. Unfortunately my budget will not stretch to any of these travelling mansions.
There are also a number of van conversions here. Most of them are, of course, Mercedes Sprinters or Volkswagen Crafters and Transporters.
All of these types of wagons are brilliant for converting into campervans. Below are a few things that you may want to think about before converting choosing or converting your own van. I have noted a few of these points before in my post talking about travelling Europe and Scandinavia in a Van – Link here
When choosing a van ask yourself these questions.
Do you want to have a van that you can stand up in?
Having somewhere to stand up whilst getting changed or just moving about can make a huge difference. If you do buy a hi-roof van then make sure you check for water ingress at the connection between the van and the roof.
Think about where you will be travelling, If you will be travelling a lot into towns and cities then bear in mind that you may not be abe to get in a lot of car-parks due to the height. I would always recommend taking public transport into major cities though. Much easier and usually works out cheaper.
How big do you want the van to be?
This will affect your design, think about how many people are travelling with you and what you will be taking with you. Also bear in mind the extra costs that you will incurr if your travel plans include any ferries, most of them will charge by the metre.
Van widths vary between manufacturer, with the Mercedes Sprinter being narrow but long whereas the Fiat Ducato is short but wide. The LDV Convoy is long, wide and tall. Making it a perfect choice for conversion in this respect. You may not be able to get down every county lane in a wider van, but fold your wing mirrors and hope for the best!
Weight
Anybody who passed their driving test after 1997 in the UK is unable to drive any vehicle over 3.5tonnes gross vehicle weight (GVW). (I am not sure how this translates for other countries, if anyone would let me know I will be grateful.) Make sure you check before you buy the vehicle that you can actually drive it!
A lot of Mercedes Sprinters and VW Crafters are 5.5t rated, having them down-plated to 3.5t is a hassle that you could avoid by buying the right van in the first place.
Also make sure you take the weight into consideration when converting the van. The van must never weigh more than its stated weight, even when full of people, packing and food.
Also if you plan to visit Austria or Switzerland then note that your Vignette (compulsory road tax for all) will be more expensive ifyou are over 3.5tonnes.
Is speed something that concerns you?
If it is, then you may want to look at the Mercedes Sprinter – it is a beast. Unfortunately the more powerful vans usually means a more expensive insurance policy and less economy therefore more money spent on fuel. Speaking of fuel – go for the Diesels everytime, try to get a turbo charged one, they have good enough power and reasonable economy.
Tomorrow I will be posting a list of all the vans I have looked through and considered.
Fameseekers can post a comment here!
February 20th, 2009 at 6:33 am
Interesting. I shall definitely keep this in mind when I visit Europe and decide to go camping
- Casey Andrews
February 21st, 2009 at 7:48 am
Really useful common sense tips, thanks for posting.
Your blog is very interesting… good luck in your travels.
February 22nd, 2009 at 1:17 am
I'm about to start a trip aruond Western EU, thanx for your advice about cars, even though train & busses are more convenient if you travel alone or you don't want too much stress with insurances etc.
Check my blog, it's about the adventure I'm about to start. Any advice is welcome!. menawhile I link you
February 25th, 2009 at 2:23 pm
@OWT – Thanks Casey!
@Sue – thanks, most of these tips is only what I am finding out myself doing hours of research
@Mattia – Will check it out man, maybe see you in Eruope some time?
April 21st, 2009 at 9:44 pm
great info. I have played around for vw campers for years and would have liked to have understood more about campervan wieghts before I actually bought them…..my licence doesnt allow me to drive anything over 3.5 ton, got stopped in Germany once and I had to leave my van on the side of the road. A friend had to fly out and pick it up for me?!?!
Bedros
http://www.munichkampers.co.uk
April 22nd, 2009 at 12:20 pm
yer its a bugger with these licences. Most medium sized vans are gross weight of 3.5tonne. The LDV is actually a 5.5tonne van “down-plated” to a 3.5tonne (which is only a paperwork issue) I believe that this is so that Parcelforce doesn’t have to pay for the expensive training to get all their drivers on bigger licences.
October 16th, 2009 at 2:00 am
Another disadvantage to van leasing is that it can be difficult to calculate the annual mileage and other charges. A leased van has a set number of miles that can be accumulated on it. If the number of miles exceeds this number, the charges can be quite costly. To avoid this, it is important to accurately calculate the mileage that one does in a year. Miscalculating this can lead to heavy charges that the individual or company leasing the van was not expecting. Other charges that may be included in a lease is that the individual will have to pay for any damages to the vehicle. Although this would probably be the case should the person own the van outright, there may be some minor damages that the individual would not bother in fixing if the van were their own property?