Part Time Van - Price Range

[AlexMG]

Hi All,

Due to a change of jobs and now job uncertainty, I'm going to be part timing soon and on the hunt for a vehicle.

As with cars, what started out as something sensible like a £5000 Bongo has now turned into a £9000 VW T4

With cars, I'm used to modifications not equalling to increasing the value of a vehicle, a £300 remap from APR does not correlate to a £300 price increase! However interior modifications on vans play a bigger impact to the value than the milage and exterior condition.

Mileage in the price range I have of up to £9000 is usually equal to over 100,000 miles on the clock. Based on this I was attracted to the VW T4 as parts for a T4 will be far easier than an imported Bongo or Hiace. Even if they sell the models over here, slight engineering modifications in the production years have stung me in the past.

However, does a van like this seems like a market average?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/VW-T4-CAMPER-VAN-2-5-Tur...

2002
2.5 Tdi
LWB
130,000 miles.
£9,000


What is the average time and cost spent to build something like this?

I'm no carpenter but I would give it ago myself if I could replicate this for £7,000 including the price of a van and a week off work.

So Tl;Dr

£9,000 on a pre built one or can I save money and build this myself for £7,000?

Thanks All!

[bristolracer]

250 to 300 hours should do a decent conversion.
Plenty of self build webpages out there,principles are the same no matter which van.
You wont be doing it in a week,unless your furnish it from go outdoors.

The VW attracts a big 'scene tax' you pay on the way in and get it back if you sell.

Best time to buy a camper is 2 weeks before Christmas,never buy in the spring.
Get a pop top,a tin top gets claustrophobic after a bit.

If you do your own, get it converted on the log book (dvla have a criteria) it will be cheaper to insure as PLG rather than commercial. it may save you pain in a few years when they come for the smokey old vans, low emissions and all that nonsense.

[AlexMG]

bristolracer said:

250 to 300 hours should do a decent conversion.
Plenty of self build webpages out there,principles are the same no matter which van.
You wont be doing it in a week,unless your furnish it from go outdoors.

The VW attracts a big 'scene tax' you pay on the way in and get it back if you sell.

Best time to buy a camper is 2 weeks before Christmas,never buy in the spring.
Get a pop top,a tin top gets claustrophobic after a bit.

If you do your own, get it converted on the log book (dvla have a criteria) it will be cheaper to insure as PLG rather than commercial. it may save you pain in a few years when they come for the smokey old vans, low emissions, and all that nonsense.

I think that amount of hours is a big commitment that if paid for privately would wipe out any increase in value and doing it myself would result in sub part fitment.

The scene tax is definitely there but as you said, you get it back when you sell.

I agree with the idea of buying in the winter when no one wants to be out in a cold van, however, I'm restricted by time as my current house contract finishes at the end of September. at least it's the end of summer and not the start!!

Converting with the DVLA seems like a good shout but it asks for receipts which I'd need off the current seller so that could easily stop me getting the cheaper insurance.

a quick quote online shows me that if I register it as a campervan in progress on insurance it isn't any lower than if it was completed so I could do that and send off the stuff to the dvla ASAP then change it on the insurance shortly afterwards, for an admin fee of £25 no doubt!

A pop top would be great but I'll be doing a lot of urban camping so I wouldnt be able to use it often and the extra cost is out of my price range.

Thanks for the help and suggestions.

[Dagenitedog]

for £7k you 'should' be able to get a Westfalia converted T4. It will be older, and LHD, but for the max amount of residual value I doubt they will fall further than circa £7000.

[LeighW]

AlexMG said:

Converting with the DVLA seems like a good shout but it asks for receipts which I'd need off the current seller so that could easily stop me getting the cheaper insurance.

a quick quote online shows me that if I register it as a campervan in progress on insurance it isn't any lower than if it was completed so I could do that and send off the stuff to the dvla ASAP then change it on the insurance shortly afterwards, for an admin fee of £25 no doubt!

To convert with DVLA is very straight forward, just send your log book with a covering letter stating what you've done to meet their requirements (such as 6ft bed, fixed/fixable table, double burner etc) together with photographs for proof. Plenty of info online about this.

Also, for insuring a converted van you really need a specialist insurer such as A-Plan or Brentacre (avoid Flux). Mine is with Brentacre, and I just keep them updated with modifications as they happen. Just a quick call or email and it's all sorted, no admin fees either.

[AlexMG]

LeighW said:

To convert with DVLA is very straight forward, just send your log book with a covering letter stating what you've done to meet their requirements (such as 6ft bed, fixed/fixable table, double burner etc) together with photographs for proof. Plenty of info online about this.

Also, for insuring a converted van you really need a specialist insurer such as A-Plan or Brentacre (avoid Flux). Mine is with Brentacre, and I just keep them updated with modifications as they happen. Just a quick call or email and it's all sorted, no admin fees either.

Performance direct and Grove and dean are the cheapest with advance saver an extra £50. Have you had any personal experience with these companies?

Online guides are a god send, just the receipts are annoying

[B17NNS]

This thread might be worth a read.

https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...

[LeighW]

AlexMG said:

Performance direct and Grove and dean are the cheapest with advance saver an extra £50. Have you had any personal experience with these companies?

Online guides are a god send, just the receipts are annoying

No, only used the companies I've mentioned.

Unless things have changed since I did mine, there was no requirement to send receipts?