Anyone got a campervan or something similar?

Sure Barefoot Beach Bride has one

My grandparents had one when I was a kid. It was great fun for holidays, but mechanically it was a nightmare. Mum said it was quite scary to drive, and it would break down in the most inconvenient locations, including several times on a trip to Germany and back! We did used to love "camping" in the roof though.

The VW ones are all quite old now, so a)likely to break and b)need specialists for repairs. I would do a LOT of reading and be very careful before buying one, but if you do get a good one, it'll be awesome!

Nursey has one, it was thier wedding car.

The original and in my opinion the best camper vans are the old 60s/70s models. Like others have said they are expensive to fix and maintain, and yes you need a VW specialist to do the work properly.

They are unreliable and original parts are expensive but if all of this is not of concern to you then I would say go for it and make me insanely jealous in the process.

A man I know specialises in vintage VW beetles and campers, he is always busy and charges the earth.

Mini is right ? We have a 1983 Westfalia VW Campervan. He's lovely, though we do our servicing etc ourselves to make sure he's running right. I do think you have to make sure you get one that is sound, otherwise there will be years and years of work to do! Our friends have one too (our other wedding car) but they've done an engine rebuild and a new interior, and he's still not finished

I briefly looked into getting a completely refurbed split screen VW camper - but they were about £31K, so I stopped looking!

They are ridiculous prices, AC. I'd love a bay window camper (the 70s ones), but even they're at least £10K. Ours was half that. My friends bought a "modern" VW camper (less than 10 years old) and it was about £6K I think

We have a vw t25 but are about to sell it. We do love it, but we are looking to sell the camper and my husbands car to get a modern camper which oh can use as a daily drive.

rust is the biggest problem, so an import from oz or California is a good bet as will probably be in better condition, but if you look at one that's been in the uk for a while look for one that is stored indoors in the winter and that has been waxoiled underneath every year. If you look round one, look for tell tale signs of filler round the seals and wheel arches. If it looks rough, knock on it and if you can hear a different sound to the rest of the panel it has probably been filled.

happy searching. If you find one you won't regret it, they are brilliant!

The older ones have air cooled engines, they are more retro, sound ace but are more likely to have problems. The newer ones ( I'm still talking 80s ones) have water cooled engines which are a bit more reliable.

Cheers all?

I looked at brand new Ducati ones yesterday which were £40k!? Even if I could afford that they weren't what I wanted anyway. I guess I'm looking for a step up from a tent! Something we can sleep in really. Pull up in car park anywhere or outside a friends house! Maybe I'm being too romantic with it.

How about one of these, , , , I love it

We had been looking at these. They start at £25,000, not bad as far as prices go but it would still be a lottery purchase for us ☹️

They look ideal - but I am going to sound like a complete wanker now but I really don't like the idea of towing anything - but that is really what I want. I first saw one of those on 'Gigglebiz' a children's tv show a couple of years ago! What are they actually called?

Have googled - agree with the lottery win about the campervan you like☹️ A lottery win would be very handy full stop here!

WE see lots of them at rallies, they really are lovely. I don't think i'd be to keen on towing either but I know once I had done it a few times I'd be ok.

They are called teardrop caravans.

I would step away for anything with a VW badge, as much as they are lovely, there is a big following pushing up the prices.

Look at Mazda Bongo's- Similar size, Japanese mechanics so very reliable, not as cute to look at - but something you and your children could create brilliant memorys in,

Also there are more people converting there own vans into campers, these can vary in standard, but could offer you alot more for your money.

I wasn't looking at anything with a VW badge and had been thinking of doing it myself a la Restoration Man. Have you done it yourself and can offer advice then?

I used to go on loads of Citroen 2CV rallies with my dad when I was younger, I always saw a lot of converted Citroen H vans... They are really cool and loads if room inside to covert to accommodation...

Yes, I do. I have a 2007 Vivaro, fully converted with pop top roof, fridge freezer, double hob and grill, cupboards, wardrobes and rock/roll bed which has 2 rear seatbelts. Front passenger seat is on a swivel to give loads of interior room. Much much bigger inside than a VW, and much cheaper. VW you pay for the name. Vivaro, Transit etc you pay for the van and the conversion. Put it like this, to get s Vw of same age and mileage as my van, I'd have had to pay at least £10k more.

BBB - did you do it yourself or buy it like that? If you bought the conversion where did you get it done?

Bought ready done from a company in Nottingham. It was actually an EBay purchase but given the value it was a private sale not EBay/PayPal! Only cost £12500 though. Having said that she's currently in the garage needing a new cylinder head which has meant we're temporarily a one vehicle family. Ugh. Then again, wear and tear problems will naturally occur at high mileages and Olga has done 127k!

Sorry cant really help on that side of things, ours was bought already done, we have just had to do mechanical work, which we were useless and got garages to do, One thing I would say, is we just have our van as a bed and storage, cooking is done on a camping stove outside, and refrigeration is provided by a removable electric coolbox, we have a sink, but its too much of a faf, we use a washing up bowl, again outside.