We were considering a Hillside Leisure T6. £40k-ish new. In the end we decided that hiring would be the best bet due to our salty roads in Shetland and no garage. That was three years ago and we still haven't got around to hiring a camper!
If the OP is anywhere near the north of Glasgow they are more than welcome to come and have a cuppa, chat and poke about my Toyota Granvia camper
We were considering a Hillside Leisure T6. £40k-ish new. In the end we decided that hiring would be the best bet due to our salty roads in Shetland and no garage. That was three years ago and we still haven't got around to hiring a camper!
Thanks very much for the offer, very kind of you. I think I’m keen to go down the VW route but I’m interested in your experiences of camp sites in the UK and further afield more generally.
If we take the plunge, I can see us getting to grips with things in France, particularly the south but beyond that, who knows!
I’m interested in people’s thoughts on the two main financing options...a 4 year pcp or 10year HP.
The final payment of around £26k sounds very low does it not? I’m attracted to this because I could put the equity into a new deal if I was so inclined. I would probably have to pay an excess mileage charge what however, what with the 10k miles limit.
As for the ten year option, the total amount payable upsets me and I don’t particularly relish committing to that length of a deal on a campervan.
https://www.lookers.co.uk/volkswagen...-ocean-offers/
Last edited by MTM84; 14th March 2019 at 19:22.
I’ve converted a couple of vans in the past, a VW T5 and Merc Sprinter. I recently looked at purchasing a new motor home (not a converted panel van - nothing wrong with them) and new ones start around £40k and offer more than a Cali or similar and have excellent residuals.
In the end I’ve joined the band of two TZ caravaners.
That makes us three..!
Sent from my iPhone using TZ-UK mobile app
All good points…. As long as it takes an awning, a barbecue and a decent portable stove would do the rest…. I’m unlikely to want to do wild mid winter camping frankly…
A fridge, a bed and a table are the only true necessities…. When I caravanned/ campervanned before I never used the toilet or shower…. Campsites tend to have facilities that do the trick (and if not wear your flip flops!)
Time to poke around the t’interweb
All of the Outer Hebrides is a must (although Harris is my favourite) and you can't really go wrong with any of the sites there...(when I have the time I'll dig out the names of those we stopped at)..even the midges couldn't dampen our fun too much thanks to lashings of smidge repellent...toured a lot of Scotland, Northumberland and Cornwall with the van..unfortunately the kids are growing up and preferring luxuries like en suite toilets and decent wifi...terrible shame
You don't have to go too far afield either..had some great weekends in Fife, Arran or Dumfries and Galloway in the van
Thanks for the recommendations - I’ll look them up.
Whilst abroad I could see us cooking outdoors but in the UK, if we were caught out with bad weather/wind, I like the idea of being able to cook inside the van with a window open. That said, I’m keeping my options open at this stage so good to hear different people's views.
Sound great - will do some research into the places you mentioned.
Don't come to Shetland. The ferry price is horrendous!
Well I visited a dealer in Glasgow today with my wife and daughter and although the Campervan specialist wasn’t in, I was given the keys and we had a good opportunity to get inside the Ocean and have a good nosey around. Now whilst this one looked good with the cream leather, I couldn’t help but think that given the nature of a Campervan, it would be pretty hard to keep that clean. I’d go for a dark cloth and would buy seat covers all round. The same was also true of the plastic floor and carpet areas - what was VW thinking making these all shades of cream?
The quality did seem very good and the fridge, ‘wardrobe’ and other areas surprisingly roomy. We’re going to make an appointment for over the Easter holidays so that we can see the beds made up and try them out etc.
A big thanks to Johny who couldn’t have been more helpful today!
Good to put a face to the name and of course, to have a good look around a campervan without any sales people breathing down my neck.
Was really impressed with your van...I’ve already contacted a few places re. the driver’s seat and my lanky legs!
Thanks again
Just an update to this thread folks - I’ve booked a California Ocean to hire for 4 nights in October and have booked 2 sites in Scotland that my wife and I have visited in person beforehand to get a feel for them. Fingers crossed we’ll enjoy the experience and will be looking for our own van soon!
I’ll be plugged into the 16amp electricity supply on both sites. I’ve read various things about electricals tripling the supply. When I’m hooked up, will a 16 amp supply easily cope with the Ocean’s fridge, a kettle and my wife’s hairdryer for example?
Thanks,
Martin
We've never found a problem with hookup here or abroad and never tripped any breakers. It is always better however to have lower wattage appliances especially if you use an inverter off your leisure battery (not that you will until you buy your own rig). We have a cooker with gas rings and one electric. Fridge takes minimal power and lights, telly, water pump never have a problem. We even have an electric fan heater installed that gets used on cold nights.
Best of luck to the Op with his adventures in the van...unfortunately after 8 years of fun with my van its time to sell the Granvia, the kids have outgrown the van and got used to creature comforts like inside toilets and wifi...ridiculous ! I'll get an ad up on SC soon....breaks my heart
It might physically be a 16A connector but that doesn't necessarily mean it will supply 16A and will trip at 16.1A.
Various ratings of supply are available, 6A, 10A and 16A being three. Suggest a low-power kettle is prudent.
From California owners club:
“If you are on hook up and using the socket on the end of the kitchen then i would stick to electrical appliances up to 2000watts or 2kw”
What’s that? 8-10 amps?
The electric kettles sold in the club shop look to be 1kw. I use the gas cooker for hot water.
I think regular hair dryers are around between 1,800-2,200kw. Wash hair in shower block? Perhaps dry hair there.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Thanks guys. Having read so many different things about the electricity side of things, I do find it pretty unclear.
Given that I’ll be buying a Beach if my wife likes the Ocean set-up, I reckon I’ll probably opt for a gas kettle. I’ll buy a fridge that fits behind the front passenger seat but being able to power a proper hairdryer is important to my wife, particularly if we venture to the likes of France etc. and can’t always guarantee these in the shower blocks etc.
I’ve had a fully converted T5 for the last 5 years and it’s great, had loads of trips all over Europe.
Conversion was done by these guys.
https://www.jerbacampervans.co.uk/
I have discovered that there are some older Mercedes Marco Polo vans out there. They have done LHD ones for years and they come up on ebay from time to time but the Bilbo De zine is the same van in rhd. There was a really nice blue on on ebay a month or 2 ago. The conversion is Westphalia (owned by MB) by Bilbo as I understand it.
The vans themselves do tend to be rather narrower than the VWs which is not ideal for beds etc but the conversion spec looks good and I like the sliding rear seats.
I've been looking at this very same subject and idea for some time...
I'm drifting away from VW and towards the Ford Concept conversions at Wellhouse-Leisure, in Huddersfield;
Check this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OAfv2y3Tx50
https://wellhouseleisure.com/product...st/used-fords/
Digging this back up.
I’m contemplating getting rid of the motor, get a nice camper and use it as a daily (ish) driver.
I have other cars, and am not commuting every day or whatever, so can defo live with one.
I would like a bit of space, so LWB transporter or similar, and want lots of mod cons.
I can live without a hob, but need sink and fridge.
Will need to sleep 3 to 4, and I need awnings.
Transit and Transporter seem to fit bill.
Merc Marco Polo sounds good but reports of it being slim.
(Would love a massive off-road style sprinter but not exactly practical daily driver!)
Anyone living the van life and can advise?
Do I buy fitted out or get one converted?
I might be able to do 40-50k.
Happy to do less!!!
It will be a long-term thing.
What say you, van-fans?
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
Buy something already converted by a reputable builder. Transporter will most likely have the best residual value and will probably cost you the most upfront. New Transit is supposed to be a really good drive. SWB version fits a standard car park space. But makes a good daily drive.
All camper vans are compromises. If you’ve kids with you put them in a tent and keep the van for adults. Four in a relatively small van can be challenging.
Just for info I started with a self build T4 camper, then moved onto an LT35 MWB self build camper. Now have a Hymer B544 Motorhome. So I’ve gone from Air B&B to Travel Lodge to The Ritz.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
We run a T5 camper as a 2nd car. It’s drives pretty easy and isn’t too big so is comfortable on the narrow roads and can be parked as easily as a car. We bought ours converted. I think doing your own would take quite some effort but it depends if you are into that.
Having no hob could limit you when you come to sell as it’s an expected feature.
Ours is short wheel base but if I was getting another I’d probably go long. That extra space is probably worth the the extra bulk in the car park.
We have a T6 SWB which we converted ourselves about 4 yrs ago. It’s SWB, but LWB additional space is useful apparently.
The campervan market has been bonkers over the last 2 years, but I think the bubble is bursting as foreign holidays became viable again, so don’t rush, and save yourself quite a few quid by buying later in the season.
As above, buy something from a reputable converter. There are many cowboys out there.
Also, make sure you know which engine you want. The T6 engines go from 84bhp to 204bhp.
Pete