Hi folks, thanks for taking the time to visit the post!
Here goes, my wife and I are avid campers, have talked for years about owning a campervan and we now think the moons could be aligning and we’re ready to make the leap… we are complete newbies when it comes to campers. Our first port of call was to check out the Cali at a VW garage. Loved it but Jesus, is it crazy expensive!? That ultimately led to the idea of a conversion and subsequently finding our way here to this forum...
As I say, we’re complete newbies and right at the start of our research journey so we have so many questions we need to answer and hoping you can at least point us in the right direction on some of it.
So starting right at the beginning….these are the things we’re currently wrestling with.
Base Van
We’re looking at a T6, 2017, ideally less than 30k miles…
Based on the reading up to now, consensus is split but it seems to make sense to go for a T30 just to give the headroom if you do decide to do anything that adds significant weight (we for sure would add a pop-up roof/bed). We would want the DSG as our current vehicle is an automatic and couldn’t ever go back after driving that for 2 years.
After that it becomes a bit of a minefield…
Panel Van vs Combi – I’ve read some say that if you’re converting, a panel van is easier as it’s a blank canvas and you’re not having to rip out existing carpets etc. to put the insulation in and pay for seats you don’t need. On the other hand, others say the cab in the combi is quieter as it has better base insulation to begin with and some of the windows are already done for you.
Trim - I’ve read the Highline is worth finding due to the added extras you get, aircon, heated windshield, alarm etc. (love the look of the Sportline but assuming harder to come by and more expensive…). I’d ideally want an Apple Carplay/Android Auto setup, is that a Highline standard and if not, is it something that can be fairly easily added afterwards?
SWB vs LWB - It seems obvious the LWB would offer more space which you’d want for a camper but what’s it really like for parking in carparks etc. my wife has another car but this would become my main vehicle… am I going to struggle with it in an Aldi carpark!? How much more does the LWB really offer in practical terms after the conversion…? Are there any advantages to the SWB I’m not considering?
Conversion - Money is obviously a consideration… our thought process is to put more investment into a newer base van, lower mileage etc. which will hopefully pay dividends in the long run. We keep watching these Youtube videos from everyday people that claim to have no previous DIY skills, learnt on the job and came out with amazing looking results, importantly saving a fortune along the way… Now, i’m no DIY king but have done lots of renovation on the house, have plenty of the right tools and feel fairly comfortable with most stuff. In reality though, our thoughts would be a bit of a halfway house…tackle some of the simpler tasks ourselves, then go to a professional for the trickier bits or those that need certifying…installing a diesel heater, electrics maybe.
We’re not likely to have the funds for an overnight job so it will be a longer-term project doing it bit at a time over the course of 12-18 months. Ideally, we’d find a converter that would work with us on it over time…that said, if we did go down the professional conversion route, who are the key players in the Northwest/Manchester area that we should check out?
I’m almost thinking, let’s get the base van and then we’ll worry about the conversion later but there must be some key considerations we need to be thinking of before we even start the journey…we’re just a bit overwhelmed to begin with so where do we need to focus our thinking in the first instance?
I’ve probably opened lots of cans of worms here and will have loads more questions but in the interest if this not becoming and essay, I think I better leave it there for now!
Huge thank you in advance to anyone that takes the time read and respond to this post! In the meantime we'll continue to scour the rest of the forum to answer as many of these questions as we can ourselves!
