How.... how do you afford a van?

Badjamin

Badjamin

Live long and camper!
VIP Member
T6 Guru
I'm new. I have ogled and desperately wanted T4's, T5's and T6's for over a decade. A super fan to say the least. I have a well paid job and a good credit score. I simply cannot figure out how to finance actually obtaining my first van though.

Am 44yrs old and i can feel the time ebbing away each day on this mill wheel of an existance. I need to bus up and get my weekend day trip/stop over thing happening with the wife.

I have all the skills and tools to convert a base vehicle barring electrics and have literally watched ALL of youtube...

All i can think to do is get a 100k miles autotrader base vehicle maybe a 2016 T6 highline 2.0TDI SWB for something like £18k... if i can somehow scrape a deposit together of £4k I'd proabably be able to manage just over £300 a month for 5 years...or somehow get a loan and do it that way. does that sound right? I've never had a loan...

Something like this

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Meh - well done to each and every one of you for owning one and living the dream x
 
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Spend what you can comfortably afford. There is no point in getting in debt or stretching yourself. They are an expensive bus to run, but imo worth it. Leave enough contingency money for service parts, mods which they are inevitable, or when things go wrong. I've always wanted a bus like you and ended up getting an older one to what I wanted but was in budget. The worst part is replacing parts that aren't broken but you tell you convince yourself that they:whistle:
 
The lad I work with is similar to yourself. He'd love a van but doesn't want to spend much money. He's looking at £5-10k vans to get on the camper van route as he wants to try out self convert as well. If it's beyond your means then don't do it, time will come when it is affordable to you and that's the important bit. Stil got plenty of time in life just yet. I got a bank loan which was a lot cheaper than garage forecourt loans.
 
Just bear in mind that they're quite expensive things to run and IMHO not exactly cheap to convert to a half decent and comfortable standard and often under-estimated. My dad wasn't exactly a brilliant source of advice on anything but when I got into a bit of trouble in my early 20's with a credit card (they were a new thing at the time which dates me!), he told me never to buy anything that I couldn't afford. I've lived by that ever since and the only debt that I've ever had was a mortgage. Nowadays, that's probably easier said than done but hopefully your time will come.
 
Badjamin said:
I'm new. I have ogled and desperately wanted T4's, T5's and T6's for over a decade. A super fan to say the least. I have a well paid job and a good credit score. I simply cannot figure out how to finance actually obtaining my first van though.

Am 44yrs old and i can feel the time ebbing away each day on this mill wheel of an existance. I need to bus up and get my weekend day trip/stop over thing happening with the wife.

I have all the skills and tools to convert a base vehicle barring electrics and have literally watched ALL of youtube...

All i can think to do is get a 100k miles autotrader base vehicle maybe a 2016 T6 highline 2.0TDI SWB for something like £18k... if i can somehow scrape a deposit together of £4k I'd proabably be able to manage just over £300 a month for 5 years...or somehow get a loan and do it that way. does that sound right? I've never had a loan...

Something like this

Auto Trader Vans - New and Used Vans For Sale

Find your next van with Auto Trader UK, the official #1 site to buy and sell new and used vans. Over 30,000 vans online. Simple, easy, quick!
www.autotrader.co.uk www.autotrader.co.uk

Meh - well done to each and every one of you for owning one and living the dream x
Click to expand...
Mate, respectfully you sound like one of the 300 emails a week I used to get from folk almost frantic to get a VW during the pandemic, so much so its scary.
I Used to have people offer me their kidneys.....well....not literally but you get the point.


25 years experience working on the base vehicles and building campers has lead me to one conclusion. Why?

I dont mean to dampen your spirit, hey its your money, your life but there's some things that You should hear (you won't listen as you're fixated...I get that) but im trying to help you.

Ask many of the many folks on this forum who bought a van during the pandemic for 20, 30, 40k and realized its sat on the drive doing nothing and they realise they're never going to get back the full cost when they sell it because in the first place the dealer slapped 5-10k ontop of what its actually worth taking advantage of the feeding frenzy and autotrader is now saturated with hundreds of cheap high spec vans that were bought in the frenzy and are now smeared in buyers remorse and the owners can't sell them.
You'll always pay too much for a VW. ALWAYS unless that seller is literally desperate.

Youve got to also consider, can you afford to run it?
Fuel will cost you way more than a car, Considerably more, insurance will be ridiculous, and keeping it on the road will cost you an arm and a leg unless you're mechanically minded and prepared to do it yourself.
case and point, since October 2023, I've spend £2300 on just parts for 5 different jobs on my 2016 T6 Highline....its my daily driver as well as a dayvan/camper conversion...they aren't fancy aesthetic jobs...it was cambelt, gearbox, suspension etc.....I did the work myself. So imagine what it would have cost at the dealer or a garage charging £25-55 an hour.
This forum is full of people who respectfully would admit themselves they have zero mechanical knowledge lamenting the 2k they just paid VW to do a job that an amature mechanic did for £250 in parts.
There's more to owning a VW bus than just taking photos of it before and after you've washed it with that gimmicky snow foam nonsense.
I know, I know..... buzz Killington over here ruining your fun and all that, but don't buy into the 'Cult' of VW... you know.

Here's a good example of what I mean. My friend bought an old Birmingham city council minibus for £1000 about 10 years ago, an LDV convoy i think.
Funny looking, pug nosed high top minibus.
The fun hes had in that minibus doing it up, making it into a camper, spraypainting the outside like a hippy bus is beyond anything I've ever experienced in a VW.
Its HUGE inside, you can stand up, walk about, theres LOADS of light because of the big windows, his wife went hippy crazy on the furnishings.
When we go camping together I spend 99% of my time seeing how much more fun hes having in his Jesus bus...people love it too, always asking if they can have a look in it, smiling and enjoying it.
I offered him an ex AA van, VW T6 that needed a bit of work doing for 16k 2 years ago. Nice van... he turned it down and bought a new sofa, a posh mattress for his bed at home, took the family to Florida and spent about 3k on refurbishing his Jesus bus instead.

The spirit of camping isn't about VW....thats a lie modern people started based on romaticising classic campers and the hippy lifestyle. The spirit of camping is About you, it comes from within.
You ask anyone here in this forum and I bet you would be surprised at the amount of people who wish they hadn't spent that money.
 
I understand your pain. Don't know what your everyday drive is but would it be more affordable right now to use/change one of your "ordinary" vehicles for something you could use as a semi-van?

There are now some brilliant conversion kits which just slide into SUV-type vehicles giving you cooking/sleeping options without a shed-load of debt. @Ayjay is right (well his Dad was!) about not taking on a loan or buying things you cannot afford.

You are young enough that unless there are health issues which you have not mentioned (and why should you?) then living without the indulgent luxury that many fully converted vans and motorhomes offer is not going to kill you for a few nights, it might even enhance the experience.
 
Remember, lots on here will be owned by limited companies so there’s an instant 20% VAT saving to be had and the income tax savings that come from not paying from their ‘personal income’ so to speak.

Others will have bought them as a retirement ‘present’ perhaps with some of their pension pot?

All vehicles have become expensive since COVID. I’m still unsure why they haven’t regressed especially with the cost of living crisis!

They are great vehicles and if you can convert it yourself then your plan sounds good.

Good luck with your search.
 
Gàirnealair said:
I understand your pain. Don't know what your everyday drive is but would it be more affordable right now to use/change one of your "ordinary" vehicles for something you could use as a semi-van?

There are now some brilliant conversion kits which just slide into SUV-type vehicles giving you cooking/sleeping options without a shed-load of debt. @Ayjay is right (well his Dad was!) about not taking on a loan or buying things you cannot afford.

You are young enough that unless there are health issues which you have not mentioned (and why should you?) then living without the indulgent luxury that many fully converted vans and motorhomes offer is not going to kill you for a few nights, it might even enhance the experience.
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You're so right. Its an extremely unnecessary indulgence a camper van is. Obsurdly expensive
 
We thought about it for years, somewhat helped by 2 wider family members having Californias.

The thing we did, and what I recommend you do, is to scratch the itch cheaply first.

Visit every campervan dealer or converter you can and really look at and sit in the vans and figure what you want - we found we didn't actually want a camper and ended up with a Caravelle

Then go out and hire something. We hired a Caravelle for a long weekend and went everywhere we would take a van to see how it works. Even hiring a white van or Shuttle will help - do it over a bank holiday and cut a 3 days for the price of 2 deal. You can have it on the drive and really look and measure, you can find out even if you like the dream driving it is a pain in the butt and your leg aches (I don't find that but you might)

That may feel like wasted money but spending a couple of hundred to find out you don't need a £20k loan is a bargain in my book.

Ask yourself what you really want. If it's to camp a bit then the slide in conversions are great. We met a family who had lost her California due to divorce but had a little Kango type MPV and a module from Red Campers with an EHU and was loving it - we nearly bought the same.

If you want to own a VW then go for it, but be aware the brand carries both initial and ongoing expense. There are other options but if you want a van that mostly fits where a car does the Transporter pulls off that trick very well.

Don't rush in but don't wait if it brings you joy and happiness. Drinking nice beer in a pub or going to a decent restaurant is also more expensive than takeaway but it's enjoyable too. We talked about a road trip vehicle with a kitchen for a decade; I love that the kids enjoy the van we now have but MrsRT and I missed out on 5 years of kid free travels in the van if we had bought earlier.

Don't over extend yourself in finance but think about the worst case. You can always sell the van and buy a cheap Hyundai i10 to get to shops and back, so don't take a loan that's bigger than the fire sale price of what you buy. Then if the worst happens you're out of pocket but not in crisis.

Specifically how did we do it? Well we're currently driving around in the house extension we'd been over paying into the mortgage for years to be able to afford because we decided in the end your only young enough to enjoy it once...
 
@Badjamin dont always look on here and think their lucky to have a nice converted van I want one because probably their retired got an nice little pension took a lump sum and got a van
or in my case nice suprise decent bit of inheritance like yourself always wanted a camper so used a chunk of it to get one
and use my pension to run it:rolleyes:
your day will come just bide your time
 
Bargy62 said:
@Badjamin dont always look on here and think their lucky to have a nice converted van I want one because probably their retired got an nice little pension took a lump sum and got a van
or in my case nice suprise decent bit of inheritance like yourself always wanted a camper so used a chunk of it to get one
and use my pension to run it:rolleyes:
your day will come just bide your time
Click to expand...
The most sensible statement i ever read bafgy62.... bang on mate. And you're right about how people fund this expensive hobby.
 
roadtripper said:
Even hiring a white van or Shuttle will help - do it over a bank holiday and cut a 3 days for the price of 2 deal. You can have it on the drive and really look and measure, you can find out even if you like the dream driving it is a pain in the butt and your leg aches (I don't find that but you might)
Click to expand...

Pre-Transporter I had a PVC which was brilliant. Superbly converted, fabulous condition, more than enough room, every onboard facility you could think of.

But a 6m long Peugeot Boxer with a manual transmission was a b*tch to drive and park however beautiful it was to live in. And that's why I sold both the big white box and my car (which was old and due to be replaced) and bought the T6 as a daily drive which I could also camp in.

And here's a secret which I have not even whispered out-loud to myself, let alone my nearest & dearest: as a daily drive & day van I love, love my T6. As a camper I bloody hate it. I wanted a pop top so I would be able to get under height barriers, but in lots places I go to barriers have been LOWERED to 1.9 rather than 2m so that idea has been horlixxed. Not being able to stand up unless I pop the roof is a pain, I really miss the layout of my PVC and if I can ever afford to I would go back to having two vehicles.

The Instagram dream of sitting in the open door of a VeeDub with a mug of tea and your surf board propped up outside is a very pretty picture. Real life is not the same.
 
Gàirnealair said:
Pre-Transporter I had a PVC which was brilliant. Superbly converted, fabulous condition, more than enough room, every onboard facility you could think of.

But a 6m long Peugeot Boxer with a manual transmission was a b*tch to drive and park however beautiful it was to live in. And that's why I sold both the big white box and my car (which was old and due to be replaced) and bought the T6 as a daily drive which I could also camp in.

And here's a secret which I have not even whispered out-loud to myself, let alone my nearest & dearest: as a daily drive & day van I love, love my T6. As a camper I bloody hate it. I wanted a pop top so I would be able to get under height barriers, but in lots places I go to barriers have been LOWERED to 1.9 rather than 2m so that idea has been horlixxed. Not being able to stand up unless I pop the roof is a pain, I really miss the layout of my PVC and if I can ever afford to I would go back to having two vehicles.

The Instagram dream of sitting in the open door of a VeeDub with a mug of tea and your surf board propped up outside is a very pretty picture. Real life is not the same.
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I loved this ❤ its so true.... the legs sticking out the back of the van....lake ahead.... lol its hilarious isnt it.
 
Definitely think about what you want to use it for. To stretch the budget, have a look at the T5 - we had one for years. There are some great examples out there - I’d get this nice T5 with rare 4Motion:

Auto Trader Vans - New and Used Vans For Sale

Find your next van with Auto Trader UK, the official #1 site to buy and sell new and used vans. Over 30,000 vans online. Simple, easy, quick!
www.autotrader.co.uk www.autotrader.co.uk
 
I am on my Third Transporter. As others have noted they are expensive to run. However resell value is over the Moon. My first T5 bought for 15K, done 75k miles, sold it for 20K during pandemic. 2016 T6 bought for 39K during pandemic, sold it last year after 18months and 60k miles for 37K.
My T6.1, 2021 plate bought in July last Year would leave me short of 3k if I was to sell it today with additional 15k miles on the clock.
Look at 2012/2013 California they are still on the market for 40.000+.
 
Personally I think your obsession has clouded your rationale for actually needing a van. We didn't set out to buy a VW, We were open to all shapes, sizes, makes of van. We were long time canvas campers, who, once the daughter had flown the nest, decided we wanted a bit more comfort. We needed something that would, tow & launch a boat & was reasonably comfortable to live in. The 4Mot was the clincher for us, so the VW ticked our boxes. It could just as easily have been a Ford or a Merc. Indeed, now that VW have dropped the 4Mot Transporter, our next van won't be a Transporter. We are also retired, so we can use the van to it's maximum & get the best value from it. We do 10k miles / year & they are all holiday miles, it isn't our daily driver. We spend around 120 nights a year in the van, it isn't a "Drive Ornament".
So to sum up, we bought a Transporter because it fulfilled a need, not because we wanted one per se.
 
Salty Spuds said:
Personally I think your obsession has clouded your rationale for actually needing a van. We didn't set out to buy a VW, We were open to all shapes, sizes, makes of van. We were long time canvas campers, who, once the daughter had flown the nest, decided we wanted a bit more comfort. We needed something that would, tow & launch a boat & was reasonably comfortable to live in. The 4Mot was the clincher for us, so the VW ticked our boxes. It could just as easily have been a Ford or a Merc. Indeed, now that VW have dropped the 4Mot Transporter, our next van won't be a Transporter. We are also retired, so we can use the van to it's maximum & get the best value from it. We do 10k miles / year & they are all holiday miles, it isn't our daily driver. We spend around 120 nights a year in the van, it isn't a "Drive Ornament".
So to sum up, we bought a Transporter because it fulfilled a need, not because we wanted one per se.
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Same here, I needed a van and I needed all wheel drive, the T6 4Motion was (I think) the only one at that time that fitted the bill. I certainly don't regret buying it because it still does everything I want it to do and looks tidy for an 8 year old van, but if you don't need all wheel drive I think you can get good value with other brands.
 
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