Hi All, newbie without a van

Hi All,

Great forum, lots of cracking stuff and great looking vans on here and very informative site for a newbie like me.
Looking at buying my first Van for our family, me the wife and the two kids, any tips on buying a family van?



Cheers


John

 

Hi John and welcome. Keep reading and youl get the gist of whats about and hopefully what you want. Good luck with the bus hunting. Spent some time in your area - like it down there - good place to have a bus you can park up ext to the sea and let the world go by.

 

Tips -
Set a budget based on a bit of research and buy the van needing the least work within that budget.
Buy one thats sorted!!!!!!!!
Mechanicals are inexpensive to sort but bodywork is the big priority. If it unbolts it can be replaced if it doesnt it still can be but its gonna get expensive if done right.
Go to a show if you can and look at a few conversions, working out how it will work for you

 

Like Dicky says, spend time looking about.. There are so many variations, so choose the one right for you and the family.

Don't buy for the sake of buying... Set a budget, with half again ready for repairs...

Take a Mechanic or Vw friend to view, kicking tyres don't work!!

Make sure you both test drive it, they can be beasts to master...

Oh, and never tell a dealer how much your budget is!!

Good luck,



Ps.. Welcome to the site.

Baggy ^-^

 

Hi John and welcome
Good luck with your search, there are a lot of conversions out there and most will sleep 4 if they have a pop top.
The rest is down to personal preference , I prefer a full width bed witch means less cupboards I also tend to use my van for tip runs and such like so I don't want loads of other units in there.
In mine I just have a rock and roll bed and a cooker cupboard. Others on here will rave about westies , I find them a bit cramped, I prefer Devons. Most of our camping is done with an awning using camping chairs, tables and portable stuff that you can add as you go so the van dosent have to be that well equipped.

Anyhow all I'm saying is everyone has different needs and wants, maybe hire one and see what you like and don't like about it.

 

hello with a family the least work the better as you want to be out enjoying the van not kicking it and shouting at it
bek

 

Hello and Welcome from The Colonial Contingent.

Good luck in the search for your van, as the others have said spend as much as your budget allows but save a bit for the unexpected emergency.
The right van will find you, all it takes is time & patience.

 

Hallo and welcome from Oslo, enjoy you bay hunting

 

If it`s you first van and do want to enjoy it this year do not be tempted to buy a restoration...

Look at coversions that suit your family and please take someone with you that knows something about vw campers and mechanics ... 8)

Bon courage and welcome.

 

Hi and welcome!

As others have said, take your time and take someone with you who knows what you are looking at.

Many of us on here have learnt the hard way that shiny paint can hide a mass of problems.

I would try and buy a van where all of you can sleep comfortably in the van itself.

Having 2 kids, if I had my time again I would probably look for a Viking conversion, but the Westy is good as well.

 

welcome matey
don't buy shiny paint unless you can see resto pictures, faded or tatty original will cost less in the long run.
if you aren't worried about left hand drive think about american vans, a few members sell them cheap - Joker is one who has good priced decent vans.
don't buy off e-bay unless you see it first.
don't take the mrs and kids and let them sway you with oooooohhhssssss and ahhhhsssssss......
don't buy cos the seller has big tits (ask poptop2)
there are lots of good vans up at the moment on here or do what i did and ask a mod if it's ok to link from sites to here and let us sort the wheat from the chaff....
now is the best time to buy, in a month or two they will be dearer.
good luck, Rick.

 

Hi and welcome.

I'd like to echo the sentiments above and add "Don't buy the first one you see".

 

Exactly.

 

Welcome and good hunting. ^^^^ What they all said^^^^^

 

Hello, what everyone else has said. If you find yourself in the Bournemouth area go and have a chat with Gary at CoolCampers, you find a link scrolling down the side of the page. The alternative route is get very drunk and go on fleabay then regret both activities the next day

 

Hello fella, welcome aboard!

Van wise, stay well within your budget, try not to spend it all as you'll need some for "modifications/repairs" lol

There's some great bargains but also a lot of bad wrecks, make sure the chassis is solid !

 

Thanks everyone for the great replies, much appreciated

Looks at though I've already made a classic mistake "Don't buy the first one you see". :-[, I may have found one before we have even looked at the different types of van available. Going to view it in a few weeks, a 75 Devon Eurovette, ex show van and been in camper and bus magazine looks good but expensive!!! I have been told its in mint condition, but as it was a show van I'm concerned we may need to spend quite a bit kitting it out to turn it into a comfy family camper.
And ricckyroo1 thankfully the seller is a bloke and hasnt got big tits, otherwise It would be a quick sale.
Or should I do the sensible option and wait for Volksworld and have a look round, maybe get a van there?

Cheers and thanks again for your great posts ;D

John