VW Campers?

[MyLittleStudPony]

When you say great big one...

https://www.johncharles.net/product/mot ... xed-bunks/

This sort of size is what I started looking at, it seems to have everything that we thought would be useful to have.
My mate has had a couple and he's ended up with what he reckons is his perfect one, with a fixed bed - which he reckons doesn't sound like much but apparently makes a big difference because his missus usually prefers an early night and it means she can go off to bed and he can stay in the living room area and carry on watching the telly.

The problem is though that something that size would be inconvenient on our driveway and it won't fit through the archway into the back garden, so realistically I'd have to store it in the local storage place, which isn't a huge problem because it's literally the local farm about ten minutes walk away, but a VW camper would double as a daily driver and would fit nicely in the spot in the garage that the Defender sits in now.

I hired one like that foo a week, about five years ago to take my two kids on holiday. It was a Rimor Katamarano which slept six nominally, although there were only three of us.

It felt very big to drive. It was also based on a rough old van and was noisy. Much noisier than my current Transit based minibus. From memory, although it slept six, I'm not sure there were six seats they could sit in safely when driving.

The build quality of the fit and finish felt really low, about four times flimsier than a Ford Fiesta. I was surprised considering it was an expensive vehicle. Pretty much every time I pulled away a door popped open something like that. Maybe that was operator error.

It had a toilet / shower but we didn't use either. They both felt a bit small and Micky Mouse and someone would have empited the shit out - and that would have been me.

I thought we could have stayed anywhere but in practice didn't manage that and booked into campsite everywhere we went. And used their showers and toilets.

I used the kitchen once but that seemed a lot of hassle.


Now I've typed that out, it sounds like a bit of a kicking. It wasn't meant to be. We had a good time. But my kids weren't massively into it, I think they prefer a big bell tent. It's a lot cheaper too.

If I was getting another I'd go for a much smaller two person one without the bathroom stuff, just for me the my partner.

I know everyone is different, these were just my (limited!) experiences and views on what I would do going forward.


What I might actually do going forward is take the rear seats out of my minibus (they all clip out), put a futon in the back and treat that like a budget camper van, and scuttle the g/f in that.

[Noggin]

No idea about VW camper vans exactly, but I've driven a lot of VW T5/T6 in the last few years.

They drive like a big car! But, do try one. I find the seating position in the automatics fine. But in the manual versions, well, I always feel as if the seating position is on the piss. Legs not actually pointing ahead, but slightly to the side. Probably not an issue for a couple of hours, but when you're driving one for 6+ hours a day it's bastard uncomfortable.

On the campervan side, the VWs are the narrowest of the main vans. Fords are wider and Renault Trafic are the widest. Might make a difference to how the inside feels?

If you can find someone that sells the Ford version camper, give that a look. I've seen a couple around here that look as if they are sold that way and not converted - if they are converted, they're bloody good.

I would go Ford but that's personal as, out of all the minibuses/vans I've driven in the last 10 years, Fords have been most comfortable!! But that's just cos I can't sit straight in a VW and the Trafic isn't as nice as the Ford!