I’m not sure where to start with this tale. Perhaps last November is an appropriate place?
Our car was getting a bit long in the tooth and in need of replacement (we bought it in January 2013 to fill a temporary need, intending to sell it 3 months later), and if we were going to buy a new(er) car, then why not one big enough to house a bed and a kitchen? After all, surely it’s perfectly reasonable for one married couple to own two campervans? A big one (Bertie) for comfort on longer trips and a tiny one for day trips and short stays in the UK. It was in November 2019 that Mick came to agree with me that this was a sensible way forward and the hunt was on.
Research ensued. Spreadsheets were populated. The conclusion reached was that the best way to achieve our aims* within the budget was to buy a vehicle and do the conversion ourselves. We started scouring the market to see what would suit our needs and narrowed it down to two vehicles: a Peugeot Expert or a Mercedes Vito (both of which come in car and van versions). In late November we came within a hair’s breadth of buying an Expert (hindsight: wish we had!), but we had a wobble and decided we’d prefer a Vito.
An eye was kept on the sale ads through December and we attended a couple of auctions. We were back at the auction in early January, but by then we conceded the project was going to have to be put on hold as we were due to head off to Spain a couple of weeks later. That didn’t leave long enough to be sure of selling the old car and we didn’t want to find ourselves with two cars over that period of time. Plus, when were we going to find the time this year to do the conversion?
Oh, if we’d known then what we know now! Fast forward to mid-March, when we unexpectedly found ourselves back at home with all the time in the world to be working on fitting out a vehicle … if only we had any way of sourcing one … or buying the materials needed for the fit-out … or any prospect of selling the old car privately.
As lockdown started lifting, we decided that we needed to take action. We didn’t want to keep the car for another year (it had been absolutely reliable through our ownership, but at 11.5 years old it was becoming increasingly likely that things would start to wear and break). However, our uncertainty as to the state of the second hand market, given how recently movement restrictions had been relaxed, was such that we felt we had to put the cart before the horse and sell the old before seeking the new, even though that was going to leave us without a car in which to go and seek a new car.
The car sold right in the middle of July (for, I reckon, £500 less than we would have got back in January). The hunt for a new vehicle then started in earnest.
To be continued…
(*We could have bought an off-the-shelf van within our budget, but it would be quite old and high mileage. Moreover, tiny campervans within our budget that have been insulated, have a heater and have a toilet are so rare that I’ve not yet found one.)
Our car was getting a bit long in the tooth and in need of replacement (we bought it in January 2013 to fill a temporary need, intending to sell it 3 months later), and if we were going to buy a new(er) car, then why not one big enough to house a bed and a kitchen? After all, surely it’s perfectly reasonable for one married couple to own two campervans? A big one (Bertie) for comfort on longer trips and a tiny one for day trips and short stays in the UK. It was in November 2019 that Mick came to agree with me that this was a sensible way forward and the hunt was on.
Research ensued. Spreadsheets were populated. The conclusion reached was that the best way to achieve our aims* within the budget was to buy a vehicle and do the conversion ourselves. We started scouring the market to see what would suit our needs and narrowed it down to two vehicles: a Peugeot Expert or a Mercedes Vito (both of which come in car and van versions). In late November we came within a hair’s breadth of buying an Expert (hindsight: wish we had!), but we had a wobble and decided we’d prefer a Vito.
An eye was kept on the sale ads through December and we attended a couple of auctions. We were back at the auction in early January, but by then we conceded the project was going to have to be put on hold as we were due to head off to Spain a couple of weeks later. That didn’t leave long enough to be sure of selling the old car and we didn’t want to find ourselves with two cars over that period of time. Plus, when were we going to find the time this year to do the conversion?
Oh, if we’d known then what we know now! Fast forward to mid-March, when we unexpectedly found ourselves back at home with all the time in the world to be working on fitting out a vehicle … if only we had any way of sourcing one … or buying the materials needed for the fit-out … or any prospect of selling the old car privately.
As lockdown started lifting, we decided that we needed to take action. We didn’t want to keep the car for another year (it had been absolutely reliable through our ownership, but at 11.5 years old it was becoming increasingly likely that things would start to wear and break). However, our uncertainty as to the state of the second hand market, given how recently movement restrictions had been relaxed, was such that we felt we had to put the cart before the horse and sell the old before seeking the new, even though that was going to leave us without a car in which to go and seek a new car.
The car sold right in the middle of July (for, I reckon, £500 less than we would have got back in January). The hunt for a new vehicle then started in earnest.
To be continued…
(*We could have bought an off-the-shelf van within our budget, but it would be quite old and high mileage. Moreover, tiny campervans within our budget that have been insulated, have a heater and have a toilet are so rare that I’ve not yet found one.)
I look forward to more of this story - it's like A Dickens novel: originally published in instalments.
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