The decision making process we went through when buying our panel van, including features we were determined to look for and the purchase process we went through. As well as a full description of the panel van and it's specifications.
So, we had tried and tested a T6 Campervan and decided we wanted to buy one to own for ourselves to make a future full of happy family memories. But knowing you want a VW Transporter is one thing, knowing what year, model, engine, features, seats and specifications you want is a whole other world of options we hadn't prepared ourselves for!
“It has to have a double bench front seat, a tailgate, air conditioning, Trendline or Highline spec and an engine bigger than the basic 102ps so that we had sufficient grunt for travelling.”
Our Considerations
We knew that we could buy a van that had already been converted but then we would be stuck with the decor and features that somebody else had designed. Whilst looking online at ready converted vans, we also immediately noticed the VW Campervan 'Scene Tax'. All the pre converted vans we could see were so expensive that when we did the sums, it worked out that we would likely be able to afford to buy a newer base van with lower mileage and factor in the cost of the conversion and end up being slightly better off.
We decided despite the VW 'Scene Tax', the vehicles factory build quality would be great and we needed a vehicle we could trust if we were planning on travelling across Europe in years to come. We also need a van that we knew we could all fit in and sleep. When our interested had been sparked in VW Campervans, we hired a converted van for a week in July 2018 from Sunshine Campers, Bridgend and found the VW T6 was great for us. It had been big enough to sleep us all, but small enough to be used as an everyday vehicle.
We quickly came to the conclusion that it made sense in terms of both having our own personal design and finances to start the van build from scratch ourselves,
We decided to spend our money on a newer base van and Roj searched for months and months online. We had written a list of features that we felt we would need as a base on the van itself before we converted it.
This list of vital features included a double bench front seat (so we could fit a swivel base for four of us to eat meals), a tailgate rear rather than barn doors, air conditioning (a must for future European trips we wanted to take in the van), Trendline of Highline spec and an engine bigger than the basic 102ps so that we had sufficient grunt for travelling.
The Perfect Van For Us
Finally, in February 2019, Roj found a 140 Trendline White 2016 T6 Panel Van with a tailgate and air conditioning at VW Sinclair Van Centre,Swansea. It was the first van we had found with all of the accessories and features we were looking for, it only had 20k miles on the clock and was right around the corner from us. It was also right on our budget so that we could have money available to convert it.
It had a Composite Colour Entertainment system, Bluetooth Phone connectivity, Air Conditioning, the 140ps engine so was more powerful than the base model. It also had start stop technology and even more of a bonus, didn't require Ad-Blu! It had very low mileage and was in very good condition.
As soon as we saw it, we got straight into the car and drove down to the garage to check the van out. It had literally been dropped off at the garage the day before by the previous owner and they hadn't even had time to prep it or photograph it ready to go on the website. It had just been listed with no photographs and very basic details on their website.
We were allowed into the compound to see the van. It was a basic tradesmen's panel van, some minor scuff marks on the bumper protectors but other than that, had been very well looked after and was perfect for our plan. We immediately made a deal with the dealer that the van would be made to look showroom ready and placed a deposit in order to take it off sale to anyone else.
We knew we had to act quickly because vans of this spec were very popular and had been disappearing almost immediately during our months of searching!
Within a couple of weeks, we were collecting the van having sold one of our cars!
Why a VW Campervan and not a Motorhome?
We considered a Motorhome and also a Caravan. During our discussions we decided;
Firstly, budget would be an issue. If we were maintaining two cars and an additional motorhome or caravan as well, considering tax, insurance and running costs, it would become quite expensive for a vehicle that we would use only for holidays and weekends away.
Secondly, we were concerned about having the space to store a third large vehicle at home. At the time we owned two 4x4 SUVs and only had room for a third car on the driveway, a caravan or motorhome would simply be too large and it would not be fair on our neighbours to take up room in the street outside of our driveway.
We also felt that if we had a caravan or motorhome, it would end up sitting on the drive possibly for months on end without being used and would only be used for holidays. We preferred the idea of having a van that we could also use as an everyday vehicle. It would fit into normal car park spaces and would go most places without a 2m height restriction. Essentially we could go anywhere a van could go.
We came to the conclusion that financially and logistically it made sense to lose one of our current SUVs and replace it with the Campervan that could also be used as Roj's everyday car.
We had bought our base van. Now it was time to start looking to get it converted to our dream Campervan as soon as possible.
No comments:
Post a Comment