Campervan Economics

So, you want to get a campervan?

Good choice; good move!

There's nothing better in my view: the places you can go, the things you can see, the freedom - nothing beats it.

But which one, what budget?

There are many options; many different budget levels. You can spend as little as a few thousand (if you're handy with spanners, and don't mind getting your hands dirty with a few repairs).

Or at the other end of the scale, you can get a brand spanking new one for £60,000 to £100,000.

And you needn't stop there, the sky is the limit!

The Rule of Thumb

As a general rule (and it is just a general rule), you can bet on a camper van being roughly double the cost of it's base vehicle. So, if a Volkswagen Transporter might cost, say £40k for a base van, it'll be close to £80k as a campervan.

A quality, second-hand van of say 10-12 years old, with low-ish mileage might be £10-15k as a base vehicle, and £20-30k as a camper.

Again, it's only a rough rule of thumb, don't hold me to it. Prices from different manufacturers will vary, as will the specification and build quality.

Manufactured Vehicles, Conversions and Self Builds

Some manufacturers, most notably Volkswagen, make campervans themselves; they roll straight off the production line like any other vehicle. It has all the kit: bed, cooking facilities, electrics, ready to go. You pay your money and drive it off the dealership forecourt. Job done.

Conversely, campervan conversion companies are specialist coach builders who will take a base vehicle from Volkswagen, Ford, or another mainstream manufacturer and build a campervan around it. They may offer standard models that can be bought off the forecourt, or you may commission them to build one on your behalf.

The build quality of a good coach-built conversion can be as good as the manufacturers own. Sometimes it can be better in quality and specification. Sometimes it can be worse. The market varies.

Others decide to build their own. The quality of workmanship and specification will vary depending on who did the building, their budget, level of skill and attention to detail. You'll need to assess whether it's up to scratch and worth the money if you're buying one second-hand.

Or, you can have a go and build one yourself!

Converting a campervan is a one way street: you take a base vehicle, you turn it into a campervan, and it will always be a campervan. You screw, cut, fit-out and re-wire it. You change it forever. It's never going back.

Upsides and Downsides

The upsides are easy: you're going to be able to go anywhere and everywhere at the drop of a hat. Your new holiday home is parked outside your house. You carry your accommodation with you wherever you go.

Weigh this up agist the normal costs of holidays: flights, accommodation, meals, etc, and you're going to be quids in. The campervan will probably save you money in the long run.

But there's other things to consider: Will this be an additional vehicle in your family, or your daily driver?

Even though they're great for trips away, sometimes campervans don't fit the bill for day-to-day use: seating and cargo space may be compromised; fuel economy might not be as good as you're used to (remember, you're driving around with the weight of your bed and kitchen wherever you go), plus - possibly most importantly - your putting wear and tear on a vehicle that costs twice the price of it's base vehicle alternative.

It's worth factoring these cost in.

If you are going to keep your daily driver car and use the camper for recreation only, consider this: vehicles, like all mechanical things, don't like to be left standing. You can suffer more wear and tear on a vehicle by not using it. If it's left standing for long periods you may find the battery is dead, the brakes have seized, there are issues with electrics, and water and damp has found it's way inside. The first few days of your holiday are spent at home doing repairs.

The bottom line: run it regularly, use it. Don't leave it standing.

The campervan will also need to be taxed, insured, serviced and maintained. It goes without saying, that these fixed-costs are there regardless of whether you use it a little, or a lot.

So, what's the answer?

The answer is...

Like most things in life, there is no right answer!

There are no solutions, only trade-offs. You'll make the choice that's right for you: your situation, your requirements, your budget.

I can tell you what I did though. That's where the idea of the HUTT Bootcamp came from. It was my own solution, a 'third way.'

My Own Situation

I had a long list of wants and desires from my family vehicle. A list so long that it wasn't going to be solved, short of throwing a lot of money at it.

And I didn't want to throw a lot of money at it either!

This was at a time in my life where I wanted to travel more and work less. So, not surprisingly, having to fork out lots of money for a complement of new vehicles to fill my driveway wasn't the right course of action for me.

I needed up to seven seats for the extended family. It needed to be a daily driver: school runs, shopping trips, work commuting. Enough cargo room for general DIY tasks: a trip to Ikea, the dump, or help a friend move a sofa.

As well as that, the most important use-case for me: family camping trips, days out, weekends away, and long adventure trips.

In a nutshell: I wanted it all, a no-compromise vehicle.

After a lot of looking at what was available on the market. I hatched a plan, a tentative design and approach. My own camper unit based around a passenger carrying van. In this case a Volkswagen Caravelle.

My rather nice Mercedes E Class went up for sale, as did the little Ford Fiesta runaround. The funds went into an older, slightly higher mileage, but nicely kept Volkswagen Caravelle.

The big irony was that the VW was both older and had more mileage than the other two cars it replaced. It was also pretty pricey for it's age. But my research on these vehicles told me that the depreciation over time was low, so it seemed like a good investment.

Side Note: In the proceeding 10-years, the second-hand of my VW Caravelle has changed very little. I'm sure I could sell it for the same price that I bought it for now!

HUTT BootCamp: The Camper Conversion Kit

So, with the new VW on my driveway, I set to working building my first BootCamp.

It was a pretty good effort, it ticked most of the boxes, and slotted nicely into my new-to-me 7-seater Volkswagen Caravelle.

With the Caravelle's rail system, I could add and remove seats as needed. The vehicle could morph from a 5-seater camper, to a 7-seater people carrier, to load a carrying work van.

I had a seating and cargo carrying configuration for every conceivable situation. A genuine multi-use vehicle.

I could go camping with two people, or with the addition of a roof top tent, sleep four. By adding an external awning I could sleep up to six.

The record was seven, but that was starting to get very tight!

By this time I'd built several BootCamps, for friends, family and people that I'd met along the way. It had been adapted to fit different passenger carrying vans, and also, interestingly, to larger SUV and 4WD vehicles.

Four wheel drive vehicles opens up a whole new list of possibilities, they may lack the interior space of a van, but they can get to places that a van cannot reach, opening up new possibilities for wild camping and adventuring.

I was on my umpteenth revision of the BootCamp, getting it right: the features, functionality and quality has, I must admit, become a bit of an obsession!

Some years had passed, my half-business-half-hobby was blossoming into something real. I'm glad I stuck to the principles that I started with: keep it simple, build it well, out of quality materials.

Often products start with a great design from smart engineers, which then gets watered down as the cost accountants reduce it to rubbish with inferior materials, all in search of better profits.

I don't ever want to go down that road; I want to produce quality gear that lasts, you can take it from vehicle to vehicle over the years, and when you're done with it, sell on to the next person who will continue to get years of service from it.

Anyway, that's my story, ethos, raison d'etre, and the circuitous path that got me here!

'nuff said!

See you on the road...