Buy a camper van in Germany

Tippman 1 · 02-09-2010 6:10pm #1

Hi,
Could someone tell me what it would cost in VRT if the camper van is under 3 ton weight, Is it worth it to buy over there?

650Ginge · 02-09-2010 7:52pm

Tippman 1 wrote: »

Hi,
Could someone tell me what it would cost in VRT if the camper van is under 3 ton weight, Is it worth it to buy over there?

If it is under 3 tonne then you will pay VRT at 13.3% based on the value of the van, it is not based on what you pay for the van, but what the VRT office think it is worth. And that will be considerably more than you pay for it in Germany.

We bought ours in Germany, easy to do, but our dealer seems to have closed now.

Tippman 1 · 02-09-2010 8:40pm

Would you say you save money buying in Germany, Or is it the same after you put on the Vrt over here

650Ginge · 02-09-2010 8:52pm

Only way to work that out is to decide on what van you are looking for, (if it is your first van you will think it is your perfect van, but it wont be,) but that is worthy of a thread in itself, then compare the prices here and don't forget the UK, you'll get right hand drive in the UK.

What are you looking for in a van? Budget, berths, whatever?

Tippman 1 · 02-09-2010 8:56pm

It would be my first camper van , 5 berth, some back in the years maybe 1991 up to a 1995 small buget

kadman · 02-09-2010 9:08pm

The smaller the budget, the harder its going to be to find a decent camper. Is your budget in the single figures.

Myself and the brother have spent the last few days looking for a camper for a friend, on a budget of 3k. Basically whats out there at that is rubbish. I cant see you getting something that doesn,t need major work.

We did look at a couple of nice campers near carlow at 7k, that I imagine will go at a bit below that. But they were in excellent condition, unfortunately out side of the friends budget,

kadman

Tippman 1 · 02-09-2010 9:15pm

Thanks for that Kadman, The budget that I was think of was around the 7k to 9k but all the ones that I have seen have no power steering is the normally ?

650Ginge · 02-09-2010 9:16pm

Ok, 5 berth is a big van, you seen anything on donedeal. Theres loads out there.

Tippman 1 · 02-09-2010 9:20pm

There was a few but , no power steering , dampness , etc ,

650Ginge · 02-09-2010 9:27pm

Tippman 1 wrote: »

There was a few but , no power steering , dampness , etc ,

Keep looking like the previous poster said it is going to difficult to find a good one at that sorted money. That is exactly the sorta money we started off wanting to spend but we spent a whole lot more. That was four years ago, it is paid off and we still have it, it was worth pushing the budget to get something better. Might not be an option for you and if you have never had a van before it is a lot of money to put down. I took a chance on a two berth £2k van off Ebay from near Leeds for the first van, it was a bit of a heap, but it was all I would risk and not like campervaning.

Anyway keep searching, something will turn up. Just at €9k makes sure you can sell it again if you need to, don't end up with a heap.

Tippman 1 · 02-09-2010 9:31pm

Thanks for all info
650 Ginge

kadman · 02-09-2010 10:24pm

Tippman 1 wrote: »

Thanks for that Kadman, The budget that I was think of was around the 7k to 9k but all the ones that I have seen have no power steering is the normally ?

I would not let power steering be an issue, unless you are just not physically able to drive one without it.

I drive a Fiat Talento camper with no power steering, my brother drives a Fiat Ducato long wheelbase with none, and my father who is 78 drives it as well, its a 6.5 metere one with out power steering.

So drive them first before you rule it out. The one in Carlow was a 1989 Eldiss with a 2 litre petrol engine, and was in excellent order , and would be bought for less than the lower end of your budget.

But I think that the larger campers over 3.5 ton need a C1 license, maybe peasant could correct me if i am wrong.

kadman

joed571 · 03-09-2010 12:06am

Tippman 1 wrote: »

It would be my first camper van , 5 berth, some back in the years maybe 1991 up to a 1995 small buget

hi tippman
bought my first camper back in may.. its a 1995 fiat ducato 1.9 td 5 berth has power assisted steering, but this isnt a problem, you get used to it:D if you have kids a oven will be usefull,,,

peasant · 03-09-2010 8:47am

kadman wrote: »

But I think that the larger campers over 3.5 ton need a C1 license, maybe peasant could correct me if i am wrong.

Depends on when you got your licence. Older B licences allow up to 7.5 tons
(not sure about the exact dates though, nor the procedures for keeping it that way during renewal)

loobylou · 03-09-2010 9:17am

In the past when you got your B licence they automatically gave you a C1 as well.
They will still renew it automatically, provided you get a cert from your doctor saying you are fit to drive a C1. No cert and its "dropped" from your licence.

paddyp · 04-09-2010 11:47am

kadman wrote: »

I would not let power steering be an issue, unless you are just not physically able to drive one without it.

Have you ever driven a fully loaded vehicle without power steering?

The issue is NOT whether you can physically steer it or not. The issue is the feedback when you hit a pothole or have to mount a kerb or a ditch on one of irelands many tiny roads. You will lose your grip on the wheel and possibly injury your wrists at some point.

The good news is that you can retrofit power steering to most vehicles.

Aidan_M_M · 08-09-2010 5:17pm

paddyp wrote: »

Have you ever driven a fully loaded vehicle without power steering?

The good news is that you can retrofit power steering to most vehicles.

Find me a good S/H PAS rack so for a LHD Ducato or Transit. , from the early 90's.

paddyp · 08-09-2010 6:18pm

Aidan_M_M wrote: »

Find me a good S/H PAS rack so for a LHD Ducato or Transit. , from the early 90's.

http://cgi.ebay.de/Servolenkung-Fiat-Ducato-280-290-2-5-D-TD-7269-/370381038711?pt=Autoteile_Zubeh%C3%B6r&hash=item563c6e2477

http://cgi.ebay.de/Servolenkung-Ford-Transit-2-5-D-TD-TDI-6207-/220587105803?pt=Autoteile_Zubeh%C3%B6r&hash=item335c041e0b

Aidan_M_M · 10-09-2010 3:30pm

Cheers , but I was hoping to find something in Ireland that I could go see. There's 2 types of Ducato rack , and apparently a couple of different Tranny ones . The search continues..

paddyp · 10-09-2010 6:31pm

Aidan_M_M wrote: »

Cheers , but I was hoping to find something in Ireland that I could go see. There's 2 types of Ducato rack , and apparently a couple of different Tranny ones . The search continues..

That was a 20 second search, I'm sure you caould get one much cheaper than that and the germans have always been very helpful to me, I'd trust a stranger in germany more that most scrappies in Ireland. Most will accept return they're happy to outline any part numbers etc and may even have the chassis number of the van it came from so that you can check with Fiat EPER or Ford.

Delivery from germany is about the same as UK. I have had a much easier time returning stuff to Germany and Hungary than to scrap yards in westmeath, tipperary and Cork the assumption in ireland is that you're trying to rip them off in some way in germany it just "OK no problem"

Buy a camper van in Germany

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