Buying a VW T5 for conversion to a campervan

Plutonium Kun

Hi, I'm not sure if this belongs in 'campervans' or here, so I've cross-posted it.

I'm looking to buy a T5 to convert to a campervan, but I'm a bit of a neophyte when it comes to judging vans. Many of those on donedeal, etc., look like they've been badly abused - I don't care how old it is, I'm looking for one which has plenty of years left in it. But it seems hard to judge from the adverts or the few I've seen as to whether its a good van or not. There seems to be a huge variation in the prices asked, which makes me suspicious about some of the 'clean' ones for sale at quite low prices.

So if I do go to buy one privately or from a general dealer (some of which seem to have a dubious reputation going by some comments on these boards), what should I look out for? I'm assuming I should try to go for 'one owner only' vans, and a full service history, and to look out for scuffs and marks which indicate bad driving. I've also been told to look out for 4-motion variants as being quite good.

Anything else I should be looking at to be able to judge if its a good one or not?

00833827

one that hasn't been worked to death i guess - i would say good history and decent milage, you will be fitting out the inside so if its not been well kept in the back i doubt it will matter a whole lot but might give an indication what the van was used for,

there is a T5 Owner Forum in the uk as far as i recall - they would probably have a section on the conversion side of things. What are you gonna do with it? I have always wanted a camper myself, but one that didn't look too camper-ish like the T5 - if you get me.

These guys look class by the way:

http://www.doubleback.co.uk/

Plutonium Kun

I'll be going to someone like cosyclassics.ie to do the conversion - basically getting a raised roof, fitting it with insulation and a small kitchen, tables and cupboards. What I do with it depends a lot on the van I get - if I can get a cheapish older one, then I'll do a basic conversion, if I get a better quality one, then it would be tempting to do something very nice (but not as expensive as that doubleback!).

T5 seem to be the standard that everyone uses - I'm not sure why, but I think it goes back to the reliability of the old VW buses, even though the T5 doesn't have the same reputation, apparently the engines are prone to failure. But the general size and layout seems about right for small conversions, so thats what most of the kit manufacturers supply. Some companies only do VW's, no other type of van, which is quite annoying.

The issue of mileage is problematic, with what I've been told about them. Basically, one with 200,000 km on the clock might be fine, if it had a good owner, but one with 50,000 km might be crap, if those kms were done by the usual white van cowboys, or if a lot of it was over construction sites, etc. So I've been told that straight up mileage is not a good way to judge.

00833827

Yeah probably correct, the previous working life of the van would be the most important -

if you go ahead throw up a build thread - would be very interested to see how it goes.

00833827

http://www.vwt4forum.co.uk/

might be of use

Plutonium Kun

Thanks for the link, looks useful (if vaguely depressing to find myself in a discussion forums for vans!).

Yeah, don't worry about the mileage too much, go for a condition over the miles. When I was shopping for my base vehicle I ended up with a six-year-old van with 170k miles which has been absolutely perfect for past 5 years/30k miles. Apart from few consumables like front shocks and brake pads the first fault happened just about month ago, and cost 50 € for parts.

IMO, body rot is the issue which will eventually kill camper vans (mine is a Merc though which are notorious for it). Just keep on top of any emerging rust and have a bit of ocd. with oil changes etc. and you're golden with an unabused high miler I reckon.

Plutonium Kun

samih wrote: »

Yeah, don't worry about the mileage too much, go for a condition over the miles. When I was shopping for my base vehicle I ended up with a six-year-old van with 170k miles which has been absolutely perfect for past 5 years/30k miles. Apart from few consumables like front shocks and brake pads the first fault happened just about month ago, and cost 50 € for parts.

IMO, body rot is the issue which will eventually kill camper vans (mine is a Merc though which are notorious for it). Just keep on top of any emerging rust and have a bit of ocd. with oil changes etc. and you're golden with an unabused high miler I reckon.

I know, but the question for me is, how to tell if it has been abused? I'm assuming smart sellers know a few tricks to cover up abuse damage, is there any good way to be sure its been driven with reasonable care?