Commercial van or registered camper?

danield633 · 05-04-2026 09:33AM #1

Hi I've been contemplating getting a van or camper, but have a few questions first.

Is there much needed for change use of a commercial van to a camper?

What are rough insurance costs as commercial van Vs camper? Never had van insurance driving 10 years.

rough idea of total fit out cost between panelling(tongue and groove), insulating (what type insulation is best), wiring for solar and 240v 1 window ?

Ive a relatively small budget so weighing up which route might be best for keeping cost low as possible. But also really like the idea of kitting out a van my way and also get the experience of doing it.

Plan on using the van for 1 to 2 night getaways over a weekend so build won't be anything crazy, I would like to keep it pretty basic but comfortable.

Any 1st hand info appreciated 👍🏽

XsApollo · 05-04-2026 09:47AM

camper insurance is between 3-400 euro , ,road tax is 100 euro flat fee.

I presume commercial insurance won’t cover sleeping in it :-D

Also road tax on a commercial is engine size based , unless that’s changed.

So a registered camper would probably save 1500 euro a year on road tax and insurance alone.

Others might chime in with conversion costs and registering it.

Myself I would keep looking on done deal for a cheap camper.
for example I have a T5 transporter , 2005 , which I’m thinking of putting up for sale and I would be looking around 13-14 k for it.

The thing about campers in my experience is they hold their value.
I have had 3 transporters and have sold them on for what I paid for them.

A commercial might not do that for you.

danield633 · 05-04-2026 04:19PM

Thanks for the info definitely something to keep in mind 👌🏽 Have you any idea of requirements of converting commercial to camper? Only thing with buying a camper that someone else has converted is god knows what kinda way it's been done under all the panelling and everything else 😂

RiderOnTheStorm · 14-04-2026 10:54AM

pros & cons to doing a conversion yourself - if you are good at it, then you know exactly whats going into it and can keep costs down , layout exactly as you want, and perhaps do it in stages as money / opportunity allows. Also, good for fixing problems down the line if you know where every wire comes from etc . On the down side, you have to buy the van first and convert later, and if you find a problem then you can get into a money-pit situ. and there is no guarantee / warranty, and you have to re-reg the van .

Buying one thats already done will cost more but might not be 100% the way you want . There is a lot of choice out there if you are willing to wait for the right one to come along, especially here in UK.

My last 2 campers were all converted by pro's and the one before that was coach built, so my experience of cost of conversion is from articles & websites only and seems to be in the region of 10k to 50k …. you get what you pay for.

I think the only admin for conversion is getting van re-registered on log book as camper (not commercial). Have no idea how hard that is, or cost, or time, etc

Itineoman · 15-04-2026 03:04PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124393837#Comment_124393837

Unfortunately it's a bit more complex here than in the UK. Had this conversation with an english friend recently and he was astonished at how expensive and messy the process is.

Commercial van or registered camper?

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