LFGSS Camper Van owners?

I think they are quite a bit smaller than a transporter, there used to be one close to my old house.

£350 not much more than my current shabby Skoda, but I do have off-street parking and live in a low risk place

narrower than a t5 and I think lower. Similar length to a swb.

Sounds like a really good price! Did you get it at auction?

Yes, I used an agent to help me to find suitable vehicles, and who could attend the auction, inspect vehicles, and then bid.

Van wars...

1 Attachment

How did you pay so little? The hammer price for mine was £3800, and I paid another £3500 for duty and shipping and commissions and fees. And the shipping took 23 weeks! I used JDMAuctionwatch

.

My hammer price was 135000yen, stepwagons are cheaper, as less popular in other export markets and it's silver which isn't popular in japan.

So I've paid similar to you in export taxes, shipping etc it's just the base vehicle was v cheap.

I won mine at auction 10th June, not sure how many weeks that is. But I had some good people working hard to get it on a ship.

I don't know anything about them..what made you choose it?

Nick_h - hope you get your Nissan sorted okay, I've been looking at getting Elgrand/Alphard/..that Honda looks alright too.

Do you have concerns with how "stealth" you'll be able to make it with that amount of windows? Or is that not a concern in the first place

Thanks, things are actually looking up. The brake problem has gone away - it was probably just a bit of binding from not being moved for 6 months. Yesterday's drive seems to have cured it. And the oil leak is only from the steering pump, not the engine. And leaks from the pump are not that uncommon. The usual cause is somebody topping it up with generic fluid. It wants the special Nissan stuff, because it's very sensitive to viscosity. A leak can usually be fixed for next to nothing if you do the work yourself, which is alleged to be easy. The pump is also perfectly situated for ease of access. No need to spend half a day removing things to get to it. So unless I'm incredibly unlucky I won't have to buy a second hand pump for £500! And it should be a good learning experience. I would like to be fairly self sufficient when I'm in the boonies with a car that isn't well known to Europe's Nissan dealers.

As for stealth, well...it looks like an airport shuttle. Maybe I should stick a Tokyo taxi light on top. Distraction can be good camouflage.

You might want to consider the Mercedes V Class. They're almost giving them away in Japan, usually with much lower mileages than the Alphard/Elgrand. And they're all petrol. The only reason I didn't get one is that they're RWD. Do you have access to Japanese auction data?

I have a Vito and the RWD allows it to have an incredibly tight turning circle which is bloody useful on a van.

Very popular with cabbies! But perhaps not great in a muddy field. Are you pleased with your Vito?

I love it, I have had it about 6 years. Have a bed we put in for weekends away (it is a dualiner with removable rear seats). Have a makeshift awning (see a few posts up).

I have got stuck in a wet field at an MTB event though!

Could be worse. There are already plenty of people covered in mud to give you a push.

Anyone van camped anywhere good in the new Forest?

Just outside the New Forest, but I've camped here a couple of times. Is lovely and plenty of other campers (at least in summer). Beware the road east of the corner can flood at high tide.

Down to 3c in van this morning. Perhaps time for fitting a heater and better front window insulation.

1 Attachment

Looks lovely there, where are you?

Yeah that looks alright! The insulated "Bra" that wraps round the outside of windscreen and side windows is excellent insulation and light stop and virtually stops all condensation inside the windscreen as well. Since getting mine I have taken my interior curtains out of the van.

Proper diesel heater FTW. Borrowed a few mates vans with them and would recommend, some are more noisy than others. Even just running it before you go to bed and then being able to whack it on when you wake up/snooze is super handy, proper install often means partially dropping a fuel tank, or installing a seperate tank to feed it. Plan for the exhaust too, extra fancy insulation in that area massively helps reduce the booming sound they make.

Good to know. I wouldn't need it when sleeping, just when I get up and its cold in van would be good. Okay here where it gets warm but when in Scotland and was 5C all day was naff.

Cheers @velosaurus I will get one

La Molina in Cerdanya Valley of Pyrenees.

Very nice!

@skinny I fitted a Chinese heater this year, bloody rocket power! Makes all the difference on a cold morning.

In other news, kiddo is now 4 and has supersonic strength… checking everything works and added some rubber blocks into the suspension springs.

1 Attachment