Tag: Campervans

Buying alloy wheels for your van.

IMG_3484I recently changed my factory fitted steel rims to vw alloy wheels. One thing to note is that if you go with factory branded alloy wheels they will cost a lot more than non factory branded alloy wheels.

When purchasing any alloys you need to ensure that they are from a reputable company and that they have the certification that states how much load can be put onto the tyres. So depending on what you are carrying in the back ask these questions with the dealer.

In my case I emailed a local camper van conversion company who advertised that they sold alloy wheels. Luckily they had a set of four VW second hand alloys that were taken off another conversion. The company was also located next to a tyre fitting company so could all be done in one trip.

I did a deal just over a £100.00 for all four. They might have had a few scratches but this didn’t bother me for where they were going to be used. This was perfect as I was trying avoid paying for brand new alloys and they were vw as well.

Thinking of purchasing your first Campervan

Thinking of buying of your first Campervan these  are some of the questions you need to ask yourself.

  • How many miles do you think you will do?
  • How many nights will I realistically have time to stay away?
  • Will the Campervan add value to my life?
  • Why do I need a Campervan?
  • Who will be coming away on the trips?
  • Do I want to just see what it is like living with a van before spending more.

The approach that I took was to purchase a VW 06 plate transporter with 132000 miles on the clock. It was a former works vehicle van so had a full service history.

I did consider spending more on the van to have a nicer spec and increased reliability. VW’s apart from the usual maintenance it worked out cheaper than buying a newer one with less miles. I will go into the reasons for purchasing and costs of owning mine in a later blogs.

Since I purchased my VW as a second vehicle.  I have averaged 5000 miles a year. With around of 15 nights each year which has steadily grown.

The key question to ask is if this is not your first vehicle and you will only be using the van on weekends then need to consider how much you should be spending on your van.