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Camping car


woolybanana

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The curse of the Bananas is beginning to course in my veins again and I will have to go a'roaming awhile I fear. But this time, instead of doing a Walter Starkie, we might be a bit more sensible and get a camping car.

So, has anybody out there got one, has anyone advice on the purchase of a modest two birth-ish vehicle, not new, perhaps on a Volkswagen base.

What of importing from, say, Belgium; is this practical, do-able or do the DRIRE make it a real pain?

Me, two dogs and a duck called Emily will be most grateful.

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Irish prof of Lit. of the pre-Spanish Civil War era who had gypsy blood and who used to don old clothes every summer and just go off walking in Spain with his fiddle. Spent a lot of time with gypsies, best known for 'Spanish Raggle Taggle' but there is also some good poetry I think.
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I have a Hymer A-Class (that means a gin palace in motorhomespeak) which I originally imported from Germany to the UK then brought it across to France.  A few hoops to jump through over here, but no big deal.

In your case, the secret is to buy a pukka conversion from a Euro company such as Westfalia - they are the specialists in Volkswagen conversions (they are now owned by Volkswagen).  They also offer a top of the range 'James Cook' model based on the Mercedes Sprinter and a very nice 'Nuggett' model based on the Ford Transit.  Check out their website for details. You can pick up recent second hand vehicles but be aware that campers do tend to be expensive.

Whilst commercial vehicles don't yet fall within the Euro type approval system, the continental camper manufacturers will have organised EU-wide approval for their latest conversions as 'specialist vehicles', so that they can issue the magic EU certificates of conformity which makes the import process a cinch - even coming from Belgium.....[;-)]

You can find lots more information about Westies from the [url=http://www.dmiuk.com]UK importer[/url].  Whilst I have no business connection with them, the German owners are old friends of mine....

 

 

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Hey, I've seen SD's camping car and it is definitely the dogs whatsits! By the time you've walked from one end to another you could alomost be in another country, that's how big it is! [:D]

Sid

Edit: Just noticed a post 3 or 4 below this thread about someone selling a campervan. Just like a dating agency, linking buyers and sellers!

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[quote user="Christine Animal"]

Here's a bargain ensemble just to get you started

http://www.leboncoin.fr/vi/47319347.htm?ca=18_s

Hope that helps.   [:)]

[/quote]

Blimey Mrs A! What's wooly going to do with a bidet, toilet AND a German helmet?  And he will surely need a ladder user certificate from HSE won't he?

I looked for months on Leboncoin, but they all seemed to have been to the moon and back and were going for massive money, seems that CC owners haven't heard of the credit crunch.

Have a look on Autotrader UK as well wooly.  If you specify LHD it will save you trawling through loads.

I found mine in the other place...you know nudge nudge[;-)]

And big thanks to SD for his great advice.

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The problem with older VW`s is that they have become more than just a camper - its a Lifestyle scene, a fashion and a way of life for some, hence prices are kept artificially high by demand. It used to only be split-window and bay-window campers that this applied to, but it is spreading through the T4 and other newer ranges now as they become more and more popular in the "scene". For the same money, you ar elikely to get newer, better specced camper from most of the non VW marques.

 

 

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B series Hymers are worth a look - they're 4-5 berth, which means they sleep two in reasonable comfort, are very well built (and warm in winter and cool in summer), aren't too big to park at the supermarket and are reasonably economical to run. Not too expensive in Germany, where we picked up a low-kilometrage Fiat-based '92 one, with one previous owner and FSH. They have a solid following, but don't seem to have the inflated VW scene prices.

Thanks to SD's help we re-registered ours here without much of a problem, and nearly two years later it should still fetch more than we paid for it.

Camping Cars are definately not cheap, but they do seem to hold their value!

 

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