20 year old car? Not interested then why a campervan?

[Janne]

I don't really know, I assumed it was the same size as a bongo.

Internet says the Mitsu. Delica is a 4th gen Bongo.

But those afe pretty small?

What do you plan to fit inside?

 

[Paul_B]

It's no smaller than the vw vans you see in campervan mode all over. It's a van size you can get 4 into if needed and still small enough to replace a car day to day.

Not big enough for some but despite being 6'5" tall I'm ok with the vw sized vans. I've tried one out at a dealership. Mind you, I come from backpacking with a bivvy bag. I'm not difficult to please when it comes to sleeping. Anywhere will do. From a cowshed by by the side of the road in Wales when we couldn't find the campsite late in the night to a damp island in a boggy fell. To a mountain top in 70mph gusts in a bivvy under a tiny tarp. With earplugs I can sleep anywhere and through anything... Well pretty much.


Anyway, from what I can tell the bongo, Mitsubishi delica, the Nissan and Toyota vans (elgrand and alphard) and even the various vw vans are all pretty similar in sizes. IMHO above them you're edging more into motorhome territory and away from everyday vehicle with van camping ability.

 

[Swallow]

A 1994 onwards Delica is not Bongo based. It is based on a Mitsubishi Shogan Chassis. It's a full proper 4 x 4 and shares parts with the Shogun.

The new ones introduced in the past couple of years are based on an Outlander Chassis (and look more like an outlander estate car than a Renault Espace Monster Truck).


One of the downsides I forgot to mention about a Delica is that it is 6' 10' tall so if you encounter a car park with with 6' 6" height restriction you can't use it. A mate had one and sold it because he couldn't part anywhere with it.

 

[Swallow]

The way the seats fold away on an 8 seater 6' 5" should be a problem, but driving position might. They are not built for a 6 foot plus driver.

 

[Paul_B]

With most seats having height adjustment I'm pretty confident I'll fit OK. I've experience in adjusting seat position to fit cars. Not that many really fit well anyway. Bear in mind I passed my driving test in a mini, original design mini that really was, well mini! Followed by Fiesta, escort, Astra and seat althea xl. Only the last one had head room high enough.

 

[Swallow]

My 94 doesn't height adjust (or else there is a lever I have yet to find) and I'm at the limit at 6' 0". The most headroom I have had was in a mini. When I was younger there were a few 6 Ft plus people who drove them for headroom.

 

[Janne]

Just a thought - the buying price and conversion cost is about the same for a smaller vs a bit larger van, so why not go for a larger one/
I used to have a Defender 110 and wife a Defender 90. Felt the same driving, parking.

 

[Swallow]

Buying an actual van also gives the options of a "Stealth" camper van. i.e. you park anywhere because it looks like a normal van from the outside.

 

[Paul_B]

My 94 doesn't height adjust (or else there is a lever I have yet to find) and I'm at the limit at 6' 0". The most headroom I have had was in a mini. When I was younger there were a few 6 Ft plus people who drove them for headroom.

Not my experience of a mini Mayfair edition 1984 model. Or an even older one. My grandfather drove a mini clubman original. I think as a kid I went in a van but I can't be sure of that as very young when a family member had one.

I passed my test in a mini with my head against the roof having learnt in a nova belonging to my driving instructor. I found the nova more comfortable and better headroom personally. Even the fiesta was better for me. IIRC for some of my cars I put the seat back as far as possible then tilt it back a bit, then if needed move it forward to get a better grip on the wheel. It was possibly a ridiculous position but it allowed me to drive cars that back then weren't designed for me.

I've driven a small Japanese van a few times at a temp job I had. It was that very narrow van that the make and model eludes my memory. Put it this way, driving it around the company site (it was only used for driving on private, company owned site) it was very easy to put it on two wheels. It had plenty of height for me. Still I'm not being closed minded about this. Ideas welcome.

We need a van that can be used as day to day vehicle including height restricted carparks (unless the van is a really good option when we'll cope an a higher van). My partner doesn't want a van like Renault traffic or any standard van like that. Money is not unlimited so vw is out. For anything we want in the way of a van vw is extortionate. It's going to be our only vehicle. Any vw we can afford won't be reliable. We're not the sorts to enjoy fixing anything by the side of a highway. I can't understand anyone who is happy about that.

Personally I can't see vw being an option.

To give you an idea of budget, we cut cars at £5k then run them into the ground or at least until they start to become expensive to fix. If the vehicle we buy is already starting to cost a lot to keep on the road it isn't suitable. Budget might be extended for something better but only to 7 or 8k. That is not the van. Conversion is extra.

We would need to have at least 3 seats from day one to allow for day to day use. That's probably two rows of seats. Such as crew cab or minibus or mpv.

So far it seems to me Japanese imports are the only thing close to that. Of course if you have seen a £6-8k vw that suits and is reliable then please let me know. I'm not ruling out any van of it suits our needs.

 

[dwardo]

Buying a Grey or Parallel import makes you the Anti-Christ in a main Dealers eyes, you have stepped out of the Official Importer/Main Dealer chain and are an Outlaw unworthy of contempt.

They have spent their entire working lives trying to force the country that the only way to buy a vehicle is to buy what they want to sell you from a Main Dealer, anything else is positively dangerous and probably deviant.

There was a massive boom in importing Motorbikes in the early 90's. We started buying new bikes abroad saving maybe 30% (and destroying 2nd hand values) the importers brought court cases to stop it and sort of lost.

It's easier with a bike because it can only involve adapting the speedo and maybe the headlight but the manufacturers tried to persuade us that their French market bikes became death traps in the UK.

At the same time container loads of 2nd hand bikes were coming in from Japan that were nicer than European models.

I had a Honda Dealer refuse to sell me a brake disc unless I provided them with a frame number for an official Uk bike.

I remember this. I bought an R6 a few months before all the imports started and lost about 3 grand over night!

I also remember then purchasing a "gray" import and having the same issues with parts. The dealers were pathetic in trying to fight the tide and lost quickly.

I now have a Jap-Spec car only (Integra R DC5) and parts are not an issue at all, well besides being at complete rip-off honda prices Most parts are stored in Belgium anyway no matter where you are ordering from and most can be over-nighted. Then there is a long list of cross compatible parts, blueprint etc.

 

[Paul_B]

Well my local Mitsubishi dealership may be the exception but when I asked the question about grey imports they would support us no matter what Mitsubishi vehicle I had especially vans.

In fact reading the reply (email) it sounded as if they were fed up with this idea that UK dealerships won't touch grey imports.