I have had my (second) VW T4, high top campervan for 2 1/2 years now, and I love it. It is an outdoor enthusiast's dream accommodation and can be used in all seasons. I have travelled all over the UK & France in mine and my friends and wife's parents have borrowed it and also love it.
You can get VW T4's in their original fixed, low roof state and convert them yourself, as a friend of mine has. I chose to buy one that was already converted, from a small company near the Dartford Tunnel called 'Country Campers'. I went for the high-top version (as opposed to a low roof or bellows roof) because I am tall and for the extra storage space you get at the front and back. A brand new van with a brand new conversion can cost over £30,000. However, I paid £16,000 for a 'T' Reg van with a brand new conversion. You can pick up decent older vans for £7000 - £12000.
My camper is dark blue, with dark blue and grey materials inside, with beech effect furniture. It has the following equipment, running down the driver's side of the van, most of which is fairly standard these days if you buy a pre-converted van:
COOKER: There is a 2-ring gas cooker with grill behind the driver's seat. It has a foldaway heat shield to protect the driver seat. It's great to wake up in the morning and not even have to get out of bed to put the kettle on! We have cooked on it many times and produced some very nice meals. The grill is a bit fiddly, as you have to stick your hand well into it to light it with a match/lighter. It is good only for making toast really. The gas comes from a small CALORGAS bottle which is stored under the sink. It lasts for weeks if you are only heating water in the
morning and cooking a quick meal in the evening.
FRIDGE: The fridge, which is 'dual-power', runs initially off the leisure battery, which is towards the back of the van (see below). However, if you use a campsite, you can plug into the mains and it will automatically switch to mains power, saving your battery. Without mains, the battery will power the fridge for about 4 days, at which point you're going to have to go for a drive to charge it up again! There are fridges available that are 'tri-power'. They will run off battery, mains or gas. The fridge has quite a good capacity - you can get 3 bottles of wine in the door and about 12 cans of beer in the main compartment! The freezer compartment is only big enough for a couple of lollies, or a small ice-cube tray.
SINK/COLD WATER: The sink is next to the cooker, in the middle of the 'furniture'. This is probably the only area of my van I would improve. The sink is so small that you can't get a dinner plate in it to wash up. It's so fiddly with anything except egg-cups, that we don't bother using it for washing up - we put our dishes in a plastic bucket instead and use the campsite sinks. We have a small cold water tap which draws water, via a small electric pump, from a 5-gallon container in the back of the van. This is easily filled up as it is accessed via the back door (see below).
POWER POINT: If you have a mains adapter fitted to your van, you can plug into the campsite mains and use the two-3 pin plugs fitted. This is great in France as you don't need to faff about with plug converters. We mainly use it for powering a portable DVD player so we can watch a movie on those wet evenings in! In the winter (we've used it in a ski resort near Geneva for a week quite comfortably); you need to have a fan heater going 24 hours a day.
LEISURE BATTERY: Most, but not all converted vans have a leisure battery fitted. This is basically a second battery, separate from your engine battery, that you run all your ancillaries from. Ours powers the fridge (when not on mains), the water pump and the internal strip lights. It automatically recharges from the main battery when you are driving.
TAIL-GATE BACK DOOR: Our van has a tail-gate back door, although you can get them with standard double doors. We prefer the tail-gate as, when it is raining; you can stand under it and use it as a roof whilst you get your wet kit off. You can then just shove your wet kit in the waterproof storage compartment under bed (see below) and climb into the van nice and dry!
DOUBLE BED: The back seat is in the style of a two-seat sofa. It folds flat to form the bottom two thirds of your double bed. It isn't a true double bed in terms of surface area, but it is more than enough for a good night's sleep and very comfortable.
UNDER BED STORAGE: There is loads of under-bed storage. Inside the main van, ours has three cupboards. To the rear, it has one big storage area, which has a waterproof floor and is sealed all the way around. To give you some idea of it's size, you can get two full laden expedition rucksacks, two pairs of boots, four walking poles, two 50m climbing ropes, helmets and lead-racks in it! There is also a bit of space between the water container and the back of the van, which I use to store wheel wedges, snow chains, warning triangle, first-Aid kit and the mains cable.
EXTRA BOARDS TO MAKE TOP BUNK: The area where the original (flat) roof used to be has a rail running down each side. You can put in two boards to make a sort of bunk bed up in the fibreglass roof. Most companies will describe this space as an extra bed for two adults. However, I wouldn't recommend it - except in emergency. The space is good enough for two children, up to about age 10 or 11 to sleep on comfortably - and have fun. I wouldn't like to have two burly 6' blokes up there for a night!
SKYLIGHT: The skylight doesn't need much explanation, except to say you need it open when you're cooking.
WARDROBE: There is a cupboard at the rear of the 'furniture' unit that is always advertised as a 'wardrobe'. However, unless you hang you boxer-shorts up in the evening, it is completely impractical for hanging clothes. I easily converted mine into a wine rack and book-shelf!
SWIVEL PASSENGER SEAT: Our van has a 'Captains Chair' as the passenger front seat. You can pull a lever and turn the whole seat 180-degrees to face into the main body of the van. This is really useful when you are having your romantic meals for two or just to give you a bit of extra space when you're parked up
6-CD CHANGER: I had the six-CD changer added after about 6-mths, after our first trip to France. If you drive to the French Alps/Chamonix area, it can take 10 hours from Calais, so a CD player helps to break the monotony of the French motorways. Also, you can stick your 'Learn French' CD in when you get really bored of driving.
GENERAL USE: When you own a campervan, you become very popular with friends/family when they want to move large or heavy items around. The middle space in the van is large enough to get a tall fridge/freezer in, and the back can easily get a cooker or washing machine in. You can then pack loads of stuff around it and get going!
DRIVING IT: The van is surprisingly easy to drive. You sit much higher than in a car, so get a much better view of the road. The rear view is slightly restricted, but the wing mirrors are large enough to compensate for that. My van is a 1.9TD, which is good for general use. However, it is woefully underpowered when it is full to the gunnells, going up prolonged hills. I would recommend getting the 2.5TD if you can, to give you that extra power when required. The van will happily sit at 70mph on the motorway and, being a diesel, is fairly fuel efficient. On the continent, a litre of diesel is 67p (Sep 2006).
DISADVANTAGES: The only major disadvantage with a campervan is that it sits in your drive doing not much for a large part of the year. You still have to insure it and tax it and service it, even when it's doing nothing. Unless you are a fanatic, and go out every week-end come rain or shine, you're going to have to accept that it's going to cost you a bit of cash. However, the up side is that two of you can stay the night on a decent campsite for £20 a night - instead of £100 for a hotel!!!
TIPS: 1. Replace the gas bottle before you go to the Continent, as the small ones are not readily available over there.
2. On the continent, get the highest amp rating available at the campsite - especially in winter - it'll save you a lot of hassle in the night as you'll avoid having to get up to re-set it.
3. If you're going to use it in winter, get snow chains BEFORE it starts snowing and learn how to put them on when the sun is out, not when it's blowing a gale on the mountain pass!
4. Buy wheel wedges. They only cost about £10-£15, but make all the difference it your campsite pitch is sloping.
5. Buy a 20 metre main lead, not a 10 meter one. I've been to campsites where I've struggled to connect to the power outlet with my 10 metre lead. Don't forget to buy a converter if you go abroad. Whilst you're at it, you may as well buy a three-pin plug converter - you can use your friend's electricity when you visit them!
Pictures of Volkswagen Transporter T4
VW T4 Hightop 1.9TD
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
A VG review; friend of mine has just bought the VW Caravelle 2.5TD and adores it and we were just talking the other day about a conversion for another Caravelle/Transporter her husband is considering.
ar73 05.09.2006 23:05
I have been considering buy a campervan but it has been very difficult to persuade my husband. This excellent review had all the information and vital statistics need to convince him that it is not just a van and an ideal lifestyle.
donovan74 05.09.2006 20:00
good review. brother in laws got 1 of these. donovan
exceptional by (13%):
very helpful by (88%):
