Tuesday 31st December 2024. At the beginning of the month, after 6 looooong months, my beautiful car finally sold. It was a car I’d loved and thoroughly enjoyed but times were changing: I needed something more practical for carrying children, well more importantly, their bikes! I’d already put a plan together back in the summer (when we’d decided it was time to change our outlook and life in general) to buy a van – something to either convert into a Campervan or readily converted – and now I could finally put these plans into action! The boys were beyond excited when I broke the news to them!
Van searching proved to much more tedious than I thought it would be! Van prices have seriously increased over the past 5 years (when I last had the van itch) and I was genuinely gobsmacked at the price of a high mileage panel van. Converted van prices were even more eye watering, and the majority of the campers in my budget were either high mileage, short wheel base, or cheaply converted. I spent most of December searching high and low across all the usual channels, commandeering fellow pals to join the hunt (who are also keen van people and equally excited at our plan), and eventually a reasonable van was found – and rather excitingly, it wasn’t white! Whoop! (I do love a vehicle that stands out!)
An HPI check later, we were happy with everything we’d seen online and agreed to go and view the van on New Year’s Eve. We headed out in the morning for the journey, with the van being approximately 1.5 hours away from us. Thankfully, upon arrival, the van looked pretty smart, with just the usual dinks and scratches you’d expect from a trade vehicle. The interior appeared tidy and everything seemed to work as it should. As a fellow tradesman himself, I sent my husband to do the test drive. With his years of driving different vans under his belt, I knew he’d be the best person for this job. Unfortunately, as he drove away, there was an almighty cracking sound. At first I thought it was just the brake pads releasing, having sat for a few weeks, but I watched as my husband weaved the van gently down the road and the cracking continued – this wasn’t good! He appeared again a few minutes later and was convinced a spring had gone – quite likely, it had literally just gone as he’d pulled away! One side was now looking a bit lower so, bless him, the owner took the van and my husband to a mechanic he knew, and before long they had returned – spring and top mount failure confirmed!
I was disappointed, as were the boys. We were really hoping this van would be coming home with us once we’d seen how tidy the exterior and interior were. That said, the owner, so apologetic, said he’d be happy to get this issue sorted, and also replace the two tyres that were close to the wear bars. There was little movement in price from his end, but I’d found so few vans with this mileage in my budget, and in such a fun colour, that it was worth it to me. Especially as he was willing to get the work sorted for us in that agreed price! A deal was made, a deposit left, and we headed back home with smiles on our faces! We will be back (providing everything goes smoothly getting her fixed) at the weekend to collect her. We have a lot of work ahead of us, but we are now a step closer to those bike rides!
I’m so excited for 2025!
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Welcome to Van Life Ej! I don’t write about it (although I may venture into some this year) but I have a van and we spend plenty of time in it on and off grid. I’m sure you know plenty of people and there’s plenty of info online but if you have questions or wanted advice feel free to ask, enjoy!
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Thanks so much Jim!! I can’t wait to get started!! I really appreciate the offer, there’s so much to learn and do so it’ll be really useful having experienced people I can turn to. I hope you manage to get some van related posts up, I’d love to read them 😊
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Thanks Ej, you’ll love it! 😀
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Amazing news! Wishing you so many adventures with your van
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Thank you so, so much! ❤️ We’re all very excited!!
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Very exciting! We are van owners with a camper converted Ford Transit and we love it. Really wanted one the same colour as yours but my daughter (the design guru in the family convinced me to go blue). As with the other comments please feel free to ask for any advice or tips we’ve discovered through our trips and mistakes and hope everything works out for you and the family. For bikes I’d always go with a tow bar carrier – so much easier than the tailgate mounted ones although of course there is the not insignificant cost of the tow bar itself
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Ahh more van friends 😁 Blue is also nice! Thank you so much. Our biggest issue right now is sorting the pop top, which needs to be done first and lead times are 6-8 weeks for parts 😬 I’m having to really exercise patience here 😂 Interesting thoughts on the bike rack! I was looking for a tailgate one so I could still get access to the back with it on and not have to remove it when not in use, but it seems nowhere makes a 4 bike rack for the tailgate of a transit, however its good to hear real life feedback with the towbar option, perhaps I should get a towbar fitted whilst I wait for the pop top 😁
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Pop top is essential not only for sleeping but for headroom when cooking etc. We have friends with a van who opted not to have a pop top and I don’t how they manage. You’re totally right that with a tow bar carrier on a transit you can ‘t open the rear door with bikes on (even though our carrier slides backwards). I just find it’s much easier to fit to the tow bar and then fit bikes to it and just remove the bikes if you need access to the rear. I was always worried about weight on the rear door hinges with a tailgate mount, especially as my other half has an electric bike which is seriously heavy. Not been out in the van for a while
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With four of us, a pop top is a necessity! That said, having taken a look at my friends van, I wouldnt even consider not having one even if there were only 2 of us – I thought there would be headroom (certainly for me, a shade over 5 foot), but I was actually stooped (this never happens haha!!) and when he opened the pop top the difference was amazing! We need to be able to change in there too after wet walks or rides, so it’s a non-negotiable for me now!.. Ahhh good thinking, I hadn’t even thought about the weight of the bikes on hinges. With 4 to carry, it would sure put a lot of strain on them. Are the bike racks on tow bars low? My other concern is, being so short, being able to load them myself (I’m independant!) and I’d like to be able to put them on myself, which I’m guessing with a tailgate one I won’t! … This sounds like your sign to go out and there and have an adventure in the van this weekend 😀
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Another small person! My missus is is only 5 foot as well and has to crouch down when doing the washing up in the van if we haven’t put the roof up. With a tow bar rack, bikes are easy to lift on as the base is only a foot or so off the ground. Combined with the cost of the tow bar it’s very costly option though compared to a basic tailgate one. I had a tow bar fitted to the van primarily for bikes (I don’t tow anything anymore as I sold our trailer tent to fund the van. Just as well seeing as I was rubbish at reversing the trailer).
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I’ve been in touch about towbars today, wow they’re not cheap are they 😅 but I think that’s the best option for me with you saying how low the racks sit, it means I can at least load the bikes myself. I’ve learnt about all the types of towbars and plugs today, who knew they could be so complex 😂
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I’d be happy to show you our van and provide some insight on how we chose our conversion and our first couple of years experiences. We’re not that far from you down in Herefordshire if that might be helpful for you
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Ahh that’s really kind thank you! We might well take you up on that – I hope you’re prepared 😂
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Just shout if it’s of interest and we can connect up in some way
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Just to add to that – not a detachable towbar. Dropped mine on my hand, finger will never be the same again, I fear.
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That is amazing advice! I never even thought about anything like that 😮 I hope your finger eventually returns to normal
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