Was just watching a video review on this unobtainium vehicle and my wife is very enthused. Anyone use something like this as a daily driver in a city? I see there are Transit and Sprinter conversions. We enjoy camping and would love to travel with our kids down the line. Currently have a baby and her daily is a cx5...just thinking ahead here.
VW campers have been around forever and been used as normal cars forever. They drive just like small vans. The Eurovan-based ones don't command the same premium as the rear engined jobs and have much newer engines and crash protection, so that may be a good place to look.
The biggest problem a Transit/Sprinter conversion would have is height. The VW poptops mean that the campers are as compact as the normal vans, but the fixed roof Transit/Sprinters are taaallll. Depending on how it's configured inside, visibility may be a problem.
There is a line in useability, and I believe that line is indoor toilets. Having one of those pushes the vehicle away from daily driver and towards camper, as it requires a larger vehicle and you've got all the mass of the extra water tanks. It makes it a better camper (if you like pooping inside a van) but a weaker vehicle.
Someone makes a pop top for the Honda Element
What budget? I'd go 118" T1N Sprinter. I don't know how city your city is, but my buddy dailies a longer one in the city. The 118" wheel base should city just about anything. Even the medium T1N will fit in standard parking space. Turn radius is excellent.. That VW stuff is priced way too high for what you get IMO.
I loved my VW microbuses.
But that was a long time ago. There’s no way I’d drive one now. The seating position is actually in front of the front wheels, with no crash protection at all. The only thing between you and death is a piece of sheet metal.
They are slow, uncomfortable, unsafe, expensive, and very, very cool.
Is there a reason small truck or small suv with a roof top tent is not the answer?
Check out this one from Nissan (in europe)
https://www.tfltruck.com/2018/06/nissan-camper-van-lineup-expands-nv200-nv300-europe-vanlife/
SVreX said:I loved my VW microbuses.
But that was a long time ago. There’s no way I’d drive one now. The seating position is actually in front of the front wheels, with no crash protection at all. The only thing between you and death is a piece of sheet metal.
They are slow, uncomfortable, unsafe, expensive, and very, very cool.
That's why I suggested the Eurovan based ones. They're front engined and far less cool, thus less expensive and they're modern vehicles depending on where you draw the line on modern. The Vanagon is also an improvement over the old buses in just about every way.
And if you think a VW is expensive, price out one of the Sprinters! Yowza.
Roof tent is an interesting idea. The next option is, of course, a slide-in camper in a pickup. Run around town in a useful pickup most of the time, stick the camper on and enjoy the woods. The one my in-laws have is remarkably roomy inside.
Pop up campers are easy enough to keep low profile for most of the time. And there are a few different options for making them easy to take on and off.
Depending on what you need tho
https://climateright.com/2500-btu-small-ac-and-heater.html
People are using these for teardrops and other small RVs, only thing you have to hook to the space is the removable hoses.
You could probably rig something up to mount in a canopy window/tailgate area
I'd be wary of buying a Sprinter van out of warranty. Many of our Mitty vendors have them, and nearly all of them have had troubles. Parts availability can be a challenge, as is finding someone to work on it in middle America---- where you will no doubt break down. I'd favor the Ford Transit tall-vans, as at least you have the huge Ford network of dealers to help if and when something does go wrong.
I like the size of a Chevy Astro van and parts are cheap ,
But I do not think anyone made a neat camper interior like they do for VWs
Might want to check out expedition portal if you haven’t already
Recon Campers builds a pop-top camper from the Nissan NV200.
There are a couple of other vendors building "westy-style" campers out of other vans. I recently discovered a company in NJ that builds custom fiberglass roofs and it's giving bad ideas towards my '08 Grand Caravan. It would be tough to fit sleeping for 4 inside a GC...
What is your budget? Part of the issue with most/all new campers is they are not inexpensive.
Sportsmobile sells a low-roof Sprinter pop-top camper van conversion, but is neither small nor cheap. However, they have also more recently started offering a similar Metris based pop-top camper van conversion that is more compact and considerably easier on the finances, albeit nowhere near as nicely appointed either.
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