There are some very real downsides to owning a campervan. We want to make sure you make the right decision before committing to converting a van, so this article looks at not the challenges of Van Life, but the potential downsides of owning a Campervan.
Because, it’s SO easy to be suckered into Vanlife. All it takes is two gorgeous people lazing on their fixed bed overlooking a sunset through their open back doors and you’ve lost an hour on Pinterest or instagram looking at van lifers. And then comes Youtube, when you’re spending time you should be working watching videos about trips to insane places. eBay and Facebook marketplace soon becomes a minor addiction, checking all the vans on the market.
That was our journey, at least.
We got it into our heads that we really wanted to own a Campervan, and live that life. Nothing was going to stop us from doing it. This is an article, not about the downsides of everyday van life, but the things that it’s important to know about actually owning the bloody thing. We are trying to put you off here, it’s intentional.
Let us help you to know what’s in front of you. And if you feel like you have considered the downsides to owning a Campervan, and still want to go ahead, perfect. We’ll see you in the next article.
It’s a significant investment, upfront costs are high
We’ll start with the obvious one. Buying a Campervan is a significant investment. Campervan’s are not cheap, and they’re not meant to be. You’re buying a house on wheels, after all. You are going to have to be comfortable with a Campervan blowing a hole in your bank account, right from day 1.
Maintenance costs are high
Maintenance costs are another factor you need to consider before buying a Campervan. You’re driving a lot, on varied terrain, and those miles come with wear and tear on the vehicle. And in the back, your woodwork will be tested and your door hinges might fail and things will fall on the floor and break.
The components you put in the back won’t be built for all the vibrating and knocking and they might go wrong quicker than you would like. Plus you’ll make mistakes every once in a while and leave some power intensive electrical device on all night, killing your battery, or you’ll forget to empty your waste tank and it will leak everywhere. you pull everything apart and replace things (yep, this one has happened to us).
What we’re saying is, don’t think that because you aren’t paying ‘bills’ you’re creating a cost free environment. In our first 6 months of travel, we spent £900 on vehicle maintenance; £600 for an oil leak and £300 for service and new front suspension.
Even storage costs are high
Okay, so you’ve decided that you’re willing to invest in a Campervan. Great! But, before you sign on the dotted line, you need to think about storage. Where are you going to keep your new home away from home when you’re not using it? If you’re lucky enough to have a spacious garage, then great! But, for the rest of us, we need to factor in storage costs and, let me tell you, those costs can add up quickly.
In the UK, you will pay anything from £30 (if you are really lucky) to £150 a month for storage. We actually had to keep our LWB Crafter in a local council car park, moving it every few days (for risk of break-in, we lived in a seaside town) at a cost of £4 a day.. a real pain. All because we didn’t have a big enough space in front of our apartment.
There are limits to where you can go (in the van)
Alright, so you’ve decided that you’re willing to invest in a Campervan, you’ve figured out storage, and you’re ready to handle the maintenance costs. Great! There’s another thing you need to consider: where are you going to go with your Campervan?
Sure, you can ‘go’ anywhere you want, but there are some limitations. 1000’s of miles takes days to drive straight, but months to explore. And you have to get back within a year (see below, for the MOT).
Ferry’s are costly and so you are fairly limited to the edges of the land you are already on. Some campsites don’t let van conversions in. Some spots you want to park at won’t be accessible to the size or shape of the van you drive. Some cities have tiny roads. So, before you take off on your road trip, make sure you have all your ducks in a row.
There are limits to where you can go (internationally)
Okay, so you’re set to go on a road trip in your Campervan. Great! But, what if your aspirations are a little bigger? What if you have dreams of exploring Europe, South America, Africa, or anywhere else for that matter?
In that case, a Campervan might not be the best investment for you right now. When you want to go further afield, there are still plenty of expensive things to cover. Van life is a commitment to the road you can drive on.
You need to think about insurance, tax, MOT’s and service’s
All of the things the government prescribes to vehicle ownership are magnified on a van. Bigger vehicle, bigger expense. And these are fixed costs, you need to pay insurance, road tax and have an MOT regardless of how much you are using the van, which massively bumps up your cost per trip if you are only going on trips periodically.
And for those who are full timing and want to be away, don’t forget you will need a UK MOT on your vehicle every year for your insurance to be valid abroad, which means getting extra MOT’s on dates to suit your travel, or making trips back to get a fresh one.
On a long wheelbase Crafter, our MOT is £55, road tax is £25 per month, Insurance costs £550 and annual service is £150 (although we got one done in Albania for £50). These are not insignificant amounts.
There you have it. The things we know now we’ve owned a van. Downsides to actually having one. For us, they don’t outweigh the upsides and we’re incredibly happy to be in our campervan now. In search of fullness, and because vans are really money and time intensive we also have a whole bunch of challenges related to van life that you should read before getting into the meat of how to convert a van.