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Post by widge on Feb 25, 2022 13:36:26 GMT
Hi We have decided to sell our old Transit camper, we like it but not really practical if you want to travel any distance and looking for a replacement, our budget is 10-20k€ and the most common chassis over here for the sort of camper we want is a Fiat Ducatto (sometimes the Citroen or Peugeot that is basically the same van) the age range for that price is late 90's to early 2000's, but there appears to be a massive selection of motors available and wondered if anyone had any knowledge about any of the motor options that are worth going for or avoiding?
Dave
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Post by clarki on Feb 25, 2022 14:00:11 GMT
No idea, sorry...but go for the biggest engine, always go for the biggest engine  |
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Post by charliefarlie on Feb 25, 2022 17:05:33 GMT
We had a Peugeot Boxer 2.2 130BHP which is a Ford engine with a 6 speed manual gearbox. It was the LWB van factory converted by Autosleeper.
We had no problems with it and the torque of the engine worked well with the weight of the van. We towed a Toyota IQ behind it with ease. 2.2 may not seem a big engine but trust me it hauls those big vans along with ease. Fuel consumption on the Ford engine was brilliant on our van.
These vehicles are created by a firm called Seval. The Peugeot and I think the Citroen use the Ford 2.2 engine from the Transit van. The Fiat uses a Fiat 2.3 engine, Power outputs are virtually identical but the Ford engine is well reputed to be the best.
The thing to avoid with those vans is the robotic type auto boxes which are junk. 👍👍👍
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Post by widge on Feb 25, 2022 18:15:32 GMT
We had a Peugeot Boxer 2.2 130BHP which is a Ford engine with a 6 speed manual gearbox. It was the LWB van factory converted by Autosleeper. We had no problems with it and the torque of the engine worked well with the weight of the van. We towed a Toyota IQ behind it with ease. 2.2 may not seem a big engine but trust me it hauls those big vans along with ease. Fuel consumption on the Ford engine was brilliant on our van. These vehicles are created by a firm called Seval. The Peugeot and I think the Citroen use the Ford 2.2 engine from the Transit van. The Fiat uses a Fiat 2.3 engine, Power outputs are virtually identical but the Ford engine is well reputed to be the best. The thing to avoid with those vans is the robotic type auto boxes which are junk. 👍👍👍 Thanks for the reply charlie, but i think you are refering to the later models, between the 90's and 00's they were all prety much the same vehicle just minor changes to the spec. The worst thing is that they are going like hot cakes we spotted a realy good looking one on a french second hand site i responded within 20 mins and it had already gone. |
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Post by unclebob on Feb 25, 2022 20:58:40 GMT
Hi We have decided to sell our old Transit camper, we like it but not really practical if you want to travel any distance and looking for a replacement, our budget is 10-20k€ and the most common chassis over here for the sort of camper we want is a Fiat Ducatto (sometimes the Citroen or Peugeot that is basically the same van) the age range for that price is late 90's to early 2000's, but there appears to be a massive selection of motors available and wondered if anyone had any knowledge about any of the motor options that are worth going for or avoiding?
Dave
Just an example of the cheaper end of your budget gets you in the uk www.autotrader.co.uk/motorhome-details/202109177488356and at the top end of budget…… www.autotrader.co.uk/motorhome-details/202110118373377 |
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Post by charliefarlie on Feb 25, 2022 21:14:52 GMT
Hi We have decided to sell our old Transit camper, we like it but not really practical if you want to travel any distance and looking for a replacement, our budget is 10-20k€ and the most common chassis over here for the sort of camper we want is a Fiat Ducatto (sometimes the Citroen or Peugeot that is basically the same van) the age range for that price is late 90's to early 2000's, but there appears to be a massive selection of motors available and wondered if anyone had any knowledge about any of the motor options that are worth going for or avoiding?
Dave
Just an example of the cheaper end of your budget gets you in the uk www.autotrader.co.uk/motorhome-details/202109177488356and at the top end of budget…… www.autotrader.co.uk/motorhome-details/202110118373377The price of the more expensive one is just insane….. No way is that anything like reasonable…. Covid tax is still being applied !!!! I started a week back looking at caravans but they too are ridiculous money. The big killer though was when I started looking at available on the sites we like. Zero. Everything booked solid which equates as I’ve said before to the places we visit being shoulder to shoulder. To be honest when it’s like that I’d rather be at home 👍👍 |
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Post by unclebob on Feb 25, 2022 21:17:53 GMT
Just looked on a few French sites, campers seem even more expensive out there ☹️
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Post by widge on Feb 25, 2022 21:20:24 GMT
Hi We have decided to sell our old Transit camper, we like it but not really practical if you want to travel any distance and looking for a replacement, our budget is 10-20k€ and the most common chassis over here for the sort of camper we want is a Fiat Ducatto (sometimes the Citroen or Peugeot that is basically the same van) the age range for that price is late 90's to early 2000's, but there appears to be a massive selection of motors available and wondered if anyone had any knowledge about any of the motor options that are worth going for or avoiding?
Dave
Just an example of the cheaper end of your budget gets you in the uk www.autotrader.co.uk/motorhome-details/202109177488356and at the top end of budget…… www.autotrader.co.uk/motorhome-details/202110118373377I did have a quick look myself but since brexit importing a vehicle has got very expensive, also need lhd. This is the sort of thing available here www.leboncoin.fr/caravaning/2122640633.htmwww.leboncoin.fr/caravaning/2122597880.htm |
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Post by unclebob on Feb 25, 2022 21:24:45 GMT
Yes it would make sense to buy at home, are there many website selling campers ?
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Post by Mb2t on Feb 26, 2022 0:53:09 GMT
Bad time really for buyers.
Good vans as said are going like hot cross buns.
Older Fiats suffer from rust - be careful and check thoroughly! I am not sure what year the started galvanizing the chassis. Obviously lower milage is better. Also, if it is a motorhome (i.e. not a van conversion) check for dump. It is less likely with conversions but not un heard off.
Good luck in the search!
Charlie - we are selling our caravan... But not sure you will want the configuration. Good luck for you as well in the search!
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Post by widge on Feb 26, 2022 7:24:27 GMT
Yes it would make sense to buy at home, are there many website selling campers ? Leboncoin (the good corner) is probably the most popular website in france for selling second hand anything, mainly becouse up to 3 photos it is free (for non professionals) but most of the more specific sites for campers tend to be for newer models out of our price range. But there are also many fb based second hand sites that we are also keeping an eye on. |
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Post by widge on Feb 26, 2022 7:35:46 GMT
Bad time really for buyers. Good vans as said are going like hot cross buns. Older Fiats suffer from rust - be careful and check thoroughly! I am not sure what year the started galvanizing the chassis. Obviously lower milage is better. Also, if it is a motorhome (i.e. not a van conversion) check for dump. It is less likely with conversions but not un heard off. Good luck in the search! Charlie - we are selling our caravan... But not sure you will want the configuration. Good luck for you as well in the search! There are quite a few van conversions around most are not very professional. But i did think this was a particularly well thought out professional conversion for such small van. www.leboncoin.fr/caravaning/2121677266.htm maybe if we were 30 years younger but we want somthing with space and all the mod cons these days. As far as chassis on the custom bodied ones, aparently the fiat cab gets sold with just a stub chassis of about 30cm sticking out the back and they bolt them together back to back so they can move them around at the factory, but i am not sure when they started doing that. So the whole rear chassis must be custom built. |
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Post by Mb2t on Feb 26, 2022 8:10:22 GMT
Bad time really for buyers. Good vans as said are going like hot cross buns. Older Fiats suffer from rust - be careful and check thoroughly! I am not sure what year the started galvanizing the chassis. Obviously lower milage is better. Also, if it is a motorhome (i.e. not a van conversion) check for dump. It is less likely with conversions but not un heard off. Good luck in the search! Charlie - we are selling our caravan... But not sure you will want the configuration. Good luck for you as well in the search! There are quite a few van conversions around most are not very professional. But i did think this was a particularly well thought out professional conversion for such small van. www.leboncoin.fr/caravaning/2121677266.htm maybe if we were 30 years younger but we want somthing with space and all the mod cons these days. As far as chassis on the custom bodied ones, aparently the fiat cab gets sold with just a stub chassis of about 30cm sticking out the back and they bolt them together back to back so they can move them around at the factory, but i am not sure when they started doing that. So the whole rear chassis must be custom built. That van is way too small! Maybe 40 years ago... As for the Fiat - they mostly fit an Alko chassis, as it gives the builders most flexibility (it is lower than a normal chassis would have been). We have been to the NEC caravan and motorhome, yes all new and shiny, but prices were sky-high! And if i am honest, most builds look cheap in terms of quality. There was only about one van that was closer to what we like, but you need VERY deep pockets (£120K!!!) - not justified in my eyes. I would not exclude self converted, i do not know what are the rules in France for those, but you need to be super extra careful and check EVERYTHING! I think the chassis engine and damp are most important as mostly the internals can be fixed/changed/modified. What year models are you looking for? |
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Post by widge on Feb 26, 2022 8:44:26 GMT
There are quite a few van conversions around most are not very professional. But i did think this was a particularly well thought out professional conversion for such small van. www.leboncoin.fr/caravaning/2121677266.htm maybe if we were 30 years younger but we want somthing with space and all the mod cons these days. As far as chassis on the custom bodied ones, aparently the fiat cab gets sold with just a stub chassis of about 30cm sticking out the back and they bolt them together back to back so they can move them around at the factory, but i am not sure when they started doing that. So the whole rear chassis must be custom built. That van is way too small! Maybe 40 years ago... As for the Fiat - they mostly fit an Alko chassis, as it gives the builders most flexibility (it is lower than a normal chassis would have been). We have been to the NEC caravan and motorhome, yes all new and shiny, but prices were sky-high! And if i am honest, most builds look cheap in terms of quality. There was only about one van that was closer to what we like, but you need VERY deep pockets (£120K!!!) - not justified in my eyes. I would not exclude self converted, i do not know what are the rules in France for those, but you need to be super extra careful and check EVERYTHING! I think the chassis engine and damp are most important as mostly the internals can be fixed/changed/modified. What year models are you looking for? Our price range is 10-15k maybe 20k (euros) which realy puts us in the 20-30 year old van range over here, we want to be able to sleep four when we have visitors, we are trying to avoid a cab over bed, we are both getting to the age where we might need to go to the loo in the night, also idealy be able to leave 1 bed up and still have a table, when it is just us. So these sorts of configurations are what we are looking for. www.leboncoin.fr/caravaning/2118923568.htmOr www.leboncoin.fr/caravaning/2116634750.htmOr www.leboncoin.fr/caravaning/2119914613.htmAs far as van conversions, they tend to be a lot narrower, so you need a longer van to get the same space, the regs are also a bit tighter in france but there are still loads about. In fact my stepson in the uk setup his own company doing conversions about a year ago, here is the website, but out of my price range. www.rebelliondesigns.co.uk |
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Post by charliefarlie on Feb 26, 2022 10:25:53 GMT
Bad time really for buyers. Good vans as said are going like hot cross buns. Older Fiats suffer from rust - be careful and check thoroughly! I am not sure what year the started galvanizing the chassis. Obviously lower milage is better. Also, if it is a motorhome (i.e. not a van conversion) check for dump. It is less likely with conversions but not un heard off. Good luck in the search! Charlie - we are selling our caravan... But not sure you will want the configuration. Good luck for you as well in the search! I’m not searching right now. It’s more that the resorts are going to be rammed with people than the prices. I was looking at a large single axle 8ft wide with an island bed price range circa 20K. 👍👍 The Coachman VIP for example was our main want 👍👍 |
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