New or old, kitted out or not.....for a newbie/wannabe

Hi

New to the forum - same old story as many - hired a 78 T2 Westy for the family (3 kids plus dog) for a long weekend, loved it (apart from breaking down), and am currently in the long drawn out process of trying to decide whether to get one - new, second hand - or plump for a T5 conversion and pimp it up a little....


So a bit of advice sought....


In general terms:

-have people who bought new regretted not buying second hand and tinkering with the fit themselves? Or vice versa?

-have people who bought already kitted out regretted not buying the basic bus and taking it somewhere cheaper/doing it themselves?

-Is buying secondhand (and re-fitting/changing) prone to all manner of heartache, such as finding dirty great rust patches etc?

-What's giving people the greatest headache at the moment with them?


I'm looking for an everyday runner for the village school run in which I can chuck the wife, 3 kids and 2 dogs for the odd weekend/week away exploring, surfing (revisiting my yoof) and not getting cold and wet at night. Without breaking down. And running my stocks of rust paint down...


So, any regrets?

(30 grand leaves a dirty great big hole in my pocket - it's got to be worth it!)


Thanks.

McNulty wrote:

Hi

New to the forum - same old story as many - hired a 78 T2 Westy for the family (3 kids plus dog) for a long weekend, loved it (apart from breaking down), and am currently in the long drawn out process of trying to decide whether to get one - new, second hand - or plump for a T5 conversion and pimp it up a little....


So a bit of advice sought....


In general terms:

-have people who bought new regretted not buying second hand and tinkering with the fit themselves? Or vice versa?

-have people who bought already kitted out regretted not buying the basic bus and taking it somewhere cheaper/doing it themselves?

-Is buying secondhand (and re-fitting/changing) prone to all manner of heartache, such as finding dirty great rust patches etc?

-What's giving people the greatest headache at the moment with them?


I'm looking for an everyday runner for the village school run in which I can chuck the wife, 3 kids and 2 dogs for the odd weekend/week away exploring, surfing (revisiting my yoof) and not getting cold and wet at night. Without breaking down. And running my stocks of rust paint down...


So, any regrets?

(30 grand leaves a dirty great big hole in my pocket - it's got to be worth it!)


Thanks.

Welcome to the forum

Lots of questions, we bought the basic Danbury and fitted it out ouselves and saved thousands. I am not mechanically minded so buying new was best for me but doing the interior was fun and its made our own mark so it doesnt suit everyone but suits us. At the end of the day its your choice. Any regrets? Not a chance. Go for it. Have a look at others suppliers first. VW Downunder are great.

As someone who went for a second hander - no regrets whatsoever. Yes there were bits and pieces to tidy - but mainly because I'm a perfectionist and I like my cars to be just 'so'!

This is a good time to buy a second hand Kombi - it's the end of the season and prices will be falling. There are a number out there just now, both aircooled and watercooled. Check vwcampercrazy.co.uk, dubs4sale.com and the marketplace on Just Kampers. Steve Lord also has a couple for sale on snailtrail.co.uk.

Whatever you decide to go for, you'll have a fun time in your van and a whole load of great folk to banter with about it on here. Fire away with specific questions about particular T2s too.

Hi McNulty, and welcome to the forum.
I guess like you I wasn't sure which way to go, we had looked at restored T2 vans,
and then began looking at the 'Brazillians'. In the end we opted for a new fully kitted out watercooled T2 brazillian, which is our only car and drive everyday on the school run,shopping, work , everything. We are away almost every weekend from April to October and most of the school holidays.
I am not really mechanically minded, however, since joining the forum and meeting up at vanfest am now begining to get stuck in. There is a wealth of experience out there and now this forum has become established it is easy to access.
Whether you go new or second hand is your choice, but shop around there are several sources out there and it depends what you want regarding interiors etc, but whatever you get, get a T2, you will alwys be smiling........

Hi I have had a 66 split 3 old bays from low light to m reg Viking and two t25 my Brazilian is a lot less work but rust will be a prob if not treated the paint and primer not that good and seams not sealed very well just waxoil regular and will be ok

I don't regret buying new, but if I was going to do it again I think I would go for a second hand Brazilian. Then change interior, wheels, etc to my liking. It's not actually that difficult to do or get done and would Definitely save a few thousand!

I bought second hand and an empty shell, kitted it out myself got exactly the spec I wanted and saved a few quid in the process. Still ongoing project mind but i'll get there with the help of this forum.

I would have liked an old one but for the same money at the time I could by the Brazilian empty as I didn't like most of the original interiors anyway and would have taken it out and did my own thing. Plus no metalwork and painting to do even before I did the interior.

So I would go second hand, empty or kitted out"you pays your money takes your choice".

Welcome McNulty! As the others have said - You'll have great fun in a Brazilian T2 and far chaeper to run and more reliable than an old model.

Go careful if buying used especially if its an ex hire vehicle as these often have had a very hard life! If you do get a Brazilian T2 you'll love the scene and this forum has lots of nice 'Brazi Bay' owners to help out and also various meet up's and events planned. Danbury are having one Oct 16th at HQ in Bristol with a BBQ etc. All the best - Jason

Hi McNulty...not a golfer are you? Its correct what Jason has said however, he failed to inform you that the 3 year warranty is only valid if you service the van at Danbury and its not transferrable if you sell on so beware. Have a look at some of the topics relating to the costs to have a service done at Danbury and also take into consideration your location, travelling costs and a day off work to have it done and compare that to the cost of someone more local to you. Like me there are a high number of members here who have their vans serviced and looked after by other means. But one thing is for sure when you get the van you will be smiling everytime you drive it. One thing to decide upon is converting it to RHD. I took advice from Simon @ Danbury and stayed LHD. There are no problems or more importantly fears to driving a LHD bear in mind its not a 0-60 in 10 secs, try 16-20 secs. Also have a look at the topic re broken gearsticks. This is due to the conversion to RHD I believe and how they modify the stick.

Anyway good luck in your hunt.

I'm sure owners of hire Bays would beg to differ with you on that one Jason. Their Bays need to bring in the cash and consequently need to be in top condition year round, both mechanically and cosmetically.

If someone was thinking of buying a T2 from you to start a hire business - do you think they'd want to read you advising people not to buy one? That's an own goal surely? Making a sweeping generalisation like "these often have had a very hard life" is a) unfair and b)doesn't promote the longevity of the T2. If someone is needing a T2 to be a workhorse, then they wouldn't want to hear that would they? Perhaps the way to put it would have been... "many Danbury customers use their T2s as hire vehicles and the vans put up with a lot of use!"

But what do I know?!

Hi Tim - True what you say that these vehicles are proven to last ( by the number of older ones on the road ) but you do have to check carefully ANY hire vehicle that is up for sale ( be it a VW or a Fiat or a Ford etc etc ) . Its just from my own personal experience that hire cars are not usually treated as well as a private vehicles and often have numbers of drivers that are not used to owning that particular make / model etc. The new VW Polo I had to hire recently on holiday had only done a few 1000 miles but was bashed and the clutch was going and it rocked on tick over it was so lumpy! Every hire car Ive ever seen had the same lack of love appllied! Sorry for the confusion and in answer - I think you know a lot! Keep up the good work

Got mine new from Danbury and am very pleased with it. If I was to do it again I would probably buy new again so i knew the van was I tip top condition, but would do all the work myself so I know what and how It's been done, plus to keep the costs down.
One thing's for sure it will put a smile on your face.

Hello McNulty and welcome to the forum.
We bought new and have been very pleased with it. The benifit of buying new is that hopefully you can keep on top of the rust issue. However there are many vans out there that look in top condition so if you are prepared to travel around looking, i'm sure you would find one. Wether to buy an empty van for self converstion or an off the shelf number is realy down to your diy skills and budget. If you have the time and skills to build your own you will save money.

Thanks for the replies. Much help and very kind. My missus has talked me out of a
pimped up t5. Think we're gonna go the new empty brazilian bay route and do the fit myself.

Keep the regrets/no regrets coming though....very helpful!

Are Danbury (and apologies to the Danbury chap) the only importers
of Brazilian bays at present? And can you do a westy style pop top conversion on
a Danbury?

Cheers

(not a golfer. More like The Wire....)

McNulty wrote:

Thanks for the replies. Much help and very kind. My missus has talked me out of a
pimped up t5. Think we're gonna go the new empty brazilian bay route and do the fit myself.

Keep the regrets/no regrets coming though....very helpful!

Are Danbury (and apologies to the Danbury chap) the only importers
of Brazilian bays at present? And can you do a westy style pop top conversion on
a Danbury?

Cheers

(not a golfer. More like The Wire....)

As far as I know they are not the only importers, if its a westy roof (which I wish I had) try O'Conners roofs or VW Downunder contact Paul. They have new busses with conversions or not however, their roof is by far the better option as it is a westy lookalkie and they make sure the roof frame is secure and strengthened compared to mine. This is my opinion