[c0989]

Hi All
I am new here and based in the UK.
I am now a couple of months into my research for a day van/ camper and have ended up here in the Nissan NV200. I work from home and commute about 150 miles once a month but other than that my driving is short trips to the shops/ weekends out etc.
I am looking for a small almost car like vehicle that I can also sleep in and do the occasional 2-3 day tour into the Lakes/ Scotland etc.

I originally wanted a Mazda Bongo but dont trust the age of them and also the fuel economy would make me think twice about using it. SO I spent a long time looking and found the Nissan. Which seems a nice size.

My dilemma is that I want to convert it to a camper, but maybe not a full blown camper initially or even at all. I started off by thinking a van base would be the better option but have run into all sorts of insurance issues and the fact it needs modifying means things get very messy, once you put extra windows in etc then insurance premiums shoot up. There is also the issue that this will replace my car and I am keen to keep my no claims bonus, I am told this is a pain when swapping back to a car in future
So now I am l thinking the 7 seater or even the disabled access 2/ 5 seater would be a better bet, that counts as a car and I can probably do a fair bit to it without upsetting insurance companies as the core stuff like windows are already there.
What are people's thoughts on this, ultimately I know that if I get it fully converted then I can re-class it as a camper but honestly this may not ever happen.

How easy is it to insulate an mpv compared to a van, are things like curtains more of a pain? or running leisure batteries

Any advice/ help is much appreciated.

I have seen a link called doyourdream which is like the Mecca of NV200 campers but they said that cost £7000 plus base vehicle I am looking at no more than £10K all in for something reliable.

Many thanks

 

[Turkyilmaz]

Hi mate

I own a nissan nv200 7 seater people carrier, and I use it for minicabbing around London. About your question, you can use nv200 as a car or a van. The rear seats are very easy to dismantle which is good if you want to use it for camper or as a van. Windows you can get them tinted jet black so you have the full privacy or you can hang curtains both are very easy to do. I recommend nv200 bcs its very economical with 1.5 diesel engine and plus its a 7 seater plenty of storage space. And with nv200 people carrier you dont have to loose your NCB bcs it counts as 7 seater MPV not a van. Hopefully I have answered some of your questions and good luck.

 

[c0989]

Thanks Turkyilmaz very helpful.
That's what I was thinking too.
I notice a lot of mpvs with disabled access ramps are quite a bit cheaper, because they dont have the 7 seats. Seeing as I am going to mostly be taking the seats out anyway this might be the perfect option.
I assume its pretty easy to also remove the ramp.

I do feel a bit bad doing this as I am sure its pretty tough for disabled people to find vehicles in the first place and I am effectively taking one off the market, maybe I can give away teh ramp for free once removed to make myself feel better!

 

[GreatDane]

Hi,

I have recently bought a NV200 mpv over a van to transport my dogs. Although the van would have been easier for me to convert, the difference in insurance costs between the mpv and the van was huge. For same model, price point, cover etc the van was about £1000 a year more to insure. My postcode might be a contributing factor, but I have been driving for 17 years and have a large NCD. Buying a mpv over a van was a no brainier for me.

 

[GreatDane]

I also viewed some converted disabled vans, but because they are 'modified', they were also significantly more expensive to insure than a standard mpv.