Hi all,

Thinking about replacing my Seat Ibiza in a few months for something a bit more practical, so starting to think about what my options are. It will pretty much only be used to go biking/camping/roadtrips etc – no commuting, very little city driving.

I’m looking for

3 seats in the back
OR
space for a single mattress/roll matt (I am 6 ft tall) and one bike (ideally with wheels on and upright)
OR
space for a double mattress (or two roll matts)

Rear seats that can be folded up/forward, as well as be removable, would be great.

Also:
As cheap as possible to run (insurance/tax/fuel/maintenance)
Petrol
Under around £3500

I am happy to do a bit of DIY/wood work to do some kind of basic mini-camper to achieve the above.

Anything jump to mind? This could be something like Citroen Berlingo Multispace, estate, people carrier etc?

Cheers,
Duane.

poss ideas here

http://www.smallmotorhome.co.uk

Berlingo with a Bootjump Solo (or a DIY version).

http://www.amdro.co.uk/boot-jump-camper-car/boot-jump-solo-p-79.html

Volvo V70, search on YouTube there is a guy who converted one into a camper of sorts.
Considering doing it with mine!

CAMPAL units

Having slept in my C8 (large MPV) I’d say you need to really put the work in to have something worthwhile.

I run mine as a 3 seater with the 2 front ones on swivels, means we can get all our bikes in and grab some food in relative comfort. However if kit needs sorting it’s not happening with everyone inside, even on my own it’s a bawache. Those boot jump things are great but as soon as you introduce a bike they are useless. Ideally you want to be able to get at stuff without pulling bikes out every time which means you want top loading boxes that you can fling a low profile bedding arrangement on top of. I was planning on building a drawer for my stove that can extend out the back hatch, might make a pop on awning to hang from it too.

So yeah, C8/807/Ulysse. It’s never going to win any awards for practicality (because of car-ness), cost (same or more to tax as commercial and thirsty buggers) or build quality (rattly plastics with crap fasteners) but it does have a few things going for it. Sliding doors on both sides, usually electric. Personally I’d give mine up for manual jobs as the trap sensors are terrible (pranged a wheel and nearly myself) and less electrical loading is a plus on this. Integrated Webesto heater on all models. May need work doing but it’s all there and plumbed in. Seats do what you need. Fling a leisure battery in and you could have a nice one man camper. Mine has been fairly cheap to live with in terms of work needing doing, I don’t drive it too much so try not to think about 40odd mpg average (diesel). Oh and I can just get a 26″ hardtail in upright with both wheels on.

Its not bad, if you need a car that can double up as a micro camper it’s a good bet however I’d still say a van is better all round. And this is at the bigger end of the MPV market. Personally speaking having to unpack and repack everything whenever you want a change of clothes or to cook gets very old very fast. Also worrying about twatting windows with errant bars or how much heat they are spewing out is another niggle.

On that budget – Toyota Hiace van, minibus/disabled version with removable rear seats on Unwin tracking. More are diesel but a 2.7 petrol version does exist. Not regarded as cool (no VW scene tax) so therefore cheap – plenty of flexible space, easy to drive, reliable, fits in normal car park spaces and under 2m height barriers.

I own a later Honda Stepwgn but the earlier (RF shape) ones are easily doable for that. The seats work well enough as a bed (they all fold flat), and you can have the other side folded to make room for a bike. Work well as MPV/dayvan too.

They’re all petrol (Japanese domestic market went off diesel decades ago), as reliable as you’d expect a 90s/00s Honda to be.

Else Berlingo plus Boot Jump but petrols are fairly rare.

NV200? Not much bigger than a berlingo, but more van shaped. Im tempted to get one of the people carrier variants (already carpeted, albeit probably not insulated very well) and put sleeping platform in the back with enough height for a couple of bikes with the wheels off.

It’d be cramped, but I think doable.

Berlingo with boot jump. Can sleep in it with a bike next to you. No problem

Connect Tourneo would be ideal, or a long wheel base standard one with seats installed in the back. If you get a Tourneo the three seats in the rear fold forward out of the way. You will struggle to find a petrol one though as they didn’t make many at all.
Old Japanese people carriers such as early Elgrands or Estimas would be good. Something early like an e50 model is cheap to buy and super reliable. Diesel and petrol versions but they are a bit thirsty and tax isn’t overly cheap but they do fall into the old tax system.

zaffira tour I sleep in mine and I am huge. takes a double mattress with ease. takes a xl 29er with front wheel off.

Wouldn’t want to do it for more than a couple of days,
But I occasionally do what you describe in a V70.

Over 6 foot completely flat in the rear, front seats can be folded forward if you need a bit more space. Almost enough room to sit up and cook.
Can stand and shelter under the boot.

I’ve made some insulated blinds for each of the windows to keep it snug.

There is space inside for me plus a Large 29er Enduro bike wheels off and stood up bungeed to the rear passenger handle, or space for two sleeping alongside each other.

I tend to take a roof box and bike rack just to create a bit more space inside.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/QfJXJnVmXrtDiMZz5

Hi all,

So my car has just passed its MOT, so think I will sell it sooner rather than later, which means I need to start looking for its replacement a little more seriously.. exciting!

I really like the idea of a Berlingo (or sister car), probably not with a Boot Jump, but some similar kind of fold away bed set up.

However, I am not sure if I should try to find something a bit bigger. I’m not a giant, but not tiny (just over 6ft), and it looks like I’d need to push the front seats forwards a little to stretch out in a Berlingo. Similarly, it sounds like my bike will only go in with wheels on at an angle, so if I was camping in I guess wheels off would be needed. Also, most Berlingos don’t have the lift out rear seats (4 bolts, good but not perfect). I guess I would normally keep the single rear seat out of the car so there is max length for bikes.

Sorry that was all a bit of thinking out loud.

Anyway, I’m not convinced the Berlingo size is big enough, but also not sure if I can get anything bigger that meets all my requirements above (including price). Maybe the Berlingo will actually be fine (certainly a lot bigger than my Seat Ibiza!)

Any thoughts would be great.

Thanks,
Duane.

Your budget should see you in an early b9 Berlingo.

You should not need to put a bike in diagonal unless it’s a downhill bike or some.massively slack winch bitch.

An m49/59 and you’d need to put seats forward to sleep but the b9 is a few inches longer and similarly wider which makes all the odds.

I think I want something a bit taller than an estate, mainly for standing bikes up, and standing up myself if camping.
How about people carrier type things – Renault Espace etc.

Some of the minivans above look great but struggling to find much in my price range and petrol :/

t-r – OK cool good to know, thanks!

To be honest I am leaning towards the Berlingo, going to check out a local one (out of my budget though) this weekend to check I’m happy with size etc.

Check out the crew cab van equivalents. They are usually a few inches longer than the car versions. A Peugeot partner crew cab would suit (or one of the fiat/citroen derivatives)

Nv200

Big old people carrier?

Or just buy a van?

I am pretty keen for a 2009 onwards Berlingo now – just struggling to find a petrol one, with aircon, and not crazy miles (especially important due to the petrol engine I believe?) Any thoughts on this – should I shy away from a 90k+ miles one, or if it has a good service history should it be fine?

I’m always hesitant to get a car with mileage at a point that I am likely to take it over a big milestone (ie 100k) before selling it on due to impact on re-sale value, but maybe not as big anissue as I think..?

100k isn’t a mile stone for resale.

I assume your looking at the 1.6 petrol at that age in which case you’d do well to look at the numbers instead of just the tripe about petrol always being greener these days.

The 1.6 petrol engine is horrific retro tech and is higher emissions in Nox and co2 than the 1.6 diesel. Not to mention terrible in fuel

It’s a milestone in that a lot of used car websites make it very easy to filter out cars with more than 100k miles (which I generally do)

I’ll take a look at how the petrol compares to the diesel in terms of emissions, but regardless of the actual figures, a 2009 diesel will be awkward for me (I live in London – if I ever wanted to drive to the office, that is in the current ULEZ, and I live within the future ULEZ zone (if I still live in London end of 2021)).