The conversion of a five-year-old van should cost less than 15,000 euros
The best way to do this is to make a detailed list or an Excel spreadsheet: each expense is documented. If the price for an acquisition has not yet been determined, you can enter a rough estimate of the price or the budget limit when calculating the total costs for this acquisition. The latter has the advantage that the total price already includes leeway and the costs do not skyrocket unexpectedly. Once the probable total costs have been calculated, you have to decide whether the expansion is worthwhile. A field report in the Surfnomade blog sets out the following rule of thumb:
A van that is more than five years old and already has more than 120,000 kilometers on the clock should be removed for less than 15,000 euros.
Everything else is not worth considering the lifespan of the vehicle, says Surfnomade. So if the calculated costs are at least 15,000 euros, you should either buy a newer van or make compromises when it comes to the equipment.
The middle ground between expansion by professional providers and working from home makes the most sense
There are also professional providers who take care of the conversion of their van for customers and also take individual wishes into account. According to Surfnomade, a “solid” upgrade from professional providers usually costs around 10,000 euros – but if customers want more quality, the costs can rise to up to 25,000 euros. That’s why enthusiastic campers recommend on their blogs to take the middle ground: If you dare to do the insulation and construction of the storage space yourself, but prefer not to touch the windows, you can simply commission professional providers to install the latter and then continue to close them yourself work. Since a mistake when doing it yourself can be expensive, it makes sense to weigh up each step: Is it worth the risk of making a mistake or should someone with experience take over this step directly? It can also happen that the acquisition costs for the tools required for certain work steps would be so high that it is more worthwhile to outsource the task to a professional provider.
Do-it-yourself camper van: The total price depends heavily on the requirements
There are no generally applicable categories for the very individual calculation of the total price when converting a van yourself – the field reports on the Internet repeatedly emphasize that everyone has to ask themselves the following questions individually:
At what time of the year and in which climatic regions do I want to travel with the van?
Do I also want to use the van at home in city traffic?
How wide or long does my bed have to be?
How much luggage will I take with me on my trips?
Do I work while traveling or do I want to watch a lot of films?
This is just a small selection of questions that are helpful when deciding on different pieces of furniture, the type of insulation, the power supply and much more: Because if you work on your notebook on the go and need sophisticated electronics, according to Surfnomade it can cost over 5,000 to 10,000 Calculate euros, who plans a shorter supply period, can also achieve costs of 2,000 to 3,000 euros. Apart from that, if you already know that you will only ever be accommodated on campsites, you do not need your own shower and can set up a higher budget for other things or hire a service provider.
A rule of thumb is also mentioned in the travel blogs for the very rough initial calculation of the total costs: If you still have to buy a car before the expansion, you can expect a cost distribution of around 30 to 50 percent for the expansion and 50 to 70 percent for the vehicle.
Editorial office finanzen.net
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