Caravan Advice sought

At the price range you are indicating, I would have thought there would be a good range available, without the need and expense of changing things around.

Areas to check are

Pick a van that has electric brakes, and ensure they are in good working order.

Check the chassis carefully, looking for bad rust. Cracking and poorly repaired areas.

Carefully check the inside of the van for mould, smells, water stains, lift the carepets and lino look for water leaks.

Windows that the caulking is sound, and the roof areas where sealing moulds are held in place with caulking compound, it too goes off with time.

Modifying a van in the main is not a for the faint hearted, mainly because most vans are built inside out, and so all the internal fitting, are either fastened into stringers from the inside, but a lot are also fixed before the skin is put on.

Also check all the electrics, and gas outlets.

There are good old vans around, and the best ones usually are sold privately. The main thing is to take your time and look and look, until you have a good idea what represents good value.

Regards

Col

Andrew it would depend how handy you are for the refits, but what I looked for was a gal chassis as we take our van on the beach a lot.
Wazza

I think I would keep looking until I found a van closer to what I wanted.
If you are planning one as a chrissy present, you may have a problem.
As mentioned above, most vans are built as an integral unit.
I have altered a table, or extended the rear bed to a full double, but much more is not easy unless you are really useful with the tools and have the time.

For 5 berth, we owned the wind-up style camper for 20 yrs.
Last one was a Coromal magnum - brilliant camper.
Not much effort to put up; at each end a doule bed pulls out, then the table drops down for an extra bed at night - sleeps 5 easily.
Has all the standard comforts of a van - just in a wind-up profile (= lighter).
Only extra thing to check is the canvas/vinyl. The old ones used canvas that could degrade/rot. The newer ones use vinyl - almost bullet proof.
Worth considering as an alternative.....................Keith.