UKC

Looking at buying a vehicle that can sleep a 6ft man with gear, crash pad and such. Price wise a MPV such as a Renault Scenic or a bigger Ford Galaxy seem appealing for their price and ability to carry more people when not sleeping in. Space wise a small van like Citroen Berlingo or Citroen Dispatch seem more customisable less full of stuff and therefore easier to sleep in but more expensive to insure and buy. Does anyone have any experience at sleeping in a Scenic or Zafira type vehicle are they better or equal to the Berlingo or Dispatch style van? Just general advice and experience in this area would be welcome.

In reply to JoeFoster59:

Something big enough to fit all that "trad" gear in I hope :P

I've got friends and family who use the Berlingo as a small camper, seems to work fine for them. Also possibly to remove the back seats and fit a boot jump type system, this is basically a fold up bed and small kitchen unit that's accessed from the boot. Not sure how much room this would leave for ropes and gear tho.  

In reply to JoeFoster59:

We have a Berlingo 1.6 diesel car, so pretty good on fuel if you dont rag it and you can get 5 people in with 4/5 pads in the boot.

Didn't want a van as use it as a day to day vehicle for work etc.

For camping the seats come out easily and we fill the rear footwell with two storage boxes to level the back out, note: you do have to side the front seats forward to do this. 

If you make or buy a kit like the andro boot jump, the floor level is higher meaning you have loads of length for sleeping but less headroom.

We normally just lay out 2 bouldering pads to sleep on and have a wooden shelf fitted to the parcel shelf for the stove etc to go on, so that you can cook easily inside.

I am 6' and find this set up very good as it gives you more room inside.

We have added 2 small cupboard's on the sides of the parcel self and have a net in the ceiling to store etc bits.

You can also fit in a bike without taking the wheels off which is good if you remove the small rear seat. 

The longest trip away we have done was 8 nights which was fine.

I might invest in an awning for future longs trips that can go over the tail gate giving more space if not moving on or using the vehicle.

In all pretty pleased with it.

In reply to JoeFoster59:

We used to have a mazda mpv which was the size of a grand espace- room for 7 and still space for 2 dogs and some luggage in the boot. A lot lot bigger than the Berlingo we have now and drove just like a mazda 6, which is what it was under the skin. Not all mpvs are so big. 

In reply to JoeFoster59:

I use a VW Sharan for this purpose (same as the Seat Alhambra and old shape Ford Galaxy).

I opted for this over the Berlingo type thing because they are a lot bigger (you don't need to wind the front seats forward at all and you still get a 6'6" sleeping area. They are also less vanlike and just nicer, more comfortable vehicles to spend time in.

There's some photos here. In its simplest form (as shown) the back seats fold down but on longer trips I remove them altogether for more storage. Like this I've used it for a 5 week alpine trip with huge anounts of gear and didn't need a roofbox.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/136995646@N07/albums/72157678916886925

Note that on some models the front seats rotate so you can sit on them with the sleeping area as a table. Any gear which won't fit under the platform can go on top of it (under the sliding parcel shelf) and then be stored on the front seats overnight. We usually do this with our climbing sacks.

Search Google images for "mpv camper", "micro camper" etc for more ideas.

In reply to JoeFoster59:

Space wise, a Berlingo / Partner car has just as much space as the van as long as you get one of the models with removable seats and is cheaper to insure and more comfortable (the car may look similar to the van from the outside but they are completely separate vehicles and share surprisingly few parts). The models with the 3 separate rear seats offer a much more flexible arrangement and the seats take seconds to remove.

The sleeping area is JUST long enough for someone 6ft tall. Good option for 1 person for up to a week or two people for a weekend with up to 3 pads. It's likely to feel cramped for any longer or if you take gear for multiple sports / disciplines. For daytrips, they can fit 5 people with 5 DMM Highballs, or 3 people and more pads than 3 people can carry.

They are very box shaped and have loads of useful storage spaces in the roof, under the floors, in the walls etc if you buy the right spec that make them more spacious than they appear. I have no experience of a Scenic but I imagine they might be less spacious than they appear due to the less functional shape. 

Just be aware that if you buy anything with the PSA 1.6hdi, you are playing Russian roulette with the turbo, especially if you buy one second hand. Great fuel economy but I wouldn't touch one with somebody else's bargepole.

In reply to JoeFoster59:

How often will you be sleeping in it and what sort of weather?

A car can't really be insulated, so if you're using it a lot in cold conditions you need a good sleeping bag and open windows to keep the humidity down. A small van with good insulation, roof vent and lpg/diesel night heater will keep you warm and dry all year round. The older I get, the more I like a comfortable night's sleep before I climb

In reply to petegunn:

That sounds ideal do you know what model/year it is? Thanks

In reply to SDM:

Thanks for that advice I'll remember to avoid them. Is there a specific model that has removable seats?

In reply to Ciro:

Mainly weekends for now and maybe some extended trips abroad. I have a pretty solid sleeping bag and a hefty jacket collection to keep me warm. Maybe a bigger but ultimately more worthwhile project to get a small van and do it right. However insurance for a van seems to be massively more than that of a car.

In reply to SDM:

Yes, the 2.0Hdi is a much more reliable engine in the Peugeot/Citroen cars. If regularly serviced they should easily cover 250,000 miles or more. Basically the rest of the car will fall apart before the engine dies unless you're very unlucky.

In reply to JoeFoster59:

In the mark 2, it is the top spec one that has the removable seats. Called the XTR for berlingos, can't remember the name for Partners but it should be easy to spot on autotrader.

In the mark 3, the top spec one I tried had also had them. Can't remember what it was called.

The individual seats are obvious in any photos.

In reply to JoeFoster59:

Sleeping in a car is a bit like living in a gold fish bowl.

In reply to JoeFoster59:

If you officially convert it to a microcamper, the insurance becomes very cheap - although obviously there is time and money involved in the conversion. Doesn't have to be expensive though - a basic convection can cost very little if you're handy with, and have access to, the tools.

I doubt I'll ever go back to driving a car, but it's very much down to what your priorities are - as a single bloke who's left his fast driving days behind, there are no real downsides to a van for me and loads of upsides. Occasionally I'd like to be able to transport more people, but that's about it, and it definitely doesn't outweigh having a bedroom and kitchen with me the rest of the time ????

 

In reply to JoeFoster59:

If you were going the van route I'd definitely go for the bigger Dispatch size rather than Berlingo. I love my Berlingo van with the Amdro kit, but a bit more room would be  lovely. As a comparison, my day-to-day car is a Kia Cee'd sportswagon and I can lie flat with the back seats down in that with less faffing than the van but no room for cooking, storage etc.

In reply to JoeFoster59: Used to have a Citroën Grand Picasso, seats fold flat in the back with bags of room to sleep. Economical ,reliable, comfortable but as someone alluded to earlier, not the warmest thing to sleep in during a cold winter. 

In reply to JoeFoster59:

Most, if not all, insurance companies don't count any years spent driving a van as part of your no claims discount.

I drove a car for many years earning the maximum no claims discount available.

I sold the car and bought a van which I had for about ten years and I carried my car earned no claims discount onto my van insurance.

When I came to sell the van and buy I car I was dismayed to find that I had lost my no claims discount from car driving as it had been so long ago and that I couldn't convert any years of van driving to a car no claims discount.

Result - had to buy insurance without any no claims discount thus costing a fortune!

It's got something to do with preventing people who drive a van as part of their job from using such use towards car insurance, or some such.

Sounds like nonsense to me but that's the situation I found myself in.

Just a heads up for you in case similar things still go on today.

 

In reply to JoeFoster59:

hi Joe,

ive got a zafira that I sleep in regularly at the weekends, I would say for someone who is 6ft or over it might still be quite small for you, I have built a very simple  raised bed in the back of mine and got a little mattress on it and it is very comfy for me (im about 5ft7 or so ). 

also having recently been on a trip with a mate who had a van similar size to a berlingo they are just a lot more spacious, even when sitting up you head is not banging on the roof.

so all in all I would get a van you can also build a bed and insulate them very easily and cheaply as well. 

hope this helps

seamus