This is the first big decision!

My choice of van size came down to the fact that I planned to live in the van for extended periods of time - and therefore a bigger van, ideally where I can stand up, was the obvious choice.

If it was just a weekend van, which maybe I used for other driving/commuting to work, then I would probably go for something much smaller and more fuel-efficient. Typically weekend vans tend to be smaller

• if you plan to live in it full time – or for a very long trip, I would suggest going big to make your trip more

For my vans, I chose a Long-wheelbase High-top for the following reasons;

• Long Wheelbase; I wanted to have a full-size bed so to leave room for other things it made
• High Top; I am 6ft/183cm and do not fancy having to stoop every time I want to cook - people say parking is an issue, but as I mostly live in natural areas, not in city car parks - this has not been a problem
• Citroen Relays (the same as Dodge Promaster in the US and Renault Master/Fiat Ducatos in Europe) are found everywhere. Being a standard van in Europe (and increasingly in the US) it is easy to get the parts anywhere should you need

After converting a Ford Transit and a Citroen Relay – I would say that the Ford’s build quality is better (thicker metal) but the internal shape of the Citroen/Dodge/Renault is better for conversions.

SECOND-HAND VANS: Millage and how much to spend

This obviously depends on your budget but for my van, I ended up spending more than I initially hoped - but this was based more on economics than mission creep.

My general aim was to spend no more than half the cost of the van on the conversion – or alternatively – to spend about twice the estimated cost- of-conversion on the van. This is based on the premise of the vehicles millage-based depreciation.

As an example; if I spend $4k converting a 10 year old van with 200,000 miles on the clock, that cost $2000 then, after a few years, regardless of the condition quality of the interior components the van will be coming to the end of its natural life. People will not want to spend too much on a van with an engine that might die soon. Certainly not $6000!

It is not based on any particular depreciation formula, but it seems to fit fairly well, and I think if you did some further asset depreciation analysis it would probably be in that sort of ball-park.

My first van (Second Hand)

I spent £7000 on the base van (2012 model - 4 years old at time of conversion) – in total it cost £8400 with VAT. Unfortunately, it is hard to find non-commercial sales so most of the time you get stung for sales tax.

The additional benefit of buying a newer van is that it looks fairly modern from the outside and I did not really have to do any rust repair work.

So based on my £8400 ($11,000) van - my approximate max cost for the kit-out is £4200 ($5500).

£4200 or $5500 is a lot! But, if the aim is to sell it on at the end, without it actually ‘costing’ too much then I might as well live in comfort for that period.

Making van ownership free

For my first van my aim was to use the van for a few years and then sell it for same amount I spent on it. After 3 years of using the van I sold it for £300 more than I spent on it. This meant that the van cost me practically nothing – if you add up three years of mechanical fixes (£750 / $1000) the end result was that my van cost me £150 / $200 a year to own. That is pretty affordable rent!

If I spent more time selling it I could probably have sold it for more – but turning a profit was not so important – I was mostly keen to prove that doing a decent job on the fit-out would make ownership practically free.

My Second Van (Bought new)

For my second van I bought a brand new Citreon Relay L3H2 (Enterprise)  This van body is the same as a Dodge Promaster, Fiat Ducato or a Renault Master.

1. I bought it through my company – so money from my old van went in to my pocket & buying the new van did not mean paying personal tax (savings of £3000)
2. In the UK we have to do an MOT (annual test) in the UK – driving to and from Europe in summer costs about £1000/$1200 in total with ferries, fuel and A new van does not need an MOT for 3 years so it saves me £3000
3. As my consulting work has been growing I will need to register for VAT (Sales Tax) in the coming year and I can claim back the VAT on purchases if bought within 2 years of registering so minus another £3500

So the end result (kind of) is that the van’s actual cost will be £10,000 for a new van. If you can justify your van as a business expense and spend a lot of time away from the UK it might be worth it. It is also a bit crazy to have a new van.