tl;dr - great van. buy it. go on adventures.
The base van is a 2008 VW Crafter, CR35 MWB, 2.5 TDI 136PS High Roof. We bought the van already converted in Oct 2014 but have since made quite a few changes to better use the space. Before getting into the details, this van has been fantastic and has NEVER let us down. It's taken us all the way up to Harris and all the way down to Italy with plenty of places in between. The only reason for sale is that we are now a family of 4 rather than a family of 2 so we're upgrading to a larger van.
Loads of photos here:
https://photos.app.goo.gl/Nwoi5tJ8jErSjkYg8The mileage on the odometer is 121,035 BUT it had a new engine, turbo, and flywheel at 75k. The work was carried out by VW under warranty in 2010 and since then it's only done 46k (of which about 30k has been under our ownership). I have all the paperwork for this. Also has full service history, all paperwork, including all MOT certificates etc.
Some details
- Eberspacher airtronic D2 diesel heater - this is plumbed in to the diesel tank and has a digital thermostat. Gets the van very, very toasty even in sub zero conditions.
Sterling Pro Power 1600w inverter - this outputs to two UK plugs https://sterling-power.com/products/pro-power-pure-sine-wave-inverters-with-rcd
Dometic CRX50 fridge - the gold standard in fridges. Runs all day/night from the battery via solar
100ah Deep Cycle AGM battery from Photonic Universe - new in August 2018
Dometic Sink and 2 gas burners
Gas tank is in the garage in a proper gas safety cabinet (vented under the van) and all pipework to the burner is copper piping (not perishable rubber hose!) - we currently have a full campingaz 907 in there
120w rigid solar panel on the roof - this was fitted by a local conversion company and is a high quality one (not a cheapo kit)
Fiamma F65s awning - this was new in August 2018 (also comes with one side panel so you can block out wind/rain from one side - quite handy actually)
Fiamma 400mm roof vents - both adjuster knobs have fallen off but we keep them in the draw and just use to open/close as necessary. They still work 100%
Fiamma bike rack on the back - can carry two bikes up to a total of 30kg. It can't really take two mountain bikes because the spacing of the racks isn't wide enough but it can comfortably take two road/town bikes.
Double swivel seat - the front double seat swivels so that you have a large open space in the cab for eating etc.
Water tank is a removable tank inside the van within the units - it's only 20 litres but there is lots of room to fit a much larger tank if you wish (easily 60 litres). There isn't a waste water tank and the sink drains straight out the bottom of the van.
The garage at the back is exceptionally large and can accommodate a lot of stuff (which was the main attraction for us). I've shown some photos which include a standard size moon bouldering pad as well as a large 650b mountain bike. It's entirely possible to fit 2 large pads, 2 adult bikes, 1 kids bike, a buggy, and more in the garage - we know because we did it for 4 months last summer. There are shelves that run down both sides which is a really effective use of space as you can put lots of small items in there and it also fits a standard size plastic box too.
The bed is an approximate square shape which means you can sleep widthways if you are short (5ft6 or below). We've comfortably slept 3 people up there, 2 adults and 1 child. When we grew into 4 people I build a bed for the front cab and so our older daughter slept up there whilst the 3 of us slept in the back. I can include the cab bed if you want it otherwise I'll recycle the plywood into something else. If you are very tall, over 6ft2, then the bed will be too short unless you're sleeping on a diagonal. We've currently got our old mattress in the van which is an Austrian made foam one - there are some made to measure pattern matched foam pieces which I will include but we never found it that comfortable so when we went away on a big trip I put in a proper mattress. If you don't want the mattress I'm happy to keep it.
Bad points - the driver side wing mirror got knocked by someone whilst the van was parked. It could do with replacing but still works and has passed subsequent MOT's. The rear doors have some rust bubbles appearing. I was quoted £900 to remove and completely respray both doors which is a bit overkill but would completely sort it. If we were keeping then I would be doing it. The aerial is missing so the radio function doesn't work but we mainly use CD's or a large bluetooth speaker.
For the avoidance of doubt, the auction is for the van but not any of our stuff which is shown in the photos!
I'd strongly suggest coming to see the van as it's brilliant and will undoubtedly take you on as many adventures as we have had. I’ve included a bunch of photos from our adventures to inspire you.
