VW T25 Camper - A Good Buy For a Tight Budget | camping equipment | camping gear

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VW T25 Camper - A Good Buy For a Tight Budget

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Buying a VW T25

The Vanagon is a good first camper if you’re on a tight budget, and they’re often restored to cutomised designs. You’ll enjoy some cheap camping and the summer festivals.The VW T25 is larger than the earlier VW campers and can be bought cheaply and were made over ten years from 1980 to 1990.

Look out for this model if you want to try out a camper or your budget is tight.These are old campers, though, so you will need to do more maintenance than with a modern vehicle.

Do Your Research

They are quite straighforward to restore - both the mechanics and the interior. You do need to look at a number of VW 25 campers before buying. Treat it as research. If you get more information and learn about the model, you can spot vehicles that will cause problems.

The owners should tell you what the camper has been used for and they may know something about its history. Look out for poor van conversions or vehicles with a chequered history.

Check the Bodywork

Take some time to really have a good look around. Look over the gutters and the roof and the pop-up mechanism. Ask for a demonstration.

Bumps and waves along the sides can be a sign of damage and filler. Most rust will start between the Vanagon body panels, can be serious and needs to be checked thoroughly.

The battery tray can hise problems and also the steps - carefully look over both the front and back steps. Fuel tanks should be checked carefully on the top - as this where they can rust!

Check the tyres. Are they all the same? Check the condition of the spare? Tyres must be van tyres, normal car tyres are unsafe. If the camper has low profile tires as these may be car tires.

Engine Checks

Listen to the engine and check how it starts. You don’t want smoke from the exhaust and oil over the engine. Are there any smells of petrol or diesel that could indicate the tank is rusty? You need to know what the engine is, how old it is and what mileage it has done. Ask about maintenance, oil changes and other service history.

Does the engine start straightaway or does the starter motor struggle? Failure can occur without any warning. The Vanagon had a range of engines. 1980 to 1982 were air-cooled. The smaller engines lack power, but are easy to work on. 1982 onwards both dieslel and petrol engine were available, replacing the air-cooled engine.

OK - now it’s decision time. Is this a great budget bus, a good Vanagon, VW t25 camper - or will you be letting yourself in for a lot of hard work and heartache?

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