Has anyone owned/own a VW T25 Camper?! - Advice required!

[300CE]

I'm possibly interested in the attached and wondered if anyone has advice on what to look out for in addition to the usual rusting issues underneath (the chap selling it has assured me it's sound).

Any advice would be much appreciated!!

eBay - The UK's Online Marketplace

 

[ecossebev]

I'm no expert but it looks absolutely spotless and if the guy has done all he says he has, l don't see what you have to worry about. These things are like old Mercs where they just go on and on......

 

[martyz]

My mate has just sold one of these for £3.5k,not a patch on the one you are looking at, many parts available for them,easy to maintain,lovely vehicles, go for it, well under priced, good investment.

 

[Alex Crow]

Well we love ours, a really nice old thing.

Personally I would say the waterboxers are better, more MPG and warmer heaters in cold weather.

And those pop-up tops get a bit annoying in windy weather, ours is a fixed one, and the only real downside of it is the jokes about having a boat on the roof.

An awning is a great addition, not an expensive buy.

Front seats that rotate to face the rear are also good, they make the internal space feel much bigger.

As with all things though, you really do need to see it before buying, have a proper look over round and under for the dreaded rust - they go in all sorts of places. Beware the filler too, take a magnet and have a proper look along the sides to try and gauge exactly how much pudding it has - if the sills are freshly painted and not magnetic, run away.

 

[WDB124066]

I had one of these but it was a Westfalia with a 1600 in it. Bought it with damaged valve gear, apart from that it could have been in a Museum. Had the engine replaced with a 2 litre, which would run out of fuel and over heat when pushed hard, more to do with the transplant not being done quite properly I'd have thought.

So, my suggestion would be to test it out at the top speed you want to be doing in it. See how you like it and see what limitations it will place on travelling long high speed distances - not really what you want to be doing in it, in any case, but that was the only disappointment I had; Oh, and the steering will work off the camping beer belly at low speeds......

The other thing you will notice is that when camping everything will need a place and everything will need to be put in place.

They are just so much fun I don't think you'll regret it.

 

[4n0y-merc]

Hi 100CE

I used to drive a T3 van - basically the same vehicle (I think the type-3 was also called a T25 back in the late 80s (just showing my age) I might have been the difference between the van and the combi. A check on a VW website will confirm this.

From what I remember it was wasn't very good on fuel, i think we had a 1600cc and it needed lost of reving so fuel sufford and I believe the steering was heavy when it was loaded (it was a delivery van for a kitchen suppliers - china dinner sets) so we used to go through tyres. I also recall that it wasn't the quickest van on the motorways I used to regulary get overtaken by trucks on the M1 hill by Luton.

Having said that on the whole it was a great van, we used to have a T3 and a transit and the T3 was my favorite.

The one on eBay looks a fine example and you know being a Volkswagen it go forever. bit of an odd color thought.

 

[300CE]

Many thanks for all the advice so far chaps! I've always wanted one and have been extremely lucky enough to have been given some money from my folks towards purchasing.

I've only ever bought one vehicle over 4k and it took me months to get the right one and you can't really get one any further away with this old girl so i'm in two minds about whether i should wait for something a bit more local or after xmas when people are after a few quid. This does look the best so far for the budget that i have.

As she's in Scotland it would be a case of flying up to Glasgow and driving all the way home to Kent from there (i'd certainly make sure i had recovery on the insurance). 60/70 would probably be the max i'd go in it which doesn't really bother me (my pals call me 'captain slow'!!).

 

[Alex Crow]

We get about 27mpg from ours at around a 70mph cruise with a little bit of town work.
That would probably go up to a max of 30mpg at a constant 60mph, not bad for a big old bus like that.
I believe that drops to circa 20mpg with the aircooled motors.

Loads of good info for them on the web, have a look here... VW T25(T3)-Tech