Terrible mileage

On some pamphlet of the seller there was a mention of 30 mpg for the fuel consumption. Turns out that was overly optimistic: the big Luton box is not very smooth in the wind of driving, and when going more than 80 km/h, this is a major factor. Not sure what the cw value for this vehicle is...

But when filling up, I got around 15-16 mpg. Not very impressive... the LDV had an overall average of 25.5 mpg, over all the past 6 years.

I will probably need to drive much slower. Even though the vehicle drives very smooth at 70 mph. But that is probably not a very efficient speed... 

Waiting in Dover for the ferry:

Arriving in Nussdorf

After arriving with the ferry in Dunkirk at 21:00, I continued driving through the night.

Stopping in Belgium for a 3h sleep.

Then at 10:30 next day I arrived at my destination.

The van is too large to keep parking it on the road. Therefore I needed to find another suitable spot.

Found it near the cemetery:

Is a bit hidden  and out of sight.

The Roller Shutter Opens through Vibration

When I checked at a stop, I noticed that the roller shutter has moved up about 20 cm. Probably because of the vibration during driving.

This is a good reason to fix the lock or add another one (maybe a bolt or something) to keep the shutters down during driving. 

On the Road

Leaving from Leeds around 10:15.

Quite a lot of traffic on the A1 (M). Google Maps constantly provides some detours.

Good to have a lot of displays!

Arriving in Dover just in time, around 17:20.

Ferry leaves at 18:00

Packed for the travel

The blue Luton will have its first longer ride: going to Germany.

I have a few things to transport:

Still lots of space there.

The cabin is fully stuffed:

Key problem

There is an additional key for the van: it is for the roller in the back box. The dealer told me it would not work. I tried, and it was quite hard. The lock would close the roller shutter in the back, which is a goof safety feature.

When I tried to turn the key, it was very hard. And then it broke...

This is of no use then... now I need to extract the part of the key that is stuck in the lock.

The key looks like it was quite corroded at that location where it broke. Only a small real metal connection seemed to be there, the rest looks like oxidised surface.

Need to fix this sometime later.

Camper comparison

Here again the two campers side by side:

I am a bit sad to sell the LDV. It served me well on my travels to the Alps and the Swiss mountain passes. And now after the repairs it runs really well and smooth...

But it is now time for something new. The Blue Luton will be a major project, and I am looking forward in pursuing this new conversion.

Rain gets through the roof

There was some rain these days, and I checked the Luton box to see if there was water ingress.

And there was... not very much, but in two locations there were droplets on the floor.

Not very much water, but there should be none. Any water droplets will damage the future interior.

So I need to find these leaks and fix the roof where this comes in. I suspect it is the roof, but it could also be at the side walls. Will do an investigation in the next weeks, before any further installation is done.

Three campers

One unique opportunity: a picture of all my three campers:

• 2005 Fiat Doblo, microcamper
• 2002 LDV 400 Convoy, mid-size camper
• 2014 Renault Master, to-be-converted large camper (almost a tiny house)

The Fiat and the LDV will be on sale shortly. I will post also here the details from the ad on Autotrader.

Usage as a transporter

The next task is to empty the LDV camper and bring stuff into the Blue Luton, for later installation and use.

An anti-slip mat is placed, then the crates are affixed with flexible cords.

So the first task of this camper will be a use as a transporter. There will be more things loaded into the Luton box.

Comparison of two campers

Here the two campers are next to each other. The Renault Luton is 1.50 m longer than the LDV, and is 50 cm higher.

Installing a rear-view camera

The inside rear-view mirror just shows the backseat and the wall of the Luton box, which is not transparent. So this mirror is of no use for observing the traffic.

The two external mirrors are very good, they have an upper section for the normal view and a split lower section for a wide angle view of the near environment.

But it is very difficult to go straight backward - I was not able to see anything that may be directly behind the van.

Therefore I decided that I quickly need to install a rear-view camera.

Got one at Halfords and temporarily installed it with tape. Will do that more professional later, but at least with this camera I am able to go backwards and see something.

The camera is "attached" above the rear licence plate:

Due to the presence of the tail lift platform, the upper view is limited:

But better than nothing at all.

New door handle needed?

When I opened the passenger door, I noticed that the lock just slid out of the door!

I had no idea how to fix this. So this could be my first case for the 3-month warranty.

But I had a look at the door, and I noticed a hole that was covered with plastic. Inside was something that could be pushed further in. And while the lock part was again put in place, I shoved that part further in, and it appeared to affix the lock. Some kind of bolt or latch, which is at each door and apparently had gotten loose at this door. 

So this could easily be fixed.

Trying to find parking...

I had assumed that I would be able to park the van in that parking garage where I had also the LDV camper parked several times.

But when I arrived, I realized that the Luton is too high: it is 3.20 m, and the garage only allows vehicles up to 2.70 m. My LDV is 2.70 m high...

I found another open space parking, but there was no available space to park it, and the parking warden was worried that the Luton is too big for the normal spaces...

Yes, it is quite large. Does not feel large when driving on the motorway, but when looking for parking, one realizes that this thing is huge. 7 m long, 2.1 m wide. 

I did park it during the day along the road, paid by phone to the city council. But I did not want to leave the van overnight there... for fear someone would break in. So I re-parked the LDV, for Saturday nicht and Sunday it will be on the street. And the Luton goes into the protected enclosed parking space at Mabgate. Barely fits into the parking space, but it fits ok.

Picking up the van

I was able to scrape the funds together to buy this vehicle, and today I went by train from Leeds to Barnsley to pick it up.

And here is the van in all its glory:

All appears fine, only the wheels seemed to be a bit more rusty than they were on the pictures or when I saw the van a week ago.... But fine, my LDV has wheels that are much more rusty.

Driving on the M1 north to Leeds, exceeding the 62mph limit - the limiter had been removed OK.

Searching for van insurance

For my regular car I did have good experience with GoCompare. But van insurance is in general very expensive... I learned that already when 6 years ago I tried to insure the LDV 400 Convoy. And since this blue Renault Master Luton is not yet converted, it will be classified as a regular (private) van. 

GoCompare and several other sites (MoneySuperMarket, CompareTheMarket) all came up with one cheapest insurance quote: insure2drive.  At a annual price of GBP 1128 resp. higher. And European travel would only be for 28 days per year. Not acceptable.

While searching on google, I found an ad for "Self Build Campervan Insurance". I filled out their online form, then got the screen message that someone would ring me back. That is not what I usually like - I prefer to do it all on the web, with forms and emails. No talking.

But a few minutes later the phone rang, and a lady took my further details. She represented also an intermediary and would be able to find quotes from other insurances. She transferred then my call to the company Adrian Flux. I spoke to the guy, and their quote was actually lower than anything I had seen: GBP 858 per year. Not cheap, but still the cheapest. So I agreed and took this insurance. It also includes full year cover for driving in Europe.

If the van would already have been converted into a motorhome, insurance would be much cheaper. But for now, as a van, I have to bite the bullet and pay the expensive insurance for a van. 

Now the Blue Luton has an insurance, and I am looking forward to driving this van soon.

Financing: 16.9% APR

It seems that the low-interest times are over. If I had the option of financing the vehicle purchase with a credit at a low interest rate, I would have done that. 

The offer from MotoNovoFinance is a credit at an interest rate of 16.9 %. This is too much. Even with a large down-payment, I would immediately loose several 100s of pounds. 

So I needed to find a way of getting the full amount. Pension payment lump sum is still far away. But eventually I did manage to scrape together the price. Not much negotiation, the price was relatively fixed.

Well, then that's it. New camper will be ready soon. The speed limiter will be taken off. Now I need insurance. 

Advert by Barnsley Commercial Sales

In February 2023 I saw on Autotrader the ad for a blue Luton van, with a 7-seat crew cab. Looked very nice, but I was not in the position to purchase this vehicle then. Kept looking at the ad often, drooling over it. Did some drawings regarding the design of the "living space". Has only 3.58 m loading length, so some compromises would be necessary.

Then in May the ad disappeared. Pity.

But a few weeks later it was again online. So I paid the dealer, Barnsley Commercial Services, a visit in Barnsley, and a few days later arranged for a test drive. Very smooth ride, easy to drive.

The main positive points of this vehicle:

• A Luton van has a very straight box. Easy to put furniture in, no curved surfaces, all plain and right-angles.
• High standing space: 2.15 m. Good width: 2.08 m.
• Motorized tail-lift: can serve as a "balcony".
• 7-seater crew cabin: allows to take more than just 2 additional people, and provides space for additional "stuff" without cluttering the living quarters. At the moment (June 2023) this is the only Luton van in the UK with such a cab. In February there was another one onlind on Autotrader, somewhere near London: a 2015 Sprinter. But that is now not online anymore.
• Large (1.80 m long) over-cab compartment, either for a bed of for storage.
• Twin-wheels in the rear, providing more traction.
• The blue color is quite nice and unique.
• Transparent roof lets a lot of light in during the day, even without any window.

Some of the not so good things:

• Speed is limited to 62 mph. How will I cope with this on the German Autobahn?
• The length of the "living quarter" Luton box is only 3.58m. I had envisioned to need at least 4.0 m.
• The cab has no air conditioning.
• Relatively expensive - more than I wanted to spend on a new camper ...

Well, now I needed to decide if I should get this van. 

If I decided to buy it, this will be built into my new "tiny home" on wheels.