While this isn't 100% necessary, it is where we went wrong with our first van. We had around 9 months MOT still on the van and the MOT history was good with no real problems and only one fail which was almost four years ago. Our problem was AA wouldn't do the time we had off around work and we wanted to be there during the inspection. Turns out we had to pay another £700 to replaced suspension and get new breaks. Pretty sure we got scammed by the mechanic. This is why we highly recommend using the AA especially if you have no understanding of mechanics. The AA will provide a vehicle inspection for about £200 it will drop by ~£20 if you're a member. The test involves the following:
up to 156-point check for vans up to 15 years old
full inspection of body, mechanical and visible parts
checks for previous accident damage
up to 5-mile road test (depending on time, traffic and road conditions)
*Price will change based on vehicle, type of vehicle and location of the inspection*
For more information and pricing follow this link:
One of the best tools to use before you even go and look at a van is to look at the MOT history. All you need is the licence plate number and you can go to https://www.check-mot.service.gov.uk/ from here it will give you a break down of previous MOT tests that the vehicle has either failed or passed. You can also see things that have been marked down with a potential future problem.
**BE CAREFUL** just because the car has passed MOT doesn't mean everything has been check successfully. We brought a Van that had recently passed MOT (2-3 months earlier). However, there was no way it would have passed when we brought it and a lot of the problems weren't caused by short-term wear and tear.
What you want to do is go over the history and look at any reoccurring problems. If the driver side suspension has failed every two or three MOT's then its likely that they have just taken it to another mechanic. Because it's cheaper to pay another £55 and hope the next mechanic doesn't have a good look. Compared to paying for it to be replaced. You can also use this site to check if the vehicle has been recalled for any problems. Just to save yourself from the hassle of buying a van that will randomly catch on fire.
**Checking MOT history online has a database that only goes back to 2005 - anything before that won't be visible**
Buy this point you have picked out what style of van you want to buy (If not we recommend reading Van Conversion Part 1 - Seven things to consider before buying a Campervan). Your next step from here should be making sure you pick something out this is not only going have minimal mechanical or structural problems.
To help you do this I recommend following these next three steps. Each should provide a bit more information about the van and whether you're up to the challenge of either paying for repairs or doing them yourself.
The next lot of steps can be done alongside the first three, but its just as easy to wait to you have an AA report telling you what you're in for. It's likely these steps won't change your mind about buying any particular van, but they will let you know what other hidden costs are lying around the corner.
Insurance
Vehicle Tax
Vehicle Emissions (Driving in Greater London)
If you're from the UK then it's likely you will know what these are and won't need to worry about it. However, if you haven't held a UK drivers licence for more than two years then it's best to know what you're in for ahead of time.
MOT is the equivalent of rego in Australia. Unlike Australia, a vehicle can go any length of time in the UK without an MOT and there is no penalty or extra charge undergoing MOT again. It can cost up to £55 to get your campervan's MOT; it's primarily concerned with safety. I've outlined the testing areas below.
Lighting and signalling equipment
Steering (including suspension)
Brakes
Tyres and wheels
Seatbelts
Body, structure and general items. Includes body and components such as spoilers, bumpers and mirror housings.
Exhaust, fuel and emissions (unless electric)
Driver's view of the road
The majority of these things should be fine or easy enough to fix yourself for a reasonably low cost. For instead its possible to fail or faulty head or brake lights. The main ones that may require a mechanic to replace/repair would be breaks or steering (suspension), that's if you have no mechanical skills. Things like body/structure and driver's view you should look over before buying the vehicle and see if there is anything that may be a major issue.
Lastly, the longer the MOT already on the Vehicle the better, either its a lemon and you realise with enough MOT left to sell it on or you get enough time to get your money's worth before its times up.
Want somewhere to stay in New York for free over Christmas and New Years Eve? How about a penthouse apartment in Portugal for the weekend? Or maybe a historic farm house in the UK is more you?
We were lucky enough to come across Trusted House Sitters before heading to Europe and from this site, we have had close to three months worth of free accommodation. We were also lucky enough to spend time in some amazing homes during our summer road trip in Portugal, Spain and Switzerland.
Pros of Being a Trusted House Sitter
While house sitting may take you away from the van life, there are several pros that make it worth your time. Also, if you're like us and your van has a really simple design, then the following pros make it well worth joining Trusted House Sitters.
1. Access to a washing machine and dryer (or clothes line)
Before we got our first house sit in Lisbon, we had spent almost 2 weeks on the road. Due to some of the locations we were going to, and some wet weather, we couldn't hand wash our clothes so we had to keep paying to use laundry mats. The first was just a local town near Bordeaux. It was reasonably cheap but we had to spend a few hours watching The Walking Dead on Netflix while we waited. The second was at a caravan park just south of Porto, this was pretty expensive and cost us almost €14. What made it worst was we packed up and headed a further 30 minutes south before we released we left all our washing back at the caravan park.
After this we were lucky enough to time our washing days with our house sits so we didn't have to hang in laundry mats or pay any outrageous charges.
2. Access to a full kitchen
This may not be a great benefit if you're a creative cook and have a cooking set-up inside your van. We caught up with some friends for a couple of nights at Verdon Gorge in France where they had spent almost a month on the road and managed to cook every meal on their portable gas cooker. Us on the other hand are not as innovative with our cooking skills so having a full kitchen was of great help.
If your not a very creative cook then it may be worth investing your time YouTube cooking channels or cooking blogs, especially if your vans kitchen set-up is limited. As we spent most of our dinners munging out on a BBQ chicken or ham sandwich because we didn't really have the space to set up the gas cooker inside our van. So whenever we did get access to a full kitchen we made the most of the oven, toaster, microwave and grill.
3. Bathroom
The benefits of this are pretty self-explanatory. We spent a lot of our time throughout Portugal and Spain using the ocean and beach showers which were fine, however when we started heading further north where there are no beaches then you have to find a swimming complex and pay to use their facilities. The cheapest we found was €3/person in Italy, but you were put on a 3-minute timer and you could only pause the shower once!
4. A chance to empty out and clean your van
It's surprising how often we held onto unnecessary things during our road trip. We took the opportunity when we could to get the majority of our things out of the van and re-organize things. Having a short term home base came in handy when we returned to the UK and decided to do another lot of major renovations. The home owner was also kind enough to lend us a bunch of tools and his work shed to save us buying our own, cheers Peter!
5. Exotic extras
We came across a few of these in our time, because people don't like to put up all the details of their house to strangers there are a few things you only find out when you get there. For example, as I'm writing this we are staying at a UK farmhouse that was built in the 16-hundreds, the exotic extra? The owners have added in a 15-meter indoor heated swimming pool. Others worth mentioning would be the rooftop terrace overlooking the beach, surrounded by acres of beauty and the furry friends that keep you company, many of which we get sad to leave! So I'm sure you can find some of these during your travels.
How Does It Work?
To become a house sitter you need to pay a 12-month membership fee and then create a profile, from memory this is around $130 AUD but drops down closer to $100 AUD if you use our discount link. You can then search and apply for house sits all around the world, there are added filters to help make the search process easier, i.e. dates, locations, types of animals you want or want to avoid etc. Once you successfully complete a house sit you are able to provide feedback about your experience on the homeowner's page and then they are able to give feedback about you. This feedback stays on your profile and you gather an accumulative star rating as you complete more house sits. The more stars and reviews, the more inclined a homeowner may be to select you if you have applied.
Now while there are several perks of house sitting you still have to look after the animals and other house cleaning and duties. This may require you to take the dogs for a walk twice a day or look after a variety of animals, so make sure you read the sitter request properly along with any reviews in case it is not something that may interest you. Our tip is to find a house sit with only one cat, this way your duties are typically less and your free to leave the house during the day.
