I am looking for a van for all my gear and I want to have a mattress on the top near the roof of course, need room for the gear but I am not sure about what van to get that isn't too expensive.

You gotta do some research....
We got the RAM Promaster short low for city driving, 3.6 gas.
Holds 7 boards, 14 sails, 6 booms, more than 10 masts.
But little room for more than one person to sleep.

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LeeD said..
You gotta do some research....
We got the RAM Promaster short low for city driving, 3.6 gas.
Holds 7 boards, 14 sails, 6 booms, more than 10 masts.
But little room for more than one person to sleep.

ok thanks and have been doing research for a while but just am not sure what to look for

Make a list of your needs.
Mileage, length, height, motor, reliability, comfort, price, nearby service, are you living in it?, parking.

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LeeD said..
You gotta do some research....
We got the RAM Promaster short low for city driving, 3.6 gas.
Holds 7 boards, 14 sails, 6 booms, more than 10 masts.
But little room for more than one person to sleep.

And only available in the USA

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kato said..

LeeD said..
You gotta do some research....
We got the RAM Promaster short low for city driving, 3.6 gas.
Holds 7 boards, 14 sails, 6 booms, more than 10 masts.
But little room for more than one person to sleep.

And only available in the USA

Looks like it's a rebadged Fiat Ducato. Plenty over here. The Fiat/Chrysler connection.

You can also get them in Europe.

windsurfing.tv/video/ep-3-mega-van-project-my-biggest-mistake-and-general-update/

Yes, rebadged Fiat and yes Kato it is available here

In the USA the choices are the Dodge Promaster, Ford Transit (not the Connect), the MB Sprinter, and the MB Metris. Sure, there are others, but if you want a reasonable amount of interior space to store your gear and still have a rack for a bed, these are your main USA choices.

I have an ancient Chevy Astro, which is fine for gear, but no bed. At home I have a Sprinter 3500 long/tall with a RV conversion inside. With the bed in front (rather than the usual back) I can carry all my gear and still sleep in it without having to unload all the gear.

I am planning to build one for summer so i made some research, branding and prices might be different there.

Best options in my opinion are Fiat Ducato and Peugeot Boxer, they are the same design just different branding. Reasons to recommend are, its wide and boxy, no shaft going back to rear wheels so actually inside headspace is same as taller options, cheaper.
Other options are WV Crafter and Mercedes Sprinter. They are same design, thin tall and long.

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Sea Lotus said..
I am planning to build one for summer so i made some research, branding and prices might be different there.

Best options in my opinion are Fiat Ducato and Peugeot Boxer, they are the same design just different branding. Reasons to recommend are, its wide and boxy, no shaft going back to rear wheels so actually inside headspace is same as taller options, cheaper.
Other options are WV Crafter and Mercedes Sprinter. They are same design, thin tall and long.

Hey stay away from the Fiat Ducato .... I Have had endless problems with mine which is 2017 model , auto .

So far so good with my Renault Traffic. 12 months old now. I got the 2019 on runout...really good price...manual LWB 1.6 twin turbo, sweet little motor. and drives like a car, not what I expected from a van. The Ford wins most of the tests so would be great but is more expensive.

Mitsubishi Delica is basically a minibus on a Pajero chassis if you think you might need 4WD. There's a lot of haters out there but mine has been good for 18 months and 20,000km. Mines a petrol, I got it with 88,000 on the clock for a little over $13,000 but they seem to have gone up.

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remery said..
Mitsubishi Delica is basically a minibus on a Pajero chassis if you think you might need 4WD. There's a lot of haters out there but mine has been good for 18 months and 20,000km. Mines a petrol, I got it with 88,000 on the clock for a little over $13,000 but they seem to have gone up.

Have you had any problems with the delica? SWB or LWB? I am thinking about getting a LWB imported and it sounds like the petrol versions are harder to get than the diesels. I think that for remote areas maybe I should get the diesel?

I have the low roof SWB petrol. The LWBs are hard to find and handle wierd but would be great as a camper. They still seem to be trickling in as low mileage examples, the older ones seem to be diesels. I'm really enjoying mine but only use it for transporting windsurfing gear. I've only used 4wd a couple of times to get out of some sand that I deliberately drove into. I like the idea of having 4wd as a backup.

People love to dump of them for some reason but I love my Hyundai iLoad. You need to keep an eye on the turbo but everything else about them is great. Drives and feels like a car. Cheap to service. Cheap parts. Very powerful (2.4 turbo diesel). Might be a tad small for a camper but if your solo they are perfect.

I had a diesel SWB 4x4 Deli for 5 years. 200k on the clock. Drove it all that time for about 20k. No major probs. Biggest thing with the Delis in Oz is that they're a grey import. Lots of people pick them up cheap, and then don't maintain them, so they get a bad rap. I got one that had been well looked after and caused me minor issues but no majors and was a bloody ripper. Auto in sand/mud is brilliant. Heaps of room for lots of gear. 8 seater so you can pack heaps of peeps in as well. Top heavy so gotta be a tad careful if getting right into the 4wding. Hard on juice (7-9 km/L). Can rip the back seats and middle pivot seat out and have heaps of room for gear. If you get a good one, you'll be laughing.

Once you get a van you'll wonder how you went on so long without one.

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martyj4 said..
I had a diesel SWB 4x4 Deli for 5 years. 200k on the clock. Drove it all that time for about 20k. No major probs. Biggest thing with the Delis in Oz is that they're a grey import. Lots of people pick them up cheap, and then don't maintain them, so they get a bad rap. I got one that had been well looked after and caused me minor issues but no majors and was a bloody ripper. Auto in sand/mud is brilliant. Heaps of room for lots of gear. 8 seater so you can pack heaps of peeps in as well. Top heavy so gotta be a tad careful if getting right into the 4wding. Hard on juice (7-9 km/L). Can rip the back seats and middle pivot seat out and have heaps of room for gear. If you get a good one, you'll be laughing.

I took out the rear seat on the passenger side and swivelled the middle seat so it backs up to the side window. The rear right seat I laid flat and put the sails on, the passenger side for boards. Unfortunately the slalom boards have to poke between the front seats. I have a foil and board, two slalom boards, 8 sails, two booms with plenty of space on top. I use about the same amount of fuel at 11.3 L/100km.