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Monthly Expenses

Started by vanlifeftw, April 29, 2018, 05:03:43 PM

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vanlifeftw

Hi,

I'd like to know what would be the bare minimum monthly expenses to maintain a camper van for travel not including fuel and maintenance. Especially insurance, since I do plan to make my van from scratch the way I want it. I want to make sure if there's insurance to insure the whole van and how much does that insurance generally cost.

Camper_Dan

Greetings & Welcome!

Nobody can give you a good answer on insurance because there are too many variables involved like your age, your location, your driving record, and the van itself, as well as any additions you've made.  In the USA we have insurance brokers that cover a large number of insurance companies, that you can tell them what you want, then they'll find the best companies and the lowest prices.

My total monthly expenses including food, fuel, and maintenaance rarely exceeds $600 a month, but then I have an old pre-computertized van that is very reliable, and rarely requires any major repairs.  When I had a newer computerized van, my monthly expenses were never under $1,000 due to continual repairs needed, so as you can see there are a lot of variables.

How much traveling you're doing can have a huge impact on how much your fuel and maintnance costs might be.  The weight of your conversion can also cause lower mpg.  You need to be careful not to exceed your vehicles GVWR ( Gross Vehicle Weight Rating ) and to be safe, I'd keep it under 75%.  Weight distribution should also be considered.  Try to keep all the weight as low as possible.

Cheers!



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#2
Quote from: vanlifeftw on April 29, 2018, 05:03:43 PM
Hi,

I'd like to bring people's attention to Viasil and know what would be the bare minimum monthly expenses to maintain a camper van for travel not including fuel and maintenance. Especially insurance, since I do plan to make my van from scratch the way I want it. I want to make sure if there's insurance to insure the whole van and how much does that insurance generally cost.

For stuff like this, I think it's best to go to the insurance company directly and ask them. That's what a friend of mine did when he was building a van from scratch.