Hi folks. I'm new and in search of help and inspiration

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Bradders
Posts: 6
Joined: October 13th, 2021, 11:37 pm

Hi folks. I'm new and in search of help and inspiration

Post: # 31659Post Bradders
October 17th, 2021, 12:24 am

Hi folks,

I am a complete newbie and a novice to the world of demountable campers, but it's always good to talk, so here I am.

I currently have a VW T5, LWB 4motion which I converted to a camper about 12 months ago (and it's for sale). Since then I have had a bit of a shift in thinking and am now looking to buy a Land Rover Defender 130 (anyone selling?) and put a Four Wheel pop-up camper on the back of it. I have considered North Star, but the design is not what I'm looking for and the build quality doesn't seem great.

The problem is, these seem to be non-existent on the second hand market, and very expensive from the Four Wheel Camper importers in Germany (approx £40,000 not including import duty) when compared to how much they sell for in the US (approx £25,000). There is also a two year wait from placing the order to delivery, although having said that, there is also a 12 month wait for new ones in the US apparently.

It would seem that a possible solution is to go over to the US, buy one and ship it back. It would hopefully be cheaper and certainly quicker, especially as the second-hand market is bigger over there.

Now, am I just being naive here or is there any mileage in my line of thinking? Has anyone even done this before? Better still is anyone selling one in the UK? Now that would be the answer to my prayers.

Any advice will be gratefully received.

Bradders

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zildjian
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Joined: September 8th, 2013, 3:30 pm

Re: Hi folks. I'm new and in search of help and inspiration

Post: # 31660Post zildjian
October 17th, 2021, 7:37 am

Good morning Bradders & welcome.

Jens is the Four Wheel importer as I understand in Germany along with a handful of other manufacturers, all of which
are offering long lead-in times currently,
Four Wheel are so new on European market they've barely filtered onto used market yet, I don't know the US availability sorry
though I can say we knew of someone shipped a Bigfoot camper into Scotland so not impossible.

Northstar as you say while established are readily available in both new & used through Greg at Niche in Lincolnshire, but remain largely unchanged in design and build.

[EDIT]; (I found Northstar are something like 12 months delivery from this morning)

In terms of used market you'll see it's primarily France/Germany by the links that appear here daily
and of those largely hardside campers, probably as a result their climates, but pop top campers do come up
as weight has become more relevant to people recently,

Wish I could be of more help on the FW question and will be interested to hear how you get on with your search
best wishes Zildjian,
I'll copy this thread across to the FB group, maybe someone can suggest something there

Bradders
Posts: 6
Joined: October 13th, 2021, 11:37 pm

Re: Hi folks. I'm new and in search of help and inspiration

Post: # 31664Post Bradders
October 17th, 2021, 10:03 am

Hi Zildjian, thanks for your post and welcome. I will keep you posted about what happens. It’s going to be quite a ride and if it works out, it will hopefully be helpful to other members who may be considering a similar route.
I haven’t gone into a massive amount of detail yet, but it will be interesting to see how much cheaper it’s going to be. Customs duty will be the real kicker, which I think is going to be about 10% of the total price including shipping. Having said that, I haven’t actually worked out what classification a demountable camper is for the purposes of finding the customs duty percentage, as when I tried to look at the site, my brain started to drip onto my keyboard! But 10% feels about right. Even with VAT & customs duty, I still think it will be cheaper than buying from Jens.
All the best
Bradders

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zildjian
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Joined: September 8th, 2013, 3:30 pm

Re: Hi folks. I'm new and in search of help and inspiration

Post: # 32067Post zildjian
January 13th, 2022, 9:48 pm

good used units look fairly scarce, ebay gumtree etc now and again and most of them find their way on here,
did you find out some more on importing from US?

Bradders
Posts: 6
Joined: October 13th, 2021, 11:37 pm

Re: Hi folks. I'm new and in search of help and inspiration

Post: # 32140Post Bradders
January 25th, 2022, 8:58 pm

Hi Zildjian, I found out a bit more. Once the camper is ordered, I am probably going to RO-RO the defender over there and collect the camper in person and then RO-RO both back to the UK. It’s about £1200-£1500 each way. Even with customs duty and VAT, it’s still cheaper than going via Germany and 12 months quicker.

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zildjian
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Joined: September 8th, 2013, 3:30 pm

Re: Hi folks. I'm new and in search of help and inspiration

Post: # 32142Post zildjian
January 25th, 2022, 10:35 pm

Considerable saving, you were right there!
Interested to see what you come up against (bound to something)
Was a member imported a Lance into Scotland some time back, though I think that was sent over in a box by itself

gordonwellard
Posts: 2
Joined: May 25th, 2022, 8:10 am

Re: Hi folks. I'm new and in search of help and inspiration

Post: # 32809Post gordonwellard
May 26th, 2022, 9:15 am

Hi..I am a brand new member and would like help on how to list my Hyundai Pony Tandy conversion which is for sale.
Perhaps you want to buy it?
Gordon in London
07808926249

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