Buying Little Dai

Why?

I've been camping, caravanning and boating at various times since I was a few years' old. Most recently I've owned a succession of folding campers, the latest being a Pennine Pathfinder. These are about the largest of the folders available with 4-6 berths, fitted cassette toilet, oven, hot & cold water, etc. At the time I bought it I was often away with friends at boat rallies but more recently I've tended to be away by myself. The camper was great for a two-week holiday but generally too much hassle to put up and take down for shorter breaks or for touring. On my own it would take a good hour+ to set up and the same to take down. I also suffer back problems which made it even harder and sometimes painful.

I'd had thoughts about motorhomes for quite a while, with the stipulation that I couldn't realistically afford to run two vehicles.

Criteria

The exact criteria for a motorhome did change as I was looking at examples and thinking about the subject. The key points were:

• Must be usable as an every day car, that means it would have to fit into standard car parks easily and go under height barriers. I was aiming for a maximum height of 2m but prepared to accept up to about 2.2m (there's a car park I use regularly that's set at that). That ruled out any high-tops and many of the van conversions were just too big. It also ruled out all but a few coach-builts.
• Standing head room wasn't on the list initially but I crewed on a boat for a while where even I couldn't stand up (and I'm not tall). The owners (family and friends) changed to a larger boat and that was one of the reasons - it's not easy doing everything in a crouched position. Combined with the height limits that meant it had to be a pop-top.
• A toilet! I wanted to be able to stop in places without facilities and I hate the 3am dash through the rain to site facilities so some provision for a toilet was essential. I'm not squeamish about such things and as I'm usually on my own I was quite happy with a small Porta-Potti tucked into a cupboard. Good job really as that's what I've got.
• A stove and sink with running water were also essentials, as was some sort of worktop space. You can manage with a camping stove and a washing up bowl but if I was going to do that I might as well camp. Worktop space is the one thing lacking on the folding camper and it was always a nuisance.
• Practical sleeping space for 1 person seems obvious but that didn't seem to be the case. Quite a few conversions I looked at had huge double beds that once they were pulled out and set up filled the entire area meaning you'd struggle to even put the kettle on without packing the bed away. I wanted something where you could still move around a bit with the bed(s) set up. The two single beds in Little Dai are ideal, although I'd have preferred ones that didn't include the front seats. In a vehicle that small there had to be a compromise somewhere and that's it.
• I wanted something ready to go. I looked at, planned and seriously considered my own conversion. I've just about got the skills and equipment to do this but in the end decided it would be a lot of work and there would always be issues around insurance and things.
• Whatever I got needed sufficient storage space that I could go away with everything put away. I'd accepted that for a longer trip I'd have the awning, etc. on the floor but that was my limit. I definitely wanted to be able to go away for a weekend without worrying about having loads of stuff "on show".

Looking Around

I looked at various options all over the country (well from the South Coast to Yorkshire to be exact). These included a very well done conversion on a Citroen Berlingo that ultimately failed the storage test and was really just too cramped. I also didn't like how the beds made up.
For quite a while I was keen on a Mazda Bongo. I think if I'd found one with the right conversion I might have gone that route although I had a concern about the driving position. They're also not the most economical vehicles. I looked at a few but none suited me.
Looking at the smallest conversions I rejected one, a Suzuki Wagon R must be about the smallest motorhome conversion ever! It looked very well done but was clearly just too small. There were a few Daihatsus and Suzukis coming up on Autotrader so I focussed my attention on these. I took the opportunity of a weekend trip to Leeds to do some looking and, on my way up, looked at Little Dai at a dealer's near Nottingham. As soon as I got in I felt it was right. It fulfilled all the criteria mentioned above, was sensibly equipped (just the lack of fitted mains electric to worry about) and was sensibly priced. I did the right thing though and walked away for a think.
Whilst in Leeds I looked at a couple of Suzuki conversions as well. The workmanship was very good but ultimately I felt they'd crammed too much in - the pop-top was almost wasted as there wasn't enough floor space to actually stand up.

Buying Little Dai

Having left the dealer's for a think about things I very nearly turned round and went back. Sensibly I waited until my return journey on the Sunday having cogitated for a couple of days. I had another good look around and had a brief test drive then decided that yes, it was the right option for me. The business side didn't take too much sorting and I arranged to collect it a week later when I'd sorted the finance and insurance - I'd forgotten though that it was a bank holiday weekend!
Finance should have been easy, search the 'net, select a provider and complete the online application. That's how it should work, but they contacted me to say they couldn't trace me at my previous address (after all I only lived there 38 years)! It was easily resolved but that was another day lost and coupled with the post meant the forms didn't get back to them for a week or so.
The difficulty with the insurance was the requirement to have cover for commuting to work. Some won't cover it at all, others wanted a huge premium. Some also wouldn't cover more than about 10,000 miles a year. Fortunately the Caravan Club came through with a very sensible quote, with all the cover I need.

Next Steps

That's about where it rests at the moment. The money is in the bank ready, I've arranged the pickup and a friend to give me a lift there, and can't now wait.
In the mean time I've been assembling equipment, mainly from "stock" as I've been clearing the old camper ready for sale and I've also got some kit stored away. I'll set up a page about equipment later.