The quest for the perfect camper van

It’s an overwelming task that will have you watching an endless stream of Youtube videos and visiting dealerships all across the state (or country). Once your interest has peaked, you realize you have no idea what you’re looking for or the right questions to ask. There is so much to learn.

This is an adventure that I’ve been on for several years. This year, just before my 40th birthday, I pulled the trigger at last and purchased a 2018 Hymer Aktiv.

The Aktiv is a camper van built on the Ram Promaster 2500 chasis. Its layout features a rear murphy bed with a front dinette. It has lithium batteries, solar panels, an under-hood generator, a shower, cassette toilet, a propane cooktop and so far… it’s awesome.

I didn’t choose the Hymer Aktiv out of a hat. I put more time and thought into the decision than I care to admit. Below I’ll discuss all of the choices and decisions I made along the way to the Aktiv and hope it will help you to make your choice as well.

What size vehicle are you looking for?

One of the first questions you should ask yourself is how big of a vehicle you want. This is important to decide early. A larger 24’ Airstream “touring coach” will be much more roomy than a more compact 19’ Promaster, and why stop at a 24’ when you can get a the Class-C 25’ Unity from Leisure Travel Vans that adds so much more space. The 23’ Class-C winnebago Ekko is quite roomy too.

While it seems like the downside of stepping up from a 20’ and 23’ is negligible, it is a night and day difference. In a 19’-20’ van, you can park anywhere and your travel opportunities are unlimited. You’ll feel like you’re driving a large truck. You are (relatively) compact and nimble and free to go anywhere. Once you go above that length things become more complicated and it almost defeats the purpose.

For me, I wanted something that could fit in a parking space, so keeping below 20’ was critical.

Which manufacturer should you use?

There are three main van options to choose from and there are entire blogs dedicated to this choice, but I’ll run through the main points that mattered the most to me.

• Merceded Sprinter

  PROS:
  - Reliability
  - Luxury / Comfort
  - Diesel option may give longer life (if you’re into that)
  - Several size options from 19’-24’
  - Lots of ‘safety’ features, like steering assist
  - Offers 4x4 on smaller models

  CONS:
  - Expensive
  - Less width than the promaster by 5 inches
  - Some possible negatives with diesel

• Ford Transit

  PROS:
  - Most comfortable to drive
  - Offers AWD
  CONS:
  - A bit harder to find
  - No class B models that I’m aware of smaller than 22’

• Ram Promaster

  PROS:
  - The most common manufacturer for camper vans
  - Much more widely available
  - Most affordable
  - Long lifespan and reliability
  - Great size options, from 19-20 feet.
  CONS:
  - Only FWD

It took me a long time to figure out what I wanted. At first I wanted the sprinter for 4x4 and reliability, then I wanted the Transit for its comfort. I ultimately chose the Promaster because of its cost, availability and reliability.

Prebuild or custom Build?

This was an easy choice for me. I feel like I can fix things and build stuff when I really want to, but when it comes to a camper van, I’d much rather not. I’d rather leave it up to a manufacturer that I trust that has a great history of building camper vans than try to do it myself or trust someone else to make it for me.

With custom builds, there is just so much that can go wrong that can be disastrous. I have heard with custom builds there can also be issues insuring the van for its true (after modification) value.

What layout fits you best?

For the most part, you only have a few possible layouts. You’ve got:

• U-shaped Sofa bed in the back
  PROS:
  - Rear seating with seat belts for 3.
  - Lots of room to hang out, super open layout for company
  - Large, king sized bed, usually

  CONS:
  - no separate bed / dining room / workspace.
  - harder to load things in the rear doors, like bikes and surfboards

• Murphy bed in the back and dinette in the front
  PROS:
  - Bed is super quick to make up and you can leave it down if you want
  - Two separate work spaces with bed up
  - Separate sleep + work / dining area
  - Nice ‘garage’ storage area under bed
  CONS:
  - Separating bed and living area means both are smaller

• No-bathroom layout
  PROS: Much more open and more storage space
  CONS: No bathroom or shower. Or maybe its stuck under a seat somewhere

• Bathroom in the back, twin beds
  PROS:
  - Can have your buddy come crash and sleep in a separate bed
  - Bathroom is bigger
  CONS:
  - No separate living area / sleep area
  - Not appealing to hang out with the rear doors open.

• Winnebago Travato split rear murphy bed + bathroom and front dinette
  - PROS: It seems good on paper
  - CONS: In reality, the bed feels much too small for two people.

• Rear bed lift, with front dinette
  PROS:
  - amazing use of space
  - huge 'rear garage’
  CONS:
  - only a few models available with this layout, like the Winnebago Revel and it just feels tiny inside due to the decrease in width.

What features are most important?

There are several other features that you’ll need to sort through to figure out the layout, manufacturer and model that you’ll want. Here are some to think about:

• Four wheel drive or all wheel drive
  If you need this, you can go more places.
  But are you really going to take your $100k+ van offroad? As much as I would have loved 4WD generally, it wasn’t worth the price nor the sacrifice in size for the Winnebago Revel. We found that the revel just felt much too small inside. As much as I loved the Ford Transit with its AWD, I could find a model that fit the layout, size and features I wanted.

• Safety features like adaptive cruise control and steering assist
  I think the Sprinter and Transit are on par here, but the Promaster was lagging behind until the 2022 model. If you are buying new and safety features are important then the 2022 Promaster chasis is a great option. If you’re buying used and this is important to you then you’ll need to look at a Sprinter or Transit.
  For me, this was really important but not important but it got cut from the list of necessities.

• Lithium batteries, inverter and solar
  If you live somewhere hot you may want to make sure you can run your AC without having to be plugged into a power source.
  Solar is a must to keep your batteries maintained while not in use.

• A classic generator or underhood-generator.

  An ‘underhood’ generator uses a second alternator that starts up your engine and charges your lithium batteries automatically when they get low.
  There are only a few models that I’ve found that have this kind of autostart feature, the Winnebago Travato is one and the Roadtrek and Hymers are another.
  Alternatively a classic generator is an option and many campers have these, but they sit under your van usually and lower your clearance. You have to maintain them separately and they are loud.
  Or, if you live in a climate that doesn’t require much AC or you always plan to be hooked up to power maybe this isn’t an issue for you.

• Separate Living / Sleeping space

  Having to make up your bed every night when you want to go to sleep is super annoying. Having a separate living area will allow you to keep the bed made all the time and still give you place to hang out during the day. The downside is that each of these areas will be a bit smaller, but this is acceptable to avoid the need to make the bed every night.

• Bathroom / Shower
  This is a must. Having a bathroom under a cushion is no way to live.
  

• Cassette toilet or black tank
  Casette toilets are great because you can just truck them inside your house or a rest area to empty then. Otherwise you have to find a specific dump station when your tank gets full.

• Diesel or Gas
  This is a topic widely debated. Essentially they are similar but sometimes it can be a bit harder to find diesel gas in some parts of the country.

• Rooftop Tent for a second bed
  If you have kids or frequent guests you may want a rooftop tent. Some vans like the Winnebago Solis and the Ekko or the Hymer Aktive 2.0 Loft edition have such a feature.

The truth is you probably can’t get everything on your wish list. You have to figure out which are most important and then figure out which gives you what you want most.

Choosing your perfect van:

When it came down to all of the above, I was able to narrow my list down to a single model, the Hymer Aktiv. It took a ton of time to make the decisions and tradeoffs and I deciding them on paper wasn’t good enough. We had to go actually see these vans in person and move around in them. I made a few stops to dealerships that specialize in Class Bs in North Carolina and South Carolina, including Sonny’s RV, Johns RV and a few others.

When I thought I knew generally what I wanted, I rented one from RVTrader. We rented a Winnebago Travato, and even though we hated it we learned enough about what we did and didn’t like to make the decision much easier. Renting a camper van isn’t cheap, it is more expensive than an airbnb usually, but if you are thinking of dropping 80-200k on a van, it is well worth the investment.

Even with all of the decision making up above, there are still some things about the van that aren’t perfect for us. Luckily there are some fantastic people out there that build vans from scratch and those same people are usually really good at modifying existing vans to fit your needs. Keep this in mind when you’re looking at your van. Just like buying a house, there is a certain class of minor features and enhancements that can be added or modified later down the road to tailor the van to your needs. My list of immediate mods to the Hymer will be coming soon!