Our VW Caravaggio - Is it Time For a Change? 

Hia Cameron, a newbie here. Just watched this video, one of yours for the first time and safe to say it won't be the last. I'm counting down the next couple of years till my retirement and getting back into campervaning.

I've just managed to pick up a Bilbo's Komba T5.1 LWB High Top - it's very much designed at the simple, few bells and whistles, lots of storage and comfy. It's our first camper, so here's to more weekends on bike and foot in the hills.

You storytell like Billy Connelly Cameron . Very entertaining 👏

As a Scottish campervan manufacturer we feel a little bit betrayed Cameron.. 🤭 Let us know if you ever want your very own, bespoke campervan- Built in Scotland! I'm sure we can work well together too! 🚐📞 Great work as ever. All the best, Gary at Lomond Campers.

On another note, we also have a caravan and on a 9 day static holiday at Bunree, near Fort William, i faced the racist Scottish midge and lost, as i was absolutely bitten to bits, only coming home a few days ago and what a relief. The reason why i say the midge are racist, is because i, as an Englishman suffered horrendously by their bites, whereas my Scottish wife was not bitten once. I knew that the Russians had developed training methods for spying Beluga whales but i was not aware that the Scots had trained the midge, lol.

What you have got is a blocking DPF filter (Diesel Particulate Filter), fitted to all diesel engined vehicles after 2009. My diesel van warning light came on after using the van to block access to my garage door to prevent theft, only using the van for short periods moving it back and forth and not allowing the van to clean the DPF filter by getting hot and injecting fuel into it to clean it. Short journeys that do not allow the engine to warm up kill DPF filters. Yes, you need to get on the motorway and drive the van at a gear down from normal , to keep the revs high, for a considerable distance, if you are getting that light on. My van is 70 reg with less miles on it than your van and using it like I have indicated, brought the engine warning light on several times. I now never use the van unless it is allowed to get hot and after a few fast more than 100 mile journeys, with high engine revs,the problem has disappeared.

Correct choice cameron camper van all day long great 4 our highland roads got a vwt6.1 campervan wouldn't be without it happy motoring

That last pic spey dam laggan been going fishing there for 30year

Great wee video and enjoyed seeing all the various campers you’ve owned. Particular favourite was your magnetic midge net. Best value for money possible. Happy travels

What a cracking vlog 👌

Hey Cameron. Thanks for giving us the right of way yesterday on that tortuous road to Corrieyairick pass yesterday. I think it was near Garva bridge. We were on our way to do the Corbett Gairbeinn. 👍

I found your experience very helpful. We are trying to decide between another pop top or high roof 👍

Hi Cameron, only just found you on RU-vid after following your adventures for years ...and you may not recall I met you when I was hiking to North Esk reservoir in the Pentland Hills and you were recceing a new route as I recall. Many years later and now looking forward to early retirement and acquiring a VW transporter conversion came across you here .. great to see and hear you again and looking forward to your back catalogue and future videos 😊

A great insight Cameron! If you are happy that's all that matters! I quite often use your wife's saying of "it'll see me out" but my favourite reply to "are you alright" is always "still the right side of the grass" Take care and stay safe

Excellent update thanks Cameron!

Great vid Cameron, really informative.

We are still running around in a 2002 A Class, and if I could upgrade it in the near future I would as she is starting to show her age, but would miss the old girl as she has helped us make some fantastic memories as a family. What I love about Camping in a box on wheels is that there are a pretty good type and size range so that we can find what suits us and our needs when out camping. There are pros and cons with them all. One of our biggest cons is parking due to it being 6.5 metres, which isn't that big compared to some, but takes up a few spaces in supermarkets. As a Former HGV driver I am used to driving wider and long vehicles.

Great stuff Cameron, great content , keep them coming 👍👍

Another lovely piece Cameron 👌👌

Another excellent,honest video 👍

Hi Cameron, enjoyed you video. We travel up to Scotland in September for a month after the migies have died down in our VW T5 Campervan. For us it's an ideal vehicle to travel on the single track roads in Scotland especially on Mull from Calgary Bay to the Ulva Primary School. Also went to Saddell Bay in the Kintyre area last year the roads there are interesting. We would have struggled with a motorhome on these roads. The scenery in many parts of Scotland is stunning. Keep posting your videos. 🙂

Good decision. 😊 And a great story of progress and experience.

Very nice Cameron. A man (couple) after my own heart. I can see the efficiency of the experienced backpacker in appreciating high quality, simple efficiency in equipment choices! A 'Fit and Forget' approach to allow you to enjoy the journey without unnecessary distractions or concerns. I don't drive at all now having sold my VW, but the time will come when my backpacking will morph into vanlife. I'm very envious of you both! Safe travels! 👍

Great video Cameron - excellent as always and very informative. Hadn’t really thought about the difference between a pop top and fixed high top so really interesting to watch. Thanks for posting.

I think you cycled by me a couple of weeks ago in Glencoe

Hi Cameron and what a great potted history of your campervanning vehicles highlighting how much you have experienced and therefore how much you learned. Personally speaking our journey ended with a 6m Malibu Boxvan which we have taken everywhere in Scotland but only you will know what really matters and works for you - having found that out, I’m sure you’ve get many more miles of happy vanning - hopefully see you out there!! 😎🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🏔

Great video. Like you, we love the flexibility of our VW but have a pop top and wish we had a hightop.

Interesting history Cameron. We are all different and our Auto-sleeper Symbol at 5.5M works for us. My wife said I wasn't allowed to buy a camper van without a small toilet/shower room! The Symbol was the most compact I could find with this facility and it's been great.

Great update! With thanks from a fellow KE trekker with you and Jean, Nepal 2004! Guy

Good info , we are not sure of what to get too, Van or small camper but i could see us in something like yours. Love your Videos. Janie

Thanks Cameron and some good information shared. I have a Renault Trafic stealth van for the hills which is great. However the boss hates it because she can't stand up in it or do her abultions! Therefore we have just got a secondhand motorhome which is lovely and comfortable. We took a drive from Stirling to Dumfries for the weekend and came home via Wanlochead. The van is 7 metres but managed the road really well. However this weekend I am back out in the Trafic and just love the simplicity of it. So a van for all seasons!

Great back story Cameron sounds like you have evolved - we are just 5 years in and lover our Ford Auto-Camper it’s big enough and also small enough to hide 😂

Another really good watch and listen to your chat re your vans. I have to thank you inn part re advice on eMTB's I have watched and re watched your content and now get it having bought a bit of kit that is way more capable than I will use but I do like the 700WH battery for range and as I get fitter I find I ride in Eco more & more so thanks again for the inspiration.

Nice to see you like it. We've had a Hillside Birchover poptop for nearly 2 years (in the metallic beige too) and love it to bits. Fantastic campervans. The one advantage of poptops over high tops is being able to get under carpark barriers. We recently had a great overnight at the Birks of Aberfeldy which now has a 2.1M barrier and the only people stopping over were a few other VW campervans.

Hi , noticed your chairs in the Spain clip and wondered if they would be any good for bikepacking ? Another excellent video,keep up the good work 👍

Our first campervan when I was a lad was a 1950s, Bedford CA, pop top van conversion which was named Carrie Van by our Mom. I think that Hillside must of heard about the name and jazzed it up a bit to make it sound continental 😊 Btw, my dashcams turn on automatically when I turn the key in the ignition as do the ones in my wife and daughters cars.

Jean must be very disciplined - you managed to get some clothing space in the rear locker - you are so lucky Cameron. 🤣 I bought space saver compression pouches for clothes - that just led to my good lady taking more of them. Alongside her other stuff. I have a small space for two pouches for t-shirts and underwear changes.

Hi Cameron, Interesting video. Our LWB T5 is now 15 year old and has just had a new engine after doing 210,000 miles due to issues with the injectors.

Love your videos! I dream of seeing Scotland in one. I am a MPC “Peaker”! I have read most of your books! Last year I spent 4 months in Scotland and wished I had a van!

Heat gun and get the decals off, rub clean and it will look super smart 👍

A very interesting clip Cameron. I share your thoughts campervan versus motorhomes. When I travel I want to be outside as much as possible when I stop. With a Motorhome you are inside. I just travel with my black Labrador so our needs are very simple. My solution was to buy a Citroën Berlingo with an Amdro conversation kit. I took out the back seats and just use plastic boxes as storage. I got a good diesel heater fitted with a leisure battery and invertor. I love the winter being parked to face the wind and sit out under the back door. This is basic but it suits my needs. Plus it just looks like a normal Berlingo which makes overnight stops easier. Likewise Cameron “it will see me oot.” God willing!!

Glad that was the outcome Cameron! We got a Birchover pop top this year. Would have preferred a high top but this was a great price for an almost new vehicle so had to be done. I know you like the curtains but we have blinds and built in midge screens with them which work well. Only issue we have found is we can’t lift the tailgate with the Thule carrier on the tow bar but you can’t win ‘em all!

If ya need someone to give the van a blast up the A9 then Im up for that! Ya gotta look after them modern diesel engines.

We had 10 VW vans that had low mileage and the diesel particulate filters were constantly triggering the engine management light, the only work around VW could offer was for us to drive the vans in a lower gear for fifty miles preferably on the motorway to really heat up the filter, we now have Ford Transits and no longer have that issue.

Our van is at 12000 miles and the ERG warning light has come on for the first time. Our van is Ducato based. These new diesel engines are very temperamental and fussy.

As ussual a great vlog can i suggest make sure the engine is hot,get the revs upto 2000,take air filter off and sqeeze in an egr cleaner on spirts not long sprays then immediately take a blast for 20min along motorway at 70mph....egr clogs up stop/start driving and not getting engine up to temp to burn the carbon,you dont know how the last owners used it.

My biggest regret in the last couple of years was having the chance to buy a Murvi Pimento and not taking it,i dithered for 24 hours after viewing and when I phoned after the agreed holding time it was gone. They are super campers that very rarely become available.

Great video, you made the right choice going back to a campervan. Motorhomes aren't making our countryside any prettier and these days height restrictions of 2m are commonplace. I thought for a while about a diesel heater for my self build van but as it's a petrol engine 😉I decided to go with a little 12v ceramic 2 port windscreen heater. It's silent, very light and run off my leisure battery it heats my small van in minutes when needed.

Modern diesels are a pain, but 44 to the gallon is great.

Perhaps worth mentioning that dashcams are illegal in France, Belgium, Austria and Portugal. Use is restricted in Germany.

Hi Cameron. As always i enjoyed your video. Regarding your engine management light, we have a 2022 VW Coast T6.1 which had only done 5000 miles and had a similar problem which illuminated the engine management light, when we called out VW assist the vw technician advised it was a faulty particulate sensor, to cut a long story short it had a new sensor fitted and a 3mm hole drilled in the ammonia sump on the exhaust four months ago which seems to have been a success. Note if the engine management light is on this can prevent the regeneration of the exhaust and lead to further problems, I'm not saying that this is your defect but given you milage etc its worth a mention. All The best Jim Cameron

Cameron? ....to extend the Diesel heater you just use splitters and more tubing/ducting and have as many outlets as you like...same as any other blown air heating system.

I am a bit older than you and my priorities reflect that. I have to have a fixed toilet and as that comes with a shower that is an added bonus. While I like your van I could not live with the VW price or their rigging of the emissions testing. But if I am honest it is mostly the price😂

I was wondering where you got your front seat covers. They look the business and we could do with some. We have an Eberspachered SWB high-top Ford transit custom (also in pensioner beige) and esteem it highly for all the reasons you mention. Also thank you for another bright and shiny video in a sea of You Tube beigeness.

You've got me converted Cameron. The only issue we our black lab .Would there be room in a van of the type you own .Other than that the pension might be getting used soon . Enjoy the rest of the summer

I’ve had about a dozen diesel vw golf’s. If I do slow urban drives they soot up. Total mileage is irrelevant. A couple of miles at 45mph in 4th sorts it. This is what the handbook says.

Good informative video! What is the length of the bed and the internal height of the campervan please?

Hey Cameron, great video as usual! I noticed in this video that you have curtains in the front of your campervan, I noticed the curtain rail in one of the shots. I have been trying to find somewhere to fit some of these into my van for the past year or so, but with no luck, nothing on RU-vid, Google , and endless no’s from campervan conversion companies I’ve asked!! Did you have these fitted somewhere? Or did the company fit them from new? Is there anyway you could get some pics or a video of them to me please? Thanks either way, keep the great content coming. 🏁🏁

I’d be very worried about the emissions issue. Once the DPF starts to play up it can cost £700 to manually clean and up to £2000 to completely replace the system. My last van was scrapped because I hadn’t got the engine up over 3000rpm and over 60mph long enough to get the self clean mode to kick in and eventually the DPF hit 100%, then limp mode kicked in and that’s where you start to bleed money.

Your mechanic is correct. The sooting up is nothing to do with the mileage you’ve done. It’s caused by short journeys and low speeds, give it a regular run for 20 minutes at high speed and you’ll be fine.

Aye. I'll blast mine down the motorway when speed averse wife isnt with me & regular add dpf cleaner & valve cleaner to the tank.