Your campervans: 2013 LWB Mercedes Sprinter

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Words & Photos: Alf Alderson

More than one person has said to me: “You could sleep a couple of people in the garage, it’s so big!” when checking out my Mercedes Sprinter campervan

I have no plans to set up as a mobile Airbnb operation, but the large garage was the main reason I bought it. I’ve been an avid surfer and mountain biker for over 30 years, and recently got into road cycling, so I need a big garage to carry all my toys.

It’s not my first campervan, but it’s certainly the biggest I’ve owned. It took a while to get used to driving the LWB Sprinter, but I didn’t want to make the compromise of storing gear on the roof or the back of the campervan.

I have various problems with exterior storage options. The first is that it’s basically a hassle accessing stuff that’s on a roof rack, not to mention the fact that I would have had to install a rack and ladder on the campervan.

I’m also wary of walking around on the roof – I know from experience that it can cause cracks that lead to leaks – and, of course, gear isn’t as secure from theft when it’s out in the open.

Neither am I keen on rear bike racks since, in bad weather, all the muck being thrown up by the vehicle’s wheels can find its way into bike bearings and other mechanics, however well you protect them.

None of this is an issue with my Sprinter – I can load two surfboards, two bikes, wetsuits, cycling gear, repair kit and all the usual paraphernalia like camping chairs and a picnic table into the garage and still have room to spare.

The long-wheelbase Mercedes Sprinter ticked my boxes for size and I’d heard good reports on reliability and longevity. My van was actually a Yodel workhorse before it was converted, which means that it had a lot of mileage on the clock (87k), but the various forums I checked out online reckoned you can expect to get three times that mileage out of a well-maintained Sprinter.

Since I’m unlikely to rack up more than 8k a year, that means the campervan will last me over 20 years before it starts to fall apart, if the reports are to be believed.

Also worth considering when you buy an ex-delivery van is the fact that they get regular services and, in the case of my Sprinter, it hadn’t been one of those white vans you see hurtling down the outside lane of the motorway at 80mph-plus, since there was a limiter on the engine that restricted it to 63mph (this has since been removed).

The campervan conversion was carried out by a man in Oxford, who does self-builds for a hobby, and I found him advertised it on eBay.

The Sprinter is my third campervan, but they’ve all been very different.

The first was a 1966 splitscreen VW Kombi, complete with Starsky & Hutch stripes, that I bought in Perth in 1983 and drove across Australia to Queensland on a six-month surf trip.

The second was a Northstar dismountable that I had for about 10 years from 2004 – it sat on top of a Nissan Navara pick-up and was very versatile, but never really quite big enough for me and my cycling-mad ex-girlfriend.

The Sprinter, on the other hand, has more than enough room, especially now that the girlfriend is ex! I travel with my ageing border collie, Finn, who generally prefers to be either outside or under the campervan when we’re parked up, so I have plenty of space.

During lockdown in 2020, I made use of my time to make a few changes to open things up a bit, too. I extended the rear bulkhead almost all of the way to the back of the garage area because, before this, I had to pull the bottom end of the bed out at night. But, since I don’t actually need all the headroom that the garage offers, I decided to move the bed further back in the campervan.

I still have all the space I need for boards and bikes whilst, at the same time, getting rid of the hassle of setting up and putting away the bed every day.

The second change to the living area was to reupholster the grey vinyl seats and seat backs in a colourful orange fabric (when I say ‘I’, that means a friend did it for me); I generally like the minimalist grey décor of the campervan, but I think a bit of colour makes things a bit more cheery on dull and rainy days, and the fabric surface is more comfortable to sit on.

I also added a bit of bling, replacing the old wheels and tyres with alloys and rugged BFGoodrich All-Terrain tyres; the van isn’t four-wheel drive but the new tyres provide that bit more confidence when heading onto dirt tracks or muddy fields.

I also had a 120W solar panel fitted to the roof, which means I’m pretty self-reliant. I prefer wild camping and rarely use campsites – with a guaranteed source of power, along with two water tanks with a total capacity of 170 litres, I can stay off grid for long periods.

Since I work as a freelance journalist, I can even work, providing I can find an internet signal, as I carry a Dongle and my laptop with me when I’m travelling.

Indeed, when I’ve got the table set up and am sitting at my laptop with the sliding door open and a view of the sea or mountains, I feel very lucky to realise that few people are fortunate to have such an amazing ‘office’.

I can also ensure I’m living in comfort however far I am from civilisation, as I have a Propex blown-air heater, TV/DVD player, fridge, hob and oven, and a washroom with shower – the latter was another important consideration, since a hot shower after mountain biking or surfing makes life so much more pleasant.

To be honest, I rarely watch the TV – I haven’t got it set up for reception outside the UK since I find something inherently depressing about the idea of sitting above a surf beach in France or Spain with Eastenders on the TV in the background!

I’d far rather make use of the huge Fiamma awning and external LED lighting to sit outside of an evening with a cold beer and watch the sun go down, and the awning is also useful on hot, sunny days as it allows Finn to sit outside without overheating.

And I jury-rigged a mosquito net across the sliding door last summer to keep pesky multi-legged critters at bay, both day and night, so we're always safe!

I’ve done three trips in the Sprinter so far, one in August 2019 to go mountain biking in Switzerland and a second five-week ‘surfari’ along the coast of northern Spain to Galicia in September/October of the same year. Last summer, I went back out to the Alps for a few weeks and then drove west to southwest France to check out the surf.

The first two trips revealed that I needed to make the various changes to the campervan that I mentioned above. However, I sort of knew that they’d be ‘voyages of discovery’, since it doesn’t seem to matter how hard you search for the perfect campervan, unless you go for a bespoke design, I don’t think you ever get exactly what you want.

In fact, I had considered buying a base vehicle and having it converted to my specification, but I think that would have pushed me over my budget – and I bet I’d still have ended up making changes to it after the first couple of trips, anyway!

The features that really work for me with my Sprinter are the quite utilitarian living space, the shower and, of course, the garage. A good example of how that all comes together so well came on my Spanish surf trip when I was surfing one evening at San Vicente de la Barquera.

Being Spain, it was easy to camp right above the beach, but it was a blustery October day so, when I got out of the water, it was dusk and not especially warm. However, a short walk from the waves saw me back at the campervan where I was able to open the rear doors, stow my surfboard in a matter of seconds, then hop in the shower.

Hot out of the shower, I settled down with a cold beer for the inner man, switched on the heater for the outer man and threw a pizza in the oven for the hungry man, while Finn watched the world go by from under the campervan.

Result? Man, dog and campervan in perfect harmony!

The details

Base vehicle: 2013 Mercedes Sprinter LWB
Conversion type: Self-build
Owned since: July 2019
Drive: Rear-wheel drive
Engine: 2.1 litre CDI turbo-diesel
Power: 163bhp
Economy: 28-31mpg
Gearbox: Six-speed manual
Berths: 3
Travel seats: 3
Leisure battery: 2 x 110Ah
Length: 6.96m
Width: 1.99m
Height: 2.83m

Equipment: Reversing camera, standard cab entertainment system with Bluetooth, cruise control, TV/DVD. Two water tanks with a capacity of 170 litres, PV Logic 120W roof-mounted solar panel, washroom with shower and Thetford cassette toilet, two- burner hob, grill and oven, sink with tap, Dometic fridge with freezer compartment, Propex blown-air heater, Malaga water heater, Fiamma awning, exterior LED lighting, double bed, large garage with lashing points and storage areas for gas, heater and spare water.

Campervan costs so far

The campervan: £20,000
Roof-mounted solar panel: £600
New upholstery: £400
Set of BFGoodrich All-Terrain tyres: £1,000
Relocation of bed: £350
New DAB radio/Bluetooth system: £250
Reversing camera: £200

Total costs to date: £22,800