Vauxhall Movano

Vehicle Description

About this vehicle

It’s a joint venture here, as you may know, between Renault, Vauxhall and Nissan. All sharing the same wonderful chassis and engines that i will touch on in this description!

A former patient transport ambulance, this van hasn’t really been used in anger where driving is concerned! It’s essentially a taxi for hospital patients, therefore the mileage is quite hit as is expected on these vans. This does have its pros however, this being probably the most cost effective way to start vanlife, coming up for cheaper than average as the used vehicle market sees higher mileage as used, undesirable, and generally more prone to failure!

This is an exception to the rule, with the NHS having such a large budget for maintenance and general upkeep of these vehicles, you can be sure that we have a very well looked after vehicle for you here, which will go on to do great things and more importantly, many many more miles! This is definately the main reason we have sworn by, and sold hundreds of these vehicles through the last 10 years of business at basevan.com!

Chassis

Galvanisation is the buzzword for Vauxhall Renault vans, as any of these vans come from straight from the factory in Batily, France with a fully galvanised chassis, giving you rustproofing for years to come! We have seen many examples of the earlier 2nd generation counterparts come through with 0 body corrosion both on the exterior panels, and underneath the vehicle.

When compared to its competitors, the Mercedes sprinter, Peugeot boxer, and especially the Ford transit, it is truly outstanding to see the condition underneath and the lack of attention needed by a welder!

Engine

The previous chapter may leave you asking… Whats a great chassis without a great engine? With Renaults in particular perhaps having a reputation for below par running gear in many cars of yesteryear.

This may be the case! But all we care about here at basevan is the van side of life, and where that is concerned you cant really go wrong with these vehicles. The 2.3dci used in this chassis across the board is an outstanding engine, usually giving no major issues or catastrophic failures when maintained properly. Its a 4 cyl, diesel engine that just seems to go forever!

Transmisson

Available in 2 different layouts, this van in particular being the FWD variant, giving optimal weight and fuel economy over its heavier RWD counterpart. A 6 speed manual is found here aswell, usually a good enough gearbox for the van even when fully laiden. However if you are to encounter an issue with this van, it would be said gearbox, certainly the weakest link in a very robust chain.

Why ambulance?

We will always recommend “ambulance to campervans” here at basevan. This being a proven method to get into the van life fast and cost effectively. You may wonder the reason behind this, as it does seem rather unconventional to sleep in an ambulance after all.

Well to put it simply, it’s all down to comfort. One necessity of an ambulance is to be a warm, comforting way of travel to people who could be in a spot of bother, meaning the vans are fully insulated behind the fibreglass walls that line the inside of the van. Along with this, they also have night heaters, air conditioning, sometimes tinted windows, and on very rare occasions, fresh water!

Patient transport vehicles are often found with a single battery setup, as power to the vehicle is only required when running. This may not be the case if you are converting, and in the past we have installed solar, inverters, split chargers, leisure batteries and much more to these vehicles to really turn them into a desirable modern day campervan.

Apart from this, we have recently began to offer a static bed kit for these vehicles, sitting at the rear of the vehicle with a bench extending out from each side of the bed, and a slide out table meaning you optimise standing space whilst still having usable furniture in the van.

Please contact us at basevan for more details like pricing, personalisation and other potential tasks you may like completing on this van prior to collecting the vehicle after purchase!