Our New Zealand trip is slowly coming to an end and with sadness we're getting ready to sell our great companion - Nismo (the van).
Nismo, as we nick named it, is a classic 1986 Nissan Caravan. It has only done 160 000km and it's in great condition for it's age. We originally bought it from our friend John, who owned it for the past 10 years and really looked after it. It has always been garaged, regularly serviced and used sporadically. John's bought a new, bigger van just before our arrival in NZ so we were very lucky to get it from him.
In the last few months we've driven around 10 000 km together and it hasn't missed a beat. 100% reliable. It didn't even need an oil top up! We got a new WOF done last month and it completely flew through it (valid until September).
Everything in the van works as it should and it drives beautify. It doesn't pull to sides, brakes well etc. You won't be breaking any speed records in it but it will happily do the 100 km/h speed limit.
The body work is great for the age. There are few, small areas of surface rust (see photos), but those are hardly visible and easy to sort out if needed. Otherwise, there's no rust in the usual weak spots: under the wheel arches, seams etc. and the undercarriage is remarkably rust free.
The custom build camper interior is very unique and makes phenomenal use of space. There is heaps of storage on the shelves and under the bed. The bed transforms into a sofa/couch when not in use so there is plenty of room to comfortably hang out inside on a rainy day and not feel claustrophobic.
It's fully self contained (certified) meaning that you can freedom camp legally in many spots across New Zealand. To meet this requirement it has a toilet, sink with running water (electric pump), fresh water tank (25L under carriage) and grey water tank (25L under sink, removable).
It has a two hob gas cooker with a grill. The gas bottle is brand new (bought it 5 months ago). We also installed a second house battery (still under warranty) that runs the interior lights, cool box, 12v socket, USB sockets for charging phones and a 150W inverter (for laptops, camera charging etc). There is a simple split charge system in place meaning that both batteries get charged while the engine is running. The house battery gets disconnected when stationary. This prevents camping appliances from draining the starter battery. Each appliance is fused for extra safety.
When we bought it 6 months ago I did a full service on it, which included:
Before the sale I will do another oil change so you should be sorted for a while!
It's a great and unique van. We have been very happy with it and if we didn't already own a classic camper in Europe we'd take Nismo back with us!
Nismo will be up for sale in Auckland since around 26th of April. The asking price is $6,700. Drop us an email if you're interested: nismo@vantrips.net
More pictures in the album below.