stopgapcat

We're booked to go to the JapShow finale at Santa Pod Raceway the weekend of the 27 / 28 September. The main event is on the Sunday, but we're driving down on Saturday in our Alphard campervan (camping is free with a weekend ticket). Is anyone else doing likewise?

They have two sets of LEDs - one set are white and the other set are red - you just need to play with the connections until you get the colour you needed.

One alternative is to source some rear deflectors that double-up as fog lights - under £20 on eBay from what I remember

This might or might not help... We had a similar thing happen - I rang the company who did the conversion and they advised pulling out the fuse that supplies the fridge for a minute or two and then reinserting - that fixed ours, and we've not had a problem since.

Howden Insurance probably also worth a try. These guys and Adrian Flux definitely know what an Alphard is!

This might or might not help, but we bought an ANCEL JP700 JOBD OBD2 Japanese Car Scanner from Amazon for £65 when we started getting warning lights on the dash. Probably not as powerful as a pro piece of kit, but it was enough to work out what the issue was in our case.

Howden Insurance gave a competitive quote that was quite a bit lower than Flux last year for our 2006 Alphard camper conversion - might be worth a try.

You would want to double check this, but I'm pretty sure the Nationwide FlexPlus account includes both world wide travel insurance and European breakdown cover (including campervans from what I recall). It's about £18 per month - might be worth considering if you're willing to change bank account.

We're using a Vango Rock & Roll self inflating mattress in ours - specifically designed for campervans - not cheap at around £150, but pretty good. One tip if you do get one is to store it not rolled up for the winter if you have the space - storing it for long periods rolled up means the tightest section won't re-inflate fully.

We've got a Calder Campers conversion. With a bike rack on the back, it will go in our garage which is precisely 2.1m tall. Without the bike rack, we can just squeeze under 2.0m But I'm guessing different conversions will be slightly different heights.

Sorry - that should have read "hob and heater"!

I asked a local guy who does habitation checks on caravans and motorhomes to do one for our van - he charged a reduced fee as all that really needed checking was the gas system for the job and heater

If it's helps, we've got a 2006 plate V6 with a five speed box (two wheel drive) that's been converted professionally to a campervan, We get about 26 or 27 mpg without the bike rack on the back and closer to 25 mpg with. Given the age of the van, we always put in premium E5 petrol, which is a bit more expensive.

Calder Campers supplied us with a modified 2-bike rack based on a Fiamma one for a Mercedes Vito van - it needed just a bit more protection for the paintwork (I used a piece of inner tube from a bicycle tyre). However, I think they charged something like £500, so maybe one of the previous suggestions is better. Happy to add a photo to this post tomorrow if that helps?

I'll add a couple of things... The three spark plugs at the back of the V6 are difficult to get at. When ours was serviced for first time locally, the mechanic found that the front three and rear three were different makes and ages - this suggests that on a recent service in Japan, only the ones at the front were actually changed! Worth knowing, and it's worth fitting long-life plugs if you change them due to the difficulty in getting at the rear ones (Iridium plugs I think he fitted). Ours is a 2006, so we are sticking with E5 petrol - you might like to do the same. Hope you enjoy your new wheels!