[00:00:00] Keith Gooden: In today’s episode of the Motorhome Matt podcast.
[00:00:02] Matt Sims: I interview TV presenter and reality show judge Max McMurdo about his mad journey into the campervan world.
[00:00:09] Keith Gooden: In the news, we’re back with another motorhome finance fact or fiction.
[00:00:14] Matt Sims: And we answer your questions on purifying your water and exporting your motorhome to New Zealand.
[00:00:30] Keith Gooden: Welcome to the Motorhome Matt podcast. I’m Keith Gooden.
[00:00:33] Matt Sims: And I’m Motorhome Matt.
[00:00:34] Keith Gooden: Industry insights and expert advice for the world of motorhomes, caravans and campervans. It’s brought to you with That Leisure Shop dot com and sponsored by Ripe.
[00:00:42] Matt Sims: Remember to follow on your favourite podcast app and please do subscribe if you’re watching on YouTube.
[00:00:48] Keith Gooden: It’s time to announce our mattress winner!
[00:00:50] Matt Sims: Congratulations. Megan Rose from Hertfordshire. You’ve won a custom mattress from The Foam People. Congratulations, Megan aka Vanny on tour. Well, if you entered but you didn’t win, you can still save on your brand new mattress with The Foam People get 10% off. Just use the code Motorhome Matt.
[00:01:11] Keith Gooden: Didn’t you win? Not a winner. Oh never mind. You can still get 10% off your custom mattress from The Foam People.
[00:01:19] Matt Sims: Who are indeed Motorhome Matt Approved. So please head to mhmp.info/foampeople. This is our motorhome finance fact or fiction feature. There’s a lot of F’s in there. Welcome Steve Blake to the studio from Motorhome Matt Finance. We’ve challenged you on a statement every month and you tell us whether it’s fact or fiction this month. If you take finance on a motorhome, are you locked in for the whole term with no way out?
[00:01:48] Steve Blake: Well, the answer to that in most cases is fiction. You do have an option to get out. Now the vast majority of customers buying motorhomes will be consumers. So it’ll be a regulated finance agreement.
[00:02:00] Matt Sims: Yeah. And this is key, isn’t it?
[00:02:02] Steve Blake: This is key. If it’s a regulated finance agreement, you are governed by a Consumer Credit Act rules. So all funders have to abide by the same settlement rules. You can also overpay as well. A lot of customers say to us, I’ve got some money coming in from an investment or whatever it may be in the relatively near future. Can I part pay off my finance when these funds come in? And the answer is yes, you can. You can pay up to £8,000 a year off without penalty.
[00:02:31] Matt Sims: Regardless of how much you’ve borrowed.
[00:02:33] Steve Blake: Yes. And also, if you wanted to pay off more than £8,000, you can do so. But you would pay in most cases a 1% fee on the whole amount. So for example, if you wanted to pay off £10,000, it would cost you £100 to do so. But in the grand scheme of things, bearing in mind the interest you’ll be paying on the agreement, that would still be appealing. Yes to most customers.
[00:02:55] Matt Sims: And if I do pay a lump into it, I can shorten the term or reduce the monthly, you get the option.
[00:03:01] Steve Blake: You do get the option with nearly all funders. Now you have the option of your choice whether to keep those monthly payments the same or reduce the term.
[00:03:09] Matt Sims: So flexibility is now the key, isn’t it?
[00:03:11] Steve Blake: Absolutely it is. Absolutely it is. The only small caveat on that I would say would be for limited company purchases. So that would be a non-regulated agreement that’s outside of Consumer Credit Act. There’s less flexibility there. Part payments are often not available. And the settlement figure is driven by the funder. If you’re financing a motorhome in a limited company, I would suggest try and position the period of the finance roughly in line with how long you’re likely to keep the finance, i.e., if you’re going to get rid of a vehicle after two years, don’t do a five year finance agreement, for example.
[00:03:43] Matt Sims: Very good advice, Steve from Motorhome Finance. Thank you so much. To find out all about Motorhome Finance, head to mhmp.info/finance.
[00:03:54] Keith Gooden: Into the main bit of the podcast for this week. And we’re joined by a real star of the screen, Max McMurdo.
[00:04:00] Matt Sims: Yeah. So who is Max? Well, he’s a well-known TV presenter who’s worked on major shows presenting such as Channel Four’s George Clarkee’s Amazing Spaces.
[00:04:09] Keith Gooden: Yep. Channel Four’s Kirstie’s Fill Your House for free.
[00:04:12] Matt Sims: Yep. Château DIY: Win the Dream. He was a head judge and presenter on there.
[00:04:16] Keith Gooden: And Tool Club and Interior Design Masters. Plus he presents at Grand Designs and more recently has joined Matt at many Warner shows in the Advice centre as compere.
[00:04:29] Matt Sims: You started out on TV fame with Dragons’ Den.
[00:04:32] Max McMurdo: Yeah. Do you know what that was? 2007. That’s nearly 20 years ago.
[00:04:35] Matt Sims: Oh my goodness. A young man.
[00:04:36] Max McMurdo: Then. Yeah, a young designer. Max. And what were you.
[00:04:39] Matt Sims: Pitching the dragons.
[00:04:40] Max McMurdo: With? So what actually happened was I was a failing entrepreneur. I couldn’t make any money. And my girlfriend at the time became very bored of coming round my mum and dad’s house and watching me making smoke in the garage.
[00:04:51] Matt Sims: Making.
[00:04:52] Max McMurdo: Smoke. Yeah, I was just like burning things and creating things and sawdust and coming in and thinking I’d reinvented the wheel. And she said, can we just get you on Dragons’ Den? So they give you some money and we can, like, rent a house like normal people our age.
[00:05:02] Matt Sims: Okay.
[00:05:03] Max McMurdo: So she applied for Dragons’ Den. I went on there, didn’t think I’d get investment. I thought I might get the ten minute edit that was the dream was to get some sort of content and some exposure. But then Deborah and Theo invested 50 grand in the business.
[00:05:15] Matt Sims: Wow. This was 20 years ago.
[00:05:17] Max McMurdo: Which felt like a lot of money. It was a lot of money.
[00:05:19] Matt Sims: A lot of money.
[00:05:19] Max McMurdo: Yeah, but it turns out you can spend it in about 30 days on a West Highland terrier and a brand new van.
[00:05:28] Matt Sims: So the business didn’t get any investment at all?
[00:05:29] Max McMurdo: Well, no, it had a new van. They weren’t very happy with that. I did also buy a t shirt that said, I bought this t shirt with Theo’s kids inheritance because that was one of his phrases, wasn’t it? If I give you my kids inheritance, what are you going to spend?
[00:05:40] Matt Sims: You going to do it.
[00:05:40] Max McMurdo: With this t shirt, mate?
[00:05:41] Matt Sims: Oh dear. And a dog, a priceless dog, and there’s a dog. Still, Willis.
[00:05:46] Max McMurdo: Unfortunately passed away last year. Yeah, he outlasted their investment, that’s for sure.
[00:05:51] Matt Sims: Oh, dear. So what happened with that then?
[00:05:53] Max McMurdo: So that grew the business that was called Reestore Limited. And basically I got a load of old junk and turned it into something less junky. So it was making chairs out of shopping trolleys and sofas out of roll top bath. In fact, the last three shopping trolley chairs I made went to Banksy.
[00:06:08] Matt Sims: Oh really?
[00:06:08] Max McMurdo: Yeah, that was my claim to fame.
[00:06:09] Matt Sims: So the famous Bristol artist? Yeah. My hometown.
[00:06:12] Max McMurdo: At that point I decided no more. That needs to come to an end because that was my whole kind of upcycling journey. So I studied product design. And so I’m a designer through and through. That’s all I wanted to do at school was just design and make and invent and hustle. And that just ticked all my boxes, went and studied product design at university, and then came out of it and became a car designer.
[00:06:32] Matt Sims: Okay.
[00:06:32] Max McMurdo: So which.
[00:06:33] Matt Sims: Brand of car.
[00:06:34] Max McMurdo: Well, worked for Rover until they went under. Again, there’s a theme.
[00:06:38] Matt Sims: Yeah, there’s a story forming here.
[00:06:41] Max McMurdo: And then worked at Ford out in Cologne. And it was when I was in Cologne. I realised they’re so into sustainability and environmentally friendly stuff, but it’s not frowned upon in the UK, if you’re eco friendly, you would tie yourself to a tree and have dirty fingernails if you like nice designer things. It was expensive and shiny and chrome. Right? You couldn’t have good design. That was eco friendly 20 years ago. So I was living in Cologne, working in Cologne, and told my mum and dad who’d paid for my education, bless them and supported me throughout. I said, right, I’m quitting all of this. Bought myself a Volkswagen campervan, a type two bay window campervan, and drove back to live on their drive in it and collected a load of rubbish en route, including a roll top bath, a washing machine drum and a shopping trolley, and then spent the next six months turning it into furniture, taking it to Camden Market to hang out with all those crusties we just spoke about and try and sell it.
[00:07:31] Matt Sims: I wasn’t going to use the C word for them, but you know, I know what you mean. Yeah, there’s a kind of stigma attached to it, isn’t there? Yeah. And I guess there is an element of still of that though with kind of recycling and regenerating, things have changed for sure. And we’re all encouraged, aren’t we, to carry our baked bean tins to the end of the drive every week and put them in that plastic box or bag or whatever we’ve got. So I just want to stay with your TV stardom career, which became epic with George Clarke.
[00:07:59] Max McMurdo: Yes, a basic channel four saw that I was game for a laugh on on the Dragons’ Den thing, and I was into sustainability. So they got in touch when they started Amazing Spaces and said, could you build us an eco friendly build like a small space? It’s a new show coming out with George Clarke. So I said, absolutely, that sounds like fun. So my mate Gav, he’s a welder. He can make anything out of metal. He’s fantastic. He’s an old school friend actually, and he and I were waiting for this shipping container to arrive, so the cameras turned up. We’re already quite nervous in front of the whole crew. The shipping container turned up outside this lovely little cottage that I was renovating at the time, and I said, can you just crane it over into the back garden? I’m going to turn it into a home office. Okay? And the guy looked at his paperwork and said, unfortunately not. That’s a grade two listed garage. We’re not insured to lift it over there. So he dumped a 20 foot shipping container in the middle of the road, closed the road, and just drove off. So I looked at Gav and we picked up a couple of angle grinders. So we chopped the shipping container into 25 different pieces, walked it through my lounge, through my kitchen, into the back garden and welded it back together again. Took away all the idea of using a pre-formed, structurally sound shipping container. May as well have bought a shed.
[00:09:09] Matt Sims: But I understand for George you built him a caravan.
[00:09:11] Max McMurdo: Yeah. So that was series one, then series five. I went back to my old middle school and we built an eco classroom for them, where all the lights were powered by push bikes and stuff.
[00:09:20] Matt Sims: I remember.
[00:09:20] Max McMurdo: This. Yeah, that was two containers in there in the grounds of my old middle school. And then I built my houseboat in which I now live. And then last series we built George a caravan in the Lake District. But it was sort of William Morris inspired. It was beautiful. Not not a caravan. That’s towable very.
[00:09:41] Matt Sims: Well. I understand it fell apart as the cameras stopped filming.
[00:09:44] Max McMurdo: A little bit. What you see on telly isn’t always reality.
[00:09:47] Matt Sims: The magic. Now you have just been back on channel four with a an amazing competition to win a chateau Chateau DIY win the dream it was called. Yeah, I watched some of this and you were brilliant on it. Where would this take place?
[00:10:01] Max McMurdo: So I was called this time last year, in fact, because we discussed that we were going to do something like this last year, didn’t we? Yes. Then I got a phone call from channel four saying, can we pay you to go and live in France for four months and give you all your food and wine?
[00:10:13] Matt Sims: Nah, it’s all right.
[00:10:15] Max McMurdo: I’m busy. Let me have a think. Yes. So, yes, I spent last summer in France. Basically, we had a quarter of £1 million chateau, which is not a small space, it turns out. And that’s my expertise. But I did work out. Each room in a chateau is its own small space, so that’s fine. And basically 12 pairs of contestants turned up. I set design challenges and then they went through heats. And then the people who won won the chateau. So I got to pass them the keys. Truth be told, they weren’t the real keys for the chateau. The key for the chateau was really underwhelming. So we bought, like, a novelty. Rusty. Big key.
[00:10:47] Matt Sims: You spoiling the magic of TV.
[00:10:49] Max McMurdo: But it was fantastic. And actually, the couple who won, it’s their wedding in seven weeks time, and I’m guest of honour, so I’m going back out there to the chateau. Yeah.
[00:10:57] Matt Sims: Wow. And did you fall out with all the people who didn’t win?
[00:10:59] Max McMurdo: Interestingly, not so I thought this when we went to the wrap party in Sheffield a couple of months ago. I thought all the other contestants I’ve sent home and ruined their dreams. They’re going to hate me. They bought me gifts and stuff. Oh, wow. Yeah. Even though I sent them home. And you know, when you watch The X Factor and stuff, and there’s that pause. So the person leaving us today is. And you think, come on, Simon, get on with it. You’re being horrible now. Yeah, I was that guy.
[00:11:22] Matt Sims: You were that.
[00:11:22] Max McMurdo: Guy. And you have to. I had to wait for somebody to cue me. And sometimes it felt like hours. But the people going home today are.
[00:11:29] Matt Sims: And given the name in your earpiece.
[00:11:31] Max McMurdo: Yeah. And the tears started rolling down their cheeks, and I was saying, I’m so sorry.
[00:11:35] Matt Sims: Like the dreams are shattered.
[00:11:37] Max McMurdo: Oh. And I could hear the cameramen going. Zoom in, Zoom in. I need that tear rolling down the cheek. Right. We’ve got that. You can move on that. And it was awful because this is TV and the real world, they sometimes collide quite badly. Yeah. And you know, the camera guys and the editors do need that footage. But we forget sometimes we’re playing with people’s hearts and souls. But I’m so proud of the winners. They fully deserved it. But we saw some amazing transformations and it was just the most joyous experience ever.
[00:12:03] Matt Sims: So tell us, what are you up to now?
[00:12:05] Max McMurdo: So back to campervans. I feel like my whole life, all these little random experiences has kind of come into one moment. Okay. Sounds sounds.
[00:12:13] Matt Sims: Profound.
[00:12:13] Max McMurdo: It does, doesn’t it?
[00:12:14] Matt Sims: We’re here at Stoneleigh at Warner Show. Amazing. The pinnacle of your career.
[00:12:17] Max McMurdo: No, this is it. I used to be a car designer. I love eco friendliness and sustainability. I love small space design. So campervans feel like the authentic thing for me to focus on project. Yeah. So I’ve designed and built my own modular campervan system that fits any small van. I particularly like small campers and micro campers because that’s kind of like the entry level. Yeah. And I’d love to encourage lots of young couples and young people, solo travellers as well, to be able to get out there and explore because it’s so good for your mental health, getting out in nature, I really, I love it, I’m a fan. I grew up caravanning as a kid in a tiny little robin. Is that still a brand, a robin? Yeah, yeah. It’s like a three berth, tiny little robin that didn’t even have a bathroom. My dad. I used to wake up in the middle of the night to hear my dad weeing into a red bucket of Dettol. That’s my fondest memory from camping as a kid.
[00:13:05] Matt Sims: That could hurt if you got that wrong.
[00:13:07] Max McMurdo: I’ll tell you a really good. Couldn’t it that sting.
[00:13:09] Matt Sims: Now, I’ve seen you at several shows in the past, but we met for the first time properly at a show a couple of years ago, probably. And you had your ID. Buzz. This is the German milk float, as I like to call them, all electric. And which you’ve converted to a really tiny camper, because, let’s face it, they’re too small to be a genuine camper van, aren’t they? Yeah, but yours is stunning. It’s beautiful. And you bring that to the shows, don’t you?
[00:13:31] Max McMurdo: Yeah, I love it, actually. So, like, I shouldn’t have an EV. I live in a shipping container, so I can’t utilise solar power to charge it, unfortunately, because at the Marina, they’ve got the deal with the energy provider. I can’t be on Octopus Energy or one of these amazing tariffs. And also I do loads of miles and it’s always fully laden with tools and camper vans. So I shouldn’t be driving an EV really. No, but I’ve done 73,000 miles. It’s never skipped a beat and I love it. Wow. As you’ve said, because the floor is so high where the batteries go and the ceiling is quite low because of aesthetics, there’s not much headroom is tight in there. But I love it. And I’ve travelled around France, I’ve travelled around Scotland and Wales and I adore it. And it’s quiet, it’s quick, it’s good for the planet, we hope, I don’t know the the actual data on lithium battery production. I know there’s some question marks over that. Yeah, yeah of course. But we just hope that the battery production gets better, better in terms of supply chain and ethics, but also better in terms of range, because it is limited to 200 to 250 miles, which occasionally gets in the way of you carrying on with your journey, but you sort of learn to plan around it. I always have my laptop next to me. There’s always a bit of work needs doing. I don’t sit there waiting to charge. Really.
[00:14:39] Matt Sims: No, you’re not leveraging your time. I mean, that’s a whole different podcast topic, but I want to focus on the upcycling passion that you have, and you’ve built this new business now, or relatively new, I suppose, Outlandish Campers, which specialises in this modular, reusable, recyclable, Really innovative camper van interior that people can buy flat packed and self fit. Yes, this sounds like Nirvana Max.
[00:15:05] Max McMurdo: It’s kind of like the Ikea of the campervan world.
[00:15:07] Matt Sims: Love that, love that. Well, I’ve seen a massive boom in the micro camper kind of the VW Caddy Berlingo Citroën Berlingo type van minivan. So it’s even smaller than your Buzz. Yeah. And Maddie, who produces this podcast, has just bought one. We now call her Caddy Maddie. And she is in the process of looking to fit it out. So I’ve told her to look at what you’re doing. But tell us a bit about that. How does that work?
[00:15:32] Max McMurdo: So it’s a modular system that uses aluminium profiles. So aluminium profiles has been around for years, but it doesn’t quite have the fixtures and fittings and bits to make it work properly for me. So I wanted a system where you you fit some floor rails in any van. So most vans are 1.2m wide by two metres long because that takes two Euro pallets. That’s the dimension. Car designers design them around so that floor rail goes in and then on a Friday afternoon, once you’ve used your van as a van during the week, you slide in these component parts and.
[00:16:00] Matt Sims: Turn it.
[00:16:00] Max McMurdo: Into a camper, fix them down, turn it into a camper, go exploring at the weekend. Come Monday morning, you can slide them all out. Stack them in your garage. It’s genius. Use your van as a work van, which is what I do. I often have wood and tools and stuff in the back of my van. Or you can reconfigure the space.
[00:16:13] Matt Sims: Baths and an old washing machine by the sound of.
[00:16:15] Max McMurdo: It. Exactly. But yeah, I’m really keen to talk about the sustainability side of it as well, because we’re currently using birch plywood, which is much nicer material than some of the chipboards you get and MDF and things. But we’re also in talks with, I don’t know how top secret this is, but I’m going to tell you anyway with Morris Commercial with their new van.
[00:16:32] Matt Sims: Okay.
[00:16:33] Max McMurdo: Yeah. We’re now using the carbon fibre offcut from their van production to make the panels for our van. So it’s strong, it’s light, and it’s recycled from the automotive industry. And so you’re getting a quality product, but also it’s lighter and, and really affordable and great for the planet.
[00:16:49] Matt Sims: And the big thing is if you sell the van, you can take all the camper bits out. Yeah. And put it in the next one.
[00:16:54] Max McMurdo: Exactly. And if your van gets slightly longer. So if you get a long wheelbase transporter, for example, you just buy one extra set of cabinets and it extends what you’ve already got. You don’t need to be selling it with. Yeah, because they’re all the same width.
[00:17:04] Matt Sims: And what kind of cost are we talking about for this modular system?
[00:17:07] Max McMurdo: So for the whole kit it’s about 4750. So under 5000 I wanted to make it really affordable. So you could in theory, go and buy a couple of grand’s worth of van like a Berlingo or yeah, like you say a caddy and slide the kit in for about 7 or 8000. You can have a fully functioning, lovely campervan that converts from a sofa to a bed.
[00:17:25] Matt Sims: And I think you’re on point here because this is where the boom is that I’m seeing certainly is there are people entering the market. This was mentioned recently on a podcast where, you know, the people selling tents said, well, they’re not here. We’re not selling the cheap, low priced tents. And I think go outdoors has sown that market up. But I think I said, they are here, but they’ve moved on. They’re now buying a two, three, £4,000 van and are looking to convert it because van life is the kind of jumping the tent stage and straight into campervans. At this entry point. So I think it’s a great. Great idea.
[00:18:00] Max McMurdo: And I think there’s something quite satisfying in converting your own van. So that’s something we’re doing here at the show is teaching people how to do the basics like sound deadening, insulating, carpet lining. Yeah. So I’ll be showing people throughout the duration of the weekend how they can do it themselves.
[00:18:15] Matt Sims: Doing a live demo at the show.
[00:18:17] Max McMurdo: Yeah, exactly.
[00:18:17] Matt Sims: Now you’re at number the Warner shows. We are co-hosting the Advice Centre because they can be quite full on. So I get a break. Thank you for that. You’re at all of them. You’re not going to be at Campervan Campout.
[00:18:27] Max McMurdo: Ain’t no gutted. I’m at Grand Designs Live. I’ve been doing that for so many years.
[00:18:33] Matt Sims: Yeah, but what you’re doing at Grand Designs is amazing. Tell us a bit about that.
[00:18:36] Max McMurdo: So ordinarily I might have considered not going to Grand Designs Live, but this year I’ve got this lovely young couple from Bedford where I live, and their daughter, she suffers with cerebral palsy. So they’ve extended their home into their gardens. They have no outdoor space for her to enjoy. Right. But they do have a shed at the bottom of the garden. So me and a few other volunteers, we’re going to go around there, take down this shed, and we’re going to instead make a really nice sensory garden for her. But I needed a pergola and I didn’t quite know how to get one without money. So at Grand Designs Live, what I’ve suggested is all the exhibitors they should plan for what’s happening to their exhibition before they arrive at the show. So I’ve asked one of the pergola companies to create their display stand, the exact same size as I need to take home with me and put it in her garden.
[00:19:23] Matt Sims: So I’ll get rid of it.
[00:19:24] Max McMurdo: Yeah. So you leave it there. You don’t have to pay for disposal. You don’t have to take it down. At the end of the show, you can get in your van and drive home back to your office. I’ll dispose of that for you. We’re going to take it apart, take it back to her garden and install this beautiful.
[00:19:35] Matt Sims: For the family. Know what they do now?
[00:19:37] Max McMurdo: They do because they’re coming on stage to talk about the challenges that they’ve been through.
[00:19:42] Matt Sims: Lovely.
[00:19:43] Max McMurdo: I’m so excited about it.
[00:19:44] Matt Sims: Yeah. You are the new Nick Knowles of the grand design world.
[00:19:47] Max McMurdo: That’s my dream. Who doesn’t want to be Nick Knowles?
[00:19:50] Matt Sims: Well, we’ll let you off not being at Campervan Campout. That’s good. But the other shows, including Vanlove, There’s lots of shows that go into this year. You are going to be taking a scrappy old van and converting it across the weekend to a finished camper.
[00:20:03] Max McMurdo: Exactly. I’m so excited about this. I came up the idea officially yesterday, and I’ve been telling everyone ever since because I get to.
[00:20:10] Matt Sims: We’ve added some flesh to the bone over a coffee this morning.
[00:20:14] Max McMurdo: So the theory is that people always want demonstrations. They want something interactive. They don’t want to just sit there listening to people all the time. So we’re going to have a live, interactive demonstration of how you can convert an old van into a camper in 24 hours.
[00:20:27] Matt Sims: Across three, eight hour days. Yeah, this is going to be brilliant. And it’s all going to go on YouTube.
[00:20:32] Max McMurdo: We’re going to YouTube it. We’re going to record the whole thing. It’s going to be available. People can come along and join in. So if someone wants to turn up and have a go at carpet lining before they go and do it on their van at home, they can get involved and learn some top tips.
[00:20:43] Matt Sims: This is great. It’s such a great idea. And then you’re going to sell the van at the end.
[00:20:47] Max McMurdo: And then reinvest it in another one for the next year. Again. Yeah, just can continue doing these vans.
[00:20:52] Matt Sims: I think it’s a great idea. Really innovative. I love it. You’re a great inventor. I love your passion for trying to keep the planet a better place by upcycling and recycling what we’re doing. Consumerism has become a bit of a thing, isn’t it? We’re lazy, that’s the thing. But sometimes I think often the case, we don’t know how to reinvent what we’re doing. So you’re inspiring us to do that. So thank you Max. That’s great.
[00:21:16] Max McMurdo: Nice one. Thank you.
[00:21:17] Keith Gooden: That’s Max McMurdo. I hear, Matt, that he’s also been upcycling old vans into camper vans at the recent Warner shows.
[00:21:24] Matt Sims: Yes. So using his business Outlandish Campers, he is stripping the van interior and converting it live at the show. And he’s been given 24 hours. So three, eight hour days. And by three, 4:00 on the last day is done. And at the recent Newark show, he did it right on the dot. It was a really close call, but he converted it and it was absolutely stunning. And it’s now for sale. So he’s selling them at the end of the show. And then the money from that will buy another van to pay for the next conversion. So the idea is to inspire a more of a micro camper audience. The fact that you can do this in a very short time frame without spending loads of money using his system. And of course you can make your own system. I suppose if you see him at a show, go and check it out really, really good. And please do check out his website, outlandishcampers.com.
[00:22:14] Keith Gooden: It’s the Motorhome Matt podcast with me, Keith Gooden.
[00:22:16] Matt Sims: And me Motorhome Matt.
[00:22:18] Keith Gooden: It’s brought to you with That Leisure Shop dot com and sponsored by Ripe. It’s time for another one of your camper van confessions with Ripe this week it’s Claire and she says.
[00:22:29] Matt Sims: Our cockapoo somehow pressed the electric step button while we were parked at a services we couldn’t understand for ages why people were laughing at us, before realising the step had been going in and out every few seconds.
[00:22:43] Keith Gooden: Now the cockapoo, they’re well known for it, you know.
[00:22:46] Matt Sims: I think it’s time to get the dog to Crufts.
[00:22:48] Keith Gooden: I think you’re absolutely right. Now you can submit your campervan confession to us here at mhmp.info/askmatt.
[00:22:55] Matt Sims: And remember, you can also get 15% off your insurance premium with Ripe. Just head to mhmp.info/insurance.
[00:23:06] Keith Gooden: It’s time now for the Q and A, the questions and answers where you ask the questions and Motorhome Matt he will give you the answer. If he doesn’t know, he’ll ask somebody who. Jolly well does. Colette Harding in Deeside. Hi Matt and Keith. After a summer of researching and even coming to one of your advice talks, we’ve finally bought our first campervan. Thanks for all the great tips you both give out on your podcasts. We’ve booked our first three nights away. Yay! Now we’re wondering what we need to do. Re water purification tablets. The ones in the camping shop seem expensive since you need one tablet for every litre, so we’d go through loads to use in the tank if we’re filling from clean hoses and such like. Do we need water tablets? And are they all chlorine based? Do most people drink what’s in their tank or use bottled water for drinking. Any tips would be useful. Thanks a lot. You don’t drink anything with chlorine in it, do you?
[00:23:58] Matt Sims: No. You shouldn’t do. Really. So firstly, it’s very tempting to use Milton, which we’re very used to using to clean babies’ bottles. Truma advised not to use that because it can damage the heater element in the boiler. So if you were to run the hot tap and pull Milton into the boiler, that can be harmful.
[00:24:16] Keith Gooden: Then we must say there’s nothing wrong with Milton. It’s a great product. It’s just that it affects, as Matt says, the element in the campervan.
[00:24:23] Matt Sims: It’s some sort of corrosive nature of it which cleans really effectively, but it can affect the tank. Always use food grade hose. If you’ve been to a talk I give on accessories, I explain why. So the hose is dark inside so ultraviolet can’t get in and water if it did remain in the hose. If you use a garden hose, there could be Hessian inside and it can cling to that. And then the water stays in there for ages. And the risk is it gets hot and cold affected by UV and there’s a risk of legionnaires. Ultraviolet. Always use a food grade hose. That’s why it’s cheap as chips. It’s £2 a metre.
[00:24:56] Keith Gooden: But she’s using one tablet for every litre of water. Is that right?
[00:24:59] Matt Sims: So if you use the Aqua Mini Tabs. Yes. If you’re purifying a very small water container, it’s a tablet per litre. But the Aqua Midi water purification tablet is one tablet will treat 25 litres. So if you’ve got 100-litre tank, four tablets, so they are far more efficient and it’s a lot cheaper. I’d also consider using the Fresh Water Cleaner treatment from Solbio, which is a new product. I’ve been using this and it’s brilliant. You fill the tank with water, pour the entire contents of the bottle into your tank, run the taps and the shower and the flush. Just keep pressing the flush. Drain it all through. Open your grey tank, let it all drain through, and then you fill the tank again. And again. Run the taps. Run the shower. Run the flush and it will purify everything through you. Get through a lot of water and one entire bottle of Solbio and I’m told once it’s open, you should. You should use it. Instructions are on the bottle. Really easy to use. I do this probably twice a year. I do at the beginning of the season and maybe halfway through. Given that we’ve had all this hot weather, our tank is under the seat, so there’s no ultraviolet getting to it. This morning I drove the van here and we’re heading off again. I emptied all the water out of the fresh water tank because the ambient temperature in the van has been unbearably hot.
[00:26:14] Keith Gooden: We’ve had a couple of heat waves.
[00:26:16] Matt Sims: So I’ve dumped all the water and I may clean it again before we go away for this trip. Just to be safe. Because we do drink the water from the tank. We put it through a coffee machine and I will happily fill a water bottle from the tank. But I’m happy drinking water that’s been in a plastic container like that.
[00:26:33] Keith Gooden: And we must say, with coffee machines in particular, it’s not necessarily the case. The water boils, so it doesn’t kill bacteria that might be in in that water. It heats it to a high level, doesn’t boil it. And you have to boil water to kill bacteria. You do. You just got to keep your eye on that.
[00:26:49] Matt Sims: Yeah. And we don’t boil the water before we consume it, I will fill my water bottle from the cold tap in the van. But I do take care of the water tank.
[00:26:57] Keith Gooden: Yeah, she makes the point about bottled water. It’s a good point. You get to where you’re going to go to the shop there and buy some bottled water to be absolutely sure.
[00:27:05] Matt Sims: Yeah, in a plastic bottle.
[00:27:07] Keith Gooden: Anne Austin is in Saint Albans in Hertfordshire. Do you have any thoughts on exporting a motorhome to or buying one in New Zealand? My husband and I are going for around five months making hiring prohibitively expensive. I think one needs proof of residency to export a vehicle from the UK to New Zealand, which may rule that option out, but do we buy in the UK or New Zealand? Buy new or used? There’s a slight chance we may ship in onwards to Australia. Any thoughts will be appreciated. Thank you. Well, the first thing that strikes me is it’s very expensive to ship things.
[00:27:46] Matt Sims: Yeah, but not as expensive as buying a motorhome in New Zealand or Australia. So I’ve only had experience of exporting a motorhome to New Zealand for a customer who wasn’t mine. We helped them with the paperwork and then I drove it to the docks and that was an experience as well. Going into the commercial side of the docks and they have to inspect them and absolutely clean them, they are, you know, clean within, I don’t know, an inch of their life. And they’re inspected again when they get there because they’re worried about infection coming into the country. I’ve never bought one there, but I hear they can be five times the cost, which is why people. Yeah. So there was a hire company in the UK. Well, they still are in the UK. Just Go. And they had a base down under and they’re in the UK and they would export their UK fleet out to Australia and New Zealand because of the value of them over there. So they make a lot of money when they sold them. I would suggest speaking to firstly an export company that can advise you with this.
[00:28:45] Matt Sims: I don’t have any contacts for this. It’s a long time since I was involved with it, but also I’d contact some dealers in New Zealand and maybe Australia, because over there I understand and listeners, we have a lot of listeners and viewers Down Under. Please comment if you know, but they offer a buyback scheme which is really popular over there, far more than it is in the UK, where you buy it and use it for your five months, and the dealer will offer you a price at the end of the five months, subject to condition and mileage, of course. But this is really not unpopular because people do go for extended periods. You’re right, prohibitively expensive to hire. So they buy something and then sell it back to the dealer at the end of the trip. So I definitely check out an export company and a dealer that might be able to help you with this. And if you are down under listening or watching, please, if you can help Anne with this, I’d love to hear from you. You can submit your comment and your question at mhmp.info/askmatt.
[00:29:44] Keith Gooden: Yeah. If you’re a Kiwi dealer or yeah, have a word with Matt. Maybe you could do something between the two of you. It’s a bit like the Johnny Cash song One Piece at a time. Do you know that song? Yeah. He works in an automobile factory, and every day he takes a little bit of a car home with him, and then he puts it together at the end of the song. It’s a 65, 66, 67, 68 and all the. Why not just post it a little bit every couple of days in New Zealand and put it together when you get a spanner? Yeah. How do people get in touch?
[00:30:14] Matt Sims: We’d love it if you did. Yeah. Please do. mhmp.info/askmatt.
[00:30:18] Keith Gooden: You can leave a review at mhmp.info/review.
[00:30:22] Matt Sims: And as we always ask you, please would you help us by clicking follow in your favourite podcast app? Or if you’re watching. Click subscribe and that little bell on YouTube.
[00:30:34] Keith Gooden: Thanks for listening to the Motorhome Matt podcast. Remember to check back here for more episodes full of hints and tips and helpful advice. We’ll see you soon for another Motorhome Matt podcast brought to you with That Leisure Shop.com
