1. Insurance Replacement – I found two professional, camper van installers who post and update the cost of their micro camper builds on their websites, along with the floor plans, and itemized list of materials, and contents. These two micro van installers are Wilderness Vans in Alberta Canada and Cascade Camper Vans in Nevada City, California.
Wilderness Vans
Wilderness is currently booked through the Summer of 2023. Another big consideration is wait time. Many installers are so busy building camper vans, they don’t respond to email inquiries, especially for micro van conversions when they can make $100K dollars or higher on their mid size and Sprinter van models.
If your conversion van is stolen or damaged, you can provide your insurance company with a link or print-out of the builder’s website with cost information and package contents. Be sure to save this vital information immediately after your build!
Cascade Campers
Cascade Camper Van website is located at cascadecampers.com
Easy access to replacement costs for insurance claims!
Building your own camper van conversion or buying a used one will be difficult getting an insurance company to value it more than the replacement cost of the vehicle! Many Do-It-Yourself (DIY) builders watch YouTube videos to acquire craftsmanship level knowledge about plumbing, DC electrical wiring, carpentry, etc. It can take several years for apprentices in the professional trades to become fully certified.
DIYers spend thousands of dollars impossible to fully recoup when they sell or trade-in their camper vans. At least we know EXACTLY what we spent having Cascade build our micro campers with add-on options like van windows, side table, extra set of curtains, etc.
2. One Designs create a following of like-minded owners. Many of us joined a private Facebook forum for Cascade Camper Van owners. As of 6/26/21 we have 228 members and growing!
monitor & paper towel holder inside Cascade
3. Owner Meet-ups, Sponsored Events. During Father’s Day weekend 2021, a Facebook Cascade Campers member hosted the First Annual East Coast Camp Out on his parents rural property in Glenville, West Virginia. It was a free event with free overnight parking the entire weekend! Justin even gave us free, green camp out shirts, free food and beer, plus a guided tour in Glenville. Ten of us Cascade owners participated in the West Virginia State Folk Festival parade!
4. Sharing of problems, solutions and creative ideas because we have the same floor plan!
5. Resale & Trade-in Value. It takes time and money to schedule a professional build. All of us Cascade Camper van owners put down $500 deposits, locked in a build date, and drove our naked, Promaster City cargo vans to Grass Valley (former location) and Nevada City, California to transform our empty vans into micro homes.
Some have later changed their minds about micro camper van ownership and have sold their Cascade Campers for nearly the price they paid for the van plus the conversion if < 3 years old. Posting a used Cascade Camper on the Facebook owners forum or marketplace is the fastest way to sell these vans because of brand name & quality recognition. We also have owners who rent out their Cascade camper vans. Justin operates a leasing company for his camper vans in the DC (Virginia) metro area. (https://www.vanderoutdoors.com/)
Cascade owners also have friends & relatives who don’t want to wait for a new build or choose to purchase a less costly, used one from a reputable source. Plus we (new owners) get to choose our Cascade Camper’s name.
Micro Van Life 