People refer to VWs a lot as they are reliable and hold their value due to the interest from collectors. So if you are buying an older vehicle and can get the money together, go for a VW. I've just bought an immaculate VW T4 and am hoping it's a sound investment.
we've had a bongo and are on our second VW. Our old T25 (Devon conversion) was the best of the three for internal space and with a buddy seat will happily seat four while eating. Upside was you could drive it daily, downside was it was was fairly sluggish on steep hills when fully loaded(1.6 air cooled)
Our current van is the T4 autosleeper trident - great solid conversion, and although it does have an upper bed, it really is for little people ! Our T4 is the tdi, and we have found it perfectly reliable and returns just under 40mpg.
Unless you're very lucky, I think you'll struggle getting a branded converted T4 in your budget right now. If you can find another couple of thousand that'll open up some older T4's. But, £5000 will give you lots to look at in the T25's if you also budget in that they're a labour of love. I still miss our T25.
If you do go down the VW route, rest assured, if nothing else, you'll still be waving !!!
As for autosleeper conversions on a van base - if I was to change from VW then the duetto as mentioned before is a very nice van
Neither the T25 or T4 have a toilet compartment but usually have space to store it (in the buddy seat in a Devon and in a lower cupboard in an autosleeper). At night you can store the loo under the lower bed.
We've had our 96 Toyota HiAce now for 7 years, cannot beat that Japanese reliability, serviced once a year and no other bills at all in that time frame. Another friends HiAce is the same.
I know 4 people who are VW van owners. Just witnessed a friend pay for a new clutch on his 04 VW - not a pleasant outlay .
Another has done 2 alternators in his 97 VW in the time I've had ours (amongst other minor niggles - window winders etc). I've had a ride on an AA transporter home after going to a festival in another friends Transporter (wheel bearings) .
I think they genuinely enjoy the ownership challenge as well as the perceived lifestyle, fair enough. They do run nice though when they're good. I agree with the "labour of love" statement above.
I'd rather have less hassle which is why we chose the Jap. Right choice for us, even the aircon still blows nice and cold!
We run the HiAce to Cornwall a lot - nice and narrow for those country lanes. The Bongo would be a good base choice too. If you like your Bongo and know it well I'd certainly consider the conversion and keeping it. Some insurers dont like home-conversions so check that too, before taking that approach.
I know where your coming from with the Hiace crankup, I loved mine and like you say very reliable, I never had any problem with mine the whole time I had it and being Japanese it came with every trick in the book, the bad side was the poor fuel economy which made my old bongo look economical and being mid engine you cant walk from front to rear of van, most are 4x4 autos like mine which is why they are so uneconomical but there are 2wheel drive manuals out there, though not many unfortunately ...
We bought ourselves an old Hiace Powervan just over a year back,for use as a general purpose runabout and with the view of partially-converting it for use as a "camping-van" (for festivals)...and although it's hardly a prime example of the species, it has been a good tub so far! . So much so that we recently sold our 7mtr coach-built Motorhome. I'm not for one minute pretending that it'll replace that, like for like but we have found that reverting to a simpler style of "van-camping" has been a great move for us....
If and when this dies on us, even though it may be a bit crude and isn't as modern looking as the current crop of vans, I would certainly look at getting a more recent, lower mileage and better cared for Hiace (or Granvia) for use as a base...
(..although tidy,"converted" Granvias etc, do seem to go for silly money..?!.. )
Edit: Although if money was no object, I'd love a fully stripped and refurb'd and (where applicable,brakes, engine etc),"upgraded" T25 Syncro....
A day of all things motorhome and campervan. The show is held both in the main indoor arena and across the grounds. Catering, hot drinks and food options are available. Easy access to the site and free parking included. Win one of five pairs of day tickets
Topic: Thinking of buying a campervan
Another friends HiAce is the same. 
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. So much so that we recently sold our 7mtr coach-built Motorhome. I'm not for one minute pretending that it'll replace that, like for like but we have found that reverting to a simpler style of "van-camping" has been a great move for us....
)
..but it's quick enough for a "campervan" and a lot quicker than the average pre-T4 VW bus...
