Bigger vans

subthree said:
"Reliably informed", now that is interesting....c'mon spill the beans! A couple of days ago I was Googling how to import a LHD!!
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The sales manager at Wandahome said they've some on order and they're definitely RHD. That said I wouldn't buy from them again if I get one it'll be from Campersales.
 
Harrythecat said:
Depending on layout the MAN TGE can have a much wider bed than the Cali. Ours is the Hillside Hopton and there’s plenty of room for two downstairs.
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That's really interesting, I looked at the Hopton at the NEC show and was really impressed with it. How do you find it? Are you pleased with it?
 
I came to it from a Cali as we wanted something a little bigger and got fed up of climbing and descending in the middle of the night. It was a good decision for us, It’s just under 6 metres and easy enough to drive in town. All facilities within including oven, hob, shower and loo. Interior is well put together and the Hillside service has been good overall.
 
Wondering Star said:

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Hi Winston this may help you with a snapshot of what's available.
For a quality 4x4 based campervan of any decent quality you need to budget to spend 150k + however do you really need 4x4.
Increasingly popular in Europe as many off road routes are available but in the Uk where would you venture off road?
Also be mindful that 4x4 vehicles are expensive to maintain and have lower mpg.
Mercedes based vehicles are harder to convert due to body shape, offer less interior room than Fiat/Crafter of similar size and expensive to service, expect £1500 to service and replace all transmission oils.
So why is the Sprinter the go to vehicle, brand, customer loyalty and reputation for being the best of its type.
Sprinter has recently been updated to AWD rather than 4x4, the recently introduced FWD is being stopped, the RWD will continue.
In my opinion RWD is a better base vehicle than FWD, offers better traction unlike a car a RWD camper carries most of its weight over the rear wheels.
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Thank you and really helpful.
I think we are ok with not having 4X4. My main driver for a bigger van is having ready made beds and a bit more room in general. I am not even that fussed about the kitchen or toilet - although suspect the latter will be more important for my kids when they get older!

If went down the Sprinter route then looks like approx. £90k is the going rate for a Free S - I just need to go look in one and then compare how more expensive vans feel. Hoping to get to Birmingham in a few weeks to take a look - just need to find some client meetings to have there to justify the work trip! :)
 
I'm a big advocate of bigger vans. This was my van previous to the Cali - all 7t and 9m of her! In hindsight, I should never have sold it. Having lived in it full-time for a year or so, then used as a fun bus all over Austria, Germany and the NC500, I decided to sell it shortly after my middle child was born as I couldn't see it being used much - plus admittedly was requiring a bit of lumpy spend every now and again.

As you can see, the main impediment was storing it......I couldn't keep it outside my house for anything other than maintenance, preparing for a trip or a good clean.

One of the best offgrid and comfortable vans I've been lucky enough to drive and spend time in.
60316FD8-4BE5-44FC-BF70-2831DE8503E2.jpeg

Cali served a good purpose in terms of daily & camper but in my mind was neither brilliant at one or the other.

Replaced with this which is perfect for the driveway, weather-tight, ok for four people on short trips, perfect for my indulgent short-break adventures with my hiking boots or mountainbike and a great second car when needed.

121DEA79-9DDD-442A-8A0F-B61D9AC2E53D.jpeg

However, I'd go back to a van of a similar size to the Concorde if I could justify spending time & money on storage and using it more often than I use the Knaus now, what with being a father of 3 - two of whom are under 4yrs old. I'm probably 6-8yrs away from that when my 12yr daughter leaves home.

Everything's a compromise but space is a luxury and, for me at least, having more storage, more payload, more comfort and refinement is ultimately a nicer experience than pared back to the bone.
 
SpuffingtonMe said:
I'm a big advocate of bigger vans. This was my van previous to the Cali - all 7t and 9m of her! In hindsight, I should never have sold it. Having lived in it full-time for a year or so, then used as a fun bus all over Austria, Germany and the NC500, I decided to sell it shortly after my middle child was born as I couldn't see it being used much - plus admittedly was requiring a bit of lumpy spend every now and again.

As you can see, the main impediment was storing it......I couldn't keep it outside my house for anything other than maintenance, preparing for a trip or a good clean.

One of the best offgrid and comfortable vans I've been lucky enough to drive and spend time in.
View attachment 129491

Cali served a good purpose in terms of daily & camper but in my mind was neither brilliant at one or the other.

Replaced with this which is perfect for the driveway, weather-tight, ok for four people on short trips, perfect for my indulgent short-break adventures with my hiking boots or mountainbike and a great second car when needed.

View attachment 129492

However, I'd go back to a van of a similar size to the Concorde if I could justify spending time & money on storage and using it more often than I use the Knaus now, what with being a father of 3 - two of whom are under 4yrs old. I'm probably 6-8yrs away from that when my 12yr daughter leaves home.

Everything's a compromise but space is a luxury and, for me at least, having more storage, more payload, more comfort and refinement is ultimately a nicer experience than pared back to the bone.
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Do they do a 4x4 in the knaus box drive ?
 
SpuffingtonMe said:
Yes - that’s what I’ve got. Its on the 3.88t chassis as the extra transmission weight needs the payload uplift but even so I’ve got ~600kg useful payload.
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Sweet, I have Grandfather rights too, so no issue for me for 17 years !
Where did you purchase from ? New or 2nd ?
 
Californication69 said:
Sweet, I have Grandfather rights too, so no issue for me for 17 years !
Where did you purchase from ? New or 2nd ?
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You can keep the C1 entitlement for as long as you need as long as you keep requesting it at each renewal. I have to renew the C entitlement 5 yearly with a medical.
 
Same here. Just snuck in a year before they stopped automatically giving the C1 to you.

I bought the van brand new last year from Premium Motorhomes - it's a pretty high spec to which I added 95aH LifePo4, 90w solar, B2B charger, 2kW Inverter, Remis front blind. So far just under 9k miles under the wheels in c. 16months and very fond of it.

Premium have got another 4x4 coming into stock shortly which also has Diff Lock in Indium Grey. I was tempted to upgrade when I was there in May but mine's also got 5th berth, towbar and a couple of other bits which were important to me. Annoying as their new one has factory LED headlights and ambient lighting which mine doesn't. Had to put THQ LED headlights in (which are great) and looking for a solution on ambient lighting retrofit.
 
The Knaus looks almost as good as a Hymer Grand Canyon S and I don't have to have a popup roof and I save 80.000€. What can go wrong? Its not as good looking.
 
kave said:
The Knaus looks almost as good as a Hymer Grand Canyon S and I don't have to have a popup roof and I save 80.000€. What can go wrong? Its not as good looking.
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I looked at that exact model too, but also couldn't get my head around the price differential. I also wanted to go for a van which was fully weather-tight. A week in Glencoe & Skye in the Cali in Jan 2023 exhausted all my aspirations for pop-tops. ;)
 
SpuffingtonMe said:
Same here. Just snuck in a year before they stopped automatically giving the C1 to you.

I bought the van brand new last year from Premium Motorhomes - it's a pretty high spec to which I added 95aH LifePo4, 90w solar, B2B charger, 2kW Inverter, Remis front blind. So far just under 9k miles under the wheels in c. 16months and very fond of it.

Premium have got another 4x4 coming into stock shortly which also has Diff Lock in Indium Grey. I was tempted to upgrade when I was there in May but mine's also got 5th berth, towbar and a couple of other bits which were important to me. Annoying as their new one has factory LED headlights and ambient lighting which mine doesn't. Had to put THQ LED headlights in (which are great) and looking for a solution on ambient lighting retrofit.
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Can you outline what was involved in your change to lithium please? Simple/difficult? Thanks.
 
mr pg said:
Can you outline what was involved in your change to lithium please? Simple/difficult? Thanks
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In all honesty, for me, it was straightforward as I just told Premium what I wanted done prior to collection! ;) But I don’t think it was totally straightforward.

The AGM leisure battery which is actually stacked above the vehicle battery under the bonnet had to be removed and the LifePo4 relocated in the rear since it’s a safety issue having it up front in a crash. That caused a lot more wiring to be run & rerun from the front - particularly with the B2B charger going in too.

Everything was wired into the existing electrics cabinet under the bed in the garage where the fuse box is. The 95aH is just sufficient for what I do. However I often catch myself considering an upgrade but it’s tight in the cabinet so I’d maybe get another 20aH. Thats about it without losing more space (which is at a premium in a 6m van). In reality, I tend to move on every day so even when it’s really cold and I’m intensively using electric, it gets topped up every time I drive and generally can go from 20% to fully charged in c 30mins or so.

I would thoroughly recommend it though. Lithium is so useable without the worry of discharging too deeply. Easier to have done when buying the van as it’s easier to “hide” / justify the cost when it gets lost in the context of the overall transaction.
 
soulstyledevon said:
Morelo, for people who fork1n hate camping…
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Some people want to go to a beach in Croatia, south of Italy, Greece or Albania in their personal 5 star hotel.

Not everyone is looking for hiking, wild camping.

Different strokes, for different folks.

Go to the USA, campers that size are quite normal sight.

Sent from my SM-G991B using Tapatalk
 
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