AndyB57
TILLY - Two Idiots Living Life Youthfully!
- Messages
- 30
- Vehicle
- T6 Ocean 150
Hi All
Long time lurker on the forum but this is my first actual post.
My wife, Annie, and I have just returned from a few days away in a hired a Cali from Rob at BMVS (who I would heartily recommend) as a try-before-we-buy outing and we are generally most impressed!
We've previously tried a few, larger, van conversions in our search for the "ideal" van (which of course doesn't actually exist!) but found the Cali comes very close to meeting our needs of an everyday vehicle which can also be used for camping trips.
Things we really liked:
- the quality of the conversion - very automotive in feel and style
- the car-like size, feel and comfort. Good being able to park anywhere!
- the sliding rear seat and drawer
- the cavernous load space!
- the roof mechanism (impresses the hell out of bystanders as it deploys) and creates loads of headroom when up
- the comfort of the downstairs bed (with the mattress topper fitted)
- the auxiliary heater (if that's the correct term? - the standard one anyway) which was fantastically efficient to the extent that I had to turn it off in the middle of the night (and it was only on level 2!)
- the table and chairs in the doors (how clever is that?!?)
- the internal lighting. This is something a lot of manufacturers pay little attention to but good lighting is essential to make the van feel "homely" at night
- the fridge. I liked the top-loader style as they're easier to get into and as someone else has noted previously they're more efficient than front-loaders
- the wardrobe space! Needs shelves rather than hangers but Ikea could come to the rescue here
- the fuel consumption (or lack of) We achieved high 30's which actually beats our Freelander
- just the general "coolness" of being in such an iconic van
Things we didn't like quite as much:
- the lack of floor space when the lower bed was made up. We have a dog (border collie) who would have complained bitterly about where he was going to sleep had he been with us
- the hardness of the upstairs mattress! (I know a Zonesleep or similar would fix this btw)
- no grill! Not essential but it would have been nice to have
- not a great deal of internal space with the table up and cooking to be done
- the lack of workspace - it's a pity that the glass lid to the cooker and sink is in one piece, not two
- the sheer faffiness of spinning the seats round!
- and finally, of course, the Big One: NO WASHROOM!!
Now inevitably in a van the size of a T5 there is always going to be a compromise and this is the main one. However, we did go armed with the good old Thetford Qube 335 portable toilet which fitted neatly in the aforementioned cavernous loadspace before being brought out for nighttime duties. On the second night, when we slept upstairs (which always sounds odd in the context of camping) there was plenty of space downstairs for the toilet but on the first night things were a bit more problematic. Although we had a Khyam utility tent we didn't fancy a midnight excursion into an external draught-box for parking the previous evening's refreshments so left it neatly stowed in the cavernous loadspace. I know the toilet dilemma has made several appearances in previous threads so this was our solution... We took a small, folding step (bought from Wilkinsons I think) and with the passenger seat swivelled and pulled forward as far it would go with the backrest tilted forward the toilet placed on the stool fitted perfectly in the passenger footwell. And it worked (albeit with a slight amount of gymnastics on my part to aid "positioning") Seated, for the ladies, however - no problem. Anyway, enough lavatorial scribblings - just thought it may be of interest.
The second night - the night we elected to try out the upstairs bed - saw typhoon strength winds and enough rainfall to make Noah proud. However, I was truly AMAZED at the rigidity of the roof and stability of the van as a whole. Despite not having a cover over the roof we didn't even get moist, never mind wet.
So given the fact that our first experience of actually living with a Cali was in the cool of the Autumn, with dark nights from 5.30pm, in very poor weather conditions on one of the nights, we absolutely loved it!! I'm sure in the summer, with the awning extended and the table and chairs out it's fabulous fun - and we can't wait to try it next year.
A big shout out again to Rob at BMVS and to Graffham campsite where we stayed. Also to you guys on this forum for all the pre-trip information I gleaned from your many posts. I look forward to contributing more in the future. Hopefully from our own van.
Watch this space...
Andy
Long time lurker on the forum but this is my first actual post.
My wife, Annie, and I have just returned from a few days away in a hired a Cali from Rob at BMVS (who I would heartily recommend) as a try-before-we-buy outing and we are generally most impressed!
We've previously tried a few, larger, van conversions in our search for the "ideal" van (which of course doesn't actually exist!) but found the Cali comes very close to meeting our needs of an everyday vehicle which can also be used for camping trips.
Things we really liked:
- the quality of the conversion - very automotive in feel and style
- the car-like size, feel and comfort. Good being able to park anywhere!
- the sliding rear seat and drawer
- the cavernous load space!
- the roof mechanism (impresses the hell out of bystanders as it deploys) and creates loads of headroom when up
- the comfort of the downstairs bed (with the mattress topper fitted)
- the auxiliary heater (if that's the correct term? - the standard one anyway) which was fantastically efficient to the extent that I had to turn it off in the middle of the night (and it was only on level 2!)
- the table and chairs in the doors (how clever is that?!?)
- the internal lighting. This is something a lot of manufacturers pay little attention to but good lighting is essential to make the van feel "homely" at night
- the fridge. I liked the top-loader style as they're easier to get into and as someone else has noted previously they're more efficient than front-loaders
- the wardrobe space! Needs shelves rather than hangers but Ikea could come to the rescue here
- the fuel consumption (or lack of) We achieved high 30's which actually beats our Freelander
- just the general "coolness" of being in such an iconic van
Things we didn't like quite as much:
- the lack of floor space when the lower bed was made up. We have a dog (border collie) who would have complained bitterly about where he was going to sleep had he been with us
- the hardness of the upstairs mattress! (I know a Zonesleep or similar would fix this btw)
- no grill! Not essential but it would have been nice to have
- not a great deal of internal space with the table up and cooking to be done
- the lack of workspace - it's a pity that the glass lid to the cooker and sink is in one piece, not two
- the sheer faffiness of spinning the seats round!
- and finally, of course, the Big One: NO WASHROOM!!
Now inevitably in a van the size of a T5 there is always going to be a compromise and this is the main one. However, we did go armed with the good old Thetford Qube 335 portable toilet which fitted neatly in the aforementioned cavernous loadspace before being brought out for nighttime duties. On the second night, when we slept upstairs (which always sounds odd in the context of camping) there was plenty of space downstairs for the toilet but on the first night things were a bit more problematic. Although we had a Khyam utility tent we didn't fancy a midnight excursion into an external draught-box for parking the previous evening's refreshments so left it neatly stowed in the cavernous loadspace. I know the toilet dilemma has made several appearances in previous threads so this was our solution... We took a small, folding step (bought from Wilkinsons I think) and with the passenger seat swivelled and pulled forward as far it would go with the backrest tilted forward the toilet placed on the stool fitted perfectly in the passenger footwell. And it worked (albeit with a slight amount of gymnastics on my part to aid "positioning") Seated, for the ladies, however - no problem. Anyway, enough lavatorial scribblings - just thought it may be of interest.
The second night - the night we elected to try out the upstairs bed - saw typhoon strength winds and enough rainfall to make Noah proud. However, I was truly AMAZED at the rigidity of the roof and stability of the van as a whole. Despite not having a cover over the roof we didn't even get moist, never mind wet.
So given the fact that our first experience of actually living with a Cali was in the cool of the Autumn, with dark nights from 5.30pm, in very poor weather conditions on one of the nights, we absolutely loved it!! I'm sure in the summer, with the awning extended and the table and chairs out it's fabulous fun - and we can't wait to try it next year.
A big shout out again to Rob at BMVS and to Graffham campsite where we stayed. Also to you guys on this forum for all the pre-trip information I gleaned from your many posts. I look forward to contributing more in the future. Hopefully from our own van.
Watch this space...
Andy
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