NEC 2022 - worth going ?

[Jester]

Had mine a couple of years now, very pleasedView attachment 100172

Wondered where you were.

 

[soulstyledevon]

I’m going today.
Haven’t been for three years, will be good to see what’s now on offer.

 

[Hawthorn37]

I’m going today.
Haven’t been for three years, will be good to see what’s now on offer.

If you enter through Hall 17 where the drop off / walk to car parks is, you’ll find the main campervan area with vans and accessories is right round the U- shaped halls in Halls 11 and 12. Awnings in Hall 17 though. We did a march through and started at 12 then worked our way back. No VW stand this time.

 

[Kirk]

Much smaller than the Feb show and not many deals to be had on anything, was in and out in less than 2 hours

 

[soulstyledevon]

This was the best van at the show…





This was the best caravan, amazing finish and a quality product.



This was nice, but wouldn’t buy a Poptop van at its £200k+ asking price

 

[Hawthorn37]

There were some really nice mini caravans, we agree. And at £25k for a well spec’d one - got to attract people. Even tempted ourselves!!

On the vans - our reaction to them all was something like, that’s nice but …. Didn’t see anything we’d have in preference to our current Cali.

 

[kurienp]

This was the best van at the show…

we know why

 

[soulstyledevon]

we know why

Honestly came home a happy bunny. We still think it’s the best around at the price point. Decent layout and the build looks fine.

I had to laugh at one stand.
This thing made the Cali look cheap…
Price…???

£131k…

 

[AdyB]

Just got back and enjoyed the day , guess the best thing for me was the fact that there was nothing there that I would change the GC for.
Came home...opened the GC door and smiled.
This is still the best fit van for us.

 

[soulstyledevon]

Just got back and enjoyed the day , guess the best thing for me was the fact that there was nothing there that I would change the GC for.
Came home...opened the GC door and smiled.
This is still the best fit van for us.

Surprised Volkswagen weren’t there. It’s as if, there camper segment is worth bothering with…

 

[edocali]

I've been there yesterday and enjoyed the day.
The hyper-motorhomes like Morelo and STX were something I've never seen before.
The Hymer Venture S is an expensive beauty.

Among the campervans, I liked the Swift Monza. It can't compete with a Cali on finish, but it had a very intelligent arrangement for the lower bed.
it showed an impressive use of space thanks to the rear seat/bed.
First, it has belts for 3 occupants in the back.
Second, the mattress and base do not take much space in the boot as the can be folded against the back of the seat. Which slides forward as much as needed.
Granted the details are not there yet - the kitchenette does not have sliding doors but pull-outs, so they are unusable if the seat is moved forward.

It could be my choice if a Cal did not exist.

 

[Azteccamper]

Enjoyed the day on Wednesday. We expected to see a couple of show bargains but nothing that caught our eye. The VW camper section was interesting - nothing really competes with the Cali on fittings really (although Westfalia maybe, but lack of storage space we felt). I just wish they did a lwb Cali. Some of the motor homes we couldn’t afford even if we sold our home and I did like a couple of the trendy little caravans. Of the ‘next size up’ range the usual suspects stood out - Hymer, Adria, etc.
I did have a good conversation with CAMC regarding their app, pricing and vision, but tended to get sound bites back. A good day though and we still love our Cali.

To charge £36 to stay in the car park was a bit cheeky!

 

[Hawthorn37]

Enjoyed the day on Wednesday. We expected to see a couple of show bargains but nothing that caught our eye. The VW camper section was interesting - nothing really competes with the Cali on fittings really (although Westfalia maybe, but lack of storage space we felt). I just wish they did a lwb Cali. Some of the motor homes we couldn’t afford even if we sold our home and I did like a couple of the trendy little caravans. Of the ‘next size up’ range the usual suspects stood out - Hymer, Adria, etc.
I did have a good conversation with CAMC regarding their app, pricing and vision, but tended to get sound bites back. A good day though and we still love our Cali.

To charge £36 to stay in the car park was a bit cheeky!

Agree about a LWB Cali. What a van that would be!

 

[dspuk]

We went today and had a great time. A full 8 hours mooch. We made the mistake of doing the conversions last and that would have been a better start point (hall 12). Got a few small bits but there were no accessory bargains to be had anywhere. Cheaper online or ebay. Everyone was cheery and having a good time and the food outlets were good, well priced and reasonable queues. The only two conversions that were worth looking at in our opinion was the Club Joker and the VanWorx conversions. Both expensive vs an Ocean though and made us appreciate what we have. The others to us just looked like 1980s brown caravan fittings in a van. There were some silly prices there, from the 220K Hymer (delicious though) and a 660K house in a truck with a full size American Fridge inside and a fire. All in a great day. You take out of it what you put in.

 

[Hawthorn37]

We went today and had a great time. A full 8 hours mooch. We made the mistake of doing the conversions last and that would have been a better start point (hall 12).

Ah you missed post #28 then? That said, we didn’t see any conversations we’d like in preference to our Ocean.

We managed to get a few deals at the show for things we were angling for, and like you, we spent the full day. Really enjoyed it! It was our first show, having missed it in Feb, giving our tickets to friends due to sickness.

 

[PhilR]

If you enter through Hall 17 where the drop off / walk to car parks is, you’ll find the main campervan area with vans and accessories is right round the U- shaped halls in Halls 11 and 12. Awnings in Hall 17 though. We did a march through and started at 12 then worked our way back. No VW stand this time.

Great info thanks. We’re off there later today - first time at NEC show for us. Our Ocean is due imminently so a last minute shop/inspiration trip that’s all! Thanks for all the info on here all.

 

[sidepod]

Great show. Plenty more of the BIg White brands with “Campers”

Absolutely fell in love with this

ismove - Niesmann+Bischoff

The iSmove, our motorhome with every conceivable comfort, space and storage room.

www.niesmann-bischoff.com

Current configuration at £139k. I’m sure I can get it up a bit yet. Show model was £174k.

 

[soulstyledevon]

Great show. Plenty more of the BIg White brands with “Campers”

Absolutely fell in love with this

ismove - Niesmann+Bischoff

The iSmove, our motorhome with every conceivable comfort, space and storage room.

www.niesmann-bischoff.com

Current configuration at £139k. I’m sure I can get it up a bit yet. Show model was £174k.

We loved that too.
We had a look around one at the Erwin centre in Stafford last month.
If I was buying myself a retirement present, for some longterm travelling. It would be one of those.
Just another 20 plus years to go…

 

[sidepod]

We loved that too.
We had a look around one at the Erwin centre in Stafford last month.
If I was buying myself a retirement present, for some longterm travelling. It would be one of those.
Just another 20 plus years to go…

View attachment 100866

Absolutely streets ahead of the compo. A genuinely modern interior and it looks cool. Just a shame it’s Fiat based.

 

[Hawthorn37]

Absolutely streets ahead of the compo. A genuinely modern interior and it looks cool. Just a shame it’s Fiat based.

That was our feeling / reaction to a few we saw., nice interior, ah pity - Fiat, ah pity - Peugeot. I guess the cost (and availability) of larger VW panel vans and chassis is a stumbling block for the Motorhome manufacturers ?

 

[soulstyledevon]

Absolutely streets ahead of the compo. A genuinely modern interior and it looks cool. Just a shame it’s Fiat based.

I will reserve judgement until mine arrives.
Although, I was adamant it had to be the latest Fiat Chassis (2021 or newer). Reviews of the latest generation seem to be positive and helped bridge the gap.
Although, it won’t be a California, I’m happy to except this, for the extra space the Fiat chassis brings to the game.

 

[Melanie Day]

Our favourite was the Adria Sports 600 with pop top roof. As we have a beach none of the VW conversions had a bed large enough to what we are used to. Our son goes in the pop top so we sleep downstairs.

Some of the motorhomes around 6m have quite a tight seating area with the table and chairs turned round. The VW actually seemed more spacious but obviously the motorhome has the bed in the rear as well.

Sent from my Pixel 6 using Tapatalk

 

[Hawthorn37]

Agree with the table seating - knees clash on many.

 

[sidepod]

We were keen on the Adria twin, initially with the e-bed. Further investigation, it seems like a pointless gimmick? Great if you want bikes in the back etc and just crash when you’re done biking etc.

Most of the “next size up “ vans are the same configuration, bench seat/swivel front seats to create a dinner/living room.

I thought I could make this work but it seems not.
I think this setup will only give us a about two hours of crap-weather-comfort. After that, I’m looking to lie down/feet up/watch a movie/doze off.
This means a non permanent bed at the rear and bench seats.

There was an Adria model (how confusing is their range numbering?) that had the e-bed + rear bench seats but it seemed claustrophobic/pointless.

I think there was an option with rear bench seats + pop top which would work. No idea of the model designation?
Adria Twin GTXSportSLGBLGXDGHBFLGB probably!!!

 

[dspuk]

Ah you missed post #28 then? That said, we didn’t see any conversations we’d like in preference to our Ocean.

We managed to get a few deals at the show for things we were angling for, and like you, we spent the full day. Really enjoyed it! It was our first show, having missed it in Feb, giving our tickets to friends due to sickness.

Doh. Yeah. We ended up in 12 at about 5 and had to rush. Not for us but my sis want’s to join the Cali fam and needed to check if there was anything better than factory. Given the VanWox quote was 11k more than our dealer and most of the decent on stand stock was sold the pre-made offers were slim pickings. Jebra were sold out until 2024!

Factory it is and TBH it’s the best choice for her.