Tiggy Posted September 12, 2015 Share Posted September 12, 2015 We have been looking at motorhomes for about a year now and are beginning to work out what type of van we need. Maximum length around six meters, as narrow as possible, must have a toilet and two single beds. There are only two of us and a average size dog. We mainly want to use it exploring around Devon, Cornwall and eventually to explore France. We also need air con in the cab. We are looking for a used one as our budget is around 32k. Any suggestions would be very much appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don636 Posted September 12, 2015 Share Posted September 12, 2015 I am not sure what you can get for £32k but it sounds like you are after a motorhome based on a panel van (PVC) rather than a coach built. Assume you are after just two berths. These generally come in front lounge, rear lounge or the continental style of front dinette and rear transverse fixed bed over a 'garage'. It sounds as if the continental style is no good for you as they generally do not come with single beds at 6m. A rear lounge PVC might fit the bill and you can get these with settees that convert into single beds. Makes include Vantage, IH, East Neuk and there must be others - easily found by surfing the web. I have a Vantage Neo myself which is 6.36m but the 6m Sol is similar, just with less storage space/ worktop. They are very well made and mine has proved to be utterly reliable. There are front lounge vans that provide settees/travel seats that convert into single beds such as Murvi and Autosleeper but I personally don't think these work as well as rear lounge vans. Difficult to advise unless you can narrow down the layout that you feel will work best for you as this is the most important consideration. After layout, payload and storage requirements are important so you need to try and narrow this down as well. I would suggest making a list of requirements and rank them in order of priority as it is difficult to get everything you would like. If you were able to provide this info it would help identify possible vans that might suit and which people could recommend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tiggy Posted September 13, 2015 Author Share Posted September 13, 2015 thank you for your ideas and I have made a list.I should have mentioned we have decided on a front lounge layout.I think we may have to stretch the budget. So many motorhomes seem to be very similar yet have different badges on them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don636 Posted September 13, 2015 Share Posted September 13, 2015 I think it is more difficult to find a front lounge van with decent single beds. A lot seem to have a third travel seat opposite a long settee and both convert into single beds but sometimes need to use the swivelled front seats to get the length - not sure how well this works. The best front lounge van with singles that I have seen is the Murvi Morocco. There is one long settee opposite the sliding door with a high backrest. This leaves a large open space in front of the door, perfect for a dog to lie in. At night you pull out the settee, which is on runners and this is one of the singles. You then fold down the backrest and this is the other single. You can use this as a double with space alongside the door or pull them apart as two singles - ingenious. Murvi is a multi award winning company so quality should be very good - well worth a look. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Kirby Posted September 13, 2015 Share Posted September 13, 2015 I'm happy to be corrected, but I think you will find that what you want comes in at over 6.0M. If you are happy to go to 6.36M long, there are quite a few PVCs with twin longitudinal single beds; most, if not all, from continental makers. Adria would be one, but also Globecar/Possl, Knaus (Box Star), Hymer (Hymercar), La Strada, Carthago (Malibu range, but I don't know if they are imported), Challenger (Vany, ditto re imports), Chausson (Twist, ditto re imports), CI (Kyros, ditto re imports), Rapido (Dreamer and Van, ditto re imports), McLouis (Monfys, ditto re imports), Pilote (Van, ditto re imports), Roller Team (Livingstone, ditto re imports), Westfalia, Hobby (Vantana, ditto re imports). Can't say if they all do the long version with longitudinal twin beds, but the web should give you a shortlist. Most won't be imported in RHD, though UK dealers may be able to get a LHD to order. If you are happy with LHD any of the above could be imported as personal imports, and most would be cheaper if sourced outside UK. Quite a few are relatively recent introductions, so would be scarce used, especially in UK - even if imported. However, it is quite a list, so there should be enough choice one way or another. Just be aware that although they all look superficially identical, they do differ in specification, so crawling through the fine details of gas locker/tank size, number of cooker hob burners, type of heating/water heating, size of habitation battery, size and type of fridge, etc. etc. is necessary. Few, if any, will have ovens. Top of the range in terms of style/quality is probably La Strada, who have been importing to UK for years so are available used, but the price reflects the quality! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don636 Posted September 13, 2015 Share Posted September 13, 2015 I would agree that you would probably need to go to a 6.36m van to get fixed single beds but the OP has stated that they are looking for a front lounge motorhome so this surely rules out fixed single beds and points towards settees/seats that convert into singles. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tiggy Posted September 13, 2015 Author Share Posted September 13, 2015 We Would defiantly prefer to use the side settees to from the front beds. What are your views on the Bolero 600ek? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Kirby Posted September 13, 2015 Share Posted September 13, 2015 Don636 - 2015-09-13 12:28 PM I would agree that you would probably need to go to a 6.36m van to get fixed single beds but the OP has stated that they are looking for a front lounge motorhome so this surely rules out fixed single beds and points towards settees/seats that convert into singles. From Tiggy's subsequent reply, it seems you are right. My interpretation of "front lounge" included a front dinette that doubles as the sitting area: clearly, Tiggy's doesn't. :-) However, Tiggy's suggestion doesn't accord with the stated desire for "as narrow as possible", and nor, I think, does that front lounge layout. AFAIK, most with that layout, for obvious reasons, tend toward 2.3M wide? It's a question of where the priorities lie. Discounting VW Transporters and Mercedes Vitos, the narrowest PVCs will be Transit or Sprinter (plus a few on Crafter) based. However, all coachbuilts, AFAIK, are wider (though some by a very small margin) than the base vehicle, and by far the most popular base (for either coachbuilt or PVC) is the Ducato/Boxer at about 2.07M wide. Compromises, compromises, eh? :-D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don636 Posted September 13, 2015 Share Posted September 13, 2015 This is a coach built motorhome so is a bit wider than a panel van. You had stated that you were after something that was as narrow as possible and this points to a panel van. We started off looking at front lounge coach builts such as the Swift Bolero, Auto Sleeper Nuevo etc but were concerned about the width of these motorhomes as we wanted to feel comfortable travelling on minor roads. There is no doubt that you can get to most places with a wider vehicle, you just need to drive carefully and be prepared to pull over. I do, however, feel that a narrower panel van is easier all round and perhaps less stressful to drive on narrow roads. Length is not really a problem with our 6.36m van, apart from parking at times, but then again a 6m van is much the same. There are so many motorhomes out there that it is daunting trying to figure out what to go for when starting out, particularly when they cost so much and you don't want to get it wrong. When we started out we were all over the place and it took almost 18 months to find what we wanted. Luckily, we seem to have got it right for us. You really need to work out your preferences on the following then the job of finding a suitable van will be much easier. Panel van or coachbuilt - a panel van is narrower obviously, which makes it slightly easier to drive and park. The construction is more robust and waterproof and you must not underestimate the likelihood of having damp in a coachbuilt and the problems and cost this can bring. Before we bought our motorhome we had a new Ace caravan and it registered damp every year for 3 years which required warranty repairs. Coach built motorhomes are built using the same techniques and I am not confident in the construction methods used, despite the fact that they say they have improved. The coach built's extra width clearly gives more space inside but we do not feel this adds much to the experience and prefer the benefits that the narrow body brings. The is no doubt that on first entering a wider motorhome it looks more inviting but you need to take a step back and think carefully about your priorities long term rather than first impressions. Only you can decide what is best for you. This is the most significant decision to make I think. Layout - this is entirely personal and you seem to have picked on the front lounge layout and I can see the attraction as it is a very flexible layout and makes good use of space in a short van. I think it works better in a coachbuilt than a PVC but that is just because I don't like the settee being in front of the sliding door but others do. If you want two singles I think this works better in a rear lounge layout. A rear lounge layout will probably provide more storage than a front lounge, particularly if it is a U-shaped lounge. Again, you should not underestimate the amount of storage space you need and should think about what you might want to carry and work out if you can get it all in. Storage space inside and out - see comments above After this it comes down to what works well in practice and what does not - the fine details. Things like, how the washroom works, how the cooking works with things like storage and worktop, how easy the beds are to make up and are they comfortable, storage for bedding, access to external storage, build quality, damp etc. Once you have narrowed down the choices you may want some feedback from people on particular vans as you have done but I think you need to do some research on these options first yourself to see if they fit your basic criteria from the list above then ask specific questions on the finer detail of how the van works in practice. We have all been through the process of choosing the first van but for me this is almost the best bit and I still look around even now that we have what we feel is our ideal van (at the moment) as I like to dream about something even better for next time around. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest pelmetman Posted September 13, 2015 Share Posted September 13, 2015 Narrow as possible?............... We had a Fiat Amigo cant get much narrower than that :D ........ Don't know why folk fuss over such details? :-S ............It makes bog all difference in the end *-) ....... Currently in Devon and will be carrying onto Cornwall, if the roads narrow I drive down the middle :D ........ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tiggy Posted September 13, 2015 Author Share Posted September 13, 2015 which van did you decide on Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don636 Posted September 13, 2015 Share Posted September 13, 2015 Not sure who the last question is aimed at but I said in an earlier post that we have a Vantage Neo which is 6.36m. They also have the Sol which is 6.0m with the same U-shaped rear lounge that makes up into twin singles or a large double. If you wanted some feedback you could PM me if you wanted to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colin Posted September 13, 2015 Share Posted September 13, 2015 A Globecar Trendscout is shorter than 6m and based on a Tranny is narrower than a Renault or Fiat, it has a rear lounge which IIRC can be twin singles or large double. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flicka Posted September 14, 2015 Share Posted September 14, 2015 Dethleffs produced slimmer Globebus models, around 2.2m width & 6m long from c2005 to 2010. IFRC there was a single bed model in the "T" range with single beds. Snould now be within budget nb for clarity:- the Globebus "I" range were "A" class variants but with drop-down double beds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tiggy Posted September 15, 2015 Author Share Posted September 15, 2015 We saw the Murvi Morocco today and it was love at first sight. We particularly liked the way the two single beds worked. But the price is so high, is there any other van that has this design for the beds? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don636 Posted September 15, 2015 Share Posted September 15, 2015 The Murvi Morocco is expensive new but no more than similar offerings from other manufacturers. You could try and find a used one but they may be thin on the ground. Murvi sell used vans themselves so it might be worthwhile giving them a call to see if they have anything in or one is due in from someone trading in for a new one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles Posted September 19, 2015 Share Posted September 19, 2015 Elddis Accordo 105 is coachbuilt but no wider than a panel van with standard panel van mirrors. The front lounge is roomy with swivel seats. It has a big payload capacity as it's lightweight bonded construction, 32 to 34mpg. Best bit is it was only £36300 brand new. They've gone up a bit with the facelift version though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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