mgnbuk Posted February 26, 2019 Share Posted February 26, 2019 Any owners of these models on the forum who could give feedback on the ownership experience of these models, please ? Carado T449 / Sunlight T69L are similar layout (albeit longer) so would also be of interest. Particularly interested in efficiency of the heating system (heat distribution, cold spots etc), how the bathroom layout works in practice and to get an idea of axle weights at 3500kg - being a rear biased design I'm particularly interested in if the rear axle limit is an issue. And the Carado / Sunlight ownership experience in general - problems, issues, build quality etc. Thanks, Nigel B Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EJB Posted February 26, 2019 Share Posted February 26, 2019 3500Kg limit with over 7m in length is not a good situation. Many manufacturers at those limits tend to cheat on the 'empty weight'.....just check what is taken into consideration...fuel....water...driver??? Those three items alone could amount to 250Kg. They are reasonable makes built to a very attractive price ;-) PS. Layout is really personal choice and all heating systems are OK except if you are habitual skiers which is a different situation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zydeco Joe Posted February 26, 2019 Share Posted February 26, 2019 Have the Carado 135 new last May so far 10 out of 10. A well built van guess 339 would be same.Heating works great, in Spain drove from Calais in December no problems Hope this helps a bit... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pagey Posted February 26, 2019 Share Posted February 26, 2019 i have a sunlight t69s well put together useful garage great bed, great to be able to close the toilet door across and create a bedroom with ensuite and changing area lounge is a bit small but i changed the table to a smaller one and that created more room. room for 2 13k gas bottles i am very pleased with mine the t69s is just under 7 mtrs but the 69l is 7.4mts Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mgnbuk Posted February 26, 2019 Author Share Posted February 26, 2019 "3500Kg limit with over 7m in length is not a good situation" I run a 6.7m van at 3.5 tonnes (just !) at the moment & 7 metres (the T339) is my personal, self imposed, limit. I was particularly interested in how users went on loading this layout in the real world & if this caused problems with the rear axle weight limit - I am 70kg or so short of the limit at present. One aspect in the T339s favour is the use of a longer wheelbase chassis than some other makes offering the same layout, so rear overhang is about the same as my current 6.7 metre van. "Many manufacturers at those limits tend to cheat on the 'empty weight'.....just check what is taken into consideration...fuel....water...driver??? Those three items alone could amount to 250Kg." I am comfortable with the quoted payload, which is more than that quoted on my current van. All I can find about Hymer Group vans is that they are supplied close to the stated weights (no 5% "fudge factor". I have 9 years (and around 450 nights away ) experience at running legally under 3.5 tonnes and want to stay that way ! "They are reasonable makes built to a very attractive price" Indeed - but it would be reasuring to find that they are well built & reliable reasonable makes ! Two votes for that so far.. "PS. Layout is really personal choice and all heating systems are OK except if you are habitual skiers which is a different situation." Yes - so far I have gone the "choose on layout first" route & the current layout still suits, but I can assure you that all heating systems are not OK (in my current & ongoing opinion) , hence the detailed queries & looking at a layout that has different compromises (and I don't go skiing !). As one of the German magazine tests of the T339 mentioned that the hot air that reached the front vents wasn't very hot, I am interested in the opinions of users in this regard - don't want to swap one set of issues for another. Thanks for your input. pagey - have you had your van on a weighbridge when loaded up - particularly if you run with two gas bottles in the garage ? I am just a little concerend that there don't seem to be many storage options to move heavier stuff forwards It would appear to be a relatively straightforward operation (just add semi-air to the rear axle (16" wheels as standard) & get SV Tech to do the paperwork) to get the rear uprated to 2250 from 2000kg while leaving the maximum at 3.5 tonnes if need be. Joe - thanks for your feedback. Nigel B Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pagey Posted February 27, 2019 Share Posted February 27, 2019 hi i dont run with 2 gas bottles i was just stating there is room for 2 i have a single 11k refillable fitted...the heating i find ok on electric if you shut a couple of vents at the rear on gas its very good al the pipes to the vents run inside the false floor not outside the van ...the quoted payload is around 500k which is ok for us as we tend to travel light your assumptions on the uprating of the rear axel seem ok to me i have removed the mattress on the pull down bed and all the spring things and use the area to store bulky light items and i also removed the useless jack should i need one im sure adac will have one also i have not weighed the van fully loaded as the only weighbridge near to me is the dvla site at jnct 7 of the m11 a good handbook came with the van with a lot of information in it i can look up for you if you need it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest rael Posted February 27, 2019 Share Posted February 27, 2019 Had a 2014 LHD Sunlight T67, sold it last year. Very pleased with it but it became too big for two of us. Build quality is what you would expect for lower mid price. Comfortable beds, bathroom ok. Just looked at the two vehicles on respective websites I see both models have the seperate shower/wc arrangement. When we look at these we found them a little strange. Basically if you want to close the door to the bedroom at night the toilet is open to the bedroom. Similarly, if you close the toilet door the shower is open to the rest of the van and the bedroom. Probably fine for just two people but could be privacy issues if you have company! Looks like you get a slightly wider table on the longer vehicle? Is it worth it? I was told by the Dortmund Carado dealer that the only real difference between. Carado/Sunlight is the colour scheme/target market. Sunlights for the 'younger' customers. Carado for the 'older'. Watch out for the position of the pull down bed and the entrance door. On both model the bed impedes access to the door when the bed is in use, so you have to be under about 80cm in height or kick the people in the pull down bed out to be able to get out of the van. We noticed this with a lot of this style of van. The T67 did not have this problem and the door could be accessed fully with the pull down bed in use. Heating was fine, used it in the winter time in Germany and was quick to warm up. Having said that you will use a lot of gas. We had Eberspacher diesel heating on a previous motorhome (Chausson) and have Webasto diesel heating on our current Challenger PVC and would never consider a van again without diesel heating. Very economical and you then only need one small gas bottle for cooking and warm water. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mgnbuk Posted March 10, 2019 Author Share Posted March 10, 2019 Thanks for your feedback rael. I don't see the bathroom as being a problem - there is a curtain that isolates the toilet / shower area from the bedroom when the toilet door has been closed to the kitchen/living area. This effectively makes an "across the van " bathroom. Privacy issues not are an issue, as there will not be more than the two of us. Likewise the front drop-down bed - don't need one, so not an issue ! "Having said that you will use a lot of gas. We had Eberspacher diesel heating on a previous motorhome (Chausson) and have Webasto diesel heating on our current Challenger PVC and would never consider a van again without diesel heating. Very economical and you then only need one small gas bottle for cooking and warm water." Strange how we can see things so differently ! My current Chausson has the Webasto diesel heating & this is one of the main drivers for looking to change ! I realy dislike the noisy, largely uncontrollable thing and, in particular with this van, the poor heat distribution. I will not consider another van that has diesel heating as the sole heat source. I filled up the Gaslow tank yesterday & found that we had used around 12 litres of LPG over 45 nights last year, so agree that gas usage is minimal when not using gas for space heating, but that is a relatively small consideration - I didn't feel with my previous experience of a Combi 4 that gas consumption / cost was an issue & at least that van was equally warm throughout ! Unfortunately I took too long to make up my mind about changing & when I rang back to order the stock van I had seen I found that it had sold 2 hours earlier. But there was a production slot still available at Carado & I should take delivery of a T339 early August. Thanks to all who responded. Nigel B Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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